Vanguard’s Botched Email

Vanguard could have done a better job with service recovery after a mistaken email. Students will have ideas for improving the company’s response.

I received four of these emails (one for each transaction I submitted) on Tuesday at around 8 p.m. Each had the same subject line to match the body text, “We couldn’t process your request,” and the return address, do_not_reply@transactional.vanguard.com. Nothing says we don’t want to hear from you like a “do-not-reply” sender.

Dutifully, I called the number Wednesday morning. The recording said hold times were 25-30 minutes, so I entered my number for a return call and waited. The call came about two hours later.

The representative said the emails were sent mistakenly, apparently to a lot of us. Turns out, the orders had gone through (checking the account would have avoided the call). I don’t recall her apologizing, which is something I would expect in this type of situation—nothing elaborate, just an acknowledgment of the inconvenience.

The correction email came Wednesday at 3:43 p.m., about 19 hours after the first email was sent. A faster response would have avoided worries and phone calls like mine. Maybe the company is unpracticed at handling errors, or it had difficulty determining which clients were affected?

On the positive side, like the first emails, this one included a clear, specific subject line: “Correction: Please disregard our email about an account transaction.” Again, no apology. Also, why is the red horizontal bar blank, while, in the first email, the company name is inside? The two different reds look odd, but the website does use both.

This is a minor failing for a company with a solid reputation. Still, adding a few words during the phone call and in the email, for example, “We apologize for the inconvenience,” seems appropriate if nothing else. After all, the email said to call. For such small transgressions, little recovery is needed, but some acknowledgment seems fitting and expected.