Consumer complaint received 2019-12-23
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: NM
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Investigation took more than 30 days

Complaint:
I arrived to New Mexico XX/XX/2019, due to a military XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX. Needing transportation to and from work, through USAA Savings Bank, I financed a XXXX XXXX XXXX for roughly 17k on or around XX/XX/2019. The loan was scheduled to start XX/XX/2019, or when the loan was finalized. I was on the phone the whole time with USAA while I was purchasing the vehicle from a XXXX dealership in XXXX XXXX, TX. On that day, I set up " Auto-Pay '' for my loan through USAA. The process was simple, due to the fact that USAA was my primary banking institution for about 5 years. They had most of my information on file. That day, I even got my auto insurance from USAA. 

On XX/XX/2019, I was on the phone with USAA. Reasons ranging from my anxiety to confirm a payment would not be missed, to trying to stay on top of a lot of money coming in and out from the international military move. I recall specifically, discussing the " auto-pay '' subject. The USAA representative assured me that I had " nothing to worry about ''. I was told that my auto-pay was set-up and I have provided all the information and paperwork necessary. I was told that when the loan was started, my auto-pay would kick in. ( This phone call is recorded and on record, it was confirmed by another USAA representative ) On XX/XX/2019, around XXXX XXXX, I received a call from USAA informing me that I am 3 payments behind. XX/XX/XXXX is thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due. At thirty ( 30 ) days past due, USAA reports late payments to the credit bureau. Any payment determined to be late, accrues a late fee. So, at thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due and just being notified for the first time, my head was spinning. By being notified at thirty-six days past due, I was unable to prevent those penalties. XX/XX/XXXX was the first time I was notified. Prior to that day, I had received no phone calls, I had received no emails, I had received no postal mail from USAA regarding the late payments. As soon as I found out I was late on payments, and being short on money from the military move, I made one payment as soon as I could. 

That day, after work, I spent 3+ hours on the phone with USAA , trying to get to the bottom of everything. I was met with a lot of incompetence and unhelpful representatives. Being transferred from person to person, department to department. Not really ever getting the exact facts on why it took thirty-six days to notify me and why my auto-pay never kicked in. I had USAA representatives tell me that everything was setup for auto-pay and that it was " weird '' I was never notified. To people telling me to just pay and it is my fault. I was able to get one person that gave me a little more information on the situation. My phone records show calls to and from USAA on XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, and XX/XX/XXXX. Almost all calls I raised the issue and had to re-explain the situation to every USAA rep. 

On XX/XX/2019, I was told by a USAA representative, that the XXXX dealership in XXXX XXXX, TX never sent the proper paperwork required to USAA for the auto loan to start until XX/XX/2019. According to the USAA rep, by not sending the paperwork, my auto-pay was never triggered to start when it should have on XX/XX/2019. Same goes for the " debt notifications ''. How it was explained to me, is that I fell through the cracks. Because I had a loan agreement, I was accruing debt from the auto loan but not having actual debt in USAAs system. 

Since XX/XX/2019, I called USAA PLENTY of times to find out what exactly happened. To this day, I still get different stories on what happened. Following the XX/XX/XXXX phone call, I filed a " credit dispute form '' through USAAs website. Weeks later, USAA responded with a blanket statement, saying they only report what is reflected in their records. Their records have me thirty-six ( 36 ) days past due on three ( 3 ) payments. Nothing about their faulty system and me not knowing I even had a debt. My credit score took a major hit. First time in my life I had late payment ( s ). I had excellent credit and excellent payment history. 

From some of my other calls, it was discovered that the dealership did everything on their end, allegedly, according to USAA and the dealership. It is still unknown what happened on XX/XX/2019, that finally pinged USAAs debt department to call me two days later. It was said that the dealership " cleared '' the check given to them by USAA for the car on that date. Different USAA reps and departments say different things. 

On XX/XX/2019, I was told by one USAA representative, that because of how USAAs auto loan system is, that even if I had noticed my payments were late or not being paid, I would not have been able to make the payment anyway. Due to the issue with the dealership paperwork. That sounds illegal, for me to owe a debt and not be able to pay that debt in a timely matter, before fees and penalties occur. I had two or three USAA reps confirm that unjust faulty issue of not being able to pay due to USAAs inept payment system. One USAA rep even agreed that it sounds illegal. 

XX/XX/2019, I went to my base legal office for instruction on how to further proceed with this situation. I was told to start with this report and follow-up from there.

Company public response: Company believes complaint is the result of an isolated error
Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief