steve b's dashboard

Purchase assurance on USAA Mastercards is administered by a third-party and is nothing short of a marketing ploy. I was recently denied a claim for purchase assurance coverage on a $1000 item I had stolen less than 41 days after aquiring it. Mastercard stated the denial is due to the expiration of the 90-day coverage period. However, although the purchase required the vendor to order the item, which required a down-payment in January, the purchase not completed when the item in question was picked up by us at your vendor. Full-payment and my possession of the item did not occur until March 28, 2009. The loss is documented in a police record as occurring on May 8th, 2009 which is 41 days from March 28th. This is within the 90 day coverage period.

In addition, we have been extremely frustrated by the difficulty of initiating a claim. Several phone calls were made to both Mastercard and card-issuing bank USAA in May and June to find out more about coverage and to initiate a claim. USAA representatives could not provide the required information, and we were forced to do our own research to find our benefits, locate the right organization to process the claim and aquire the appropriate documentation. The Mastercard office that issues the claim forms is on the East Coast, and as Hawaii residents, it was very difficult to reach them during their open hours. No claim forms were ever sent to us by Mastercard until June 29th 2009. After all this work, to find our claim denied is very disappointing.

We have been loyal USAA Mastercard customers for over 15 years and this is the first purchase assurance claim we have ever made. Cardholder benefits such as purchase assurance are a key factor in our continuing relationship with Mastercard and with USAA.

However, our experience in this case has been that USAA representatives have little understanding of the cardholder benefits, that making a purchase assurance claim is difficult, and that claims are routinely denied without cause.