Consumer complaint received 2017-02-02
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Received bad information about my loan
Company: AES/PHEAA (MN)

I do n't even know where to start. Maybe it 's best to begin with the most recent outrageous blunder. 
My loans are in repayment, and I 've been on IBR to keep the payments as low as possible. I 'm one of the lucky XXXX who landed a XXXX job XX/XX/XXXX and was hired for a modest wage XX/XX/XXXX. I got a new job with a XXXX salary increase XX/XX/XXXX. When I recertified for the repayment plan, my payments increased by way more than XXXX %. A financial advisor looked at my loans serviced by fedloan servicing and was baffled. We figured the best way to proceed was to consolidate XXXX loan and then move all of the loans to a different payment plan. At the same time, I could apply for the public service loan forgiveness program. 
I sent the paperwork XX/XX/XXXX, I think. I then received a number of letters from Fedloans that confused me completely. One contradicted the other, some of the loans were on one letter, others on another, etc. I called XX/XX/XXXX to find out how much I had to pay XX/XX/XXXX, bcs I 'd have to borrow money to make the payments. The rep told me this :. My repayment plan app was still being processed. 
. No " regular '' payments would be due XX/XX/XXXX or XX/XX/XXXX. I would receive an invoice for a {$5.00} forbearance payment in the next few weeks that I should pay immediately. 
. XX/XX/XXXX, I would find out what my new payments would be. 
. My new payment plan would start XX/XX/XXXX. 
Imagine my surprise when the full amount was deducted from my checking account on XX/XX/XXXX, my original due date. It took me a few days to calm down before I called. The rep told me :. Someone had made a mistake ( and would be in trouble for it! ). The " order '' for the {$5.00} forbearance payment had never generated. 
. He would fix that now to generate the {$5.00} invoice. 
. My new payment plan was still in the works. He could not tell me how much it would be. 
. I would have no payment due XX/XX/XXXX beyond the {$5.00}. 
. XX/XX/XXXX payment was withdrawn from my checking account bcs of a mistake on their end. Someone had not suspended my autopay plan. 
. He would take care of that right away. 
. If I wanted to get my money back, I would have to contact my bank and unauthorize the transaction. 
I asked why I had to clean up their mess, and he just kept babbling about how I could count that payment as a qualifying payment for the public service loan forgiveness plan. I told him I could care less about what happened in 10 years -- I ca n't afford my payment NOW. That was just too bad. We hung up. 
This morning I had an email from Fedloans saying my statement for XX/XX/XXXX was available. 
The letter, once again, says I owe the full amount ( the same amount I could n't afford when I recertified ). No {$5.00} forbearance fee anywhere. 
But my autopay has been turned off. 
By the way, I wrote a long email to them asking how to modify my autopay plan and asking for an example of how much money I would actually save by signing up for autopay. The benefit is a 0.25 % reduction in the interest rate for each loan. I sent the email on Tuesday. 
I have n't heard back. 
I wo n't even go into the whole thing about consolidating a loan with itself. 
I 'm amazingly frustrated, and I really ca n't afford these payments. I 'm beginning to see why borrowers default. If Fedloans ca n't keep it straight, why should I bother to pay? 

By the way, the options you have below under " dealing with my loan servicer '' ALL apply in my situation. I just chose the one that galls me the most.