Consumer complaint received 2019-02-15
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: AES/PHEAA (CA)

To answer questions in order recommended : 1. My complaint is regarding XXXX lack of timeliness and inability to accurately track and return a signed, one page document to me. 

2. I am trying to apply for the Education Debt Reduction Program ( EDRP ) which is offered by the XXXX XXXX to reimburse you for up to {$200000.00} of federal loans over five years, granted that you apply and are chosen for the program within the first four months of being hired. It is finite and therefore, timeliness is of the upmost importance. I needed one signature to confirm the amount owed, repayments I have made, etc. of my loan. I uploaded this form to be completed by XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I called XXXX # XXXX to confirm it was received and that this completed form could be emailed to me ( not mailed ) so that I could get it in a timely manner. 

3-5. This complaint is about XXXX and the people involved are listed below, although it seems to be a problem with the broader system and lack of cohesion in management and process my opinion. Here is what happened. 

Called and received XXXX # XXXX who stated that the document was received but needed 7-10 business days to be processed. My apologies that I do not have the exact dates corresponding to which people, but over the next two weeks I spoke with XXXX # XXXX, another employee whos name I did not catch # XXXX, and two other employees that I did not record the name of, I asked if I could speak to someone who could confirm that the information I submitted was correct so that it could be processed. I was told that was not possible, the form needed to be given to a XXXX, and got conflicting information that it would be here by the end of the week, take either an additional 7-10 business days or another 30 days. All of them said there was no direct point of contact I could call to confirm that anything was completed, correct, incorrect, etc. I had to essentially restart the process every time I called. 

Finally I spoke with XXXX # XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX who said he would escalate the documents completion and call to confirm that it was sent on Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX. He did not call, but when I called the general line he had mailed the document. However, again I needed this document as soon as possible, so I needed to get a request to send it via email as I had requested on each occasion. I called again on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX # XXXX who again escalated the request to be emailed by Friday and to request to speak with a service recovery supervisor if it was not received. Again, not given a direct point of contact for follow-up despite the request. I called Friday XX/XX/XXXX because I had not received an email. XXXX XXXX XXXX said that she would need to escalate the request again. I requested to speak with a service recovery supervisor and was transferred to XXXX # XXXX who confirmed that it could be emailed, and would be emailed by today and provided me with her extension, finally, after my 9th call to XXXX. 

Although in my personal experience XXXX has improved in service ( ie wait times for calling, switching repayment plans, tracking payments ) I think it is necessary to report how difficult it has been for me to get a form that would ultimately allow me to repay them much faster. I am confused and frustrated that I would not be given a point of contact and needed to repeat myself nine times and be on hold nine times while they figured out the same information. There appears to be some kind of note system in which they track calls, but do not appear to be tracking the information that would benefit me accurately or in a timely manner. Their deadlines are bogus, and their follow-up is non-existent. All of the information I obtained was through hassling them myself, for approximately 30 minutes at a time, for one signature. If I do receive the document today, this one small task will have already consumed 18 business days, 9 calls, and about 5 hours on the phone, which others might say for XXXX is pretty good, but I believe is unacceptable and potentially extremely detrimental to my financial health if I miss the deadline to apply to a program that would in essence eliminate XXXX XXXX of my loans in 5 years. 

Thank you in advance for your time and I sincerely hope that more accountability can be applied to XXXX as a whole, rather than blaming it on the individuals who were trying to help me.