USAA wtf?

I got my mortgage through them…paid it off early

 

Wow!

Unlike USAA Customer Service to treat their customers like you describe. I've been with USAA since 1996 and have always had great service.

Like is mentioned, use credit card instead of debit card. I've learned the hard way in the past, that money takes longer to be returned to your checking account. I use the debit card for cash withdrawals now. Use the USAA credit card as you said you already have.

I try to conduct most of my business on the USAA website. There's a "chat" button on the USAA top menu bar.

I'm also surprised the system didn't automatically ask you to hold your place on the call. Maybe they were so backed up the system couldn't handle the overload.

All these unknown circumstances. I hope USAA is able to correct this error and make you happy again.

Also suggest you remove your debit card from Amazon and use USAA credit card/use web bill pay to pay for charges.

Ed

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Been since 92 ish for me…good tips and will look into those….

 

USAA bought me my tacoma! gave me like 12k more than I paid for it when my 2020 was totaled.

 

I didn’t read all this. But.
Some people said use a CC instead of bank card. This is great advice.
I too have been burned quite a bit of money using a bank card. -never got it back-

 

Insurance companies should stay out of banking. And many other things. That said.....

You have seen the news where we are in the midst of the 'great resignation' period haven't you?

CSCs have been big business for many years now. I supported a couple and briefly managed one. I would guess that many of them are having real staffing issues. For multiple reasons.

If you think USAA is bad, try calling ChampVA sometime. And when you do speak with someone, getting lucky to have a rep that can find your answer is real double jeapordy.

 

we use the 18005318722, dunno if that makes a difference...never had a 3 hr wait

 

Keep your USAA and open a local credit union account. Thats the best way to deal with moving cash around through the USAA ecosystem. Need 5k cash, transfer it to local CU, walk in and get it in person, no BS fraud drama.

I have constant issues with using my USAA visa, and zero with using my USAA amex. I dont use my debit card, ever. It sits in the safe 24/7.

 

Ive had zero issues using debit card. For us insurance is somehow cheaper elsewhere. Only one incident not even a major wreck.

 

My sister says there was a successful ransomware attack among several retailers over several days last week, and that corrupted a large number of transactions. Lots of banks are apparently dealing with customer issues regarding those transactions.

Odds are that whether you bank with USAA, Chase, First Federal, Fifth/Third, or Joe Bob’s Crab Shack and Check Cashing - you’d still be in this boat.

Hope it resolves soon. Sucks not being to access your money.

 

Sucks to hear about your issues. My only dealing with USAA was getting an insurance quote. They quoted me $300 more than Progressive on the same coverages then started calling me every day after I said I was going to look elsewhere.

 

I didnt get calls but it was cheaper for us to go elsewhere...dunno how/why but at least Im not only one

 

Although some companies may be able to quote you a lower price, another factor to keep in mind is how responsive your insurance company is when you need actually need to file a claim... I have been with USAA for over 30 years and not once have I had an issue with getting claims quickly processed and paid when needed. I will never switch.

 

So I finally figured out the issue… when I paid off my mortgage in MAY I had some money moving around (of course I did, and yes I no longer have a mortgage payment ).

It triggered some security tag or whatever that would only allow me to,speak,with that department…. Why this turned into an issue 6 months later is a mystery or if there was any notification …..

On the plus side …all this nonsense prompted me to search for a better rate on my truck loan than I had from usaa and did some searching and went from a 3.25 to a 1.49%…. paid off some of the principal and voila payment drops over $100… of course I will pay it off early probably even this year as that’s how I roll….

 

Been with USAA (insurance only) for over 30 years. Great customer service, and the staff always speak understandable ENGLISH. I just ended my account with Navy Federal, which is really Pentagon Federal Credit Union. For the past few months they have jacked me around with issues regarding online access. So they lost my account and business for crappy customer service. Your advice about using a local bank is spot on for movement of assets etc. Nothing like being able to walk in and do business face-to-face.

 

Only had one instance and USAA froze everything immediately. They certainly don't mess around when it comes to that stuff. Never had a problem here other than not having anything local to deposit in, which I solved by making sure my local credit union account has external transfers - for free. Also the best vehicle insurance I've ever had and I have looked at them all. I was able to go in and do all the details myself, down to the usage and mileage I put on it without having to speak to anyone or a salesperson trying to sell me insurance that is overpriced - my biggest pet peeve about insurance companies. IMHO, USAA is great. I'll take an occasional long, or very long in OP's case, wait time in exchange for the rest of what they do for us. As far as banks go... they are on the bottom of my kill list. That says a lot about them, lol

 

30+ years with USAA. Insurance, banking, investments (until they divested), and mortgages. The one insurance claim I’ve had in that time (2 years ago) was seamless. I found in the last 5 years or so they weren’t competitive on mortgages for either purchase or refi. Not sure I’ve experienced 3 hour wait times on the phone, but I did recently spend well over an hour on 3 separate occasions trying to solve a recurring issue where the automatic insurance payment charged to my USAA credit card wouldn’t go through. IMO USAA lost some of their great customer service as they’ve focused on growth and I think they desperately need some kind of higher-level ombudsman or IG function.

My problem had the banking and insurance divisions insisting they were in the right and suggesting it was the other’s error. Had a hell of a time finding someone—other than myself—willing to take ownership of the problem to get it resolved. Each acted like they were independent from the other.

They’ve lost my loyalty, and some of my business, but it would be a huge PITA to migrate everything away from them and I’m not sure who’d do a better job.

 

My recent experience with USAA was a vehicle (2003 Honda Pilot) claim on Oct 3, 2018. Lady was riding the two-way turn lane (suicide lane) from my left as a driver gave me the right-of-way to come out of the bank driveway to turn left. I looked right to see if I could make the left turn and then left and saw the lady coming straight for me. I said to myself, "you're gonna hit me, aren't you lady?" and sure enough, she hit me!

I won't go into the details with the accident report and the lady repeatedly saying, "I didn't see him". Clearly, if I had time to pull forward and stop in the suicide lane and look right (first) then look left and she's still barreling down the lane, she wasn't paying attention.

Anyway, I called USAA (after I called my wife) and did not wait very long before an agent was helping me with my claim. I was surprisingly calm even though I kept looking at my baby that I bought new in Hawaii (I was stationed at Hickam) that had over 210K miles on her. I wasn't worried because the lady driving the other vehicle and I were both not harmed.

I calmly told the agent what happened and their friendly demeanor helped me cope with what comes next after an accident. Of course, my first concern was a replacement vehicle which the agent was able to get the closest car rental place...which I still needed to get to. Step in one of the Law Enforcement Officers who offered me a ride in the back seat...I was able to see where a person who gets arrested sits...which was kinda an adventure in itself.

So, I took care of all the initial business with USAA and received my rental and was now waiting on the vehicle assessment. My Pilot was considered a total loss! Man, I was bummed. I paid $32K for our SUV in 2002 and it took my family everywhere during the assignments following Hickam:

Ramstein, Germany 2003-06
Dover AFB, DE 2006-08
Aviano AB, Italy 2008-11

She also took me to Alamagordo, NM from Dover, DE and back to Delaware when I went on the road to work for Boeing and the QF16 program as a contractor.

Back to the assessment...because I had several add-ons, the initial value went up. I was happy to get $4500 to use for my next vehicle...the 2009 Mazda CX-9.

Getting back to the USAA transaction, after the police report was filed I found out I was 20% at fault while the lady driver who hit my car was 80% at fault. She never showed up to court and that report was the final analysis. USAA said because I was partly at fault, my insurance was going up slightly.

All-in-all, a fairly simple transaction that didn't traumatize me too much. I was trying to hunt down another pilot (not new) but didn't want to spend more than $10K for a decent car. All Pilots I looked at had over 100K miles and over $13K and I wasn't willing to spend over my threshold.

I went to our local Honda dealership's used car lot and told one of the reps my situation and he said there was a newly added vehicle that fits my requirements. That's how I got my 2010 Mazda CX-9 with 121K miles with a $10K price tag.

It wasn't until after we refinanced our mortgage that I had decided I to pull the trigger on a new vehicle. I was initially interested in the Tundra until my wife emphatically persuaded me to go with a smaller truck. That's how I came to focusing on the Tacoma.

Okay, time to wrap this up! USAA was a great experience for me. I haven't had any issues where I was noticeably upset about how they handled my business. I am very fortunate in that regard and very happy with my Sport Taco! I financed my truck loan with USAA too! Love my 1.8% APR.

Here's a couple of pics of the crime scene. I'm over it now (wanting a Pilot) and my focus is the Midnight Black TRD Sport that I own.





E
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I dumped USAA this year for a local bank with ties to the community. Most of the benefits of using USAA disappeared when other banks started doing the same things. Even switched my car insurance away from them and its $400 cheaper.

 

@V01dnet

Wow!

You revived this from when I last posted in January.

How long had you been with USAA?

We've always had local Credit Union membership (closed as we PCS'd) but I've always kept USAA since I was stationed at Dyess AFB, TX (1993-99).

If I remember correctly, it was between 97-99 that I joined.