Consumer complaint received 2015-08-26
Product: Student loan — Non-federal student loan
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Received bad information about my loan
Company: GREAT LAKES (OH)

I attended XXXX University from XX/XX/XXXX - XXXX and have been making nearly $ 600/m payments ever since I left the school to Great Lakes / XXXX XXXX. Great Lakes is servicing my private loans through XXXX XXXX. I have been unemployed for a few months, but have continued to make my payments until this month due to lack of funds. My payments are due on XX/XX/XXXX, and I called Great Lakes on XX/XX/XXXX to request a forbearance or deferment. They gave me the info to do so on my federal loans, but advised me that despite being proactive, I needed to wait until I was 1 day past due on my private loans before I would be eligible for a forbearance. I called back to Great Lakes on XX/XX/XXXX and was told that I met all the qualifications for forbearance and was given a number to XXXX XXXX to call to have it placed on my account as they were only the servicer. I was asked how long I would need, and when I advised it would probably be until XX/XX/XXXX for sure before I could resume payments, she told me that would be fine. When I called XXXX XXXX, and incredibly rude woman answered and told me that XXXX XXXX only offers a 2 month extension, and they are under no obligation to offer me anything else. The issue though was that they will only offer it to me if I am employed - they have no options for those that are unemployed and can not make payment. I was told to call Great Lakes back to figure out what the issue was. When I called back, a rep named XXXX answered and gave me the exact same information about the forbearance and that I should call XXXX XXXX back and ask to speak to a manager. When I called XXXX XXXX, I spoke to a rep named XXXX who said there was no manager available. XXXX though was very helpful and explained that Great Lakes had incorrectly told me to allow my payment to go past due, causing my account to go delinquent, and that I could have applied for an extension before missing the payment. We did a 3 way call with Great Lakes where the conversation included statements where XXXX XXXX had told Great Lakes numerous times that this was not one of their programs, yet their system has not been updated, and they 've received many calls like mine over the last few months. I was escalated to another rep at Great Lakes where again they began speaking of forbearance 's that do not actual exist. When I asked about late charges and reporting to my credit even though I had been given incorrect information, they said there was nothing they could do to stop it. XXXX from XXXX XXXX offered to submit a 2 month extension request, but advised I would probably be denied since I do not have a steady income. He still submitted the request, but made me give a 100 % guarantee that I would be able to resume payments after the 2 months, even though I am still unemployed and have no current income. 

I am in disbelief that Great Lakes and XXXX XXXX have a level of miscommunication that would cause GreatLakes to give advice to a student to allow their account to become to delinquent to apply for a program that does not actually exist, and then not offer anything to help resolve the situation. I also can not believe that XXXX XXXX has nothing available for people who are unemployed and can not make a payment. When it came down to it, my only options were to make the payment, or let it go into default and eventually to collections where I would be assessed late charges, and collections fees ( which usually average around XXXX % of the outstanding balance, which in my case would be an additional $ XXXX I would owe ). If those are my only options, it will be the last time I ever do business with XXXX XXXX. Again, I was told to let my account go delinquent, and now am being told that should never have been the case. 

I would like to have the correct information and all miscommunications resolved for future students in my same scenario.