Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/12/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In December of 2023 we terminated our 401k plan. Guidant was notified and asked to file a final form 5500 with the IRS.After multiple attempts and follow *** Guidant has not completed this task as of July 10 ******** they are asking for basic information that has previously been provided.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/14/2025

  Hi ******* - We apologize for the delay in completing the termination and understand your frustration. Unfortunately the termination process can take a bit long at times. Currently, it is assigned to one of our Senior Administrators (******) and we will proactively provide updates every week to keep you informed of our progress. Compliance of the plan, especially when terminating, is of utmost importance, and we want to ensure that the plan is compliant. We assure you that we are taking this very seriously and will continue to partner with you to ensure this gets resolved in a timely manner. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/14/2025

   
  Complaint: 23590258
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  It has been 20 months since we terminated our 401k with apparently no action to file our final forms with the **** Now they ask for my patience while they work diligently on getting this completed! What a travesty!

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/15/2025

  I understand your concerns with the timeline in completing your termination of the 401(k) Plan. I can assure you that our team has made this a priority and are going through the proper compliance pieces to ensure that everything is complete and accurate, especially since we provide audit protection for the Plan itself. We will be sending you daily updates until we get this completed. We tried to reach you and left you a message. Please call us back at your earliest convienience at ************. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/16/2025

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/13/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been trying to find out from Guidant financial why they won't let my 401k distribution go through. I worked for candehoffmanholdings, I have a 401k through them with connected paycheck with Guidant financial as a 3rd party. The ******* has approved the distribution but guidant will not. My old employer said they have sent in all the paper work guidant has requested,. I have tried emailing guidant, calling them I can't get any answers it's been over a month since I've been trying to do this. Please help me get answers. Thank you

  

  Business Response

  Date: 05/23/2025

  Hi ***** - Im sorry you are going through this but this is directly tied to your employer, who is a client of ours. We cannot provide any details tied to our client, but we can assure you they are working with us to get this handled. I would contact your employer with any questions. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/23/2025

   
  Complaint: 23325560
  I'm sorry I feel like Guidant or the employer could have been better with communication, at first Guidant was emailing me then decided they couldn't. I know they said it was because of the employer privacy. I just think it was very bad communication on both parties. My old employer didn't even respond to me I had to go through my old DM and he hardly responded would take days at times and repeated msgs from me. I am glad it's resolved and I can move on and not have to deal with either Co again.
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/17/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Guidant committed to the **** rollover and transfer from the rollover account to the business checking account to be a simple process. I was not made aware that in order to begin the process, transfer the money and close any 401K accounts for the **** that I would have to. 1) Consult with outside legal council 2) Have outside legal council draft any letters or compliance documents to complete transactions,, close accounts, etc. 3) Have legal council draft documents and letters in order to be able to cancel my services with them. I have made multiple attempts to close my account with them and I am being given the run around of needing to speak with outside council, and their valuation team to cancel my account with ********************** and discontinue their services. This has been going on off and on for several months and I would like them to refund me the fees that they have withdrawn over the last several months totalling $1043.00

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/18/2024

  Hi ***,

  I'm sorry that you are having a challenging experience. I spoke with the team, and they did advise that you set up a ROBS structure with us, completed the initial transaction then after the fact used some of the remaining 401(k) funds for corporate expenses then completed a subsequent stock purchase. Both this use of incorrect funds and subsequent stock purchases have potentially costly tax implications and requires you to work with outside counsel to resolve the matter and avoid taxable distributions on those used funds. The team is reaching out to understand what next steps you want to take so we can guide you through the process.

  Please let me know if that does not resolve the issue for you.

  Best Regards,

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/15/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have had multiple discussions with Guidant regarding the **** Program back in July 2024. During those conversations, I was assured that the process would be smooth, and I was informed that the total fee would be $4,995. I clearly communicated the amount I planned to roll over. However, after consulting with an external lawyer as part of the upfront fee paid, I learned that the **** program did not align with the information provided by the Guidant representative. Consequently, I decided not to proceed with rolling over funds from my Fidelity *** account to the bank instructed by Guidant.The termination process that followed was disorganized. Despite numerous follow-ups with various teams, I received unclear and inconsistent communication from the setup, payment, and account representatives regarding the refunds. My experience, unfortunately, mirrors complaints from othersI found that their systems and processes are disjointed, their instructions unreliable, and their responsiveness severely lacking.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/21/2024

  Hi J,

  I'm sorry to hear about your experience. I have talked to the team and this is the update they have provided:

  Services garnered worked as expected. The client notified us on 8/7 that they did not want to move forward. Hard costs were sent to be calculated which can take a few weeks. From there client worked with our plan administration department to terminate the 401k plan that was opened. Weve responded to all emails and calls in a timely manner and assisted where we could there. We are still missing documents so *** sent them for electronic signature to speed up the process and I will ensure it is processed within 1 week of receipt.
  
  Client asked for a refund on services, We calculated hard costs and determined the refund amount should be $2345.00. We had completed the initial setup, and contract review through compliance, we've paid for the client to meet with Outside Counsel, and completed the corporation/entity setup for 168 Prosperity Group Inc. We also paid the client a referral fee of $1,000 for referring himself to Guidant as a referring partner. So with that fee the amount we should refund is $1345. This morning we received a chargeback on the full amount, which we hope the client will reverse at which point we can work towards refunding them the proper amount listed above. For the clients trouble, we will refund the amount of $2,345 and leave the $1,000 referral fee alone.
  
  We have left a voicemail and sent several emails as we hope to resolve this matter. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/02/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  For my small business's 401k plan administration and compliance, I paid a monthly fee to Guidant. In Feb 2021, I had to shut my small business down, and the 401k plan, due to financial difficulties during the ***** pandemic. I submitted all the paperwork required in order to terminate my 401k plan. Guidant is supposed to prepare the final **** filing within 7 months of the termination date. I followed up multiple times over email and phone calls to check on the status, and was repeatedly told that it's under testing, or received no response at all.Suddenly, out of the blue in Sept 2023, they notified me that my **** filing for the year 2022 was ready to be filed. After numerous calls and emails explaining over and over again, that my 401k plan was terminated in 2021, and they should be processing my final **** for the year 2021 instead of leapfrogging that year and treating my 401k plan as active. There was some activity and response back from the team, and they had informed me that they're processing the termination, but after 3 attempts at following up they have gone quiet again.This is not right. Guidant as the plan administrator is responsible to prepare the final **** in a timely manner. Guidant needs to finish the job, and be responsible for any penalties or fines that *** be imposed by IRS due to the late filing.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 11/06/2023

  Hi ***********,

  I'm sorry to hear you are having a poor experience as sometimes testing can take time to resolve. I have talked to the team and they did explain they we are having to navigate some unique circumstances here and have been working with you on these items to ensure you did not get impacted by any taxable distributions. The team did inform me these issues have been resolved now. Our supervisor, ******************************* has reached out to you to ensure the issue if resolved. If for any reason you feel this issue is not resolved, please let me know. 

  Best Regards,

  *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2022

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I contracted Guidant Financial at the end of 2016 for a ROBS arrangement in order to purchase a business. My complaint is consistent with others here--their systems and processes are a total mess, the instructions they provide are not reliable, and their responsiveness is extremely poor. Every filing every year is a major headache. I changed payroll services on their recommendation so that employee data would be automatically populated, and then they discontinued their relationship with the payroll provider (nevermind that the autopopulate didn't work very well). I sold my business in 2021 and have been struggling with Guidant on shutting down the plan. It is in their interest to prolong the process as long as possible as I'm on the hook for a monthly $100+ fee.I had two employees participate in my plan along with me. I was advised by Guidant upon the separation of the first participant from the company to set up a "forfeiture account" in the plan as the employee had not been in the plan for the duration of the vesting schedule. For that employee and the next who separated, I rolled over their contributions and vested amounts and put the unvested parts in the the forfeiture account. I learned later that all matching amounts should have been fully vested under safe-harbor rules. Something I did not understand at the time--nor did the Guidant rep who advised me to set up the forfeiture account. Trying to figure out what to do from there has been an ordeal. I waited for months to get answers from analysis Guidant has been doing on contributions history and forfeitures. There are fines that will be due on amounts that should have gone to my participants instead of the forfeiture account. I don't know what those amounts are, and they continue to accrue. And now Guidant's portal isn't working correctly for filing amendments they have prepared.I want to be finished with this company, but I cannot get free. This should have been complete in Jan 2022.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/15/2022

  Hi ****** - Im sorry for the experience you are having. I talked with the team and it looks like we have paused your billing and have ******* and ***** working with you to get things back on track. Please feel free to respond and let us know if we are not meeting your needs in this resolution - we appreciate you and your business.

  Best,
  *****