Consumer complaint received 2025-12-21 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
This complaint involves both XXXX and USAA, one or both of which committed a banking error as part of a botched dispute process that resulted in the literal disappearance of {$200.00} from my accounts.

I have attempted to resolve the issue multiple times over the past 4 months with both USAA and XXXX to include a 3-way call between USAA and XXXX representatives, but have yet to reach a solution. Both parties have acknowledged the existence and complexity of this discrepancy, however neither have taken any actual action to resolve the error. XXXX has been largely unwilling to pursue the matter, or even provide documentation, while USAA 's process has been limited in its helpfulness. 

For a background on this issue, it began with a fund transfer of {$200.00} from my USAA checking account into my XXXX  account via XXXXXXXX XXXX for my USAA Debit Card. The funds were transferred to pay a private merchant for a product advertised on XXXX XXXX, which unfortunately turned out to be a scam. Attempts were made to dispute the payment directly with XXXX, however because the type of payment was akin to a cash transfer, a dispute was not possible. When filing a police report with the XXXX, CA Police Department, the police recommended also initiating a dispute through USAA. 

The outstanding problems began as a part of this USAA dispute process with XXXX. The dispute was found not in my favor, which was the expected outcome, and I am NOT concerned with the original decision of the dispute. I know that original {$200.00} is gone for good. However, XXXX inexplicably charged my own account a " Debit Card Chargeback '' of {$200.00}, allegedly back to USAA, which did not make it back into my USAA account, and now neither bank can account for the funds. The first problem is that the dispute was never about my own transfer from USAA to XXXX, but the payment made to the merchant. XXXX had sent USAA documentation that the payment in question was unrecoverable. The second glaring problem is that XXXX is claiming they executed a Debit Card Chargeback even though they had denied the dispute claim. Ultimately, between two financial institutions, they managed to make {$200.00} vanish into thin air. My XXXX  account is now at a - {$200.00} balance, with a total loss to me of {$400.00} to include the originally disputed payment to the scam merchant. 

Please see below for a detailed timeline and narrative of events : * XXXX XX/XX/year> {$200.00} transfer from USAA to XXXX which was then used to pay for merchandise advertised on XXXX XXXX ( scam merchant ) * XX/XX/year> Dispute filed with USAA per XXXX Police Department recommendation when filing a police report. 
- Temporary {$200.00} credit issued by USAA pending outcome of dispute * XXXX XX/XX/year> Received correspondence from USAA that a dispute has been submitted to XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XX/XX/year> My own XXXX account shows a Debit Card Chargeback for {$200.00}, resulting in a - {$200.00} balance on my XXXX account, however USAA accounts did not reflect a credit or refund for {$200.00}. 
- Reached out to XXXX  customer service many times, who informed me that they approved and executed a chargeback to USAA and that the charge can not be disputed. 
- Payment to scam merchant still can not be recovered, so this chargeback to USAA was essentially against myself. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> Received correspondence from USAA that the dispute did not result in my favor, and that the provisional credit will be reversed on XXXX XXXX. Note the 7 day discrepancies between the XXXX date and the dispute decision date. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> Temporary credit reversed, and no credits from XXXX back into my account exists - Net loss for me at this point is {$400.00}, {$200.00} of which is from this dispute gone wrong and vanished into thin air * XXXX XX/XX/year> Contacted both USAA and XXXX several times to explain the error, resulting in inaction each time with neither party taking responsibility for the error. XXXX essentially refused to speak to me about a way forward to resolve the charge in question as it involved another bank. XXXX XXXXustomer service would put me through endless transfers between departments and representatives, each time resulting in the agent allegedly exhausting options to help me further. XXXX XXXX agent actually told me this case is too complex and that they do not have a department capable of handling the issue. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> Initiated a XXXX call between USAA, XXXX, and myself to attempt to resolve the issue. During the call, the USAA agent discovered several discrepancies, which should be detailed in the case notes, to include XXXX chargeback date pre-dating the denied dispute decision, and a general unwillingness by XXXX to disclose information. 
- USAA Agent re-opened the case and escalated for review. She also included a request for documentation.

- USAA Agent theorized that the money may be stuck somewhere in limbo in a USAA account, and that the issue may be resolved with a transaction ID number, which XXXX refused to provide at the time.

- USAA Agent assured me that the case will be reviewed and that action/correspondence will occur between USAA and XXXX to resolve the banking error. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> Correspondence received for Request for Documentation, and case was closed without any action or remarks about the core issue. Correspondence consisted of transaction and supporting documentation used for the original decision, to include XXXX 's response to the dispute along with their policies on the money transfer function. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> I called USAA back for a status of the review and was informed that the case was closed. I re-explained the issue, and the agent re-opened the case. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> I once again received correspondence for Request for Documentation, the same exact ones sent earlier, once again without action or remarks for the outstanding banking error issue. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> I called XXXX to inquire about a transaction ID number for the XXXX XX/XX/year> chargeback, which the agent did provide this time but only verbally ( denied request to send written documentation ). The agent was difficult to understand due to his language barrier, but the XXXX ID, transcribed to the best of my ability, is : XXXX. 

* XXXX XX/XX/year> I called USAA resolutions team to once again re-explain the issue, leading us to this point with the case re-opened for review. XXXX recommended that I submit this document to detail this complex issue. 

To summarize, as part of this flawed dispute process, XXXX alleges that they executed a {$200.00} Debit Card chargeback to USAA, which was not received on my end in USAA, meanwhile USAA made a decision against my favor for the dispute, resulting in {$200.00} vanishing between two major financial institutions. I am not arguing the outcome of the original dispute decision, I know that original {$200.00} is gone to the scammer for good. The glaring issue now is how two banks made an additional {$200.00} disappear, with one side claiming that they approved a chargeback, and the other stating the dispute was unsuccessful and did not receive any amount returned by XXXX. The net loss to me now is {$400.00} and many hours dealing with this issue.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation