Mary was 92 years old when she passed away. Why won’t Fidelity Investments let her rest in peace?

July 28, 2010 - PRLog -- July 28, 2010

Mary was 92 years old when she passed away.
Why won’t Fidelity Investments let her rest in peace?

Fidelity Investments, you know the company that features the “follow the green line” expressing guidance in financial planning, refused to accommodate Mary’s family when they sought to withdraw funds from her daughters investment account to pay for funeral arrangements.
Mary’s son Joseph said about the ordeal “I spoke to Heather Cady who assured me that if I Fed Ex’d the form, she would personally see that the funds would be disbursed the next day. I was shocked that she left without taking any action as she promised she would! What’s more, when I spoke with a Fidelity supervisor Eric Leger, he pointed out all of the deficiencies in the form received by Fidelity; and at one point indicated that it could take 10 days to disburse the funds.” Meanwhile, Mary is waiting in the funeral directors storage facility. “It’s frustrating” Joseph said, “That a company as large as Fidelity would stick to policy rather than help us place our mother to rest is disgusting.” It apparently took almost forty minutes but Mr. Ledger finally escalated the conversation to a higher authority.
   When asked about the circumstances, Fidelity Investments manager Megan Cotter said “The only accommodation to disburse the requested funds would be to issue a check in the names of both the daughters and Mary’s name.” When it was pointed out that Mary was deceased and could not sign, Ms. Cotter indicated that “we are violating the policy by issuing a check at all. It is the best we can do.” Joseph repeated asked Ms. Cotter to escalate the request to an executive, any executive at Fidelity who possessed the authority to accommodate the family’s request; however the request fell on deaf ears.
“They are impossible” Joseph said, “all we want to do is pay for our mother’s funeral expenses but they demand we go through their hoops. “ he continued, “they want to issue a check that the bank may reject, washing their hands, though they know we may need to send the check back to them.  None the less, they are patting themselves on the back thinking they did a good thing.” What’s more, after speaking with the personal representative for Fidelity’s Chairman Edward C. Johnson, Tom O’Gorman who on behalf of Chairman Johnson indicated that Fidelity would stick to its policy and issue a check in the name of our deceased mother, a check that Fidelity admits may not be negotiable.  Joseph went further, “Did you ever stop and think why people don’t like greedy corporate types like Edward C. Johnson? Greed! Here is a wealthy man who would rather float a crummy three thousand dollars for several days than help a family burdened by loss, through a time of need. Further, that their solution is to issue a check that may be worthless is the height of hypocrisy and avarice. I submit that Mr. Johnson is by way of his proxy Mr. O’Gorman, Scrooge incarnate.” “Really, what are we talking about” Joseph asked? “We are not talking about forcing Fidelity to ante up a donation; we are asking them to release a few dollars from my sister’s account for a very specific purpose.”

When asked if he or Mr. Johnson had an comment on this story the answer was a curt no.  It is clear that Fidelity Investments and its Chairman, Mr. Johnson, is just another multi-billion dollar company who if it fell into need would come to the taxpayer for a handout; but would deny assisting a customer, in a hard time of need gain access to the customers funds, even if for a worthy cause.  
“I hope Edward C. Johnson (and I bet he is) is happy that the company he represents, the company that touts follow our green line of investment advice,  is devoid of compassion and I will wager, that Mr. Johnson is without soul.” Joseph closed.

“it is clear that it is more important that Fidelity uphold policy instead of helping us put our mother to rest.”


Contacts:
   Joseph Williams: 305-296-1004
Fidelity Investments
Tom O’Gorman: 617-563-7000
Megan Cotter: 877-208-0098 ext. 4153