Consumer complaint received 2023-05-27
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: PA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
This response that AES/PHEAA provided is their " opinion '' and not the facts. Related to the statement in this response : ***The review determined that your online account was not blocked because you were asking questions, rather that your responses to the AES representative were considered inappropriate. *** This determination was not only wrong, but the action on the part of the Agency is considered abuse and retaliatory due to me asking questions. This policy of the Agency is only limited to Obscenities or threats, which based on the chat transcript, the Agent actually threatened me which violated their own policy. While it could be seen as XXXX, the actions on the part of PHEAA were completely unfounded and because of these actions, the Agency should be fined. A separate Ethics complaint has been filed with the Attorney General 's office and has been reviewed by others. 
XXXX**FULL RESPONSE FROM PHEAA*** : The Office of Consumer Advocacy ( OCA ) at the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency ( PHEAA ) received your recent correspondence through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) portal regarding the status of your student loan account serviced by American Education Services ( AES ). Please Note : PHEAA conducts its student loan servicing operations commercially as AES. In your complaint, you stated that AES fabricated accusations that you engaged in inappropriate behavior, causing your online account to be blocked when you claim the representative you spoke to was behaving inappropriately by blocking your online account for you asking questions. You also stated the previous response to this concern was inappropriate. XXXX performed a comprehensive review of your account. This investigation included the review of all relevant account history and documentation, including any information you provided to us. The review determined that your online account was not blocked because you were asking questions, rather that your responses to the AES representative were considered inappropriate. The chat record shows that the AES representative advised when AES reports to the Consumer Reporting Agencies ( CRA ) and your account was correctly reported for XX/XX/2023 since the payment to bring the account current wasnt made until the effective date XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX Credit reporting occurs monthly and is based on loan information as of the last day of the month You claimed this was maliciously and intently reported as AES doesnt report until the beginning of the month. Your follow-up questions became unrelated to your account, so the AES representative asked if there were any other questions regarding your account. You did not provide any account specific questions and made speculations that the AES representative was lazy, untruthful, unfriendly, and threatening. When these comments were made, the AES representative provided two warnings that advised the chat was being monitored and if this behavior would continue the chat would be disconnected. It was the direction of the supervisor who was monitoring the chat to have the chat ended and your online account blocked after the second warning under AES intolerance policy. Even though your previous CFPB was provided with a response that had accurate information, we sincerely regret if the response you received did not meet with your expectations. On a separate note, AES reviewed your concern that was submitted with a supervisor on XX/XX/2023 regarding your recent interactions when discussing your account and payments. It was determined that the responses provided to you were accurate and did not contain any discrimination. The delinquency that was recently on your account was caused by a returned payment that was made on XX/XX/2023. When you submitted your payment on XX/XX/2023 for an effective date of XX/XX/2023 your account remained delinquent until the payment was fully processed and posted on your account, including the time the payment is in process. Your account is now showing current. For information regarding the status of your account, you may access your account online at XXXX or via the AES Mobile App. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact AES at XXXX. Loan representatives are available Monday through Friday from XXXX XXXX. to XXXXXXXX XXXX., XXXX.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation