Consumer complaint received 2020-02-12
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Getting a loan or lease
Sub-issue: Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2020 my husband and I applied for and were approved for an auto loan using the USAA website. We were promptly approved of a used car loan for 4.09 % financing up to {$45000.00}. We were offered in writing a .25 % rate reduction if we signed up for monthly auto draft payments and another .5 % rate reduction if we used the USAA Truecar buying website in total the rate would be 3.29 %. My husband and I were happy with this rate and did not continue to shop for any other loans. We even told the dealership not to shop for any loans we were loyal to USAA and happy with the 3.29 % we were receiving. Then we started our search buy logging into the USAA website and clicking on the Truecar link. We understood this meant we were using the Truecar Service. So when I contacted USAA to explain there was an error and my rate should be 3.29 % they said give it 10 days or so it had not updated yet. When I followed up a few weeks later by phone I was told that I was not eligible for the rate promised because I did not click on the link to have the dealership contact me directly, instead I chose to call the dealership myself. I explain that I would have clicked this " certificate '' giving all my contact info to the dealership had I understood it was required to receive the rate. I also explained that I stopped selecting the link after the first two cars I was interested in because I was being bombarded with calls from multiple dealerships. I also explained that I would have happily followed the procedure had it been clearly explained necessary to earn the rate. I also explained that once at the dealership to make my purchase they did ask if I had the certificate and I said I would be happy to print it out but they said not to worry they would take care of it. I explained to USAA that I feel victim of a " bait and switch '' having been promised 3.29 % and having to pay 3.79 % because the directions were not clear. I feel USAA advertised to me 3.29 % and did not honor their commitment. I spoke to a supervisor today and they said the rate would not be corrected that I did not follow procedure. I never thought USAA would treat their customer this way. I have a copy of the dealer funding instructions, nowhere does it say that this certificate must be included for the discount to apply. It is also not stated in the application process or when given the different rate options. Im so surprised at this lack of customer care or concern from USAA. After speaking with the supervisor I went back on the mobile site to see where I made the mistake. There is an asterisk 1 after the advertised .5 rate discount and I click on the link to " learn more '' it says my nothing about it. It says get started but never explains the asterik1. The options are " get started '', " view your application '', " rates as low as '' " how much do I qualify for '' After searching on the mobile site for about 10 minutes I was able to locate a disclosure in fine print at the bottom of a page that says " To qualify for the .50 % auto loan rate discount, the borrower must access the USAA Car Buying Service on usaa.com or the USAA mobile app. find a vehicle and submit their contact information to the dealer. '' This info is almost hidden from the buyer. Like I said had I known I would have followed the procedure. In the future I would ask USAA to clearly display this information in multiple locations or at least make the information prominent in their advertising. Or put this information on approved rate sheet where you select new/used with the rates and terms and it shows the discounts, Or USAA could include this in the funding instructions that they provided me and I provided to the dealer. I do feel duped and I do feel upset because USAA has the opportunity to explain this detail in each location or page that mentions the .50 % rate discount and hides the information in fine print at the bottom of a page. I thought USAA was morally above other for profit banks. I never expected they would not make this right. 

XXXX XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation