Consumer complaint received 2017-10-15
Company: DISCOVER BANK
State: NY
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are being handled

Complaint:
I normally pay my Discover Student Loans online, either via the company 's own web portal or as a bill pay via my bank. On XX/XX/XXXX, I went to pay my usual monthly amount for the previous month 's statement using Discover 's own web portal, but to my surprise it indicated a higher amount that what was on the statement itself. I called their customer service department to inquire about the discrepancy and was told that there did in fact seem to be an error on their end but the representative could not figure out why that was and had to escalate the matter to their back office team. The representative assured me that I would get a follow-up concerning the matter within a week 's time. That week came and went with no response from Discover, so I got on the phone with them again to inquire on the status of the issue and to obtain instructions on what to do with that month 's payment which was about to become due in a day or two and I did n't know which amount I needed to be pay ( the lower or higher ) and I did not want to become past due or incur late charges. I was instructed the pay the usual ( lower ) amount because once the back office team resolved the matter it would all balance out and fix itself in the system. 

I did as instructed, but to my surprise, about one week later I received the new monthly statement showing that I had a past due balance. So I got back on the phone with the customer service department to ask why my account says I am past due and also why have I STILL not yet received any follow-up regarding the previous issue I originally called about. I ended up having to make 2 more subsequent calls that same day because the all representatives I had talked to up to that point, none seemed to fully understand the situation I was trying to explain and was experiencing, and out of frustration I would just politely end the call only to call them right back again. I finally spoke with a rep that seem to fully understand the growing complexity of the situation and offered to look deeper into the issue and call me back that same day with a solution the rep never called back. 

Another week went by with no response or update from Discover. I again called them up and yet again asked why I have n't heard back and what the current status was of my escalated matter. The representative indicated there were no updates, other than the notes from all the previous calls I had made thus far. I asked the rep if they could please help me figure out what was happening with my account and why I kept getting the runaround. The agent once again promised to look into the matter and would call me back with an update that same day but of course the call never came. 

I have since called them at least 8 times, and every single time I am told that the matter would either be escalated or that I would get a call back. I have received none of those things and many weeks have now passed. 

Then on XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX indicating that my account number with Discover has changed and that I am to update the information with my bank. Only problem is that the due date for my bill is the XX/XX/XXXXof every month and I had already sent out my payment for the month, not to mention the fact that they inform me of this drastic change to my account information literally at the very last minute, with less than one week to update my records before the bill became due. Because I had already sent out the payment to the " old '' account number on file with my bank, Discover now claims they have not received the payment and have marked my account as delinquent, despite said payment having cleared with my bank on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I got back on the phone with them today,XX/XX/XXXX, to complain that this new error with my payment is through no fault of my own, and also to, yet again, follow up on the previous issues with my account ( because I have STILL not heard back about the status of all the escalations ) only to be told, AGAIN, that the matter would have to be escalated and that I would have to wait at least 1 week to receive any update. 

This has now turned into a vicious cycle, with no one from Discover taking ownership or responsibility about the myriad of problems I am facing with my account, and I have been left with absolutely no recourse to protect and defend myself against the utter incompetence of this company and its customer service personnel, which only leaves ME financially liable for their errors. I should not have to put this much work and effort to resolve a matter that it is not of my doing and frankly I am on the verge on suing them. I assume that I can not be the only one experiencing this degree of negligence that borderlines with impropriety.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief