Consumer complaint received 2024-11-05 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Managing an account — Banking errors
Company: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION
State: TX

Complaint narrative:
Someone insured by USAA hit my parked car. USAA declared it a total loss, so they offered to buy my car. I decided to purchase another car, counting on the settlement check for the down payment. I found a car the next day and bought it. The same day, USAA had a contractor, XXXX, come and pick up my damaged vehicle. XXXX instructed me to sign the title and give it to the tow truck driver. Now they have the car, the keys, and the title, but I have received no compensation. Several hours after my car and title were picked up, I received an email from USAA instructing me to scan and upload the title. I had to inform them that XXXX had already taken it. Then, I called XXXX and was told they often scan in titles for clients. I relayed this to USAA and advised them to amend their instructions accordingly. USAA explained that XXXX picks up cars for various vendors and has that capability, but they are not supposed to do that for USAA. However, they did, and USAA should ensure XXXX abides by their policy. 

The next issue is that the USAA representative handling my insurance claim delayed my payment. He called to ask whether I preferred a check or direct deposit. I chose direct deposit and provided my routing and account numbers. A week later, I still hadn't received the deposit. I have bills to pay, and despite my inquiries, the representative told me he had issued a check but would cancel it and order a direct deposit instead. That was three days ago, I might already have the physical check, but if I deposit it and a stop payment has been issued, it will cause further delays. I am very upset because the car dealership has cashed my check for the down payment, and I need to replace that money with the settlement check to pay my other bills. 

I left a voicemail for the supervisor of claims representatives, who called me back the next day and said that a bot handled the transaction, so it wasn't the agent 's fault. If the bot is malfunctioning, they should fix it. I don't believe that I'm the first customer to experience this issue. When I requested compensation for the lost interest, which USAA profits from, they stated that no further compensation was warranted.

It seems a Class Action would be suitable, considering how many other customers might be missing several days ' worth of interest while USAA withholds their money. This claim should have been resolved in 1-2 days.

In conclusion : 1 ) USAA has no intention of fixing the bot.

2 ) USAA is not planning to address the issue with XXXX regarding the title process or modify their own process to allow XXXX to scan titles. 
3 ) USAA refuses to compensate me for the lost interest, along with the XXXX, time taken off work, and time spent on calls about the title, the claim check, and now, their total mishandling of the process. 
As for me, I insure my house and vehicle with another company. I do bank with USAA, but I will be leaving due to this incident. After almost three decades with them, they have just lost a customer with significant assets.

Follow up : Today I was contacted by XXXX ( no last name given ) from the Claims Advocacy Team, who works closely with the CEO. He insisted that the agent did everything correctly and that he will bring the bot issue to his team for review. He could not explain how a bot could independently change a payment option from DD to paper check, nor could he defend the agents email in which he notified me that a check had been issued, but he would put a stop payment on it and initiate DD ( which, miraculously, the bot got right on the latter attempt ). He SHOULD have given me a choice at that point : deposit the paper check or continue with DD. It should have been MY call, not his, on whether to issue a stop payment. Still, no plans to correct the title process. No plan to compensate me for the lost interest on a payment that should have been deposited several days earlier, time away from my job on all the phone calls/emails back and forth over a single claim. 

Steps I have already taken in order to address this : 1. Spoke with a USAA agent about changing the instructions regarding title processing. Suggested that either USAA amends its instructions to the consumer, or notifies XXXX and instructs them NOT to ask for the car owner to surrender the title.

2. Left a voice mail for the claims agent after several days had passed and no direct deposit had been made.

3. Contacted his supervisor.

4. Submitted a complaint to XXXX 
5. Wrote and submitted a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
Additional information : USAAs Corporate Office XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Agents I have spoken with at USAA XXXX XXXX XXXX ( See # above, ext. XXXX ) XXXX XXXX ( See # above, ext. XXXX ) XXXX ( See # above, ext. XXXX ) USAA claims department refers to : XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX. Its parent company is USAA, direct line : XXXX

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