Consumer complaint received 2023-11-07
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Received bad information about your loan
Company: Nelnet, Inc. (VA)

My federal student loan service changed from Great Lakes to Nelnet in XXXX. By XXXX, I was reaching out for steps to consolidate my loans ( all with Nelnet ) before repayment began in XXXX and I had finished my XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX so this was my first time needing consolidation. They have listed warnings for long wait times and high call volumes. I attempted calls multiple times and was never able to get through, averaging waiting 30-60 minutes at a time. In XXXX, I utilized the email request form with my consolidation question. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an apologetic auto reply email for the delay in response to my email request. I never received an email reply to my question nor a call or mail communication. My loan due dates for all loans began in XXXX and I still didn't have direction for loan consolidation. Out of desperation, I followed FSA guidelines to submit a consolidation request through their site. Although, it was not necessarily needed because my loans were all through the same loan service. I followed suit anyway. My account went into an administrative forbearance. On XX/XX/XXXX, I was notified by email that my loan consolidation was complete. My consolidation loan balance was {$63000.00} and I requested an extended graduated plan. When I checked my loan balance, it had doubled to over {$120000.00} and was on a standard repayment plan with a pending due date in XXXX for almost {$700.00}. It was also showing disbursements onto my account from XX/XX/XXXX for the previous loan balances. This money was not applied to loan balances and I did not receive these disbursements to pay off the loan balances. I attempted calling in again panicking that it was showing I had borrowed doubled the amount of money than I actually had. I continued to wait on hold for hours at a time unable to connect to an advisor. I sent an email on XX/XX/XXXX to the help team and now as of XX/XX/XXXX I had not received a response. I filed a grievance that same day with FSA and it is still pending. Neither anyone from FSA nor Nelnet has answered me. Out of desperation and panic, I had to make adjustments in my work schedule to prepare to wait on hold for hours until I was able to get through. After two hours, my call was finally answered by an advisor. This advisor then had to transfer me specifically to the consolidation department. The advisor mentioned some " weird '' things had been happening similar to my situation. I asked specifically for a direct number to the consolidation department should my call be disconnected I would not have to wait in the queue again and they did not have a direct line. I was transferred and remained on hold another 20-30 minutes until a consolidation advisor took my call. I reported to this advisor the discrepancy and she was apologetic noting an error on Nelnet 's end to my account and how my consolidation was processed to the amounts and plan requested noting the discrepancy in standard repayment reflected on my account and my FSA request for extended graduated repayment. I was told today on my call that a " form '' was being filled out to correct my account and I would be notified by email when it was corrected.

This level of negligence and inaccurate processing is extremely concerning as it resulted in a doubled loan amount. Even more concerning that when I noticed the error I was not able to contact anyone or receive a reply acknowledging my concerns. And, I had to spend almost three hours trying to bring their own error to their attention.