Consumer complaint received 2023-11-16
Company: Maximus Education, LLC dba Aidvantage
State: TX
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:
The best way to explain the situation is by copying the email I sent to Aidvantage 's executives after I attempted to get a resolution through their customer service team to no avail. As a side note, I have to say there have been other times I've had to reach out to various company executives and I've always received a quick response and resolution from someone on their team. Aidadvatage is the first company where I've reached out to the highest people in the company and received no response whatsoever. Why is that? It is because they are trying to take advantage of people who are struggling with student loans and they know those people will eventually go into default ; I wonder how many people get the same service and go into default because the company that was brought on to service them provides no service at all. Also, I know the emails went through, I sent XXXX emails and only got XXXX bounce-back emails. 

Email sent on XX/XX/2023 with no response : - Forwarded Message -- -- - From : XXXX XXXX XXXX To : XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX ; XXXX XXXX Sent : Sunday, XX/XX/2023 at XXXX PM XXXX Subject : XXXX Customer Service from Aidvantage Dear XXXX XXXX & other respected Maximus Leadership, No help from customer service First, Id like to say I know your time is valuable, and time is a resource, so I apologize for using such a valuable resource ; however, the customer service team for Aidvantage has been unable or unwilling to assist. As I stated, I know time is a valuable resource, and on Tuesday, XX/XX/2023, I was on the phone for almost XXXX hours. The first call was at XXXX p.m., XXXX, which lasted XXXX minutes until the system disconnected while I was in queue to speak to customer service. 
The second call was XXXX and a half hours, starting at XXXX p.m. XXXX, and the customer service representative hung up on me because she could not find a supervisor to escalate the call to. The customer service representative also promised that a supervisor would call me back within XXXX hours, and I confirmed with her that I would receive a call on Wednesday, XX/XX/2023, which she confirmed. To date, I have received no call back to assist me in paying my student loans, as XXXX trying to do. 
Not only did the customer service agent hang up on me and fail to escalate my call, but she was also rude and talked over me. The times and customer service experience stated above are not an exaggeration and should be able to be confirmed by completing an XXXX search in whatever phone software you utilize for Aidvantage to locate call recordings ; my number is XXXX. Being in the customer service industry for over 25 years, I can assure you, your customer service agent is not living up to Aidvantage 's motto, " Were here to help you better understand and manage repayment of your federal student loans ''. 
Payment concerns Let me assure you that I am not reaching out to you to get out of paying my student loans ; instead, I am reaching out to you because I am attempting to set up a payment plan ( XXXX that I qualified for on the Aidvantage website I might add ), so that I can honor my student loan commitment. At the beginning of XXXX, I signed in to set up my payment plan ; upon signing in, I saw my monthly payments would be in the {$520.00} - {$550.00} range, and being the father of a seven-month-old infant still getting used to daycare and other expenses I wanted to find a way to reduce my monthly payment to ensure I was able to make my payment and avoid default. On your website, I saw an option to begin paying around {$190.00} a month for XXXX years, and then it would increase every XXXX or so years until it hit the {$500.00} range, which would help me set up a better budget. 
However, I also saw I could fill out a form on your website that asked me what my goal was, at which time, I selected " attempting to find a lower payment ''. That selection suggested that I fill out a form for income-based repayment, which could significantly lower my monthly payments. Once I filled out the form, I figured I would be notified of the proposed payment, and I could decide which plan would be best for my financial situation. Next, I got an email notifying me my income-based payment plan was approved and my monthly payment would be {$600.00}, which is even higher than before. 
Closing At this point, all my interactions with Aidvantage feel like a scam for your company to make more money by preying on those with federal student loans that, as a student loan servicer, you've committed to helping. Since it appears that your company is attempting bait-and-switch tactics with student loan borrowers that youve promised to help, it is my intention to file a written complaint with the U.S. Department of Education , my congressional representatives, and the media. Student loan borrowers should not have to go through this hassle to make a payment. Please help me get the initial plan I saw that started with a $ XXXX  monthly payment for the first XXXX years. 
Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation