Consumer complaint received 2015-08-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NH
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Non-federal student loan
Issue: Can't repay my loan
Sub-issue: Can't temporarily postpone payments

Complaint:
Company : Wells FargoSchool : School XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX applied for a Six-Month forbearance on my student loan in XXXX or XXXX of this year, when applying the associate I spoke with informed me that if my financial situation had n't improved by the end of the forbearance period I would be eligible to apply for an additional forbearance of six months. 
I 've struggled with XXXX that have inhibited my ability to be as productive as possible since graduating college in XX/XX/XXXX. I 've been employed off-and-on during this time. First at a local hardware store, then, after an internship opportunity in XXXX that I allowed to slip because of my illness, and a period of unemployment and even XXXX XXXX ; at a local ski shop. Exacerbating this is my total debt : upwards of {$230000.00} and growing daily. I 've finally reached a point where I feel I am making some sort of progress, working with my doctors and my family ; however, these sorts of psychological hardships are completely ignored by ALL of my private financiers. 
When the six months were up ( this XX/XX/XXXX ... Bill due XX/XX/XXXX ) I immediately called Wells Fargo customer service to begin the process of applying for an additional forbearance while I continued work on my career outside of retail. The representative I spoke to was apprehensive at first, saying something about XXXX payment required -- when I explained to him that the employee that I spoke to in XXXX had assured me I 'd be able to receive the additional forbearance he said something to the effect of " Oh yeah, that 's right, you need to call back closer to your billing date, though. " I assumed the information provided to me by multiple customer service representatives at Wells Fargo was correct and I waited until the day before my bill was due to call them to complete the application process. What happened next was astounding. 
Every single representative apologized, the information I had been provided previously was incorrect, there was nothing they could do, my bill was due the following day. I struggled for hours -- being punished for misinformation provided by their own customer service representatives seemed less than fair, possibly criminal. 
I have no doubt in my mind that the customer service representatives at Wells Fargo are trained in subterfuge, to delay these sorts of requests until it 's too late and then to completely shut down any hope of delaying billing. 
We 've began the process of loan modification but we 've been informed that our bill is still due, I 'll be forced to make below-minimum payments and to deal with possibly months of harassing collection calls. 
As someone already suffering from a handfull of XXXX illnesses the thought of surprise default or even just continued deceit can be quite literally crippling. 
I would never have signed up for higher education, had I known at XXXX ( when I was still asking permission to use the restroom in highschool ) this would be the cost.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation