So I’m a little tired tonight and this will be brief, but the Consumerist gave me some web-time, USAA’s social-software team responded, and I had a nice preliminary talk with someone today.
I really only want two things: I want my credit rating cleaned up, and I want this all to stop.
Now, full disclosure, I’d also like to keep all or part of that $641 I have been billed. I am not a tycoon librarian and I can use that money. But it’s mostly about my damaged credit rating and the protracted pain and suffering.
For those who wanted more precision in the details about the coverage, I’m sorry. I have insurance. I dinged a rental car. I was immersed into a claims process. The event happened on a weekend when I was in San Francisco to give a reading and at the last minute suddenly had a job interview, and within weeks of this trip was packing to return to California. So between the car-dinging and this past week, I have had a major household move, a job change, lived in two temporary rentals, found a place to live in SF, taken over a library that needed a lot of TLC, had a parent die (with a protracted memorial event that took place 90 days later, during my university’s fall orientation), and so on. So at some point I went into a mode where I would get another claims letter (for a while they were the only people writing me so it felt a lot like personal mail…hey, here’s my old friend Mastercard Claims again!) and I would again send in the same stuff they had asked for previously and then I would resume whatever I was doing to manage this major life change.
Anyhoo, it was good to hear from USAA. They wanted to know why I hadn’t told them earlier I was having problems, and I guess my answer would be because I didn’t know I was having problems. A slow claims process is a slow claims process. To have it suddenly terminate in a claims denial and a collections notice was the problem.
Posted on this day, other years:
- On politics, blogging, and being a Democrat - 2008
- Obama: Yes We Can! (McCain-Palin: No You Can't!) - 2008
- Painting, Migrating, Moving - 2006
I’m glad USAA checked in. I was surprised they hadn’t earlier; IME they work pretty hard to make things right.
The trick with credit-card car-rental coverage (as I have also learned to my cost) is that it’s run by the credit card agency (MasterCard), not by the issuer. If MC worked like USAA, I’m guessing you wouldn’t have had so many problems.
I absolutely know this is the case. I have used USAA claims services twice, and each time it was a wonderful experience.
The USAA rep was hinting as much yesterday and we’ll conversate more today. My observation, come to far too late, is that there is no such thing as a “USAA” credit card. Beyond seeing the statement through my USAA account (which is useful) there’s nothing “USAA” about it at all. Unfortunately, I needed to have my expectation management changed prior to the event to feel much differently about this.
Hey, Dorothea, where’s that article about IRs for People Like Me? 🙂
Wot? Did I say I was gonna write that? I need to watch my big mouth. I thought it was ETDs for People Like You, which is a much simpler proposition.
IRs? For people (institutions) like you? I can do that ‘un in one word: Don’t.
Oh, I have one word back for you: won’t.
ETDs would be terrific. That’s really what I meant (and thought you meant).
i feel your pain, KG. unfortunately in this market consumers are completely at the mercy of banks showing no mercy. your tenacity and inability to suffer fools, gladly or otherwise, will get you to success and a repaired fico score. but if you don’t put everything into fixing it, they’ll walk all over you. i am ashamed to say i’m a former banker, but at least it’s “former.”