Virginia Leen-Goldberg sent a message to Stuart Parker that said:
RE: URGENT: LOST 529 FUNDS
529 Account of M.D.R.
USAA Acct. #xxxx6602
Dear Mr. Borton and Mr. Peacock,
I am writing to advise you that Victory Capital has essentially lost my daughterâs Fall 2020 tuition payment in the amount of $25,695, and I have been unable to get the situation rectified through the expected channels. You should be aware of the incompetent handling of funds by Victory Capital, with the result that the tuition is now two months overdue with her school, Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, California, jeopardizing her standing with the school.
To summarize events, I logged onto the USAA website on approximately July 14, 2020, and directed a tuition check to be paid from the above-referenced 529 account and directed it to be mailed to Otis College in Los Angeles. It was never received by the school. I repeatedly logged onto the USAA website and never saw the money returned, so I assumed there was just a bottleneck somewhere with the schoolâs accounting. On September 16, 2020, Victory Capital sent a letter stating that the check had never been cashed and so payment had been stopped. On September 22, 2020, I called Victory Capital, to the telephone number provided in the letter and spoke to a man who told me the tuition check would be reissued. On October 6, 2020, Otis informed me that tuition has still not been received. Yesterday, I spent 30 minutes on the phone with a person named Gigi, at Victory Capital (Ref. #97311), who was unable to tell me what was going on, where the money was, when the new check would be issued or, alternatively, when the money would be placed back into the 529 account so that I could have a new check issued or wired to the school. As an afterthought, she said she could âsend an emailâ to the department that would have the money. I then spent another 30 minutes on the phone with a woman at USAA who was helpful, but ultimately unable to assist me because this account is handled by Victory Capital.
So, the bottom line is that I cannot get a new payment issued to the school for the indefinite future and I am just supposed to âwait for the process,â (the secret process nobody can tell me) to work itself out. I hope you see the problem.
I am so disappointed, and this is not at all what I would expect from USAA. It is not right that I trust USAA, as my family has done for three generations since my grandfather was an Air Force Colonel, and then you pass the buck to Victory Capital, which seems to have better things to do that care about my daughterâs tuition check.
If there is anything that can be done to help me resolve this matter, I would greatly appreciate any intervention. If the only thing that comes from the time it took me to write this letter was to inform you of the inferior service of Victory Capital to the extent it causes anybody at USAA to reconsider your relationship with Victory Capital, then it was worthwhile.
However, I expect this issue to be handled forthwith and to receive communication about it. If I receive no response within 10 days, I shall escalate my efforts to get a resolution through all available lawful means, including, but not limited to, taking the account to social media to warn other parents.
