Consumer complaint received 2018-09-11
Company: TRANSWORLD SYSTEMS INC
State: DE
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't temporarily delay making payments

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX, I started as a first-year XXXX XXXX. I attempted to get my loan deferred since I was enrolled XXXX. I called my loan servicer, XXXX   XXXX XXXX, and asked them how to obtain a deference on the loans. They told me that in order to obtain a deference I needed to prove proof that I was enrolled in an educational program XXXX. I sent them, via email, an enrollment verification form, signed and sealed, from the school. After I sent them the form, I received an email confirmation that the form would be processed and that I would be contacted again via email once the information was processed. A month after sending the requested information, I received a letter stating that my loans were sent to collection for failure to pay. I immediately called the loan servicer and was told that there had been a glitch on their end and that they would work to fix the problem. A few weeks later my co-signer and I began to receive numerous calls and letters from a collection agency seeking payment on the student loans. I explained to the collection agency that I was a XXXX XXXX and that the loans should have been deferred back in XXXX. I again contacted the loan servicer who told me that they had no record of my previous phone call and that they were unsure as to why the loan had not been placed into deferment. It took an additional month for the company to correctly process the paperwork and place the loans into deferment. During that time I received harassing phone calls from the collection agency and various negative impacts on my credit score, dropping from XXXX to XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, in order to avoid the same situation from the previous year with the loan servicer, I sent the enrollment verification prior to the school year starting. In XX/XX/XXXX I received an email stating that the loans were 30 days past due. I called the loan servicer and was told that my account manager would look into the problem and email me back within a few days. Another few weeks passed with no contact from the service but during this time I began to receive phone calls informing me that the account was now 60 days past due. I called the servicer again to check the status of the deferment and again was told that someone would correct the problem and email me back. During this time the loans continued to accrue interest and late payments. At the end of XXXX, I called back again to check the status of the deferment after receiving a phone call from the servicer looking for payments on the loans. I told the agent that as a XXXX XXXX I qualified for a deferment and had applied for one at the end of XXXX and have yet to hear anything about whether it had been processed or if there were any issues with it. He informed me that he would mark my issue as urgent and have someone look into immediately and that I should expect an update phone call within a few days. On XX/XX/XXXX after two weeks with no email or phone call from the company, I called looking for information about the deferment and an explanation for the repeated issues I was having with the company. After speaking with the customer service representative, who could not help me, I was transferred over to a supervisor. I proceeded to explain the situation to him and how the entire process had been a nightmare and how the company was causing me a lot of economic and psychological stress. The supervisor explained to me that when I had sent in the enrollment verification in XXXX I had done so too early so they could not process the deferment request. I questioned him as to why I had not been told that three months ago when I called in reference to loans and obtaining deferment originally, he had no answer. He then personally promised that he would rectify the situation and the adverse effect on my credit score by the following Friday. That Friday I received no phone call from the company. That following Monday I called the company and again I was told that they would look into my issue and mark it as urgent. This is now the sixth time that I have had to call the company in regards to obtaining a deferment.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation