Consumer complaint received 2018-01-26
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: CA
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:
Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have taken part in the great government program Income Based Repayment paying $ XXXX/mo, which is wonderful and affordable for a family of XXXX with XXXX kids in daycare. Right on, XXXX XXXX! 

Suddenly, the other day ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I see a withdrawal for {$460.00}. What? I check my email and don't see anything in my email ALERTING me to the fact that I need to reapply for the IBR. Rather, I see two generic emails : 1 ) one on XX/XX/XXXX ( see upload ) with the subject line " Your Navient Account Information '', without any reference to my payment plan in the subject or even in the body of the email, 2 ) Another on XX/XX/XXXX ( see upload ) with the subject " New document ready to view! ", again without any information about the purpose of the correspondence. Of course, I immediately went to the site and it's all perfectly clear that I need to renew my payment plan. Go figure! 

I've been in email marketing long to know that consumers are overwhelmed with email and this was a deliberate effort on the part of XXXX XXXX, I mean Navient, to conceal information from customers to increase their bottom line. They know full well that a great number of their customers will NEVER reapply by the deadline because they NEVER knew they needed to do so in the first place. 

On the other hand, when it comes to Navient 's bottom line, they're crying it from the mountaintops. Looking down the list of other emails from Navient, they clearly know how to be clear and concise with their correspondence like the good little email marketers they are and can be when in it's in their interest. An email on XX/XX/XXXX specifically says there will be a " Change in Loan Terms '' ( see upload ). Why not a nice friendly email ( similar to how ethical companies do it ) saying, " It's time to renew your REPAYE plan! ", right there in the email and body of the email, not buried deep within the site, leaving the exclamation and enthusiasm to wear off when you finally get to the website two months later ( see uploads ). 

In summary, if I had the extra money, it probably wouldn't be an issue. But with a XXXX & XXXX year-old I just don't have that luxury and an extra {$350.00} hits hard! I wonder if it's just a coincidence, but this came during XXXX and would no doubt provide a nice XXXX bonus for investors. 

My two cents would be to drop Navient / XXXX XXXX as a government contractor.  Private interests are obviously polluting what might otherwise be a great public resource for Americans. If you could put that in the suggestion box I would be grateful. Thank you! 

Last thing is I attempted to contact Navient about it and they gave me a lame excuse about needing to " protect the security of my account ''. From who? If you know anyone who wants to repay my loans, I would love to hear about it. Only XXXX left! What I do know is this is a scam! Not the first time for Navient / XXXX XXXX but hopefully the last! Thank you for listening! 

All the best, XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation