Consumer complaint received 2016-10-28
Company: GREAT LAKES
State: MD
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about my loan

Complaint:
I have a federal Stafford student loan srevised by Great Lakes. I have the loan set up on auto pay and I have never missed a payment or been late for a payment. The online dashboard for my account shows me the amount I pay every month, how much I have left to pay ( principle and interest ) and my when I will be done paying off my loan. I have not changed payment plans or done anything that would change the last date of my payment. The site has consistently listed my last payment as XX/XX/2019, less than three years from now. I recently actually tually looked at the numbers on my remaining loan, the amount I pay every month and the last scheduled payment according to XXXX XXXX and something was off. Based on my calculations, I would still owe money on my loan after XX/XX/2019 So I called Great Lakes to get clarification. I talked to a customer service rep and he initially was very dismissive of my concern and assured me the last scheduled payment date was correct ( XX/XX/2019 ). I insisted that he listen to the breakdown of my math, at which point he put me on hold ( twice ). He came back on the line and confirmed it seemed wrong and that he would have to make a report and it would take time to get clarity. I asked when my last payment would actually be a difficult he said : " I do n't know. '' I explained that I had relied on the information they had given me as my loan servicing company to budget for major life decisions, that I had actually thought it would be possible to speed up paying off the loan when I thought that it had less than three years left on it. I got married this summer, and we are trying to plan our financial future including when to buy a house and when we can start a family. We had made calculations and goals and time lines for all of those things based on the false information Great Lakes had given me about when I would be done paying my loan. He basically said he did n't know what to tell me. I asked if Great Lakes would honor my last payment being on XX/XX/XXXX since it was their fault they had given me false information and he said no I 'd have to pay the loan even if they gave me wrong information upon which I relied to make material financial decisions. I asked to talk to a supervisor. The supervisor I talked to also seemed annoyed and dismissive. She said she did not know whether the last several scheduled payment date was correct and that it would take at least three to five business days to know. I asked how such a big mistake could happen, she said she did n't know know and that it was just a mistake. I asked whether mistakes like this were happening on a systemic level and expressed concern for others, even more financially vulnerable than myself, that relied on information like when they would be done paying their loan to plan out their financial lives only to learn they were planning in vein because they would have to pay the loan for years longer than what they had planned for. I am a responsible borrower and I have upheld my end with paying back my loan. How can a business whose job it is to service loans provide false information upon which borrowers rely and have no Consequences? Is this even legal? I think Great Lakes should be liable for any money still owed after what they told me was my last payment date. How can they get away with giving consumers false information upon which they relied to make financial and life Decisions? Where is the recourse?

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