Consumer complaint received 2023-11-15
Company: Maximus Education, LLC dba Aidvantage
State: VA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
XXXX I called my loan servicer AIDVANTAGE because my credit report showed that my credit score dropped XXXX points due to " late payments '', I fixed this later on with XXXX, etc. But this is my XXXX complaint with my loan servicer reporting false information. I called to also lower my monthly payments ( originally $ XXXX ). I was told my payment plan had " expired '' since it was dated from 2018 & I had to recertify. I was told my account would be placed on hold for payments while I submit to recertify my application for a lower monthly payment. I anticipated a lower payment since my income is less than 2018. 
XXXX I call back to follow up and make sure my application was accepted. I was then told my request was submitted & my recertification application was incomplete since I did not also complete my application on the studentaidgov website. I went ahead and completed that even though I was not informed by the first rep I spoke to. This of course delayed everything. 
XXXX call again and made my {$5.00} payment minimum to exit the payment plan & requested 1 month forbearance per customer rep instruction/email instruction to contact them to finalize exiting old plan. I also requested a detailed payment history with amounts for the life of each loan. The rep submitted a request for a payment history retraction. The rep said the document would be available on the XXXX of the month in my inbox since it wasn't showing in my account history. I never received this documentation. 
XXXX I called again because I received several notices stating my new payment amount was available, however, the amount was higher than the original at $ XXXX. I figured something is wrong since I made less this past year than 2018. The rep said in the beginning of the conversation that my account never choose a payment plan so it has no current plan. She said that no payment will be due since I qualify for XXXX plan & will be placing me into that plan. I requested to have that in writing since the portal shows {$380.00} is due & I already had issues with how Aidvantage has handles reporting to my credit report with false late payments, no clear instructions with how to lower payments, etc. She said she would send me something via email and never once did I get an email or document. I said ok while we wait could you please check for update with payment history document since I never received it and she hung up the phone. 
-Each time I log into the website, chat is unavailable. Wait times are over an hour + to get a rep on the phone, call back option is never available even though they offer it. XXXX business ethics with this loan servicers. I can't lower my payments and no rep can help me with the process in a timely manner. The loan servicer also did not inform me until I called that I had no plan. There is no information stating what state my account is in as for plans chosen. I find this process extremely frustrating & unfair with how inconvenient their customer service is!

Company response to consumer: In progress