Consumer complaint received 2017-06-24
Company: Nelnet, Inc.
State: HI
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:
My payment history with my student loan servicer ( Nelnet ) for the past 8 years has been flawless. When my student loan went into repayment in XX/XX/XXXX, the company offered me several incentives for waived payments, principle and interest rate reductions in exchange for signing up for auto debit and e-statements/correspondence ( which I enrolled in without hesitation ). However, now that it has come time to honor their end of these payment agreements, Nelnet has insisted that I am not entitled to the waived payments and interest rate reductions that were promised. <P/>Included here is a clear timeline of emails which illustrate my proper enrollment in each incentive, confirmation emails, and other points of contact which document Nelnets refusal to honor those specific incentives. Also, you may find conflicting explanations and attempts to work through the differences with the companys guarantor ( XXXX XXXX ) which were unsuccessful. Furthermore, Nelnet has ( on more than one occasion ) told me via phone or email that I did not qualify for an incentive that I actually received ( 3.33 % Principle Reduction ). The company has been unequivocally misleading, unprofessional, and careless causing me to spend hours on the phone without merit. <P/>[ Please note that my Nelnet account is comprised of two separate loan groups : Group A or 1 lender being XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and Group B or 2 lender, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. ] The following is a specific timeline including dates and actions taken by me or the company : [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet email indicating that I am eligible for my last 5-12 payments being waved on my Group 2 loan. *See Email 1 ( attached ). [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet emails confirmation of incentive enrollment ( with one final step needed to complete the enrollment process ). *See Email 2 ( attached ). [XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet emails confirmation of enrollment being accepted. This email indicates that enrollment was completed within the required time frame of 90 days from the first email. *See Email 3 ( attached ). [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Representative informed me ( via phone ) in the following days that my Group 2 loan would have the last 7 payments waived - five for enrolling in e-statements plus two for auto debit ). No further explanation was detailed re : why I did not qualify for all 12 payment waivers. [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet emails faulty screen shots explaining why I did not qualify for 3.33 % Principle Reduction ( PR ). *See Emails 4 and 4a ( attached ). [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : After numerous calls arguing the above re : PR, Nelnet emails a second, contrasting explanation of why I did not qualify for 3.33 % PR. *See Emails 5 and 5a ( attached ). <P/>[ XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX ] : Made numerous calls and wrote several emails corresponding with various representatives, incentive research team members, and supervisors to provide written documentation and explain why I should be receiving all of the above incentives. Each time I placed a call with Nelnet, the representative would begin by telling me that I do not qualify for any of the incentives but would admit that they had not been at the company longer than 3 months and had never heard of the incentives. Calls would always drag on for hours as representatives would repeatedly place me on extended holds to have a supervisor research the incentive before they could even discuss it with me. XXXX, a supervisor I spoke with, indicated that the 2 waived payments should be logged and awarded but that there was a " system error which should be corrected once the back office was open ( M-F ).  She told me that she would contact me once it was resolved but no further contact was made. XXXX also said that she had no employee number or confirmation code she could provide as proof documenting our conversation and that I could just call back and ask for her anytime. When I called back no one had heard of this person and the conversation was never documented. <P/>Frustrated by the ongoing back and forth, I called and asked another representative if I could just pay my balance in full and subtract the 7 waived payments. Although I was told that this would be an acceptable method to pay off my balance and close my account, when I called back with my bank account information the representative indicated that I could not make any payment exceeding the amount of 3 payments and still qualify for the waived payments. When I asked for a copy of the terms and conditions that would explain this stipulation, I was told that there was no such document. <P/>In addition to the waived payment incentives, Nelnet has been unable to explain why my Group 2 loan was disqualified from a 0.25 % interest rate reduction which should have been applied to Groups 1 and 2 after signing up for auto debit and making one payment. I have made several requests to receive the terms and conditions for each of these incentives but am only told that my loan was disqualified for reasons not verifiable. <P/>[ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet emails that I do not qualify for any incentive other than the 5 waived payments. *See Email 6 ( attached ). [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Emailed XXXX XXXX, ombudsman of XXXX XXXX, at the direction of Dept. of Education Federal Student Aid Ombudsmen office which I called to file a complaint of Nelnets business practices. *See Email 7 ( attached ). [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet representative ( XXXX ) tells me and XXXX XXXX (  via phone conference call ) that I did in fact receive the 3.33 % PR on XX/XX/XXXX ( {$280.00} ). This was in spite of Nelnet sharing " supporting documentation '' to XXXX XXXX indicating that I did not qualify for the 3.33 % PR. *See Email 8 ( attached ). <P/>[ Nelnet still refuses to provide me a detailed payment or transaction history which would show this credit is valid or actually took place. ] [ XX/XX/XXXX ] : Nelnet will not honor my last 2 waived payments for enrolling in auto debit or the 0.25 % interest rate reduction on my Group 2 loan. Additionally, XXXX XXXX XXXX has told me that there is nothing more he will do on his end as the guarantors representative despite my documentation showing I qualify for all the above incentives. In follow-up discussions, XXXX XXXX acknowledged that Nelnet provided him with bad/conflicting information before the conference call. Nonetheless, he eventually gave up dealing with Nelnet and told me I should call their ombudsman to work out any further issues.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation