Consumer complaint received 2017-11-10
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: OR
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Problem with customer service

Complaint:
Starting on XXXX XXXX XXXX I began telephonically contacting Fed Loan servicing regarding my application for the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
-- I first called to make sure all of my paperwork had uploaded correctly. I was assured that they had received all of my XXXX employment certification forms ( jobs beginning in XXXX ) and that XXXX had already been approved but XXXX of them were still being reviewed : XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX which I was employed at from XXXX. I inquired about the amount of qualified payments I had made as my Fed loan account only listed the last couple years of payment history and not the 10 years I had. I had tried to look at my previous loan servicer account but since I had been transferred there were no records left on me. I asked the customer service staff how many payment I showed and she stated that I had XXXX approved payments and the outstanding ones connected to the XXXX employers still being reviewed would have qualified me for the XXXX payments needed for loan forgiveness as soon as they were done completing the review. I reiterated my understanding was that I had XXXX approved payments and the outstanding ones they were still approving would qualify me for loan forgiveness and customer service said clearly XXXX. I was not concerned as both my payments and employment met criteria so I left it alone. I was a little concerned that she laughed and said not to worry about the XXXX XXXX date because " no one would be approved in that first month ''. 
-- I called back on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX to check the status of the XXXX employment certification forms awaiting approval. I was told the same thing I was told previously and when asked about the amount of payments I would qualify for once the XXXX employers were accepted I was reassured again that the total would qualify me for loan forgiveness and XXXX had already been counted. 
-- I called back on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX as I still had heard nothing nor received any paperwork outside of the original online account messages stating the first XXXX employers had been approved. The customer service staff stated that it was my previous loan servicer XXXX holding up my employers being approved as they held my loans during that timeframe. I asked what I could do to provide them with the information they needed and offered to contact XXXX to ask them to get the records to Fed XXXX. The customer service staff stated that it would help to do that so I hung up and called XXXX who stated that I should speak to a supervisor at XXXX XXXX because that was incorrect information and XXXX XXXX receives all my records when the loan was transferred but they agreed to mail me my loan records which would take around XXXX days. I was feeling distressed around this as I had been told it was the only thing holding up my loan forgiveness which should have been accepted in XXXX. I called back and informed customer service of what XXXX had told me and asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I spoke with a supervisor who stated that the customer service staff had been incorrect and that Fed loan had all of my records but my payments were being reviewed to make sure they met criteria during my employment in XXXX. I said I was confused as to why they would n't because my XXXX based payment was no different and both agencies met employment certification requirements. The supervisor was unable to say why the review was taking so long or what they were looking at specifically and said that she would email her supervisor who should contact me the following day but they technically had 60 days to complete the review which would be XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I again asked for clarification that I had been approved for XXXX payments and the outstanding ones they were reviewing would qualify me for loan forgiveness. Again I was reassured by the XXXX  XXXX staff supervisor that yes, once these were approved I would qualify for loan forgiveness. She stated that she understood that we were getting close to XXXX when my loans should have been forgiven so she would do what she could but in the meantime I could just defer my loan payments. I stated I would not do that as it would disqualify me and she said " Yes, that 's true ''. 
-- I called back on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX -- I call to check-in because I never heard from the " supervisor 's supervisor '' as agreed upon and speak with a woman who starts to claim the original story that it is my previous loan servicer holding things up. When I correct her on this she transfers me to a supervisor. This supervisor becomes hostile quickly and starts making guesses as to what has happened she then laughingly states that she sees the problem and it 's that I do n't have any payments waiting for approval except for around XXXX and this would total XXXX payments. She begins explaining that my loans appear to have qualified for the program in XXXX but then abruptly changed to not qualifying until XXXX but she has no idea why but becomes insistent that I still have several years of payments left so plenty of time to wait for the review. She ca n't explain why several staff including a supervisor had stated that I would have enough qualifying payments as soon as the employers in the middle of my XXXX yrs of payments were approved. She contradicts herself several times and when I continue to question this I am clearly distraught that I went from complete loan forgiveness to XXXX more years of suddenly doubled payments XXXX of this year. She then laughingly says " I am sorry, I guess I should have started with that ''. I say I ca n't speak to her anymore and hang up. 
-- I call back on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX -- I call again having passed the 60 day mark I was told on several occasions they had to review my case before informing me of the status which would have ended XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. I have received no paperwork since this all started and again the only emails were days after my employment certification forms went in and XXXX were approved almost immediately. The XXXX from XXXX appear to still be in review as I have heard nothing and received nothing via mail or email. I call again only asking to know the status of the last XXXX employers and I am not even bothering with clarifying how many qualifying payments I have as I was devastated to hear the last call that I XXXX suddenly have several years of payments left rather than immediate loan forgiveness as I was originally told. I am told for the third time that it is previous loan servicer holding things up and when I correct her and inform her the 60 days are up she states that they have XXXX weeks from the application to respond then 60 days to approve the employers and if they go in review they have another 120 days to respond. I ask her why none of the other multiple staff including XXXX supervisors have said anything about the additional XXXX weeks before the 60 days and another 120 days if reviewed and she states that it is because those dates are " fluid ''. I ask for something in writing and in documented information or specifics on their protocol. Customer service reports that she has none and can not explain where those timelines originated from and just states that everyone 's case is different. She also ca n't explain why my case has remained unchanged for over XXXX months or what is actually occurring during a review so she transfers me to a supervisor. The supervisor states that the reason I am told so many different reasons and times for approval of loan forgiveness is because " each customer service will be open to interpretation '' of my case and denies that there is any written protocol or standard for processing the loan forgiveness forms for the XXXX XXXX XXXX forgiveness program. She says it 's a complicated process that takes time and will vary for each individual. She says that it also depends on how many applications they are processing and how busy they are so that 's why I can not get a straight answer on what is happening or how long it will take. She then states " well, you got a letter '' and when I say I did not and have received no written information she puts me on hold then comes back and begins talking about something else. She then becomes hostile and tells me that she understands I am frustrated because I have had to call so many times and " if I keep calling them then I am just going to get more frustrated ''. She began yelling at me and asked to put me on hold and at that point I just said I was done. I told her I would be filing a complaint and she said you do that.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief