Consumer complaint received 2022-09-10
Company: EdFinancial Services
State: ME
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
I have submitted this complaint once already under the commplaint # XXXX. However, as of XX/XX/XXXX I received I letter from your team post-marked XX/XX/XXXX that due to certain information presented in my original submission, you believed that it was filed under false pretenses by somebody else and took the liberty of closing it for my protection. I am submitting the exact same complaint again, with minor additions, because I, the loan holder, did in fact mean to submit the first one and would like it resolved. Perhaps the confusion is that I am submitting this under the last name " XXXX '' when my loans are under the name " XXXX, '' but that is because I got married in XXXX and changed my name. The social security number, email address, and phone number are accurate to my current account. My original FSA account was made under the email XXXX, but because that email has been deactivated long ago I have since updated it to match the XXXX address given in this complaint. Please keep this complaint open until resolved and contact me directly via email or phone if you have any concerns over it being fraudulent. I would be happy to verify its validity. Now, onto my issue regarding my student loan refund request. 

On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Edfinancial immediately after receiving the new of President Biden 's loan forgiveness. I saw on the Federal Student Aid website that we were able to request a refund on payments made throughout the student loan freeze that started in XX/XX/XXXX up through XX/XX/XXXX. I went ahead and asked them to do that and was shocked when I was told that it would take them 150 days to process my request and another 150 days to issue my refund. I was a Pell Grant recipient and would be eligible for the max {$20000.00} of loan forgiveness, and during the freeze from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX I made almost {$8000.00} in payments. 

It seems as though Edfinancial is the only student loan provider with these outlandish wait times. I understand that XXXX and XXXX XXXX, as two examples, are estimating a 3-8 week wait time for their students and I know that students of those loan providers are already seeing their loans reflected on their accounts. What's worrying to me is that the application for forgiveness starts in XX/XX/XXXX and Edfinancial supposedly will not be processing anybody 's refund requests in time for anybody to receive forgiveness. They are stating that our loan balances will not be reinstated until the refund is processed, which won't be until XXXX at the earliest for them. The interest rates and payments will have resumed by then. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, I did receive confirmation via their chat function that my request had been put through, but they have no idea how long it will take to actually process and can give me no further information than that. They told me on the phone that they would not be able to send me an email confirmation stating that my request for a refund has been submitted. I have also contacted EdFinancial twice via their chat function confirming that my request has been put through, but they still have no idea what their timeline of processing will be. I realize that Edfinancial must be overwhelmed by the influx of calls they are receiving about this very issue, but it is very concerning to me that they are estimating this whole process to take almost a year when many other student loan providers are able to accommodate significantly faster turnaround times while operating at the same volume as Edfinancial. I know that I'm not alone in concerns over refunds being processed in time for XXXX and would like some assistance in making sure that this process is pushed along properly, as other providers have no trouble doing.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation