Consumer complaint received 2018-11-14
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: OR
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:
My complaint is about XXXX 's handling of counting my qualifying payments toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLF ). After finishing XXXX school in XXXX I had consolidated all of my loans as a Direct Consolidation Loan. I have been on the Income-Based Repayment Plan ( IBR ) since my repayment started in XXXX, and have been working at a PSLF-qualifying employer the entire time. I first learned about the PSLF in XX/XX/XXXX. I certified my employment that same month and I was transferred from XXXX to XXXX, with that process finalized in the spring of XXXX. 

When I was in school I took both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. As such, my total consolidated loan balance is always split up on my bill into two balances : Direct Subsidized Consolidation Loan ( DLSCNS ) and Direct Unsubsidized Consolidation Loan ( DLUCNS ). Each bill breaks down the current due for each of these, and the sum of these is the " total due '' printed on my bill. I pay this exact amount each month, on time. 
I was surprised to see my qualifying payments ( as determined by XXXX ) differ between my subsidized and unsubsidized loans. It showed 19 qualifying payments for the subsidized portion ( which at that point in time was about right by my estimation ), but only 2 for the unsubsidized portion. This made no sense to me as I have been paying on both loans for the exact same amount of time, as part of the same bill. I called XXXX and told it was probably a " computer glitch '' and they would look into it, and to expect a correction within a few months ( this did not occur ). 

Fast forward to one year later ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and I once again recertified my employment for PSLF. I was hoping that the " glitch '' from last year would be corrected upon recertification. However, when I received a document showing an updated number of my qualifying payments, it was still not corrected properly. It now shows 31 for the subsidized portion, which I believe to be correct ( 19 last year +12, makes sense ). However, for the unsubsidized loan, it says I've only made 11 qualifying payments to date. Even if last year 's number of 2 was a " glitch '' that was not corrected, then after making payments for another year I would at least expect this number to now be 14 ( 2+12 ). How could they give me credit for 12 months of qualifying payments for one and only 9 on the other?! Again I reiterate that I always pay them at the same time, as part of the same bill! 

Upon receiving this updated payment count, I called XXXX customer service again. Even though they admitted that they could see on their screen that some payments had mistakenly not been counted, I was told my account would need to be formally reviewed for this to be corrected. I have waited VERY patiently, but no correction has occurred in the several months since I made this call. I called again this past week and was told the review was ongoing, and could take several more months. It has now been nearly two years and multiple phone calls with no resolution. At this point I have no faith that this mistake will actually be corrected without intervention from the CFPB, which was recommended to me by someone who had a similar experience with XXXX and had it resolved. Please help!

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation