Consumer complaint received 2023-05-31
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: AZ
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Fees or interest
Sub-issue: Charged too much interest

Complaint:
I would like to report XXXX fraudulent practice on supposedly 0 % promotional offer related to my USAA American Express Credit Card. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, USAA sent me a 0 % Promotional Offer for my USAA American Express Credit Card through XX/XX/XXXX billing cycle. I availed {$2000.00} of the offer on XX/XX/XXXX and was charged 3 % which is {$60.00} fee which I was okay with as it was clearly stated in the letter. Starting XX/XX/XXXX up to my recent bank statement of XX/XX/XXXX, I have been charged {$0.00} to {$0.00} every month labeled XXXX on Purchases. Its a very minimal amount and I didnt really have time to look into it deeper UNTIL TODAY! 

Heres a summary/timeline of everything that happened : XX/XX/XXXX Purchased gas for {$65.00} XX/XX/XXXX Received bank statement with the XXXX XXXX of {$65.00}. Minimum due was {$15.00} with payment due date of XX/XX/XXXX. NO OTHER PURCHASES IN XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX Availed the 0 % XXXX Offer for {$2000.00}. NO OTHER PURCHASES IN XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX Paid {$65.00} XXXX XXXX balance in full on the due date. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received bank statement with XXXX XXXX of {$2000.00} with minimum payment due of {$30.00} due on XX/XX/XXXX. The new balance consisted of the {$2000.00} convenience check plus the {$60.00} fee. NO OTHER PURCHASES IN XXXX. 

XX/XX/XXXX Paid the minimum payment due of {$30.00}. 

XX/XX/XXXX Received bank statement with new balance of {$2000.00}. NO OTHER PURCHASES IN XXXX. Upon review of this statement, as I was tracing back the source of the Interest on Purchases charges, I found that somehow in this bank statement, they were able to sneak in, under the Interest Charge Calculation on Page XXXX, an amount of {$15.00} Regular Purchases subject to 20.65 % interest rate even though I have not made any purchases since XX/XX/XXXX!!! How very sneaky!!! 

The following unauthorized charges were added to my account : o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} o XX/XX/XXXX {$0.00} These are very small amounts but its the principle that counts!!! 

I spoke to customer service agent Destiny today, XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am XXXX time to report this and she said she can only go back 4 months and not from the beginning of the charges, and make an adjustment only on the last 4 months, which I have yet to receive. I asked if they will continue to charge me in the succeeding months and she could not provide me an answer. I was on the phone with her for XXXX minutes. She put me on hold a few times while she asked another colleague of hers, until she finally hung up on me without any resolution or even saying goodbye. The issue remained unresolved. 

I know this is a very minimal amount, but I think this is tantamount to fraud. While my charges are only in cents, totaling {$1.00}, how much are they charging other customers? And if were not checking those interest charge calculations, are we just at their mercy? This fraudulent practice probably gives USAA so much income that is not rightfully theirs. Im reporting this because this is wrong, and they are unable to help me at this point. 

Hopefully by reporting this to you, they will take this issue more seriously and look at their interest calculation system. Hopefully they also have the decency to respond!

Company public response: Company believes complaint represents an opportunity for improvement to better serve consumers
Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief