USAA

[Finance_Guy]

Yey!!! Shut down the computer yesterday and tried it again a couple minutes ago. Something worked!

Thanks for all your advice and help!

I had a similar problem early this week. There scan system uses Javascript and you have no options to change scan settings. The check I scanned was from the same person for one I did last month. However, this new one did have a crease in it. Had to mail it off since I tried twice.

I don't think B&W or Color has anything to do with it. USAA seems to have intermittent problems with the Deposit@home system.

Good that it's working now.

[pawnman]

We've had this problem sometimes. It's not the grayscale, it's the contrast. Some things I've found that can help:

1. Putting a white piece of paper behind the check I'm scanning.

2. Darkening the image.

3. Make a copy of the check with your scanner, then scan the black and white copy.

[Guest ski&fly fast]

Has anybody had problems with USAA's so called "Processing" time for making credit card payments. I paid off my credit card, they took the money out of my checking account, but say it takes a week for them to process it and increase my credit?? So, basically that money is now unusable until they process the payment--- Seems like this is a new thing with them-

[HossHarris]

Tools -> Internet Options -> Content -> Clear SSL State

(when all else fails, that can sometimes be better than a Viper Reset).

[NHbound]

Thread Revival...

I spent the last half hour reading this thread in its entirety and couldn't help but notice the downward trend of the experiences with USAA. I've had USAA for the last two years and have all my checking/savings/investments/IRA/insurances with them, and so far have been pretty pleased.

I'm about to PCS back home after UPT and am looking to buy a house. USAA's rates are currently around 4.75% for a 30 yr fixed, which seems like a pretty good deal, but they do have pretty high closing costs. I'm wondering if I am correct in thinking that USAA might be more inclined to loan a person like me (perfect credit, but high student loan burden) because they understand the military pay structure better than, lets say, B of A. B of A does no closing cost, no point mortgages, but I think would be more skeptical of my financial picture than USAA, which might make it worth it for me to go with them despite the high closing costs. Anybody had any experiences like this?

Also, anyone have recent experience with the Mover's Advantage Program? Any recent experiences with their homeowners insurance?

Thanks!

~NH

[drewpey]

Thread Revival...

I spent the last half hour reading this thread in its entirety and couldn't help but notice the downward trend of the experiences with USAA. I've had USAA for the last two years and have all my checking/savings/investments/IRA/insurances with them, and so far have been pretty pleased.

I'm about to PCS back home after UPT and am looking to buy a house. USAA's rates are currently around 4.75% for a 30 yr fixed, which seems like a pretty good deal, but they do have pretty high closing costs. I'm wondering if I am correct in thinking that USAA might be more inclined to loan a person like me (perfect credit, but high student loan burden) because they understand the military pay structure better than, lets say, B of A. B of A does no closing cost, no point mortgages, but I think would be more skeptical of my financial picture than USAA, which might make it worth it for me to go with them despite the high closing costs. Anybody had any experiences like this?

Also, anyone have recent experience with the Mover's Advantage Program? Any recent experiences with their homeowners insurance?

Thanks!

~NH

The mover's advantage program is ok, and I would suggest it. You will get "assigned" a realtor, which USAA claims is hand-selected. After talking to the realtor, it was more like USAA offered to direct it's customers to certain realtors as long as they agreed to give up a % of their commission. It was a take-it-or-leave-it kind of offer for them. In the end, you could get money back. If you don't like your realtor, find another. While my realtor wasn't the best, and I had to corner him to get him to answer questions, I eventually ran him around enough and found a house I liked, and got a big check. Just remember to be very specific and directful when dealing with realtors.

As far as your loan eligibility, talk to USAA, they will be pretty helpful about it. You will probably be able to get the loan if you have the downpayment, but if you don't have much cash up front look into the VA loan.

[schokie]

I used USAA's Mover's Advantage program when I PCSed a year ago. Like drewpy said, it's kind of hit or miss. The first realtor I was assigned was horrible. He never returned my calls and the only contact I had with him was a listing of his high end houses I received in the mail. I called USAA and asked for another one. The second realtor was great. After I closed on my house her agency cut me a check for a portion of the Mover's Advantage. You do not have to use USAA for your mortgage to take advantage of this. You just have to be a USAA member.

I got a mortgage qualifying letter from USAA, but once I shopped around a bit I actually found better rates elsewhere. USAA's weren't bad, but they weren't the best. I've also heard that they're not competitive at all on homeowner's insurance rates.

[abmwaldo]

Disclosure: I use USAA for checking, Renter's insurance, and my auto loan.

My cousin was deployed to Iraq and was caught up in the 15 month surge; he left his house in charge of his then current girlfriend. (I'm sure you all know where this is going). Around July of 2007 he asks me to take a drive out and take a look at his house as he hasn't heard from her in several weeks. I jump in the car and find out that the lawn is overgrown and the blinds are "messed up." In his next email he asks me to gain access to the house and have the locks changed. So I do this and when I get into the house the most putrid smell washes over me. Now, I worked at a funeral home for six years and have smelled/seen dead bodies after several months of decay but this was terrible. At first all I can see is there is dog sh$t all over the floor and clouds of black flies everywhere. At that point I have to drive back to fly so several days later I bring one of his young troops out to the house. It was at this point we discovered the two dead dogs in his master bed room and I say it's time to call the cops.

Fast forward to reconstruction:

He has homeowners insurance through USAA. So I call them up and tell them what happened. Keep in mind I didn't have a power of attorney yet to execute any of this due to my cousin not being near a JAG officer to draw one up for him. They call the police department to verify that I filed a police report and say that I can proceed to have their adjuster come out to take a look. I meet him out there and he takes 1 step inside the house and he says just get one of these three companies out here to give you an estimate and we'll pay it. So long story short USAA takes on what amounts to a $50,000 job based solely on my word. As far as their customer service I couldn't have been more pleased and they did everything they could to make this situation right prior to my cousin returning from Iraq.

[SuperWSO]

Thread Revival...

IAny recent experiences with their homeowners insurance?

Thanks!

~NH

My dad had USAA his entire career and loved them. I was covered by USAA auto insurance starting when I turned 16. This year I finally cut all connections to the company due to shitty service and lousy rates. Here are the details.

1. In 2000, while PCSing from Pensacola to Abilene, my moving truck rolled over on the interstate and smashed a bunch of our furniture. We called the company and were told that our situation would not be covered because it wasn't a military move. It was - set up through TMO. The fact that I had to explain this to them and fight them on it pissed me off (my wife hated them after this point.)

2. in 2004, we bought a rental home that was 1 year old for around $90k. We tried to insure it through USAA. They refused to insure it for less than $120k and said we could not rebuild for less than that. At the time, new houses were going up for about $90k across the street. At that point, we changed our home insurance and our rental insurance to Armed Forces insurance.

3. in 2008 we moved to Colorado Springs. We asked USAA again about home insurance. Once again, they would not insure our home for less than $40k above the appraised value of the home. Bottom line is they don't want my business. We also dropped our car insurance with them when we found that Allstate would charge several HUNDRED dollars less for my three vehicles.

My dad dropped USAA for home insurance several years ago because of their requirement for additional riders for gun ownership. Their standard homeowner policy only covered about $1000 in firearms. It isn't to hard to hit that limit these days.

USAA used to be a awesome company built on a reputation for customer service and excellent prices. Their customer service, in my experience has been very poor, and they no longer offer a good value compared to other companies. I've heard many old timers say that it was because they let enlisted personnel or family join, but I don't think that is the root of the problem. They just became a big company that lost sight of the fact that they were taking care of people who were taking care of the country. Currently, the company is only interested in taking care of the bottom line.

Thats my 2 cents.

[pbar]

Ticks me off that USAA now charges a 1% overseas transaction fee whereas some other major banks do not. Kind of an odd business decision given how much of their customer base is stationed overseas. Guess I need to get around to canceling my USAA card and get a different one.

[Jaded]

Visa and Mastercard both charge a 1% overseas transaction fee. Most banks (BoA, Citi, Chase) charge 3% overseas transaction fees, adding 2% to what they get charged by the credit card companies. According to the following, no bank refunds this charge.

https://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banki...CreditCard.aspx

USAA charges 1%, adding 0% to what Visa or Mastercard both require. Capital One is the one card that charges you 0%, effectively soaking up the 1% charged by Visa and Mastercard.

American Express has even higher fees, and Discover card charges 0% (but is not accepted much overseas).

Ticks me off that USAA now charges a 1% overseas transaction fee whereas some other major banks do not. Kind of an odd business decision given how much of their customer base is stationed overseas. Guess I need to get around to canceling my USAA card and get a different one.

[BADFNZ]

Has anyone refinanced their mortgage through USAA lately? I tried to get the rates online but I always get some message telling me they're unavailable.

The wife and I own a home that's currently being rented and we're currently sitting at 6% fixed for 30 years. I'd like to lock in one of these lower rates but I'm not sure if USAA usually makes you pay points or has some ridiculous closing costs.

[BlackKnight]

I've heard deposits have to be mailed in. Is that the only way to make them and if so, how long does it take to post to your account?

They started doing "Deposit at home" a few months ago. If you've got an all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/fax (or just a scanner), you can scan checks and deposity them online. Easy, instant and works like a champ.

I've had USAA for many years and think they are great BTW.

[Riddller]

My Dad dropped USAA after 40 years. They built/moved into their retirement house in NC and USAA wanted $5,000 a year to insure it. Nationwide wanted $600 for the exact same coverage. It had to do with how far away the fire-station was. It was a bit far, but Nationwide had driven the route and knew it was all highways and that it would take no time at all for the trucks to get there. USAA refused to do the same.

I've got USAA and am generally happy, except for the fact that their "overdraft protection" won't let me draw on my savings account funds when my checking is empty and I'm using my check-card. Something EVERY other bank allows you to do... I know, my wife has worked for most of them.

[Alpharatz]

After "a long time" I am really beginning to wonder about USAA. In fact I hesitated for quite a while to add to the discussion until today. I struggled through the highly irritating computer lady menu. Finally got an explanation of why my car insurance has increased over 10 Percent in one year; asked for a phone number to some (any) USAA executive to complain about the borderline usable automation;

and was given a phone number that's out of service..My USAA financial guy wants me to switch everything to USAA. I don't have the heart to tell him that it takes me two minutes to get in touch with the locals and with USAA it takes dealing with the computer lady.....rowing thru multiple menus...maybe getting the correct shop..it took me literally uncounted phone calls...discussions etc. to e-mail some files. It took my lawyers office one phone call and about two minutes to get multiple files from them to me. Soooooo.....what's up with USAA?

[Duck]

I am still undecided about USAA. They have been good to me, but I have had a couple weird things happen lately.

I found a used '92 Jeep Wrangler through their vehicle search site listed at $5,700. So I contacted the dealer using their site. I found the same Jeep (Identical VIN and everything) on another car site for $3,400.

The dealer called me and I asked him how firm he was on the price. He said he would drop the price $700 for me because I was a USAA customer bringing it down to $5,000. I told him I saw it listed on another site for $3,400 and he just played dumb and never called back.

USAA promises that you will never pay above KBB value for the vehicle...

[lj35driver]

I'm about fed up with them and have been shopping around in anticipation of taking all my acounts and insurance elsewhere. I've been with them for almost 14 years.

-They screwed up my checking account to the tune of about a $1000 within the first 6 months after we PCS'd back to the states. It was all due to incorrect entries on their part, one being a check clearly written for $50 that they entered as $650. It caused a couple of payments to bounce. which they quickly corrected after about an hour on the phone with them...then several more calls/hours with a couple of other creditors to get the missed payments off our credit record. Yeah, thanks for helping clean up the mess you created with that one USAA

-I've been getting quotes for home insurance for an upcoming move. USAA has been the most expensive so far by several hundred dollars per year for matching coverage. They then tell me they're thinking about not writing new policies in Charleston to begin with and that I'll probably need to look at getting my renters insurance with someone else if I end up renting instead of buying.

-Home buying program- yeah, the realtor they referred me to is about useless. I asked them not to forward my contact info to the guy until Feb. I get a call from him the next day and the dude acts annoyed with me for having to contact me before I'm ready to start dealing on a home.

- Our van got side swiped by a local shortly before we PCS'd out of Germany and were unable to get it fixed prior to the vehicle being shipped. The USAA office in Frankfurt handled the issue and got everything set up between our insurance companies for it to be fixed in the US. When we tried to get it fixed, I was told that I was going to have to pay the deductible. Well, the accident was the other guy's fault so we weren't about to pay. I had to threaten to pull all my business from USAA to get them to waive the deductible that they shouldn't have been trying to collect in the first place.

- I had a military dependant (also insured by USAA) fail to yield and run into my car outside the front gate back in Oct. Even after receiving the police report stating that she'd been cited as being at fault in the accident, her USAA adjuster initially denied payment for the claim on the basis that "she" wouldn't admit fault herself. When I asked my USAA adjuster what I could do his response was to " go and nicely ask her to do the right thing." YGTBFSM!!! What happened to your responsibility to help your policy holder out and make sense of things? He said the only other option if she didn't "do the right thing" was a lawsuit. They finally decided to pay about a month after the accident. Thank God my car was still drivable during that time.

- I filed a claim for damages/missing items from my PCS move shortly after returning from a deployment last year. I had a couple of big items that went missing during the move including a large toolbox. Since 2006, fed law requires that your private insurance settle their portion of the claim before the military does their part. The whole process got drawn out over 5 months due to USAA not doing their job. USAA refused to do their part first and even screamed and cussed at the AF claims center rep when they called and tried to explain why USAA had to settle for the missing items first. I've heard the tape of the conversation and there was nothing said by the claims center to provoke the woman into turning into the screaming banshee from hell. The AF ended up paying the entire cost, including the stolen items, for my claim as well as about 2 dozen other USAA customers who were in the same boat. Aparently, USAA's policy on moving claims is still counter to fed reg's and has become an issue that has gotten notice at the 4-star level.

The worst thing is all of this has taken place in the past 2 years. Before that, I've had almost no issue with them. I'm waiting for the day I call customer service and get someone in Pakistan or India instead of San Antonio.

[Marco]

Just dropped USAA as my auto insurer yesterday. Was able to bring my monthly premium down $80 for my truck and wife's car by switching to Geico. For the exact same coverage.

USAA rep was in such disbelief that she had a supervisor handle my phone call. GEICO=

[Whitman]

Just got a quote for $300 less per 6 months, using Geico instead of USAA to insure my two vehicles. I've been with USAA for 10 years and my family has been with them for almost 30 years, and I haven't had an issues with them, but $600 more per year for insurance is a lot for good service. Any Geico customers out there have any reviews? Price looks good but do they handle claims timely and with ease and how's their customer service? The 15% military discount is nice and it appears the have a military division as well.

[Duck]

I remember when I first signed up for USAA auto insurance that they were telling me that they did things that other companies don't do for the military. Something about insuring your vehicle if you ship it overseas and whatnot. Is this worth paying an extra $300/year? After reading about all the money everyone is saving on here, I checked Geico and for me they are $300 cheaper with identical coverage. USAA makes it sound like if you don't have them, you will have problems PCSing overseas and whatnot. Any thoughts or experiences?

"I was with GEICO. I called USAA, and their quote was so much lower."

- Gene Atencio, Member Since 2001

Found the quote above on the USAA website.

Edited January 15, 2009 by leadeagle05

[uhhello]

Anyone see a $2.00 ATM Service fee show up? Normally I get about 12 dollars BACK for fees. This month I was charged $2.00. Don't think I used the ATM's that much more this month.

[Wolf424]

Not sure if this has been posted before, but I couldn't find it anywhere. So I think this is the best place to post it.

My buddy told me that if you have a credit card through USAA and you PCS, you can get your APR temporarily lowered to 4% for 12 months from the date you PCSed. I was kind of skeptical, so I called (my last PCS was in March) As soon as I talked to the lady I mentioned that I just PCSed and wanted to check on the APR, she said "Ok, I'll set you up with the 12 month 4% APR". It took me 5 minutes. Not sure if anyone else has heard of this, but it's a pretty good deal. If this is known info and I am just behind the power curve, Mods, please delete.

[Gravedigger]

USAA now has an iPhone app...FYI.

[M2]

I applied for a new car loan with USAA but when I bought my Toyota, the dealship was able to get better financing so I took it. Still, it helped having the rate quote in hand when I bought the car, otherwise I don't think they would have beaten it by as much!

As for mortgages, I am with Slacker. USAA's rates can be beat, and you can save a considerable amount of money by doing so.

As for insurance, I wouldn't go anywhere else even if the rates where a little cheaper. I doubt Progressive/Geico (yes, the cavemen people) or any others can beat their service even though they may beat their rates by a bit.

Cheers! M2

[Wolf424]

As for insurance, I wouldn't go anywhere else even if the rates where a little cheaper. I doubt Progressive/Geico (yes, the cavemen people) or any others can beat their service even though they may beat their rates by a bit.

2

As far as Geico, I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. The night before I PCSed from my casual base to pilot training, my truck was broken into. Stole my radio, pistol, broke my side window, and damaged the interior. I was supposed to start driving that morning to Vance, so I had to get my truck window at least fixed. I called Geico, and they gave me the run around about how their claims guy had to come out and look first, and how the next available date wasn't until the next week, and if I did it myself, they might not reimburse me. I got the window fixed anyway and drove to Vance. Once there, I tried to finish my claim. To make a long story short, I had to fight with them on the phone for 2 hours to cover my radio (wasn't aftermarket), they wouldn't cover my pistol (and my renters insurance wouldn't cover it because I had canceled it the day before, since I was moving... ), and they covered about 70% of the cost for the window. I called USAA, they were a bit higher, but when I told them my Geico coverage and rates, they matched Geico's rate.