Consumer complaint received 2017-09-25
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: WI
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, we submitted the annual required income verification form, indicating that this was an annual re-certification and we wanted to stay on the same plan we had. We received a notice back saying that they could not pull records from the IRS, so we would need to submit paper copies of prior year tax returns. We mailed in the required forms. 

OnXX/XX/XXXX, we received a bill for the full payment amount ( ~ {$3200.00} ). Apparently in addition to the box indicating we wanted to stay on the same plan, a box was checked on that form saying that we wanted to have the cheapest payment possible. A rude and uninformed customer service representative talked us into changing our plan to pay-as-you-go, instead of the Income Driven Repayment plan we wanted to be on. Our interest then capitalized, adding thousands of dollars to our principal. This rude and uninformed employee told us we could make a {$5.00} minimum payment that would count to move us over to the next repayment plan. 

On XX/XX/XXXX we received a bill for {$5.00} and a letter notifying us of forbearance. This was paid on XX/XX/XXXX 

OnXX/XX/XXXX, we received a bill for the full amount again ( ~ {$3200.00} ). AroundXX/XX/XXXX, a representative from XXXX XXXX advised us to not pay that bill, since it would n't go to collections for 90 days. They estimated that the Processing Department would update and correct everything before that 90 days. 

OnXX/XX/XXXX, we received a bill for ~ {$6400.00} -- the prior amount due plus a new amount. A phone call with employee # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX revealed that a ) we would not receive credit for payments made on XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, or XXXX XXXX. She also revealed that our new payment would go into effect in XXXX. So had we listened to the previous employee who advised us to " not make that payment, '' we would have surely gone into default had we not made a {$9600.00} payment. She advised us to request an administrative forbearance-we could do this since it was taking so long to process the new payment amount. She also advised requesting an 'override ' so we could make an XXXX payment on the new amount and get credit for it. 

Today, XX/XX/XXXX that request was made and we talked to employee # XXXX. This employee was extraordinarily rude, arrogant, and not helpful. He had no idea what an override was, and refused to explain any aspect of what an administrative appeal was or how it worked. Instead of helping, he insisted on making us feel as though he had no idea what we were doing. 

So we attempted to update income on XXXX XXXX. 5 months later, we still do n't have the correct payment amount, wo n't have the correct bill until XXXX, which is 7 months after the initial request, and now have lost credit for months worth of payments. And there 's still no guarantee we wo n't have to make a {$9600.00} payment to clear this all up and to avoid default.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation