Consumer complaint received 2018-02-06
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC.
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:
Summary of complaint : -Navient makes loan re-payment unnecessarily complicated and onerous for overseas borrowers in order to maximize their profits and penalize borrowers. 

-XX/XX/XXXX, Navient changed their card payment processing system without notifying borrowers. Their system now registers all overseas debit cards as credit cards. Credit cards are unable to be used for making repayments. They did this without notifying overseas borrowers who were the most likely to be negatively affected. I would like to lodge a complaint regarding the lack of notification about this significant change and how it has removed my ability to make loan repayments. 

-Between XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, I made 6 expensive overseas calls to Navient to try to make payments for those months with a debit card from an overseas bank account. I was given false information by supervisors and employees that wasted my time and resulted in no payment ever being processed. I would like to lodge a complaint against these Navient supervisors and employees for jeopardizing my credit history. 

-During some of these phone calls, I was told the only options for loan repayment for overseas borrowers were now checks and money orders, both of which are costly, time consuming, and inconvenient. I would like to lodge a complaint against Navient about the limited options for loan repayment for overseas borrowers. 

-I have now been forced to take forbearance despite having both the money and desire to make payments. I would like to lodge a complaint against Navient for not being told about this option until the 6th phone call. I would also like to lodge a complaint against Navient for being forced into this decision in order to avoid negatively affecting my credit history, through no fault of my own, and because of changes with Navients ' card payment processing system. 

Full complaint : I took out a US DoE loan to obtain a XXXX 's degree from XXXX University of XXXX ( in XXXX XXXX ). My loan was sold to Navient for servicing after I completed my XXXX 's degree.I still live in XXXX XXXX. 

Navient makes it absurdly challenging for overseas borrowers to make repayments. We can not pay in advance or pay off large chunks of our loan from overseas bank accounts ( we can only may the amount due each month ). We also can not pay our loan online from overseas bank accounts. Both of those options are only available to US bank account holders. 

In early XX/XX/XXXX, I began making my loan repayments using my debit card from my overseas bank account in XXXX XXXX. I rang Navient every month, or every few months, to make a payment using the same debit card. This always incurred a hefty phone bill, but it was the only time effective way to make payments without too much hassle. The payments were always processed. 

As of XX/XX/XXXX, Navient changed their card payment processing system. Their new system now registers debit cards from overseas bank accounts as credit cards. They did this without notifying overseas loan borrowers who would be adversely affected by the change. 

I rang Navient XX/XX/XXXX to make my payment for the month using the same debit card I have used since early XX/XX/XXXX. I spoke with a woman who processed my debit card payment and said it went through. She said my confirmation of payment would be emailed to me. The whole phone call took about an hour because of wait times and repeated attempts to process the payment. I never received the email confirmation, but forgot about it over the XXXX holiday period. 

XX/XX/XXXX, I received an email from Navient saying my account was overdue. I called Navient early XX/XX/XXXX to try to make another payment using the same debit card. It would not work. 

I called Navient again XX/XX/XXXX to try making payment using a different debit card. It would not work and I was told it was because the debit card was registering as a credit card on their system. I asked to speak with a supervisor. I was connected with a man named XXXX. He explained the change in card payment processing system may be the reason why my debit cards are registering as credit cards. He instructed me to go to my bank and get a verified letter stating my debit card was not a credit card. He instructed me to then load it up to Upload.Navient.Com. He advised a technical team would review the letter and then ( if approved ) change my card so it appeared as a debit card on their system. XXXX said it would take about a week or so and he would call me back with an update.The whole phone call took over an hour. 

I went to my bank, obtained the letter, and uploaded it to the website as instructed by the Navient supervisor, XXXX. XXXX never called me back. I received no email updates. 

I called Navient again on XX/XX/XXXX to follow up about the debit card. I spoke with two people who disconnected the call when I asked to speak with a supervisor regarding the problem. I then made several additional calls, but the Navient automated system kept terminating my call due to high call volume. Eventually, I got through to a third person, XXXX ( I believe ), who told me that the document I uploaded had not been received ( nor processed ) and that it was actually impossible to change how a debit card registered in the system as a credit card. XXXX said the only option available to me now for loan repayment was check or money order. I complained that was neither convenient nor cost effective, as money orders are prohibitively expensive and to get one every month was an unfair financial burden. I asked to speak with his supervisor. 

I was connected to XXXX, Navient employee ID XXXX. She also confirmed my uploaded document had not been received, but also would not have changed how my debit card was registered. She confirmed there was no way to make a payment using a debit card while overseas. She confirmed my options for repayment were check and money order. 

Therefore, I was misled by the Navient supervisor, XXXX, about my options for repayment, which wasted my time and energy. It also contributed to several weeks of not being able to make my loan repayment, potentially jeoaprdising my credit history. This delay and time wastage was in addition to the previous Navient employees who also fed me incorrect information, did not understand how to process payments, and were unable to correctly identify the problem or propose a working solution. They all have caused me to be 55 days overdue for payments, despite repeated attempts and having more than enough funds. 

When I expressed concern to XXXX at Navient that the time it would take to send and process payments made via money order would mean my credit history was negatively affected, she was the first person to offer forbearance as an alternative. It took speaking to 6 people to be given that as an option. Why did none of the previous supervisors and employees offer that as a solution? 

As I literally had no other option for making loan repayments while overseas, I have been forced to go into forbearance despite having the money to make my monthly payments. This will negatively affect my loan in the long-term as my interest accrued during forbearance will get added to my principal. This is unfair, but I have not other option. 

To summarize, I would like to lodge complaints against Navient for : 1. Changing their card payment processing system without notifying borrowers, in advance.

2. Having a new card payment processing system that incorrectly registers all overseas debit cards as credit cards.

3. Removing options for loan repayment while overseas that are reasonable for borrowers ( payment online, payment over the phone via debit card, payment in advance ) and only allowing slow, costly, and inconvenient repayment options that benefit Navient ( monthly payment for the amount due via check or money order only ).
4. Having an employee who incorrectly claim she processed a payment, only to find out several weeks later that the payment didn't go through.

5. Having a supervisor lie and mislead customers about the processes and options for repayments.

6. Taking 6 phones for someone to offer a potential solution of a forbearance. 7. Removing all reasonable options for repayment so that overseas borrowers are forced into
choosing forbearance, despite having the desire and funds to make payments. This should be criminal.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation