Consumer complaint received 2021-01-11
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: IL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
USAA has neglected and dropped my dispute cases repeatedly and unethically. 
I bought a XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX with a payment processor through XXXX. Processed ~ {$2000.00} on the card while the remainder $ XXXX in payment plan to pay monthly. Upon getting the computer, it wasn't acting right. I called he company to tell them about the missing parts and the service and build of the PC was horrible. Plugs weren't pushed in all the way, wire management was horrible. etc. The GPU wasn't acting right and the heat was above what it was supposed to be. The MOBO wasn't picking up the bios correctly and many other small issues. There were no Serial numbers in the box or packing, which is what most companies do for custom PCs. they cut out the serial number on the box and give it to the customer. I didn't get anything. When I tried to get troubleshooting help on the Mfg sites. I didn't have the serial numbers to get the info I needed. I took the PC apart, noticed the serial numbers were all missing, scratched off, and torn off. the Dram, gpu, and mobo. All of the parts that weren't XXXX brand. 

I disputed the transaction with USAA. Submitted the benchmarks difference with normal pc and mine, pictures of the serial numbers being removed. Also the email of the company saying they won't give me the serial numbers and don't have them. Showing that they never had them as well. All proving that this PC was counterfeit. I sent them the FTC report number as well. The FTC took the PC to investigate and had the system for ~3 months. I called in about the dispute after it was " closed '' and tried to get the dispute people to call me. It took them from XXXX - XXXX to finally call me. Over 6 months. I called 1-2 times a week to the front call center, they put in the requests MANY times to get call backs. They would claim the notes in the account say they try to call me, but yet i never got missed calls. Even notes saying they leave a voicemail. But I never got any missed voicemails. 3 months into this process, I told them to talk to their IT team, because they obviously have my number blocked on their IP communicator side. In XXXX I finally wasted 8 hours of a day trying to get to a tech team member to investigate my number being blocked. Finally I got my number unblocked. Within a few hours, I got a call from the dispute rep who fabricated so much information, I just had to hang up. 

Firstly, they claimed they didn't have enough information to investigate, for months on the notes. I submitted everything and requested they tell me what more they needed. Yet couldn't tell me what they needed exactly. He kept skating around the lines and claiming that nothing I should proved it was a counterfeit PC. Yet my Background and XXXX  or XXXX  in XXXX XXXX wasn't enough to evaluate it as counterfeit. Then after dictating CA Penal code that shows that it's illegal for anyone to sell PC parts without serial numbers. The Rep continued to fabricate any other excuse as to why the bank couldn't dispute the charge. Then tried to push it on Visa. Claiming that they were following their policy. I spent a day communicating with Visa. Visa 's policies state that counterfeit items are covered by their dispute policies given to merchants and banks. When I brought that back to the dispute rep. They turned it into something else and made another excuse why they couldn't process it. 

After arguing with him for a while he claimed that there was nothing he could do either way. Since the timeline of the dispute has passed, I had to argue this information months ago. WHEN THEY DIDN'T COMMUNICATE WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME. I have hundred of calls I made to them, yet XXXX shoes NO calls coming to my phone from their bank in relation to the hundreds of call backs I requested. 

Today, I get a call from another person who shoots down a different path and claims that they can't dispute the account because the need the invoice of the purchase. Since XXXX was the merchant and XXXX is the payment processor. I yelled at him and argued that they could have told me this in a letter, email, text, call MONTHS prior, so I could have gotten this information and then he continued to say the timeline is passed. Which is idiotic to say the least, since they didn't communicate with me at all during the dispute process and had my number blocked on their own system. 

After asking if I could just get the invoice for them, can they just make the exception of processing the dispute as they are supposed to. They refused. Then explaining that they can't dispute the payment processor. If I made a payment through them and the merchant didn't deliver. Then they can't dispute it. Just like XXXX uses XXXX. Or XXXX using XXXX  etc. Yet there is no policy he could explain that shows that. He just kept changing the reason why they can't do it. I told them that I would take them to civil court and he said that was the only option. 

There are still two disputes open that were dropped and never processed with USAA. 
The other process from XXXX. I made two orders in 2 days. Never got the orders after 1 month. Disputed the charges and the bank claimed they never had enough information. They refunded one charge, then dropped the second order dispute and never even bothered to put notes on the case file for months on end. Still same excuses timeline being too far in the past to dispute the charges. 

OTHER issues about the bank is their lending programs and credit card application processes. I created the account XX/XX/XXXX, opened the account with 2 credit cards. XX/XX/XXXX, I applied to purchase my lease. Credit score sitting at XXXX. No mortgage etc. So debt to income ratio is fine. They denied the loan for XXXX. Reason was " too many inquiries ''. Yet when I checked my credit profile. USAA was literally the only things on my account, 3 inquiries when I opened their account. Last inquiries were in XXXX, when I purchased my house and got my car lease. 

After a week or so, I called back up to complain about that process. It didn't make any sense why I would be denied. Again got all the excuses. But in reality, the underwriting team literally has no ability to go against the algorithm they use for debt to income ratio. I applied again, as directed by the " senior rep '' because they could push a few things around. Again, denied. meaning I had now 5 hard hits on the account. A month or so later after complaining about it to some senior reps. Got no where. But I needed something when my lease was up. So I called back and applied for a XXXX loan for a motorcycle. Denied, again, too many inquiries. The only ones on the credit score was USAA. But they gave me a 3rd credit card. So now my " credit limit '' with 3 cards was close to {$12000.00}. The SAME amount I originally requested in the first loan. 

The bank is forcing me into Credit cards to purchase a vehicle to pay their 16 % interest rates etc. While leaving me in debt to them in the complete ignorant manner in which I was forced into their credit cards and not auto loan as originally asked. 

Now my credit is sitting near XXXX with loans maxed out to cover all the payments to purchase a motorcycle and parts, because they wouldn't give me the loan to cover a new bike. Killing my credit and forcing me into debt with their higher interest rates.

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation