Complaints
This profile includes complaints for Principal Financial Group's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see
Customer Complaints Summary
- 317 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 89 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe 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:05/23/2023
Type: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.
I recently left a job and received a letter from Principal Financial saying I could elect a lump sum distribution.I filled out and submitted the form online on 4/21/23. I was told by customer service it would be 2-3 weeks and three days for direct deposit.Its 5/21/23 today and I keep being told 2-3 weeks when its been a month. I'd like to know the status of my election since they won't tell me over the phone.
Business Response
Date: 05/23/2023
Thank you for forwarding. We will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/18/2023
Type: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.
Extremely poor customer service. ******************** as a company is abhorrent. I recently left my employer and did a roll-over 401k to another company, and it has been a nightmare. It took over 2 months to process. Once the payments finally did go to another 401k provider, that is when it got terrible. They tried to send me to collections without contacting me. I finally received a letter that said they overpaid me somehow when doing the roll-over. All of the letters look like phishing scams and are so badly written they are hard to understand. I have called them 10+ times to work this out and asked for a call back and email follow up. Nothing for months. When I finally get a letter telling me how much it was overpaid, they said $4500. I didn't even have that much in the plan... I called several times and finally a manager re-did the math and confirmed that I was still overpaid but only $400 this time... I asked to see their math and explain to me why this happened. They still haven't sent me my account information or details to help me understand where they are even getting their numbers from. This place is despicable. Their management clearly don't care about customers. Do not work with this company. Ask your employer to work with anyone else but this company.Business Response
Date: 05/19/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/18/2023
Type: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.
On April 15th I submitted a hardship. I have waited over a month now and still have not received my hardship withdrawal. I have sent many emails and have spoke to many customer service representatives. I just keep getting pushed off to someone else who assures me they are taking care of the problem. I have two different emails with the date my funds were going to be released, and still nothing. I have wasted way to much time and truthfully I don't trust Principal to have my 401k funds. After reading other reviews I realize they do this over and over...............so why is this? Its pathetic to file a hardship and a month later being lied to over and over again.Business Response
Date: 05/19/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Customer Answer
Date: 05/23/2023
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:05/11/2023
Type: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.
My retirement account was moved from Empower to Principal. Principal is charging me outrageous account fees, they refuse to close the account and send my funds directly to me. I spoke with ***** who claimed she was a supervisor, I asked to speak with her supervisor and informed her the call was being recorded. ***** then disconnected the call after providing me false information. This is company has stolen my funds and refuses to provide me with a distribution.Business Response
Date: 05/11/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/05/2023
Type: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.
Hi the reason I'm writing to you is that I'm trying to get Principal Financial to transfer my 401k to my financial institution (kalsee credit union) and their not doing it despite my request and my financial institutions request 2 weeks ago. PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL (****) states they never got the request and this was in front of my financial institution representative that I'm working with. I was with her the whole time doing the request 2 weeks ago and her showing me how thorough of her request. My call today to financial with my phone on speaker and the 3 of ** was to find out why the money had not arrived yet. I told Financial in early April of my decision and the guy today **** gave me a hard time on my decision. He even went to the extreme of asking me if I was an ******* citizen. The 401k is being held and they won't release it to my financial institution. I've waited already 10 days for it to arrive and now **** states it will take another 10 days of waiting. I want it transferred to my account as soon as possible because of this ridiculous circus with Principal of not doing business in the right fashion within effecting my health from the stress. They can't withhold someone's money. I want my money sent now I'm tired of the circus mumbo jumbo.Business Response
Date: 05/05/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:05/03/2023
Type: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.
Principal is requiring investors to accept electronic statements to view their accounts online. This means people wanting to continue paper statements have to call to get them reinstated. Upon calling, I cannot get the appropriate person to assist. I'm not a lawyer, but this may be in violation of Section 338 of the Secure 2.0 Act.Business Response
Date: 05/04/2023
Thank you for forwarding. We will respond directly to the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:04/26/2023
Type: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.
#1 Unable to request direct deposit from the website.#2 This website is about 20s years old in tec compared to my Principal 401K account. (Feeling like the ugly stepchild)#3 The minimum deposit is $100! What the heck! I will be leaving this Principal Funds as soon as the 18 month minimum waiting time is over or until I can stomach paying the fee to leave this antiquated company.#4 Their S&P 500 ************** fee was over quadruple the cost, compared to the S&P 500 Index with my 401K!I am terribly disappointed in Principal Funds and I do feel tricked into moving over to their *** account trusting that they would be equal in quality to the Principal 401K. The only positive side is that the lady in customer service was very polite, though unable to really help since it the companies polices and website that are at fault.Business Response
Date: 05/04/2023
Thank you for making us aware of this issue. We are responding directly to the consumer.Initial Complaint
Date:04/25/2023
Type: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.
Principal financial.In my eligibility and benefits page that I included, it clearly shows that preventative dental work is 100% covered for both in and out of network. After my wife and i had our cleanings done I received a bill for just under half the total cost. After messaging principal the message I received, which I included, is that they cover 100% of the maximum allowable charge. This is not clearly stated anywhere in documents available to me, or on thier web page. After spending hours looking was I able to find a definition of maximum allowable charge. This hiding of information and being misleading is unacceptable. If I scour every word available to me and I can't find it unless they specifically send it to me is bait and switch at the very least and should be illegal.Business Response
Date: 05/03/2023
This is the response for complaint #********. Principal Life Insurance Company takes very seriously our responsibility to protect our customers confidentiality. Therefore, we will respond directly to our member. Please let me know if you have any further questions. *******************************, Principal Life Insurance Company.Customer Answer
Date: 05/04/2023
Complaint: 19976928
I am rejecting this response because: I have already spoken at length with principal financial about this issue and their representative made their position clear. I included a picture from our conversation. Since their position was made clear to me I don't see the need to speak with them further.
Sincerely,
***************************Initial Complaint
Date:04/21/2023
Type: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 filed to have my funds complete withdraw on 04/12/2023 due to me closing the account. On there website it says it takes a total of 7 to 10 days to verify my separation. I have followed and still nothing. I would like this completed in a timely mannerBusiness Response
Date: 04/21/2023
Thank you for forwarding the complaint. Do you have the account number of the customer? Thank you.Customer Answer
Date: 04/21/2023
Complaint: 19965506
Account ******
Sincerely,
*************************Business Response
Date: 04/25/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Customer Answer
Date: 05/03/2023
Complaint: 19965506
I am rejecting this response because:
They have yet to complete the request and It has been almost a month. There time frames are not correct and i feel like they have not tried. My next step is a department of labor complaint against them and my ex employer. My 401k is being held hostage
Sincerely,
*************************Customer Answer
Date: 05/03/2023
Complaint: 19965506
I am rejecting this response because:
They have yet to complete the request and It has been almost a month. There time frames are not correct and i feel like they have not tried. My next step is a department of labor complaint against them and my ex employer. My 401k is being held hostage
Sincerely,
*************************Business Response
Date: 05/03/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal has responded directly to the complainant and will continue to be in contact with the complainant.Initial Complaint
Date:04/21/2023
Type: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 submitted forms several times for a distribution of MY money. They continue to say more forms, more forms. I was then told to e-mail twice and then finally fax and they still are not giving me my money. I need to pay off my home and they continue to give me the run around. 00Business Response
Date: 04/21/2023
Thank you for forwarding. Principal will respond directly to the complainant.Customer Answer
Date: 04/21/2023
Complaint: 19962203
I am rejecting this response because:I'm attaching proof of sending this form 4 times alrkleady. I am homebound and do not have a printer or scanner. I've used my phone and bought a fax app which is how ai first applied for my *******/20/23.
Sincerely,
***********************Business Response
Date: 04/25/2023
We are working directly with the complainant and discussed what is needed to re-start the process.
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