Consumer complaint received 2022-04-30
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: CA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Managing an account
Sub-issue: Deposits and withdrawals

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I deposited my first payroll warrant ( treasury check ) from the state of California. I immediately called the bank because the places the funds, which are subject to immediate availability, on hold for 5 business days ( a total of 7 days later. ) I requested for them to release the hold and asked them to escalate my request on the basis of the type of check that it is. My account had a few NSF fees in the past because I've unemployed during much of the pandemic and just trying to survive off of first unemployment, then student grant money. I finally have a reliable job, though, and they were placing my funds on hold. I expressed concern that my vehicle payment would not be able to clear if they didn't release all my money. The representative advised me that in the case of a deposit hold, they generally do not assess NSF fees. Later, they did and we were able to have some removed. I did not end up requesting all of them, because I know they do not reverse said fees lightly. I deposited several other payroll checks from the state in smaller amounts : {$160.00} on XX/XX/XXXX, and {$390.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. Neither were placed on any hold, so I thought we were good. 
I was multitasking when I worked to immediately deposit my most recent payroll check at XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX when it was issued to me. ( I was at work, unfortunately my direct deposit hadn't taken yet and HR had issued me another paper warrant/check. ) I thought it said {$1800.00} available and {$300.00} on hold. That wasn't great, but wouldn't cause my vehicle payment to be rejected so I accepted the mobile deposit. ( There is not anywhere for me to manually deposit my paycheck nor deposit cash if I were to cash it within the state of XXXX/or a reasonable distance of where I live, that represents my bank. ) I deposited my pay warrant of {$2100.00}. They made {$300.00} available to me. Prior to said deposit, my account was positive and had been positive all month long ( with the exception of items affected by my check being on hold from XX/XX/XXXX, but they were immediately taken care of with money and it did not stay negative for any length of time in XXXX. ) My husband called ( since I was still at work ) to try to get the hold removed and was told, " The system would not allow them to remove the hold. '' ( The same reason they gave me last month, which I now find is not exactly true. Team leaders have some ability if the call is escalated to consider a hold removal on case-by-case basis. ) He escalated all the way to the department head, whereupon he was advised that he should " give me the money '' from his account to avoid NSF on my account and I could " pay him back. '' Unprofessional, in my opinion ( as a former XXXX  myself of 8yrs. ) I initiated a conversation XX/XX/XXXX with XXXX XXXX via chat. Whereupon she shared with me that she was unable to release any holds and that chat representatives can not do this. I let her know I was okay with waiting for a supervisor, or that she or her cohort could call me and I would be happy to speak with them and provide an image of my payroll check for their review to confirm that, yes, this was a treasury check subject to IMMEDIATE funds availability. She shared with me a statement which essentially amounted to, " If you do not want to have holds on your account, put more money into your account. '' When I pointed out how condescending it was, XXXX XXXX immediate disconnected me from the conversation without further ado. As a result, I called. I spoke with a woman XX/XX/XXXX around XXXX and advised my check is a state treasury check, subject to immediate availability, and that they were unlawfully withholding my payroll check. I requested for it to be released immediately. After a lengthy hold, the representative advised me that her supervisor said they " could not see the check '' in their system and would not until 24hrs had elapsed and that " I should call back on Monday. '' I requested she notate my account that this was her directive. She claimed to do so and then verified that my car payment had not already attempted to clear. I thanked her for her time and here we are- my paycheck is still on hold and I am without necessary funds to pay my household needs. Worth noting, a day prior I had {$1300.00} in my account from the VA education stipend fund as I am the spouse of a XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX veteran ( XXXX ). So, it's not like there wasn't money in my account the day before or even the day of. Unfortunately, I have horrible interest rates and awful credit due to extended unemployment, so my bills are exorbitant and took most of that money to cover them. It's an ugly cycle. Please help me fix this with my bank so I won't continue to have this issue AND other people won't either. They need to change their policy. By the way, I DID offer repeatedly to produce a check image for the supervisor to review but she said that " wasn't good enough, '' and they needed to be able to see it within their own system.

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