After the Target compromise in November USAA selected certain members to have new cards issued. Not all members who had used their cards at Target, just "some". One of those was my 26 year old son who, like many of his generation, never use cash, just plastic. So, today, when his debit card was declined he called USAA for an explanation. He was told that he should have received an email or letter regarding the issuance of a new card. USAA should have gotten a clue when the card was returned to them as they sent it to an address he hadn't lived at in the past two years! However, they had to reissue another card (misuse of member funds) which can only be sent by snail mail in 3-5 business days...it's Friday evening folks...he won't have that card for a week. With tomorrow being the first of the month it may mean he will incur late fees from his apartment, utilities etc. They certainly don't care that it's USAA's fault and USAA certainly isn't going to reimburse him.
After he told me about the problem I phoned USAA. There were a couple of discrepancies of what he had been told and what I was told, but the one thing that infuriates me the most is that the rep he spoke to never told him that it stemmed from the Target compromise. I found out as I drug it out of the poor rep that picked up my call. My son never had any charges that were of a suspicious nature. He never called USAA to complain. If USAA's idea was to be proactive that is fine, however, the rep I spoke to could find NO criteria as to which members were to receive new cards. I shop at Target almost daily, while my son not as often.
While losing one or two members will not make a difference to USAA word of mouth from those members may. Customer service is declining and I will no longer tell eligible family/friends that USAA is the best. Moral of the story: If you bank with USAA keep a stash of cash under your mattress in case they arbitrarily decide to take away access to your funds for 3-5 business days!
