Consumer complaint received 2024-05-01 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company: EdFinancial Services
State: MA

Complaint narrative:
After several months and previous CFPB complaints I am still struggling to get my auto-pay enrollment processed by my servicer, EdFinancial. 

After struggling to communicate via chatbot ( was hung up on twice by the support staff at the start of our conversations ) and got an error code consistently in trying to use the email customer service form, I finally got someone from their team on the phone. 

I have attached a screenshot of what I see in my account but all service reps say that payments are not due until XXXX and are at {$99.00} not XXXX at {$0.00}. The blue box text led me to reach out to support today because it led me to believe my auto-pay had been processed. That is why I called only to learn my auto-pay has not been processed. 

Today I learned that my auto-pay enrollment was not being processed because I have been paying more than the minimum required amount during my monthly payments. There is no communication anywhere from the servicer that tells borrowers that paying more than the minimum requirement will keep their autopay enrollment from being processed. 

Today I was instructed to stop overpaying. Let my XXXX deadline go past, and wait until XXXX- pay just the minimum amount in XXXX. And then my autopay would likely go through after that. 

EdFinancial is willfully keeping borrowers in a state of confusion by not providing clear instructions about minimum payments and manual payments and auto-pay confirmation. This makes it slower to pay off our loans and we are punished for being responsible and attempting to pay off our loans sooner by paying a little extra each month. They are actively making it more difficult to pay back my loans. 

I have been through several customer service calls since i originally enrolled in auto-pay in XXXX of XXXX, including this call today XX/XX/XXXX before finally received this information that would have made my processing faster. 

Today I asked for written instructions about these next steps ( missing XXXX deadline, paying the minimum in XXXX, waiting for auto-pay after that ) after the phone conversation so I could keep a record and do everything correctly in a few months when my XXXX deadline arrives. They refused my request for written record of the conversation. They said calls are recorded but when I asked if the next person I spoke to would be able to pull up today 's recording in order to confirm the instructions I'd been given the customer service person refused to say where recordings go and what records are on my account. My servicer actively said " we don't communicate with borrowers '' during this conversation. 

Please terminate your contract with EdFinancial or immediately ask them to make clear and thorough instructions for their policies, and create policies that are neutral at least, that don't harm borrowers and punish them for trying to responsibly pay back their debt.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation