Consumer complaint received 2021-11-25
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (CA)

I have spoken to a minimum of XXXX, and almost certainly more, agents and supervisors of Great Lakes to try to understand which income-driven repayment plan is most suitable for me and my goals. I have specifically asked about PAYE vs. REPAYE. Each has told me different factors, some have stated outright misinformation, and despite trying to get complete and accurate information from each of them, I consistently find from subsequent conversations that the previous ones fell short of giving me complete and accurate information. At this point it appears that I could endlessly call an infinite number of Great Lakes representatives and still receive incomplete and inaccurate information. The advisors are absolutely terrible at their job. Even supervisors don't know what they are saying, and they will often backtrack on their claims after you either ask clarifying questions or give them more information about your situation. I am sick of trying so hard to find someone at Great Lakes who can just do their job and give me the help I need. 

I applied for the PAYE plan recently due to a lack of full and accurate information from Great Lakes representatives. Great Lakes agents would simply look on their screen of whatever system they use that tells them PAYE is the best option for me. When I ask WHY that's the best option, they muster up half-answers. Some of them would disagree and state that REPAYE is the best option, but also muster up half-answers as to why. I have complained several times that different agents give me different advice and confuse the XXXX out of me. One agent misinformed me about the repayment plan I was previously on after being an XXXX, and today a supervisor misinformed me about the partial financial hardship cap requirement for PAYE. One agent misinformed me about the deadline by which I would need to decide whether to switch to REPAYE. I am beginning to think these Great Lakes representatives are purposefully lying. How can they be so terrible at their job? 

My recent application for PAYE is potentially to my financial detriment due to the lack of full disclosure from Great Lakes. Now if I switch to REPAYE, unpaid accrued interest will capitalize ( add to my principal ). I was not advised of the circumstances under which future interest levels would matter on PAYE vs. REPAYE plans. I was initially simply told that because the monthly payments on each would be the same, and since I dont have subsidized loans to repay but rather only unsubsidized loans, I should stay on PAYE XXXX But it turns out there are circumstances under which it does matter how much interest has accrued, and therefore it matters whether the government has been subsidizing that 50 % of unpaid interest ( therefore resulting in a lower overall interest amount ). For example, if I were to switch to another income-driven plan in the future because my monthly payments would be lower on the other plan, then all the accrued interest would capitalize. And then I'd have to recalibrate which plan is more worth it. And all considerations differ also based on PSLF or forgiveness that becomes taxable income after 20 or 25 years. These things were not told to me when I applied for PAYE. Therefore, now if I want to switch to REPAYE to get the government interest subsidy, I will suffer financial detriment due to capitalization of my current unpaid interest. Whereas if I had applied for REPAYE initially, I would not have that capitalization of current interest, because I wouldn't be switching between plans! Great Lakes has cost me THOUSANDS of dollars in detriment, and that is totally unforgivable. 

Another peculiar thing about Great Lakes is its representatives ' inability to simulate accurate estimates of my monthly and annual payments of interest and monthly payments Each representative calculates something different! And apparently part of their excuse is that, because we are currently under CARES Act deferment, which sets interest and payments at 0, they can't see the correct numbers to calculate future amounts. That's ridiculous. Great Lakes is a huge loan servicing corporation. It needs to get its act together, to say the least. The service is abysmal and I want Great Lakes to rectify its mistakes and its disservice to me. 

( I am talking about mygreatlakes.org -- Great Lakes Educational Loan Services , Inc. -- ( XXXX ) XXXX ).