Consumer complaint received 2023-11-10
Company: Maximus Education, LLC dba Aidvantage
State: CA
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:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called the Aidvantage customer service number to ensure that my payment information was on-file in preparation for student loan payments restarting. I spoke to the representative and she told me that everything was good for all my loan payments handled by Aidvantage to be auto-debited once repayments commenced. I also set up a payment plan that extended my student loan life from 10 years to 30 years in order to lower the monthly amount due. 

During the first days of XXXX, I received an email from Aidvantage notifying me of an unusually low amount due. I called Aidvantage again on XX/XX/XXXX to understand the situation and they informed me that the representative I spoke to during the XX/XX/XXXX call did not correctly apply the repayment plan I thought I had signed up for that extends my loans to a 30 year plan. I spent another hour on the phone to ensure the payment plan was applied correctly and to ensure Aidvantage had my bank account information in preparation for repayment on all of my loans. 

Later in XXXX, I received 2 emails from Aidvantage notifying me of 2 payment amounts due that did not agree to the amounts the representative communicated to me on XX/XX/XXXX. I called back yet again on XX/XX/XXXX to try and rectify the situation. The representative once again spent more time adjusting my payment plan and assured me that my payments had now been set up according to the 30-year graduated plan. She further assured me that my banking information was on file and auto-payment was set up for all my student loans. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Aidvantage notifying me that I was past due for {$160.00} on my account. I attempted to call on XX/XX/XXXX but the office was closed for XXXX XXXX. 

Issues : I have accrued additional interest on the amounts past due because of the negligence and incompetence of Aidvantage employees. They assured me several times that my account was set up for auto pay. In fact, a small portion of my payments were successfully withdrawn, but not the full amount, which caused the {$160.00} past due amount. 

I am requesting that Aidvantage be disciplined and fined for their incompetence and negligence, and that the interest accrued on my past due amounts be refunded to me due to the fact that Aidvantage falsely informed me that I was set up for auto-pay on all of my loans. 

Aidvantage has also caused me a great deal of distress due to having to spend hours speaking to incompetent and undertrained employees that communicated incorrect information to me and dealing with confusing emails that incorrectly stated payment amounts due, on top of accruing interest on past-due amounts that I was notified would be automatically withdrawn from my account. 

I made a manual payment for the past due amount on XX/XX/XXXX. I anticipate this will be an ongoing issue given Aidvantage 's inability to correctly handle payments. 

Please contact me directly for account info, email copies, phone records.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation