Consumer complaint received 2020-05-22
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: AES/PHEAA (AE)

On XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Fed Loan via telephone asking about a military benefit of 0 % interest while XXXX to a XXXX XXXX. The customer service rep explained that I needed to upload copies of my pay stubs showing that I was XXXX to a XXXX XXXX and to provide a brief statement of what I was looking for. I did all of this that day and uploaded to their " File Upload '' service that day. 

The customer service rep stated it should take about 10 days to get a response back. 10 days later I called back asking for an update and was told that it was actually a 30 day response. I waited the 30 days and called back around XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. I was told that my Servicemember Civil Relief Act ( SCRA )  request was denied because I was ineligible. I explained to the rep that I didn't request an SCRA review and I already knew I wasn't eligible. In fact, I called a few times because I got disconnected or something. 

When this happened, it made me realize that everytime I called they put in a request for my account to be reviewed for SCRA eligibility. And these were the denial letters that kept showing in my inbox on their website. 

Finally, after several days of calling, I got an approval letter on XXXX XXXX saying that I was eligible for the 0 % interest during the time I spent in the XXXX XXXX. It also said that my account would be readjusted and I would receive a separate notification. I never received that notification and my principal balance was never adjusted. 

From here, I called back several times in XXXX and XXXX XXXX don't have specific dates ) requesting the status of the benefits and would get the run around. Some would tell me that I was ineligible because I entered activity duty prior to the loans being disbursed ( this is the SCRA thing ) and others would say that they saw the approval but nothing was ever done. 

Finally, I was able to speak to a supervior of supervisors who saw everything that I was talking about and agreed that nothing had been done. She said that she would put in a review request and would call me back in a week ( XXXX XXXX ). During her review, she said that not only were my two loans eligible for the 0 %, but my other loans were eligible for the 4.49 % ( this I didn't know ). 

On schedule she called and told me the status. It was bad news. The reviewing team stated that all was good and that I received the correct interest stated above while I was XXXX. Here is the problem with their continued assessments : a ) I never told or notified FedLoan Servicing or any other Department of Education related company that I was XXXX prior to the XXXX. I waited until I returned to notify them and request the reduce interest rate. 

b ) All my billing statements reflect that I was receiving 6.125 % which is the original interest rate. 

Ultimately, each time my account was reviewed I received one of the following responses : a ) I was ineligible for SCRA because I entered XXXX XXXX prior to the being disubrsed b ) There was no such thing as 0 % interest c ) I was receiving the correct interest rate during those months I was XXXX All of these statesments above are false.