My experience with Treasury Direct is the same. I've actually used it in a discussion about how the bureaucracy of big government is grossly inefficient compared to the financial institutes in private enterprise. Right now I'm trying to convert a few i bonds from paper to a TD account. Wait times for phone questions is horrid and the paper work is unnecessarily tedious and difficult. I'd like the bonds in TD so I can designate a beneficiary, but I understand you can cash in paper bonds at banks, which is a possibility.