Consumer complaint received 2018-01-18
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: TX
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Problem with a credit reporting company's investigation into an existing problem
Sub-issue: Their investigation did not fix an error on your report

Complaint:
In the beginning of 2017 we had a major weak leak at home that made us replace all the floors on the first floor including many walls that started to mold. I needed some extra cash to help with repairs and deductible so I let the student loan run to about 55 days knowing they do n't report till later. I contacted them to discuss signing up for direct debt knowing this was suppose to lower my interest rate and it would reset my current payment to zero. So they walked me through how to setup it over the phone and they even told me I may still get a notice for the loan being past due that it would all straighten itself out because the application would be being processed at the same so there should be no issues before the next payment due as it would auto draft, so I logged in and completed the application. They even told me on the phone that if I sign up for direct debt it would XXXX the payment and if I wanted to log back in and remove it so I could benefit from the XXXX payment and still pay manualy. It was a win win for me, no reason I would not have completed this. I have two accounts, one for my regular expenses at XXXX and one at the credit union where I auto draft my cars, house, and student loan. I thought this new direct debit / auto draft was on auto pilot.

A month or so later I get an email from XXXX XXXX telling me they are lowering my credit limit from $ XXXX to XXXX. I thought it was maybe because I did not use it often but when I called they told me it was because my credit score was drastically reduced. I panicked, I totally freaked out, I got the hot flashes, and to be honest I went into a deep XXXX and still so XXXX out I ca n't hardly sleep. All that hard work over the years was gone in a flash. I called them immediately to determine what happened. My statement has one account number I pay against but on the back end they process the payment against 6 loans so they ended up reporting " 6 '' 90 day late payments. My score was in the mid 700 's at the time and dropped to XXXX. Not one issue on my credit report from anyone other than XXXX/XXXX. When I spoke to them they indicated they did not see the direct debt setup or active on my account so I worked with them to process immediately to get the payments going assuming they would work with me to correct the credit report as this was their fault. I am certain I completed it on their end well before the 90 days.

To date, they claim I never completed the application ; therefore will not do anything to correct my credit report. I have been doing a lot of research online and have found multiple reports of others with similar issues as mine and I have found some with issues not like mine. Some where XXXXXXXX had a systematic problem and later corrected after months of destroying peoples credit, marriage, family, work, etc and some they refuse to admit guilt and they are in the same position I am ; looking your family in the face as if you have failed them. We have been trying to buy a house and we ca n't now. We planned to buy our teenager a care next year for graduation, ca n't finance one. I also live in XXXX Texas where the hurricane XXXX destroyed most of our town, I could n't ever get a loan to buy a generator during that time.

I have sent several emails to the CEO and board members. None of them with authority will ever call me. They have others leave me a brief voice mail and later send me a letter. We have been through this process at least three or more times with no one caring. Feel like I get treated like a piece of trash on the phone when I call customer service and they have no compassion for what they have done or how this impacts people.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation