TIAAReviews of tiaa.org

OK the truth. It used to be customer service was excellent but now all calls go to a country where the primary language is not English or if it is the dialect is not easy to understand. You go around in circles, you express frustration with no insults and they either hang up or transfer to another person and you go through the verification process again with repeats from previous call.

What a nightmare! They have had several thousand dollars of mine sitting in an account for almost a decade without me wasting their precious time. However, I needed to contact them today to do something as simple as change a phone number. After two hours, due to “Keshawn,” who refused to validate my account, I am beyond frustrated. After the third call, I finally heard back from a supervisor, “Tameka Callendar,” who claimed she was calling me after her rep said there was “cursing,” I will be terminating the relationship. She should have listened to the call before making false accusations. When I first requested a supervisor, “Keshawn” actually informed me that I would not be “allowed” to file a complaint against her because she had “done nothing wrong”. What??? It is my right as a customer to express my concerns if I choose to do so. Also, please check on the definition of cursing. This is the worst customer service of my life.

I have been with TIAA for over 20 years. Customer service used to be excellent. Recently, it has been phone calls that have not been helpful. Looking to move my portfolio to another company.

Looks like I've joined the long list of people having difficulty prying THEIR OWN MONEY out of TIAA's hands. They must sit around 24/7 perfecting ways to delay the disbursement of your funds. Unconscionable business practices.

As others have reported, it is VERY difficult to get the money. I have literally spent DAYS trying to get the flow started. Their system fails, it makes you start over, and nobody wants to help. It was a SHOCK to be told it can ONLY be paid in an annuity!!! All my life I have avoided annuities, because they are SUCH a rip off! And somehow, my hard earned money is tied up there, meaning I will not get a full payout until I am 78 years old!! THIEVES and INCOMPETENT !@#!$

I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. This is a warning to anybody with their 401K with TIAA or a loved one with a retirement fund with TIAA. My father was an Academic Dean with Oxford of Emory University in Georgia. His 401K retirement fund was with TIAA. He had around a million dollars in his fund at his retirement- closer to 750K at the time of his passing. He has 3 kids, me and two older sisters. We were all equal beneficiaries for the life of the policy. One of my sisters suffers from severe mental illness and she had a boyfriend who's name is Kevin Hudanish- a garden variety con-man. They lived with my father and were "caretakers"- and because he was so trusting, they withdrew money for him and took care of paying his bills for him, ....etc. About a year before my father's passing, he had become a heavy drinker and was starting to get seriously ill. Around the same time, Myself and my oldest sister's name were taken off my father's policy as beneficiaries- leaving only my mentally ill sister as the sole beneficiary. Six months later, Kevin added himself as the second beneficiary- splitting the fund 50/50 between them. My point and warning to all is that this change all happened from home on my father's computer. He didn't even know how to log into his own email. Changing the beneficiaries on his 401K with TIAA was as simple as adding or subtracting someone from your Netflix account. Yes, it was that easy. Now how many people with enough finances to have a substantial 401K have caretakers around them and depend on them for many different things. Once it all happened, it was already too late. No lawyer wanted to help me as there was no medical proof of my father was not being of sound mind at the time of changing, and there was no proof that he himself didn't do it. I want to draw attention to this major security gap in TIAA's retirement funds... this can happen to ANYBODY. Kevin has since left my mentally ill sister and ran off with his "new girlfriend." He only did this after my father's house sold and he got the money for that too. That is a separate issue, as the house was left to them as a thank you for taking care of my mother for her last years. However, the 401K was always meant to be split up between the three kids- my dad had many conversations with me regarding it. In the end though, he had no control over his own retirement fund. It would have changed my life.... instead, it just became a nightmare. I urge anyone with a retirement fund with TIAA to consider moving their money to somewhere else, or at least locking up the account in some ironclad way- cause what person with money doesn't have someone caretaking them at the end of their life. These people often feel entitled because they are there at the end while some other kids might be off living their life (like my father wanted me doing). I've wanted to sue TIAA over their weak security which allowed this tragedy to happen, but so far, I've had no luck finding a lawyer with the gumption to do it. So, just know, TIAA's beneficiary security is on the same level with a Netflix account. Act accordingly with your money

I just turned 73 yrs old and needed advise about taking my money out of TIAA/CREF. I was told there were no appointments available in the State of Virginia. When I asked for a telephone appointment, I was told that the next available telephone appointment was 2 months away. This company has had my money for decades. I have never asked for help before. Now that I need advise there is none. SHAME ON YOU! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Terrible customer service. Its like you are trying to steal your own money back from. them. Rude. As soon as I can I'm getting all my $$ out of this joke. DO NOT USE them. Use Fidelity or another service.