Consumer complaint received 2019-07-03
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: WA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
This complaint is related to Fedloans our student loan servicer under contract by the Dept of Education. Unfortunately, this is not our first complaint against the company. Each year we re-apply per the program guidelines for our Repayment plan. Weve been with Fedloans since XX/XX/XXXX when our loans were transferred to them ( through no choice of our own ). It has been nothing short of a nightmare. 
The current complaint relates to poor customer servicer and unreliable information being given as we try to repay our loan. Each year were required to re-certify our income for the recalculation of our student loan payment. Each year the process is unpredictable and frustrating due to the variety of guidance we are given by the servicer themselves. This year even though our financial situation hasnt changed thee experience has been horrible. 
We re-applied using a form that has never reflected our unique situation. So like in the past 5 years I submitted a cover letter explaining our situation and that we have answered the form to the best of our knowledge. This year I inadvertently selected the wrong box on the form and was asked to correct the form which I immediately did and returned for the servicer. That sent us into three additional rounds of applications whereby we were given conflicting information by Fedloans providing us opposite guidance as to how to complete the form and what info to provide. 
Our loan is a spousal consolidation loan and from my understanding they review both my income and that of my ex-wife ( although I was even told something different from one agent this year ). Not only has the guidance evolved this year but in recent years we were given alternating advice as to how to complete the form. This year after the first mistake was made ( admittedly by myself ) the servicers told us the following.

Round One- I submitted on the application on XX/XX/XXXX w
ith both my income and my ex wifes income with both our signatures. ( I mistakenly checked the wrong box on the form which didnt change the results of what we submitted ). In then end they got what they needed to do the calculation. 
Round Two- I resubmitted my income on XX/XX/XXXX ( changed the wrong check box ) and my ex-wifes income and one application form. 
Round Three- I was told to re-submit my income and signature on the application without my ex wifes info. I was told the payment would only consider my income ( like last year ) since my ex-wife has separate student loans of her own and because I signed the form as single. Resubmitted on XX/XX/XXXX Round Four- I was told to re-submit an application for myself and have my ex-wife submit an application separately with her income. ( The very same info was provided in the first round. ) The issue is still unresolved. 
In each of these replies Ive attached a cover letter explaining the changes as directed by Fedloans staff and it doesnt seem to matter. Each time you speak to someone different, rather than having one rep assigned to solve your case. This business practice is absolutely ridiculous and found no where else in the consumer world. This has been standard practice for years. I asked a rep about this recently and she told me we can all answer any questions a borrower might have so you dont need to speak to a particular person. This strategy obviously does not work because either they are not taking notes in their system or the agents have different levels of expertise. 
The frustration here is that we can not trust what the servicer tells us and even though our financial situation has not changed in recent years we go through this exercise with bad customer service and face uncertainty along the way. Of all our financial commitments this presents the most stress and uncertainty on an ongoing basis. Ive never even come close to having this experience with a market driven consumer product. With a mortgage or car payment you get your payment and can plan for the certainty for years. ( Not with federal student loans. ) These variations in application data can and have drastically alter what we pay in student loans from XXXX monthly to XXXX monthly which is a wide swing for a consumer product. Once our payment went from XXXX monthly to XXXX monthly even though our financial situation hadnt changed. Worse yet is we dont really know how they compute the payment amount. Calculators that are available on the Federal Student Aid website have never accurately depicted how our payment was calculated and Ive been told various things by customer service agents on the phone as illustrated in my current complaint. I have past written guidance from Fedloans that the servicer doesnt even follow - so nothing can be trusted. 

PLEASE HELP US!! 

XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation