Consumer complaint received 2019-01-10
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: ACS Education Services (IL)

I have been paying off my Perkins loan over the past several years. Initially, this lender was called ACS but it is now called Conduent Education Services. Up until recently, I had no problems making payments through their website ; even with the last update on their site clearly showing XX/XX/XXXX. 

The problem began XX/XX/XXXX, when I tried to contact them to let them know that I had a legal name change on XX/XX/XXXX. I attempted to reach out to Conduent Eduation Services, because I wanted my account to reflect my new name. I went on their website, clicked " Contact Us '' and sent a message asking what was the procedure to have my name updated. When I did not hear anything within a reasonable time, I called their contact number but no one answered.

Shortly after that, I could not obtain access to their website to pay my bill. After putting in my required information and after completing the captcha, there was a message saying that a verification code would be sent to me via e-mail in order to complete my log-in but no code was ever sent. I tried several times to log-in to no avail. I began to get worried, because I knew my bill would be coming up soon. I tried to log-on every couple of days but I kept receiving the same message - A verification code would be sent to the email address on file. No code was ever sent ; not even in my spam folder. 

So, you can imagine how upset I was on XX/XX/XXXX, when I received an automated e-mail from Conduent Education Services stating that my payment was due and if I did not pay it soon, a late charge would be made to my account, even worse, they would report lack of payment to credit agencies, that could affect my credit score. Frustrated, I attempted several times to log onto Conduent 's website, to pay my bill but each time, I got the same result. After doing a XXXX search, I noticed that this is a common theme with this company. 

Even though I could not log-on to pay my bill, as well as having never been late for a payment ( as my credit report shows XXXX, a few days ago Conduent Service Education reported a negative comment to credit agencies, resulting in my credit score dropping a shocking 47 points. I am beyond upset! I am being unjustly punished for something I had absolutely no control over and did my best to prevent any late fees. 

Earlier today, XX/XX/XXXX, after having my account reported as being late to credit agencies, I was finally allowed to log-on Conduent Education Services website and pay on my account, ( which by the way still has my former name ), before going to work. However, upon trying to log-on this evening to pay more towards my account, I received a message saying the website did not exist. This is totally unacceptable! The last thing I need is my score dropping again. Due to their incompetence, I feel as though Conduent Education Services should contact credit agencies immediately and get that negative hit off of my credit score! Thanks to them, my score has dropped so low, I am now unable to get the credit card I had been working with a banker to get, that would have allowed me to transfer a credit card balance. 

This agency should be punished, not me. The first thing that should happen is Conduent Education Services to remove their negative comment from my credit report, so that my score can go back up. They also need to fix their website, so that payments can be made on time. Lastly, they need to contact me immediately, so that I can provide them with the necessary information to update my new name.