Consumer complaint received 2024-07-26
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: MOHELA (OH)

At the end of XX/XX/year>2024, I received a letter from my servicer, MOHELA, advising me that my student loans were being put into an administrative forbearance while they applied new SAVE benefits. The letter also stated that during this time, the interest rate would be set to 0 %. But every time that I log into MOHELA 's website, my loan balance is higher than it was before. Since I noticed this, my loan balance has increased by almost {$200.00} during this 0 % interest forbearance. I called MOHELA today to get some answers. I knew that was a fool 's errand based on what I have read about the lawsuit recently filed by the teacher 's union. Here is how the call went and how unresponsive and unhelpful MOHELA is : On hold for 20 mins before I spoke with anyone.

Once she answered the phone, I was asked for my SSN again ( I had already entered it at the beginning of the call ). Verified my DOB. She asked what she could help me with. I explained the situation about the interest accruing ( a word she could not pronounce ). She then verified my address, phone #, work #, and asked if I could be called back. She parroted back a summary of what I had told her, then she placed me on hold. She came back on the line and said she was still " gathering information '' and asked if she could put me on hold again. 

We are now XXXX into this call ( including initial hold time ). 

At XXXX, she came back on the line and said she was still " gathering information '' and asked if she could put me on hold again. 

At XXXX, she came back on the line and said the same refrain. So I asked her, where is this information coming from that she keeps putting me on hold for. She said a supervisor. I said, " A supervisor. '' She said yes, I said nothing, there was a little dead air then asked if she could put me on hold again. 

At XXXX, she came back with the same refrain. I told her to stop with this checking in on my every couple of minutes and saying the same nonsense. I asked where this information was coming from and why she kept putting me on hold. She said she was reaching out to someone to get information on why my balance was going up. I asked where her supervisor was and why she wasn't getting this information. She said they were busy today and that she wasn't going to get an answer today. So I asked her what I was holding for then? Then I hung up.

She wasn't getting information from anyone. She was just putting me on hold for 2 minutes at a time and coming back on saying she was still gathering information. This is a deflection tactic. Had I not asked, how long would she have kept me on hold saying she was still gathering information? I would bet serious money that at some point, the call would have been " accidentally disconnected '' which is another MOHELA tactic. If I could transfer my loan away from them, I would. But from what I understand, all federal loan servicers are terrible. MOHELA is right up there with XXXX XXXX as being the absolute worst. This deflection tactic was being employed as they have been caught charging me interest when they should not be.