Consumer complaint received 2022-07-18
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
State: NJ
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am I called Navient to bring my account current after having missed 6 payments. I spoke to " XXXX ''. She asked that I make a one-time payment of {$920.00} to bring my account current. I agreed. We discussed how I could have a lower payment on my loan for the next six months by enrolling in an autopay repayment plan. I have enrolled in this plan several times so nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me. I made the one-time payment of {$920.00}, and then using Navients ' automated telephone system, agreed to pay {$980.00} for the next six months, beginning on XX/XX/XXXX. A confirmation number was given to me for the transaction. I gave my " e-signature '' and agreed to the terms, as usual with Navient, using the pound sign. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, {$1000.00} was withdrawn from my account instead of the {$980.00} that I had consented to. 

XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX am, I called to ask why the amount withdrawn from my account was not the amount that I agreed to. The first agent that I spoke to told me that there was no record of me enrolling in a repayment plan. I said that was ridiculous because I had the confirmation number, had gone through the automated telephone system, and had agreed to payments, starting in XXXX, for six months. This agent expressed that I was wrong, that never happened and there was nothing he or I could do, unless I let my account go delinquent and called back next month, in which case they could sign me up for a repayment plan, after my account is overdue. I said that's ridiculous because my account was delinquent in XXXX and I did call and sign up for a repayment plan. He said, no, you did not sign up for any payment plan. 

I asked to speak to someone else because clearly there had to be something wrong and this agent was not going to help me. I was transferred to " XXXX '' the " supervisor '' who informed me that I was not enrolled in a repayment plan. XXXX suggested, like the last agent, that they could stop auto-pay and force my account into delinquency and that I could call back next month and then try to enroll in a repayment plan. Again, I expressed how ridiculous this idea was because I just brought my account out of delinquency, and each time the interest compounds and my loans only get larger, making Navient more money. I was already supposed to be enrolled in the program that I agreed to on XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXX said that there was nothing that he could do and he wasn't there for the conversation that I had with XXXX so he doesn't know what happened. I expressed my deep concerns that they are withdrawing amounts of money from my bank account that I have not agreed to, and he said that by pressing the pound sign on the automated telephone system that I did agree. I told him over and over again that what I agreed to in the automated system, was six payments of {$980.00} beginning in XXXX. After much back and forth, XXXX said verbatim, " We mislead you '' and " I'm very sorry that happened '' but offered absolutely no resolution. I asked what amount I can expect to be withdrawn next month and he said, " It will depend on your interest rates '' and was not able to give me a figure. 

I ended the call, having no choice but to continue with auto-withdrawal without being in any repayment plan, since forcing myself back into delinquency after going through all of this to get out of it is absurd. They gave me absolutely no information, assistance, or alternatives, just the suggestion that if I'm unhappy with autopay I stop paying. Again, I don't see how this would benefit me at all, but would surely allow them to collect more interest and more late fees. 

I have been trying in good faith to make payments on my loans since XXXX when I graduated. I borrowed {$86000.00} and having paid thousands and thousands of dollars, as of XX/XX/XXXX ( I do not know the total amount I've paid overtime because Navient does not provide it ) I currently owe {$120000.00}. Every year I pay thousands of dollars and the following year I owe more than I did at the beginning of the last. I am never given documentation of how much I have paid, only how much I owe. I have no access to my account online, no accessible way to track my account. Everything is done over the phone where there is no paper record. Even the confirmation number that I was given for my repayment plan enrollment, they attributed only to my payment of {$920.00} to bring my account current. This is deceptive and ethically, and lawfully wrong. 

XXXX told me verbatim that I was misled, and yet there are absolutely no consequences for this behavior for them. I am the one forced to shoulder the burden of not knowing what number to expect to be withdrawn from my bank account each month. This was a truly infuriating exchange, especially given the recent lawsuit where Navient agreed to do better to advise borrowers. They clearly also misled the court and are not capable of ethically serving their consumers.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation