Consumer complaint received 2017-02-09
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer — Having problems with customer service
Company: AES/PHEAA (DC)

Complaint:
I repay my loans through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program ( PSLF ), served by Fedloan Servicing. I actually am writing about XXXX very concerning experiences, separately outlined below : 1. Through the PSLF Program, after 120 payments all are forgiven ( essentially one payment/month for 10 years ). My family size changed and they incorrectly applied an administrative forbearance last year, making my payment ( incorrectly ) be {$0.00} for a few months. I called every month to confirm this was incorrect ( my payment is $ XXXX/month ) and confirmed if I paid that balance, it would still be counted as XXXX of my 120 for PSLF. They assured me they would be. Turned in my most recent employment certification ( turned in once/year to certify you work for a qualifying public service organization ) and found they did not count all the months I paid. I have called multiple times and am always promised that they are working to resolve it ( they have yet to, and it 's been since XXXX XXXX ). They *believe* the issue was the incorrectly applied administrative forbearance they applied in XXXX XXXX, which thanks to action I took, was removed. However, I continued to pay each month as I was told, and those months have not been counted. This is deeply concerning, as I have never missed a payment and even called when there was an administrative error on Fedloan 's end to confirm I would not be penalized if I continued to pay. I still have not received an answer. 
2. Being in PSLF, you are placed in an income-driven repayment plan ( IDR ). Every year, I am required to sign into studentloans.gov, complete a re-certification of my income so they can determine my payment. I did that this year on XXXX XXXX. Studentloans.gov said an electronic copy would be sent to my service provider ( Fedloan ), and I printed out a PDF copy of the form and sent it to Fedloan to be sure it was received. I waited three weeks and never got confirmation from Fedloan that it was received ( I have in years past ). I called and had the worth customer service experience of my life. They said they sent me emails to confirm receipt of the form ( which is due XXXX XXXX, or else I will be billed in full rather than IDR ). I never got those emails. I asked for another to be sent ( I keep all records ) and they could not do that. Then they looked closer and shared that my application was actually 'incomplete ' because I sent a papercopy of the form I filled out on studentloans.gov. They claim that since that form does n't have a 'wet signature ' it is incomplete. I asked why they could n't reference the original, electronic copy from studentlaons.gov sent XXXX XXXX, and they said they could n't because the 'most recent interaction ' was the mailed version. They said as a result it would be 'fair ' for them to bill me the full amount once my new billing cycle starts in XXXX XXXX. I asked how I would even know it was incomplete had I not called. They did n't have an answer. I completed the exact same electronic re-certification application on studentloans.gov on XXXX XXXX, per the instructions I received from the phone number I called associated with studentloans.gov. Fedloan now has XXXX copies of the exact same IDR re-certification application from me. I still have not received a confirmation email ( I do however, magically get my monthly billing email, so my email is correct in their system ). 
Overall, I am deeply concerned with their management of the PSLF ( they ca n't count payments correctly ) and their overall customer service. I have never missed a payment and am a good customer. This is not right.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation