Consumer complaint received 2018-03-21
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: CT
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
Sometime in early XX/XX/XXXX, Discover Student Loans announced that all loans that had originated with Discover that was currently being serviced by XXXX XXXX, would be moved back over to Discover for loan administration. The actual transfer occurred in mid-XX/XX/XXXX. 

Sometime shortly after the loans were transferred back to Discover, I checked on the balances of the loans to confirm that my personal records were aligned with the records of the loan administrator ( Discover ). For the most part, all loan balances tied out fine. However, the one loan in question showed a small difference. When the initial loan disbursement minus all the principle payments plus any accrued interest was added together, it did not equal the loan balance that Discover claimed was the actual loan balance. I called Discover approximately onXX/XX/XXXX to inquire about this difference. The representative understood my issue and confirmed what I was seeing and opened a ticket. She had indicated to me that someone would get back to me in 5-7 business days ( as I recall ). Sometime around the XX/XX/XXXX I made a second call to inquire why I had not heard anything nor why the loan balance was not corrected. I was told I misunderstood the time-frame and someone would get back to me by Friday, XX/XX/XXXX. They could see the ticket was still in progress. Friday came and went and there was no contact and the balance was not corrected. I called again ( this is the third time ) on Sunday XX/XX/XXXX. I re-explained the issue to the representative I spoke to, but at this time I was getting rather frustrated. I insisted on receiving a call back from someone. 

After not hearing anything on Monday or Tuesday, I called Discover for a 4th time and immediately asked for a supervisor. I spoke with XXXX ( from XXXX, I believe ) on Tuesday evening ( XX/XX/XXXX ) roughly XXXX eastern time. I reexplained the problem. XXXX walked through the issue with me and noticed there was a correction to be posted of {$1.00}. This was the difference that I showed as well. I was relieved the issue would be resolved. She indicated the transaction would post the next day and it should be corrected ( she did indicate this would correct my balance ). 

On Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I logged in to check the balance and it was STILL INCORRECT. The transaction XXXX had referred to did post, but it posted as interest, therefore not having any effect on the loan balance. I called in AGAIN ( try # 5 ) and spoke with XXXX from XXXX. XXXX initially had indicated to me that I did not understand exactly how the interest accrues. While I did not indicate this to XXXX, I have been a XXXX XXXX for over 30 years. I know how interest accrues. I tried to walk XXXX through the transactions, but he came back and told me that, " there are several back office transactions that are not visible to you ''. All transactions should be transparent and visible to the consumer. This is what initiated my filing this complaint with the CFPB. In the end, when I take the opening balance and subtract the subsequent PRINCIPLE payments ( as displayed on the Discover Loan website ), and add back any accrued interest to date, it DOES NOT EQUAL the loan balance that Discover explains is on this loan. 

In my mind, ANY transaction that affects the balance on my account should be visible to me. He said he would send me a transaction summary and that would take 2-3 weeks ( the first person indicated that as well and I have yet to receive anything ). He also communicated to me that " this is how our system works ''. I have personally NEVER come across another system that has transactions NOT VISIBLE to the ACCOUNT OWNER. 

While the difference is small, this is not a monetary complaint. The issue to me is that the website information is incorrect and there is not full transparency to me on all the transactions. I view this as a much more serious issue.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation