Consumer complaint received 2018-10-18
Company: AES/PHEAA
State: TX
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:
I have XXXX payments which I understand can be time consuming due to the nature of the source of the money. However I have had several instances where the payments have been significantly delayed and a customer service rep raise his voice when I was just trying to understand the delay and how I can assist get the payment to move along. 

Instance # 1 : I initiated an XXXX payment XX/XX/18 and XXXX XXXX   accepted the payment on XX/XX/18. The funds were sent to XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/18. I have confirmed with XXXX that I have the correct dates. I gave it two weeks and the funds still had not posted. I called periodically and was always told to be patient. After a month the payment still had not posted and I would call weekly and was told several different inconsistent information, including the payment can take another 30 days or 60 days or that the payment had already posted but I can't see it yet. We were hitting XX/XX/XXXX and still the payment was not there. I reached out to XXXX and they suggested I request a trace check of the payment. The customer service rep I spoke to constantly confused herself with other payments and I provided her everything XXXX gave me. It got to the point that I would schedule a day every week to speak to customer service. The payment finally posted in XX/XX/XXXX with a back date of XX/XX/XXXX. A 90 day delay. 

Instance # 2 : I am no longer on {$0.00} payment plan because I got married and my husband makes significantly more than I do. I was hoping to use my XXXXXXXX  funds to make payments that otherwise can not afford on my own ( my husband has his own loan and other expenses ). I initiated a payment due on XX/XX/18 through XXXX on XX/XX/18 and it was accepted by XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/18. The funds were sent to XXXX on XX/XX/18. The payment has yet to post. I keep getting delinquency notices and when I call, I keep being told that I need to be patient or that the payment will post within a week. Again I call on a weekly basis. I am also in Public Service loan forgiveness where a late payment can have an affect on your 120 required payments. On XX/XX/18 I requested to speak to PSLF rep about the " late '' payment and what affect it will have on me. Again the customer service rep ( XXXX ) would confuse himself about payment and would tell me conflicting or contradictory statements about when the payment would post and what affect it would have on my PSLF. He eventually raised his voice on the phone, I explained that I was just trying to understand how to speed up the XXXX payment process and what affect it would have on my PSLF. He got so flustered that I ended the call without no resolution. It was one of the worst customer services experiences I have had. Note I never once raised my voice at him. I have also been told that the payment was held due to XXXX asking for it to post on a separate date. I reached out to XXXX and they said they never told XXXX to delay payment. 

I call constantly because of the delinquency notices, the significant delays and the arbitrary dates expected post of the payment ( i.e. Tomorrow, 24 hours, one week, 30 days 60 days ). I don't understand how they start the countdown for how long the payment will take. Does it start from the day I request the payment? From the day the payment is processed? From the day the payments are received? XXXX XXXX is the verge of affecting my credit score negatively. I work closely with a credit bureau for work and was told that these delinquency notices can adversely affect my credit score regardless of whether or not XXXX reports it. I also requested a letter form XXXX explaining that the delinquencies are not a result of my negligence but from a processing issue on their end. That issue has not been resolved at all.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief