Consumer complaint received 2018-01-05
Company: HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS INC
State: WA
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
I 'm currently preparing to apply for graduate school. I pay my XXXX loans monthly to XXXX and XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified of a hold on my XXXX XXXX University account preventing the release of transcripts when I attempted to have them sent to another school. 

I called the following day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) to inquire, and was told by my University that my XXXX loan  was 24 months past due and had been sent to collections. 

I was surprised. I had never received a bill for this loan or any contact about it. The university representative explained that my mailing address had been changed twice, which I had not done. She said it had been changed internally. The original mailing address was correct, so I have no idea where anything has been sent for two years. They also had an outdated phone number that has n't been in use since XX/XX/XXXX. 

However, she said, because I had opted for electronic notification, statements were being sent to my university email account. 

Having been out of school for three years, I retrieved my university email account. I found zero  emails had been sent to me in regards to this loan. 

I did receive many emails asking me to sign the exit interview, the most recent from XX/XX/XXXX. I remember these emails because despite having signed it multiple times, it was never processed through XXXX 's poor website. It eventually worked, however XXXX still shows that I 've never signed it. 

So, I used the Live Chat feature on XXXX 's website after reading horrendous reviews about their phone-based customer service. This Live Chat did not answer my questions and, at the end, was edited by XXXX and does not reflect the actual transcript. Below is the transcript, and please note the edits XXXX made to this conversation : Chat transcription : XXXX XXXX XXXX : Hello XXXX, thank you for using Live Chat! One moment please while I access your account. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : Hi there! Thanks. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I have now accessed your account, how may I assist you today? 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I actually just found out about this account today. Apparently, I 'm two years past due, but have never received a letter, email, or bill in relation to this loan. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : This account has been assigned to collections and XXXX XXXX  is no longer servicing it. The loan is now with XXXX XXXX XXXX. and you can contact them at XXXX for assistance. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : Can you tell me why I never received a bill? 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : Did you have a valid mailing address on the account during the time it was with XXXX  XXXX? 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I don't know, since I never knew about this account. If all information came from my University, then there should have been. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : Either way, you will need to contact XXXX XXXX XXXX., we can not assist you with this account. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I understand and appreciate the phone number. However, I still do not understand why Heartland never contacted me about this loan. If it 's not in collections, which affects my finances, this is a major concern. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : Now in collections* XXXX XXXX XXXX : The account show bills as having been mail every month to ( correct mailing address was here ) throughout XX/XX/XXXX. 

XXXXMy replies, which were not read nor responded to by XXXX : XXXX XXXX : That is the correct address, thank you for checking. However, I never received anything. 
XXXX Sir, Im going to assume youre a real person and not a robot. Ive known about this loan for about two hours, and in that time Ive found a wealth of information online about others who - like me - never received bills in relation to their loans. I dont want the headache of contacting the XXXX or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or calling a lawyer. I want information about what methods were used to contact me, and records of them. 

XXXXThe next update to the chat erased my previous two messages. XXXX 's responses appeared in the chat transcript with inconsistent time stamps, not in the chat itself. These replies did not appear until the chat had ended : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX : Also, late letters and phone calls were issued throughout the year. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : The account was reassigned to collections in early XX/XX/XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : May I assist you with anything else today, XXXX? 
XXXX XXXX XXXX : I do apologize, due to no further response I will be ending the chat. If you are still in need of assistance, please do not hesitate to begin a new Live Chat session with us or you can also contact our office by calling XXXX and any of our representatives will be more than happy to assist you. We are here Monday-Friday from XXXX XXXX-XXXX XXXX Eastern Standard Time in our Call Center and we are available on Live Chat Monday-Friday from XXXX XXXX-XXXX XXXX and also on Saturday from XXXX XXXX-XXXX XXXX. Again, we do apologize we missed you but look forward to assisting you in the future. Have a great day and thank you for using Live Chat! 


My concerns are three : 1. XXXX XXXX has a near-unanimous reputation from consumers for being deceitful, difficult, disrespectful, and cutting corners. I do not understand how they 're still contracted to handle student loans by public, government-funded institutions.

2. My mailing address given to XXXX has been my parent 's home for eleven years. That it was internally changed twice to non-existent addresses seems incredibly odd, especially since I received my diploma in the mail without issue. Further, that XXXX in the Live Chat claimed my original address was what they had on file makes no sense. XXXX 's office informed me that XXXX had a different address. Before I could log in to the Live Chat, I had to provide my address. I believe the address XXXX provided during the chat was copied from this form, and they lied. 

3. This loan has now been given to another company, XXXX XXXX XXXX, without my knowledge until today. The original balance was small, only {$1000.00}, but now totals over {$1500.00} due to late fees for bills I never received. I received zero  emails, phone calls, letters, bills, or any form of contact. The last email about my loan was as stated earlier, on XX/XX/XXXX, asking me to once again sign the exit interview from XXXX. I have not received any contact from XXXX XXXX XXXX or XXXX about this loan. 

I have a major ethical issue with so many universities across the country using this universally detested and shady company for collecting on debts. Yes, collections agencies get a bad reputation. But what XXXX  XXXX has done to many consumers, including myself, is wrong. They are clearly comfortable making continuous clerical errors in order to turn profits off of fees. I was shocked to see the Live Chat transcript edited so heavily, but after reading dozens and dozens of stories about this company I 'm no longer surprised and simply disappointed in my university for using this company in the first place.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation