Consumer complaint received 2017-08-01
Product: Student loan — Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Problem with customer service
Company: AES/PHEAA (VA)

I have both federal student loans and private student loans serviced by AES. Below is an excerpt from an email that I sent to AES on XX/XX/XXXX documenting the difficulty I have had changing the direct debit information on file with them. I attached a new direct debit agreement to the email along with the record of the successful fax transmission showing where I faxed the agreement on XX/XX/XXXX. The response I got back to my email was that my form was forwarded but they would not address my email because it did not contain the required information to be authenticated. So they will process my form ( no further authentication required and at their leisure I assume ) but not address any of my concerns/complaints. I pointed out that my information was on their form and they still refused to address my complaints. Per the outline below : I have done everything possible to try to get my debit information changed and to this day, I still have no idea if the form I sent will be in place for my next payment and if I will receive the rate reduction. If it is not in place, and I do n't receive the rate reduction, it will obviously unnecessarily cost me money. This is n't right. I originally changed the direct debit on XX/XX/XXXX to add additional payments. I received confirmation and a letter stating they would be effective for the XX/XX/XXXX payment. However, no payment came out on XX/XX/XXXX. When I called, I was told that the direct debit changes take at least 20 days to be effective with no apology for the fact that I received a letter stating the exact opposite of what I was being told just an acknowledgement that the letter was inaccurate. I then made payments online. I called on XX/XX/XXXX because I saw that I could change my Graduate Services Loan to pay more and receive a rate reduction. I was put on hold for research and then told that this did not apply to my loans. This person did not even understand me when I said I have two types of loans and two debits come out of my account on the XX/XX/XXXX of each month. No help at all.
I called again on XX/XX/XXXX and spoke to someone once I had located the exact letter for the Keys 2 Repay to point out that I should be eligible for the rate reduction if I switch to Option B. This person actually helped me but told me I had to sign the form and send it back and could do so via fax. I sent the fax on XX/XX/XXXX and received a successful transmission record. Note that the form itself does not even properly address a situation where someone has federal loans and private loans. I included a fax cover sheet and made notes on the form as best as possible for someone to understand what I was trying to accomplish. On XX/XX/XXXXI was told that the form was never received and that I could email it in. I was provided the email address but not told that I needed to include certain information to authenticate myself. On XX/XX/XXXX I sent the email with the direct debit agreement and a copy of the fax record for successful transmission.
XX/XX/XXXX is exactly 20 days before the next direct debit is set to come out of my account and I would appreciate it if the information on the attached form is what is used for this debit. By switching to Option B on the keys 2 repay plan, I should be eligible for a rate reduction on the Graduate Services loans and it would be terrible customer service for it not to be effective on my XX/XX/XXXX direct debit.