hidden surrender fee

[brtskahi]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Hawaii
I just rolled over a 403b account with a well-known brokerage company into a rollover IRA with a different brokerage company. I was charged a large surrender fee. When I opened the 403b the agent did not mention anything about surrender fees, and when I applied for the rollover, the person I spoke to on the telephone to get the rollover application did not mention anything about a surrender fee. Is there anything I can do legally to fight to get back this surrender fee that they never told me about? The company says information about the surrender fee was in the prospectus given to me when I opened the account. That thing is about a hundred pages long in fine print, and I received it 9 years ago. Thank you.

[Roo]

While it would have been nice if they reminded you, they don't have to.You agreed to the fee when you signed the document.
Would the fee have changed your course of action if you were aware of it?
I always let my attorney deal with all the fine print, she's much better at it then I am.
I think you're pretty much out of luck, but standby for more experienced opinions.

[brtskahi]

You're probably right, however I wonder how many people actually read all the fine print and how from from how many people, to their dismay, this company has taken surrender fees about which they knew nothing. To me this is really an underhanded way to do business, and I hope it comes back to bite them in the ass.

[anteater]

What are you expecting from companies that work the 403b market? They are bottom-dwelling knuckle walkers.