Consumer complaint received 2017-07-10
Company: GREAT LAKES
State: OH
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Don't agree with the fees charged

Complaint:
Re : Great Lakes XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX WI XXXX XXXX. ) What my complaint is about? I was charged an unfair late fee of {$2300.00} on XX/XX/XXXX due to the deceptive practices and the mishandling of my account which could have been prevented if Great Lakes would have responsibly contacted me by mail as I requested, and let me know my income driven repayment plan was up for renewal. I called customer service countless times and complained that I only wanted contacted by mail and they assured me they would, and I would start getting statements by mail and then around my renewal date of XX/XX/XXXX the statements stopped coming as if Great Lakes wanted me to miss the deadline for my renewal on purpose so my account would go into default. I WAS NEVER CONTACTED BY MAIL AT ALL THAT MY ACCOUNT WAS UP FOR RENEWAL NOR WAS I SENT AN APPLICATION BY MAIL BEFORE MY RENEWAL DATE, and they 're statements state they will mail you a renewal application before your annual renewal date and they never did. I was never sent any letter or application of any sort that my account was up for renewal. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, an Escalation Specialist called me and said that they 're software automatically defaults all accounts to email unless the Customer Service Representative activates the account properly, which was an error made by Great Lakes ' Customer Service Repetitive to my account resulting in me not being contacted by mail as I requested. I even updated my mailing address by phone in XX/XX/XXXX and told the Representative to be sure I only be contacted by mail. Is n't it wrong to mail me statements and then stop them right at my annual renewal date and never send a late notice or anything!! XX/XX/XXXX, only after my deadline Great Lakes sends me an email informing me my loan was in default, and I called Customer Service ( XXXX ) totally upset, and she promised to mail me an application and stop my account from being delinquent, told me I would receive the application within a week, and get it back to them immediately, and I did on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter telling me I owed {$2300.00} in late fees, and I called Customer Service immediately and XXXX told me " Disregard the letter that the fee was not going on my loan because they had received my application it just had not been approved yet. '' I called Customer Service on back on XX/XX/XXXX and the rep told me the fee was still on my account and she did n't know why, so I asked to speak to a Supervisor and she transferred me to XXXX, he told me he would pull the taped conversations I had with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and if she told me that Great Lakes would take the late fee off my account that he would remove it and he would call me back in 3-5 days. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Customer Service and they transferred me to XXXX and he said, " Yes, XXXX did tell me that, but he was not removing the fee and that was final. '' he hung up on me and I called Customer Service back told them what happened and they transferred me to XXXX, a supposed General Account Manager, he told me inconsistencies regarding my account, told me I authorized email, which I did not, and said the fee would remain and that my only recourse was to go online and file a complaint. I told him I wanted higher management to call me back and on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, an Escalation Specialist called me and said that they 're Customer Service software unless done properly automatically defaults accounts to be contacted by email and that is what happened to my account, but did not offer to remove the late fee. I AM REQUESTING THAT CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU LOOK INTO THIS MATTTER AND FIND OUT WHAT LAWS WERE BROKEN AND WHAT RECOURSE I AHVE AS A CONSUMER. THANK YOU!

Company public response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation