Consumer complaint received 2018-06-25
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan — Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company: Navient Solutions, LLC. (MD)

I have spent the last 2 or 3 years trying to get my loans together so I can stay to pay them off. In XX/XX/XXXX, for the umpteenth time, I called them regarding my income driven repayment plan. I spoke with several people and had to repeat my story several times as no one could take the time to read the notes. 

The man I spoke with around late XX/XX/XXXX asked me if I could afford a {$200.00} payment. I agreed as that was something I could afford. Due to personal reasons, not because I was buying XXXX on my credit cards, my loans ballooned. 

My paperwork came via email a few days later saying my new payment was going to {$33.00}. Given my personal situation, you could imagine how relieved I felt when I saw that amount. 

Well Friday, the day before my payment was due, I went into make a payment. You could imagine my shock when I saw a payment of {$1300.00}. That's a huge difference then {$33.00} or even the {$200.00} I thought would be my new payment. 

I sent an email and then called in to speak with a manager. The young lady told me that she could help me. We went back and forth for a few minutes when I realized she was not going to put through a manager. She told me that my payment was going around {$450.00}, after she got the first amount wrong. First she told me the amount was around {$360.00} then it jumped up {$450.00}. That's a good {$250.00} then what the person from XX/XX/XXXX told me. 

She did tell me to consolidate my loan and my interest would lowered and my payment would more reasonable and it would start the clock back. So I completed the paperwork on my account. Then she told me while I didn't qualify for a deferral or forbearance, she would put my accounts in a courtesy hold. 

I got a call from Navient today telling me that I was past due and I needed to get my payment in. So again, I called in and asked for a manager. The young lady on the phone gave me the same run around about the supervisor not being available. I asked several times and was put on hold, each time for several minutes. As I got more upset, she became belligerent. In fairness to her I was upset and lost my cool, so she was probably reacting. But instead of offering to help me she told me she was not going to help me and was going to transfer me to a collections person who would either defer me for a month or take my payment. I asked one more time for a manager and she finally put in touch with a supervisor. 

The supervisor echoed his employee, refused to check the notes and again quoted me the wrong amount. He told me that no letter, I received, no phone call that I had counted. He told me the only thing that counted was what he said and I needed to pay the {$360.00} to him immediately. He then told me me to pay it on their website. I told him, I didn't have the option, that amount was around {$1300.00}. He told me that I had late fees that would be due at the end of the year. 

I asked why I had late fees since I had been in good standing all this time. He couldn't answer it. Then he quoted me the wrong amount of my loans. I told him, that wasn't current and i could send him a screenshot of my Navient page. 

Finally he agreed to review my account and he realized that I was right. On the payments, and the total amount of the loan. He finally agreed to review the tapes as the previous two people did not leave any notes on my account on the amounts due. 

Why am I shocked about this? I'm not shocked. Even through the guy promised me that he would call me back and gave me his ID number, I doubt I am going to hear anything. I have asked this company for several years for help. I have gotten nothing. This isn't the first time I made arrangements and they fell through. The first go around, I had made arrangements with a staff member, only to be informed that I was given bad information. 

I realized that I'm the one who made a decision to take out loans for an education. There were things that came up that I did not foresee that caused the loan to go into forbearance. But a a consumer, attempting to pay back a debt, I'm entitled to know what I owe and if a company makes a payment plan with me, they should honor it. It should not feel like I'm hitting a brick wall while I'm attempting to honor my obligations. 

Student loans are the one debt that can not be discharged by bankruptcy. That is a mistake, and it puts vulnerable populations at risk as they have not recourse. Companies like Navient, know that and leverage it to their full advantage. You're in saying, I didn't have to take a loan but that knowledge shouldn't allow Navient personnel change the rules when they feel like.