Consumer complaint received 2017-08-17
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: Manhattan Beach Venture, LLC (MO)

On XX/XX/XXXX ; I spoke with XXXX XXXX regarding my desire to apply for loan forgiveness. After speaking with XXXX XXXX, I signed a contract that stated that I would pay a third party company $ XXXX/month for the next three years and make 120 payments of {$15.00} to have the remainder of my student loans forgiven. I was told that I would receive notification from XXXX that my loans were paid in full and that the subsequent payments would be sent to the third party as stated in the contract. Within the next few weeks, I had not heard from XXXX regarding this transaction. When I reviewed my account, there was NO record of such as transaction, however, my credit report did reflect that an inquiry was put through. On XX/XX/XXXX ; I sent a message to XXXX XXXX stating these facts and that since the proper documentation was never received I wished to cancel the contract and pursue things on my own. When I received notification that my bank account would be charged the first payment of {$49.00} I contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX and explain that I sent an email to cancel this account. I was informed by them that they were just the debt collector and that I needed to speak with someone from the XXXX XXXX. 

When I sent an email to XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) informing them that wish to cancel my account and why, I received a call from someone in their customer service department. When I spoke to the gentleman I informed him that I tried to contact XXXX XXXX and never received a response back and that I had done the leg work to get approved for loan forgiveness. I informed him that according XXXX, there was NO record of documentation received from his company regarding any of the things mentioned by XXXX XXXX. At that time he told me that he did n't care what XXXX said because their goal is to just get my money. He also stated that the Department of Education has some cases against them because of what they are doing. 

The bottom line was that his company provided me with a service and now I 'm trying to get out of paying them for said services. When I stated that I sent an email to XXXX XXXX, he stated that there was no record and that therefore I must abide by the guidelines of the contract. I told him that I should not be penalized for this oversight. He stated that the fault did n't fall on the company, which I highly disagreed with. After a VERY heated discussion I asked him for the amount of the penalty to cancel the contract and he threw out an amount of {$1300.00}. I told him that was fine and asked him for the number that I could contact to make the arrangements. The number he gave me was for XXXX XXXX XXXX. At that time the young lady remember speaking to me days before and stated that she could not cancel my account because they are just the debt collector for that company. At that time, she provided me with a different phone number. 

When I called this number, I spoke with someone named XXXX. She was able to see in the records where I spoke with the other guy and said that what he stated was true. She then mentioned that the person I originally spoke with was no longer with the company. In my experience, companies have messages forwarded to other individuals when someone leaves the company to avoid missing any pertinent information. She said that a service was provided on my behalf and completed on XX/XX/XXXX. She stated that the company had made the steps to get my loans consolidated and me placed on a repayment plan based on my income and family size. Once I explained to her that my loans were already consolidated and that I was currently on an income based repayment plan ( IBRP ) she seemed to see what my dispute was concerning. 

I informed her that the only thing I really needed done was getting assistance with being approved for actual loan forgiveness, which I found out can only be done if you or the company you work for me the requirements. This was something that was accomplished by my submission of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLFP ) application. I asked her what service did the company provide me. She never gave me an answer. She did, however, state that she would escalate the situation up to her manager and would get back to me in a few days with a response. A few days passed and I receive a phone call from XXXX stating that according to her manager, I would have to abide by the contract because a service was provided on my behalf and completed. 

Again, my question is what service was provided?!? 1 ) The company did n't get my loans consolidated because that was done back in XXXX. 2 ) The company did n't get me on an IBRP because I have been on one since XXXX. 3 ) The company did n't get me qualified for the PSLFP because that is based on information I submitted regarding my employer. WHAT SERVICE WAS PROVIDED TO ME?!? To date, they have already deducted one payment of {$49.00} from my account.