Consumer complaint received 2018-04-11
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: CO
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I am enrolled in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness ( PSLF ) program, which is administered by XXXX on behalf of the Department of Education. Unfortunately, I have had nothing but problems from the start with XXXX in certifying my participation in the program. It typically involves them undercounting the number of qualifying payments Ive made, denying certification paperwork due to allegedly missing information where there is none, generally slow and lackadaisical processing of requests, and impotent responses to my complaints. One or more of these frustrations has occurred literally every time I've submitted an annual certification form and it is getting to the point where it is starting to seem systematic. 

The most recent headache began in XX/XX/XXXX when I submitted my last annual certification form. XXXX set me their response in XX/XX/XXXX and, as expected, there was a problem : they undercounted the amount of qualifying payments I had already made for no apparent reason. I was finally able to reach a representative to discuss the issue the first week of XX/XX/XXXX, and after a lengthy conversation and scrutinizing my account history, confirmed that the undercalculation was erroneous. He said he would submit the error to be fixed and that I should receive an updated response within a few weeks. Four months passed and no response came. I again called XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX to determine the reason for the delay in fixing their blatant error. Their only explanation was that it was still awaiting review. This seemed unreasonable considering it was a simple counting error that the rep I spoke to in XX/XX/XXXX could recognize and understand in a matter of minutes. I asked for it to be expedited which they claimed was not possible, which proved to be false as I was later able to convince a manger to do just that after informing her I would be submitting a complaint to CFPB and the Dept of Ed. I asked to be copied on the request, which she refused to do, so I can only hope she will follow through. 

In light of this recurring scenario of error and delay, I am starting to believe there is a deliberate policy of obstructionism at XXXX when it comes to facilitating participation in the PSLF program. It seems like they are trying to erect as many hurdles as possible to interfere with customers from accessing these benefits. This stands in sharp contrast to their aggressive and fastidious efforts to penalize customers for even the most minor and harmless transgressions, such a submitting payment plan paperwork 1 day late which resulted in the capitalization of nearly {$30000.00} in interest on my loan. The bottom line is XXXX is quick to inflict harm but slow to offer help to its customers. I urge CFPB to investigate the company 's practices and policies to determine if this obstructionist and self-serving behavior is in fact deliberate and purposeful, and if so, to put a stop to it. Unlike other financial arrangements, borrowers wishing to utilize the PSLF program have no other choice but to work with XXXX and therefore our only recourse lies with entities like the CFPB to ensure they act ethically and legally. 

Thank you, and I look forward to your action and response.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation