Consumer complaint received 2018-07-26
Company: Ameritech Financial
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Federal student loan debt
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Impersonated attorney, law enforcement, or government official

Complaint:
I had previously filed a complaint ( # XXXX ) and it is now closed, but I feel was closed incorrectly and under false pretenses. 
I was contacted by Ameritech financial over 2 years ago about having them help me to consolidate my federal student loans and submit the paperwork for loan forgiveness. Since XX/XX/XXXX, I have been making monthly payments to them every single month with the expectation and impression that they would be forwarding the payment to my actual loan service. I received a document from the USA Federal Trade Commission stating that the payments I've been making are not being and have not been submitted to my student loan service, and that I should contact them to cancel as well as request a refund. I attempted to contact them via customer service phone number and after 3 minutes of being on hold- a busy signal comes on and the call hangs up. I attempted this 5 times.

I then called the FTC phone number and per the recording was prompted to contact the XXXX to file a claim since I was not able to reach Ameritech directly. After I filed this claim, the company called me. The man I spoke with tried to tell me that Ameritech was counter-suing the goverment and XXXX has a lawsuit also. At the end of the day, I don't care about the lawsuits. What I care about it that, for the last 2+ years, I have been under the impression that I have been paying on my student loans, but I actually have not been. 

I was told by the Ameritech representative that i would have only had to pay {$850.00} for them to complete my paperwork from day 1 until the loan forgiveness were to take place. Why was this not told to me from the beginning? If i had been told that from day 1 then that is what i would have done INSTEAD of paying the other {$2600.00} that I ended up paying. 

If Ameritech is going to continue to process my paper work, which is what they have stated in the closed complaint ... that service only cost {$850.00}, which I have paid 4 times over. 

I want my remaining {$2600.00} back. I was NEVER told about the " membership '' that they allege that they offer. The whole thing seems like a scam and even more of a scam now that they try to push blame back onto all of the other companies who are also having lawsuits. 

I have made the following payments : XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$200.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$99.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} XX/XX/XXXX {$50.00} Those payments total {$3400.00}. The services that I have been receiving only cost {$850.00}, and according to the man i spoke to from Ameritech, that i will continue to recieve. Therefore, I want my {$2600.00} back since I was NEVER told that it was for anything other than going towards my student loans.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation