GREAT LAKES
Consumer Complaints
There are over 1568 complaints on file for GREAT LAKES. Dated between 2019-12-12 and 2012-03-26.
Complaints Page 37
2017-07-10
Canton, OH
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with the fees charged
Complaint: Re : Great Lakes XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX WI XXXX XXXX. ) What my complaint is about? I was charged an unfair late fee of {$2300.00} on XX/XX/XXXX due to the deceptive practices and the mishandling of my account which could have been prevented if Great Lakes would have responsibly contacted me by mail as I requested, and let me know my income driven repayment plan was up for renewal. I called customer service countless times and complained that I only wanted contacted by mail and they assured me they would, and I would start getting statements by mail and then around my renewal date of XX/XX/XXXX the statements stopped coming as if Great Lakes wanted me to miss the deadline for my renewal on purpose so my account would go into default. I WAS NEVER CONTACTED BY MAIL AT ALL THAT MY ACCOUNT WAS UP FOR RENEWAL NOR WAS I SENT AN APPLICATION BY MAIL BEFORE MY RENEWAL DATE, and they 're statements state they will mail you a renewal application before your annual renewal date and they never did. I was never sent any letter or application of any sort that my account was up for renewal. On XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, an Escalation Specialist called me and said that they 're software automatically defaults all accounts to email unless the Customer Service Representative activates the account properly, which was an error made by Great Lakes ' Customer Service Repetitive to my account resulting in me not being contacted by mail as I requested. I even updated my mailing address by phone in XX/XX/XXXX and told the Representative to be sure I only be contacted by mail. Is n't it wrong to mail me statements and then stop them right at my annual renewal date and never send a late notice or anything!! XX/XX/XXXX, only after my deadline Great Lakes sends me an email informing me my loan was in default, and I called Customer Service ( XXXX ) totally upset, and she promised to mail me an application and stop my account from being delinquent, told me I would receive the application within a week, and get it back to them immediately, and I did on XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter telling me I owed {$2300.00} in late fees, and I called Customer Service immediately and XXXX told me " Disregard the letter that the fee was not going on my loan because they had received my application it just had not been approved yet. '' I called Customer Service on back on XX/XX/XXXX and the rep told me the fee was still on my account and she did n't know why, so I asked to speak to a Supervisor and she transferred me to XXXX, he told me he would pull the taped conversations I had with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX and if she told me that Great Lakes would take the late fee off my account that he would remove it and he would call me back in 3-5 days. On XX/XX/XXXX I called Customer Service and they transferred me to XXXX and he said, " Yes, XXXX did tell me that, but he was not removing the fee and that was final. '' he hung up on me and I called Customer Service back told them what happened and they transferred me to XXXX, a supposed General Account Manager, he told me inconsistencies regarding my account, told me I authorized email, which I did not, and said the fee would remain and that my only recourse was to go online and file a complaint. I told him I wanted higher management to call me back and on XX/XX/XXXX XXXX, an Escalation Specialist called me and said that they 're Customer Service software unless done properly automatically defaults accounts to be contacted by email and that is what happened to my account, but did not offer to remove the late fee. I AM REQUESTING THAT CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU LOOK INTO THIS MATTTER AND FIND OUT WHAT LAWS WERE BROKEN AND WHAT RECOURSE I AHVE AS A CONSUMER. THANK YOU!
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-08
Pinellas Park, FL
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Private student loan
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I have refinanced Federal student loans which were being serviced by XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, NY XXXX ). The loan was three tiered. My current monthly payments under the second tier were {$310.00}. <P/>I received a letter from XXXX post marked XX/XX/XXXX informing me that my loan was being transferred to a new servicer Great Lakes ( XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, WI XXXX ) effective XX/XX/XXXX. I made my last payment to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX. I called XXXX the following week to request a copy of my loan file ( including payment history, a copy of the promissory note and loan terms ) and was told that they would not comply with this request. <P/>I received welcome letter from Great Lakes on or about XX/XX/XXXX that was dated XX/XX/XXXX. This letter provided a loan balance and stated that I would receive a billing statement with account details before my first bill was due to them. <P/>On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a billing statement from Great Lakes in the form of an email to an address that I had never provided to Great Lakes or agreed to use for purpose of receiving bills from XXXX or Great Lakes. XXXX had my email address on file but provided me paper billing statements per our agreement. The Great Lakes email-billing statement said that {$51.00} was due on or before XX/XX/XXXX and that payment could be made through mail, telephone, or online. The telephone and online payment method suggestions in the email contained embedded links rather than an actual site address or phone number. <P/>On Saturday XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX, I returned to the Great Lakes email and clicked on the pay by phone link contained therein. It took me to a webpage informing me that no operators were available to take my call on this payment due date. I then clicked on the pay online link, which took me to a webpage that forced me to agree to terms and conditions with which I DO NOT AGREE ( including receiving all future billing statement by email ). I obviously had no choice but to click an agreement box in order to timely pay my bill. Additionally, I was required to make a payment of {$360.00}, rather than {$51.00}. This is an amount higher than the {$310.00} that I was obligated to pay to XXXX or the Great Lakes billing statement amount of {$51.00}. No rationale was provided on the webpage for the discrepancy in payment amount. Lastly, the site would only allow me to post my payment on XX/XX/XXXX and not the correct current date of XX/XX/XXXX. This site simply forces the user to adopt their posture by limiting other options on the payment webpage. <P/>I have collected all of the documents to support this complaint, as well as a video of my interaction with the Great Lakes website. I can provide these exhibits by USPS upon CFPB 's request. Unfortunately, I am unable to scan the items to add as attachments to this complaint. <P/>My concerns are four fold : ( 1 ) I do not agree to accept notices from Great Lakes by Email ; ( 2 ) My payment should be effectively dated XX/XX/XXXX so that no additional interest or penalties apply ; ( 3 ) I want copies of my full loan history, the loan terms, and promissory note ; and ( 4 ) I want a statement of the corrected billing amount and the return of any overpaid principal and interest. <P/>It should be noted that the above described scenario violates p provisions of the FDPA and Florida Statutes Chapter 559. Please feel free to contact me by phone ( This offer is to the CFPB and not Great Lakes ) for any additional information.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-08
Pinellas Park, FL
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Private student loan
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Complaint: Excess payments are applied toward future payments and there is not a simple way to apply the payments toward principal reduction. I have contacted the lender as well as attempted to have the excess payments applied to no avail. The funds are currently held in " escrow '' and the loan is paid through XX/XX/XXXX which negates the purpose of what I am trying to accomplish. The lender told me that the excess funds would be applied toward the principal after a phone call but I found that was not the case.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-07
Phoenix, AZ
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Keep getting calls about your loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-06
Cedar Mill, OR
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-05
Palos Park, IL
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I have already submitted one complaint - XX/XX/XXXX. This is an addendum to that complaint. Since filing, the company servicing my loan ( Great Lakes Student Loans ) has capitalized all of my interest. I am unsure why as I remain in the same REPAYE program that I was in last year. I have asked that this be corrected, or at least an explanation be given to me. At first submission - end XXXX / early XXXX - I was ignored and given no response. Since then, I have received nothing other than a quick response weeks ago that it is being looked into ( occurred on XX/XX/XXXX ). I am concerned that this will cost me additional money now and in long term. I am also concerned that retaliatory action is being taken against me due to my first complaint.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-04
MO
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: I briefly logged into my XXXX email after not being able to login for some time. <P/>I was given notice that my student loans were due before proceeding on to the income based repayment site to setup a new arrangement. <P/>I already had an arrangement in place, yet the following information showed up in my XXXX email, which I did not have access to, this University is presently under investigation regarding its environment and allowing it to be hostile to students and new information was sent to the Attorney Generals Office regarding their collection practices, before and after they were attempting to force collection efforts for an amount that was not factored correctly : CURRENT INFORMATION AS OF XX/XX/2017 Total Amount Due {$1400.00} Total Due By XX/XX/2017 Past Due Icon Your account is past due. Please see your billing statement for more information. This bill has 2 accounts : Stafford Loan Account with U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Payment Reference Number : XXXX Stafford Loan Account with U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ( XXXX ) Payment Reference Number : XXXX This payment, along with a {$5000.00} payment is set by the school for repayment. <P/>I recently just filed for unemployment benefits and may be working soon, as well as returning to school, however MANY efforts to force repayment have been occurring, along with efforts to force homelessness, impoverishment and inability to return to school have been gathered. <P/>I recently attempted to work with the school, and advised them, I could not speak to them regarding the debt owed while the investigation was going on as it would be a conflict of interest. They had called on a Monday and again on Friday ( Friday is when I shared this information with them ) after the two calls, I finally was able to login to my account and noticed extra charges on top of the ones that were not supposed to be added, as I never attended the Summer Session, also when I did attend the school I did not receive the services I was paying for. The reason that the services were not provided were some of the matters being brought up in the OCR and Missouri Commission on Human Rights investigation. <P/>These issues have been made aware to the Attorney General during the times when the school reached out for payment. An update to the Attorney General website is pending, as we acquired a confirmation number upon the most recent visit and will provide more updates, if no other case number has been assigned.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-03
CA
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't temporarily delay making payments
Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I started contacting Great Lakes about putting my student loan in deferment. I can not make regular payments and I am in the process of combining 5 student loans into a consolidation status. The consolidation process is long and complicated. Great Lakes it seems did not put my student loan into deferment. So, in XX/XX/XXXX, I contacted Great Lakes on their website and with the following letter : This letter is to clear up the confusion with the status of my student loan. Please put it in deferment and keep it there until further notice. This letter will also provide the reasons for the deferment. I have been on the Great Lakes website where I tried to apply for the deferment. The website asked way too many questions which I do not have time for. I have too many problems and not enough time to fill in the blanks on the Great Lakes website. Here are the issues I am dealing with which qualify me for the deferment : My wife and I have five ( 5 ) student loans which we are trying to consolidate. This has been complicated and very time consuming. We will not make any payments to any of them until the consolidation is complete. Due to my time at XXXX and barely having the financing to graduate, we have accumulated a great amount of debt that we are still trying to deal with even to this day. Right as I was graduating, my unemployment benefits dried up and I did not have an income for a while. Due to this, we accumulated a great amount of debt that we are still dealing with : An IRS bill An EDD bill Paying 2 speeding tickets to a collection agency. Cant driveno job and then no money Pawn shop ( 4 pieces of family jewelry ) Chapter XXXX bankruptcy payments High cell phone bill High electricity bill Rent increase just recently All this means is that we barely live paycheck to paycheck, our credit is shot and we have aging cars that need a lot of repairs and due to our chapter XXXX bankruptcy, we cant get new ones. Both of our cars are barely running well, both need brake work, both need major tune ups, both cars have registration that is due in XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, both cars need tires, both have cracked front windshields and both have high mileage that increases by the day. Both need major interior work which cant be done without money. If for any reason one of our cars decides to break downwe do not have any money or any means to fix it. No car, no job, no money and we could very well be homeless. We are also in the process of taking care of our daughter who has just XXXX XXXX XXXX. She is in school with no income and we have been paying her bills and taking care of her. Things will be better for her once she gets back to school and can get an income. It has been tough taking care of her and keeping all the bills paid. We just recently had to deal with a {$200.00} overdraft on our checking account. A couple had to be paid which overdrew out account. Once payday hit, the {$200.00} was taken care of. But for a couple of weeks, there was no money and times were really tough. What this all means is we do not have enough to pay even our regular bills, have gas in the cars and food on the table. We barely make it from paycheck to paycheck. This will be this for quite some time until debts are paid off and our incomes increase. Our chapter XXXX bankruptcy is in effect until XX/XX/XXXX so we are stuck with it and stuck because of it in so many ways. So, the reason for this notice is to fix the missing information on your website that is not asked for. I dont have time to collect all the paperwork and information required to fill in the blanks on your website in the deferment section. Please keep my status in deferment and wait for our consolidation company to contact Great Lakes with instructions of our consolidation of all our student loans. Lastly, please update your website to allow more than 975 characters in the contact section for comments. 975 characters is nowhere near enough to get any points across. <P/>As near as I can tell, Great Lakes still has not put my student loan into deferment.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-03
Coldwater, OH
Incorrect information on your report
Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting
Account information incorrect
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-07-01
Binghamton, NY
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Private student loan
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-30
Sebring, FL
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Complaint: To whom it may concern, I 'm having a problem resolving loan payments to Great Lakes Educational Loan Services Inc. As of XXXX of this year, I had spoken with a representative grom Great Lakes in order to reduce my monthy payments. I am out of the country XXXX XXXX XXXX in XXXX and my income has been cut severely then what I make back home in Florida. I spoke with a representative I believe on XX/XX/XXXX or maybe the last week of XXXX right before I departed in order to make a financial agreement to at least pay something on my loans. To my knowledge and my bank statements from XXXX to XXXX, we had agreed on a {$20.00} payment covering both my loans until XXXX when I return. On XX/XX/XXXX the payments were correctly deducted and likewise on XX/XX/XXXX. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I noticed a {$250.00} deduction from my checking account from Great Lakes therefore, putting my bank account in an overdrawn state. I was then charged an additional {$35.00} a day until I could conveniently contact my friend in Florida to deposit a significant amount of money in my account. I have filed a complaint with the loan service as they have told me the only thing that I can do is fill out a income-driven repayment plan application. In doing so, the only result I get back from their website is for a forbearance plan in which case my account already states I am in until XX/XX/XXXX. This is where my confusion sets in. If I am already in forbearance yet still making {$20.00} payments it seems a little hypocritical to me. I have no problem making the {$20.00} a month payments which we had agreed upon before I left but, why the {$250.00} deduction? I have limited access to contacting the company unfortunately as my phone was shut off before arrival in XXXX, XXXX. The Great Lakes Ombudsman office has transferred my complaint to XXXX and I have not gotten an email back in 3 days. I am contacting your bureau in relief that I will be reimbursed my lost funds due to either negligence from Great Lakes or misinformation given to myself from them. I have pictures of bank statements online showing the {$20.00} deductions from XXXX and XXXX on top of the {$250.00} deduction from XX/XX/XXXX ( with the additional {$70.00} in overdraft fees ).
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-30
Reynolds, IN
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Don't agree with the fees charged
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-29
Bay Hills, NY
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Received bad information about your loan
Complaint: After completing the loan rehab program with XXXX XXXX for 2 loans, my loans were transferred back to the Dept. of Education and Great Lakes Services started handling the loan so payments were made to Great Lakes as of XX/XX/XXXX. However, XXXX did not report the correct orig. principal AMOUNT and the FIXED INTEREST RATE on said loans. Additionally, Great Lakes created a new payment schedule on XX/XX/XXXX, at which time they failed to include the payments made on this loan to both XXXX XXXX and all payments made to Great Lakes during XX/XX/XXXX through XX/XX/XXXX, they calculated the payments based on a higher interest rate and a higher ( wrong ) balance due. I advised them of their mistake on several occasions and followed up to see if they corrected same, I also requested verification of the debt and the docs that XXXX provided when the loans were transferred, all to no avail. Great Lakes has removed all info re the payment history, loan history, and other important info from their website, and essentially restarted the loan and repayment plan with inflated figures - they basically inflated the numbers to increase their income and the life of the loan. Additionally, my credit score has been negatively impacted by Great Lakes mishandling of my loans and as a result of reporting the wrong information to the credit bureaus, i have been negatively impacted financially in a way that is not quantifiable, as I have been denied loans, assigned much higher interest rates for loans and credit cards, I have been overlooked for apartments due to the purported high balance due on my student loans - you ca n't begin to put a dollar amount on the negative impact this has had on my life.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-29
Saint Louis, MO
Attempts to collect debt not owed
Debt collection: Federal student loan debt
Debt was paid
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-28
CT
Incorrect information on your report
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Account status incorrect
Complaint: Loan account opened in XX/XX/XXXX, but account was posted after my 4 years of school in XX/XX/XXXX. I have exhausted just about all avenues to have the missed payment marks removed from my credit. I at the time XX/XX/XXXX called up my loan provider and ask that the loan be placed into deferment, however i am assuming that it never was. I some months later caught that this was still reporting as if i was missing payments when in fact i should n't have had any payments to make. No one that i spoke to about this matter apologized or even tried to fix the matter by removing the marks but i am still left with the dragging of my scores down because of this error.
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2017-06-23
Sanford, FL
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Private student loan
Need information about your loan balance or loan terms
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-23
Mason, MI
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Private student loan
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-23
Sylvania, OH
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2017-06-22
Guayama, PR
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Company Response: Closed with explanation
2017-06-22
Bedford, TX
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Complaint: Because of relocation, I have to leave college for a couple of months, so I contacted my Lender Great Lakes to inform them about the situation. Since, I experience a dramatic reduction on my income, I express my interest about the Income Driven payment plan. At first, the representative mentioned several disadvantages about the program and implied that the income driven plans was not a good option. However, I made up my mind before I called them, so I reinstate my choice with the representative. He asked me some couple questions about my income and current employer and asked me to filled up and application, which have to include my last pay stub and Great Lakes application. I filled out the whole application and attach my most recent pay stub. Then, 15 days latter I got an email requesting a pay stub with my gross income, name, and social security as well. It is not company in the US that is going to reveal the entire social security number on a pay stub. Yet, it is a liability to reveal such a important information on a document, which is only for tax and verification purposes. At this time, I can not afford the regular payments, but Great Lakes do n't understand how the real world works. It seems like their main goal is to push borrowers into loan default. I called them already several times in order to resolve the situation. However, representatives over the phone do n't have any clue about a possible solution, nor it impossible to have a loan specialist called back.Indeed, these are illegal practices towards students.
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-18
Carrollwood, FL
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Problem lowering your monthly payments
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-15
TN
Struggling to repay your loan
Student loan: Private student loan
Can't get other flexible options for repaying your loan
Complaint: I attended XXXX for 2 years. They had referred me to XXXX XXXX XXXX for my student loans. I am at {$28000.00} in debt since XX/XX/XXXX. I am in deferment until XX/XX/XXXX. Interest is accruing at $ 700+ a month. HOW THE XXXX CAN I EVER PAY THAT BACK!? I could go and get a XXXX degree for XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX for less than {$6000.00}. I was absolutely taken advantage of under their predatory loans.. What can I do about it now? Kiss my chances at ever being financed for a home or car goodbye the rest of my life?
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-12
Aloha, OR
Incorrect information on your report
Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports: Credit reporting
Account status incorrect
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-12
Winton, CA
Dealing with your lender or servicer
Student loan: Federal student loan servicing
Trouble with how payments are being handled
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation
2017-06-12
Getting a loan
Student loan: Private student loan
Fraudulent loan
Company Response: Company believes it acted appropriately as authorized by contract or law Closed with explanation