Consumer complaint received 2026-05-21 00:00:00
Product: Student loan — Federal student loan servicing
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer — Don't agree with the fees charged
Company: MOHELA
State: TN

Complaint narrative:
Since early XX/XX/XXXX, I have had several phone calls with Mohela customer service about an unexplained interest rate increase in one of my student loans. After I graduated XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX consolidated a portion of my loans, which resulted in a 4.375 % interest subsidized consolidated loan. I intended to consolidate also the loans I took out during vet school, but was unable because the loan servicer did not have me as having left student status. Thus, I filed again to consolidate my loans. That resulted in a second consolidated loan, which was instead unsubsidized with a weighted average interest rate of 5.5 %. The total amount owed between these two loans was around {$110000.00}. In late XXXX or early XX/XX/XXXX, I logged onto Mohela to make my weekly payment of {$500.00} as part of my repayment strategy, and saw that the interest rate for my subsidized loan suddenly increased to 5.5 % as well. I received no explanation for this change or any kind of paperwork about it. I do know about the 0.25 % reduction in interest rate for enrolling in autopay. When I was not automatically put into forbearance, I would enroll in autopay to receive this reduction of interest rate. When I first found out about the random increase, I called Mohela customer service to dispute. I called several times over the course of the past 4-5 months. Each time, I would have to wait through a 6-7 minute call menu, and then would speak to a basic customer service agent, look at my loans and only tell me " well, this is what it is now '' -- expecting me to accept this new rate. Each time I would call, I would have to explain the whole thing again ( it seemed like these agents did not have access to prior call notes ). I would have to persistently ask to be sent to a supervisor. They would send me to their resolutions team, which would almost always be just a voicemail box. I would leave a message, and then they were to call me back within 48hrs. Only once or twice did that actually occur. Other times, I would leave a voice mail and never receive anything back. Once, I left a voicemail on XX/XX/XXXX, they called me promptly at XXXX the next day ( XX/XX/XXXX ) -- but that is prime clock into work time, and I was preparing for XXXX at the time. They then left a voicemail with only the general phone number as a call back and sent a document that says they weren't able to get in touch with me. This is frustrating, as I spend a ton of time trying to get in touch with them, but they make it very challenging. I have called many times over the past few months, as previously stated. In those conversations, I have discussed this situation with supervisors and have not received any concrete plan for how to resolve the sudden interest rate increase. I'm always met with " it has been expedited, we are behind on these kinds of resolutions, and your request will be reviewed within 10-14 business days. '' When it is not resolved within that time frame, I call back. I have been told there are two different kinds of expeditions placed on it. I have never received follow-up without asking them for it, and have never received anything in writing. Because I am not confident in Mohela fixing it quickly and because I do not want interest to still accrue while I wait for the fix, I have still been making regular payments and am enrolled in autopay so that at least the interest rates are both 5.25 % for now. I am supposed to get an actual scheduled call back on XX/XX/XXXX. Specific event : a Mohela supervisor called me back on XX/XX/XXXX after I left them a voicemail : They told me there was no progress on fixing the interest rate on the account. They said " it is still being worked on. '' The caller gave me their user ID ( XXXX ) and her name was XXXX, though she did not tell me how to use this information. My own call log about time spent on this issue and actual call backs received : - XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX MISSED CALL FROM MOHELA : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX MISSED CALL FROM MOHELA : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX - MISSED CALL FROM MOHELA : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX - ANSWERED CALL FROM MOHELA : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX - XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX - ANSWERED CALL FROM MOHELA : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX, XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX- XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX- ANSWERED CALL FROM MOHELA : XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX - XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Untimely response