Consumer complaint received 2018-05-09
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: DISCOVER BANK (VA)

Problems will never be resolved in a single call with Discover Student Loans. 

I was given incorrect information regarding deferment/forbearance early on in my loan that caused me to lose several months of my grace period following completion of my undergraduate degree. 

Upon beginning the repayment period, I called on or around XX/XX/XXXX and was told by the representative that the loan servicing provider was in the process of being changed from XXXX XXXX to Discover. I was instructed to call back after XX/XX/XXXX, as nothing could be done with my account until that time. On XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke to XXXX. XXXX stated that the switch had not been completed, and to call back later. Approximately one week later, on XX/XX/XXXX, I called and spoke to XXXX. XXXX suggested that I apply for the repayment assistance program, in addition to advising me that I was eligible to receive a 0.25 % reduction in interest with the election of automatic monthly payments, and that I was eligible to receive my graduation bonus of {$1700.00} to be processed that day and released to my checking account in approximately 4-6 weeks. On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted the first set of payment relief documentation. On XX/XX/XXXX, I received notification that my payment relief  documentation had not been received ; therefore, that same day, I submitted a second set of payment relief documents. On XX/XX/XXXX,  I called and spoke to an unknown representative. This representative stated that the repayment assistance program documents were received ; however, there was a glitch in the system that prohibited the documents from being viewed at this time due to migration errors when switching from XXXX XXXX to Discover. I was instructed to call back at a later date and disregard all notifications received via mail and email regarding the delinquency. During this time, each of my cosigners received a mail notification that the account was delinquent and that it may be adversely reported to the credit bureaus. I called back on XX/XX/XXXX as the online status still states delinquent. The representative stated that the online error in Discover 's system persisted, and to again disregard. I was informed that I was approved for the repayment assistance program and that my new monthly fee for the next 12 months was approximately {$65.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX, I made a payment in the amount of {$70.00}. As of today, XX/XX/XXXX, my account is still showing 53 days delinquent ( Discover reports to credit agencies after 60 days of delinquency ), despite being approved for the repayment assistance program and paying the minimum amount on time. I called and spoke to XXXX, who was not able to connect me with a supervisor. However, she spoke with XXXX ( who is allegedly in charge of the repayment assistance program ) and was informed that I have not yet been approved for this program, and to continue making my minimum monthly payment of approximately {$1000.00}. However, XXXX approved administrative forbearance to be completed by XXXX   XX/XX/XXXX ( unknown length of duration ). 

Because of this " glitch '' that is occurring with the Discover Student Loans system, I am incurring late fees, my credit report is being adversely impacted, my co-signers credit reports are being negatively affected, and my payments are not being disbursed evenly over all loans ( payment amounts are being credited to interest only on two of the five loans, as the payment amount is incorrectly seen by the system as not being enough to cover the minimum monthly payment ; therefore, the payment is applied incorrectly to only a portion of the loans ' interest ).