I would guess that USAA has a cash flow issue. They sold off all of the investment side of their business along with the employees to support those functions. And, according to the San Antonio newspaper, a large portion of the USAA office space is now unoccupied. The costs associated with the space remain. In addition to those costs USAA is undergoing a program to make a massive change in its culture. So with revenue down and fixed costs unchanged little is left to provide service at the level that we all have enjoyed in the past. Add to this a cultural change that no longer focuses on the membership and you get exactly what you have described. Yesterday I did a search on employee attitudes at USAA. Many of the comments made were about managers that did not support those directly involved with members, mixed messages as to what was expected and lack of internal communication. High pay and employee benefits were high on the list of things that employees liked about USAA. "Evil customers" and angry members on the phone were high on the list of negatives about working at USAA. If even one employee states that the member (the person who actually pays them) is evil there is something seriously wrong with leadership. I have been waiting over two months to have a problem corrected with lots of statements made about the problem being corrected and no actual effort that can be observed to fix the problem. This is a leadership problem and it cannot be fixed by the person talking to the member on the phone. Until that is recognized at the very top of the USAA organizational ladder we will continue to see the poor treatment that is so prevalent today. The problems at USAA are very deep. And, yes, USAA is undergoing a cultural change, but it is not the change that is so desperately needed.
