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ACS

Jamiella of Long Beach, CA November 19, 2009

I transferred my loans to ACS from Sallie Mae because they promised a 1% decrease in interest if I signed up for their "automated checking" service with a certain number of on-time payments. For the first two years, everything was fine (although I have NOT seen this 1% decrease.) Then when I started doing scholarships and going back to school, it has been disaster.

First, when I left to Paris on a 7 month scholarship, I asked to have my loans deferred and sent in all the paperwork. I got an e-mail saying that they had acknowledged my deferment while on scholarship, but guess what--that month they took out the money anyway. Well, that can happen. The automatic removal ceased until I came back from scholarship.

Now that I'm in graduate school the real problems are happening. If your school is part of a National list, you don't have to contact your loan company, they automatically enroll you as a student. My other loan company, Sallie Mae, still has some of my loans, and although they took awhile to register that I was in school, when I contacted them they apologized and I got an e-mail that day saying that I was a registered student and my loans were on hold (and my account reflected this.)

Not the case with ACS. I called ahead of time and was told by a teller that in October I would be given a forebearance and then in November my loans would be deferred because of my student status. I even got an e-mail confirming this. However, they took money out of my account anyway, causing my account to be overdrawn. I called them again and they "made a notation" and said I would get a refund in 45-60 days (haven't seen this refund.) In November, the month that was supposed to start my student deferment, they took money out AGAIN.

I called them again and the teller said he would "Make a notation." I told him--politely--that wouldn't be sufficient because this is what I was told last time, and this time the teller snapped at me saying that's what he was going to do and that there wasn't anything else he could do. I don't understand how with Sallie Mae they could reflect my account WHILE I WAS STILL ON THE PHONE, but with ACS they would "Make a notation" (and my account with them STILL has not registered that I'm on deferment.) I called Sallie Mae and they said it would be impossible for them to buy back the loan from ACS, so I'm stuck with them.

I have lost the money I was saving up for my wedding, my account backed up saying I was overdrawn, and I'm sure my credit report has lowered because of a forebearance that I never actually benefitted from and a deferment I'm not actually getting. They continue to lie to me by sending me e-mails saying that I'm registered as one thing and yet taking money out anyway. I don't expect to get the refund that I'm owed even though I was told that I would get a refund for both the amount drawn and the overdraft charge.

Tonga of Bedford, TX June 28, 2009

since the weekend of June 26, 2009..I and 4 other coworkers that have been employed and currently working for ACS as of June 27, 2009 have been willingly continuely relocating..further and further away from our residential home..as offered by ACS, we were told that our daily money card would be about 300 for motel stay, food, and gas..but since 6/26/09 and today 6/27/09 the card holds less than 100. Also..for approx 1week, last week in Iowa,our phones were out of receptions,without being offered a way of communication!PLEASE HELP!we need gas to get back home asap to eat and more.

Darren of Creston, CA June 27, 2009

I have two loans with the two companies, ACS and Wachovia. My outstanding balance with ACS is about 25,000 and 5,000 with Wachovia. They apparently share a billing department, as that is where my complaint is focused toward. I pay both statements about 2 weeks early, every month without fail. I haven't missed a payment. However, they mess up my payment, without fail, EVERY month. This isn't a once in a while occurence. This isn't a periodic occurence. Like I said, every month I have to call to straighten things out.

This is how it goes. I write two seperate checks, prepare two separate envelopes, and mail two separate payments every month. The due date arrives, and about two weeks later I receive a statement from one of the companies that they didn't receive my payment. I call to speak with a supervisor, and they inform me that one company credited both checks to just one account, leaving the other account delinquint. They straighten out the problem, only to start the process over the next month. This happens month in and month out. There was actually one month they didn't recognize my payment, and I had to get the cleared check and mail them a copy to prove I made the payment. Do you have any thoughts of how I can get them to quit messing up my payments and making me spend 45 minutes a month calling them to fix the problem.

coreyann of tacoma, WA May 29, 2009

My student loan balance is not going down. I keep paying the amount and the balance is not going down. I am tired of paying on this loan and not seeing balance go down. I cannot afford to pay anymore each month and ACS keeps telling me to more to the principal. How can someone pay more to the principal when the payment is 387.00 each month.

The government needs to step in and do something about the way student loans are being handled. If the government is looking at credit card companies they also should look at student loan companies. The economy is bad and these companies don't even care all they want is the money. Something needs to be done.

Monica of Bakersfield, CA May 4, 2009

I consolidated my 3 private loans that are serviced by ACS with Wells Fargo. I began the process in November 2008. The funds were applied to my 3 federal loans which are not in repayment yet. This caused my accounts to become delinquent. After numerous phone calls to ACS with no solution in site, I sent an email to the complaint resolution department and received a call a few days later from Nadine who stated she was in the process of resolving the issue and had been in contact with Wells Fargo. She also informed me a portion of my funds were applied to someone elses account who also consolidated with Wells Fargo which created an overpayment on her account so she was sent a check from ACS.

Nadine also informed me the funds received from Wells Fargo were not enough to cover all my loans. My loan through Wells Fargo is in the amount 5,699.98. This amount was apparently sent in two seperate checks, which ACS is stating they only received one check. However, Wells Fargo is stating that both checks were cashed. I have been receiving calls and letters from ACS stating my accounts are past due. One of my accounts is now in default status. I have also had to take time off of work attempting to get the issue resolved.

Mollie of La Verne, CA April 29, 2009

I can't say enough about how awful working with ACS/Wachovia is! I am a very meticulous person; I keep records of my school loans and stay informed about them. While I'm quite able to admit when I've made a mistake, my problems with ACS/Wachovia are not because of any errors on my part. I feel like people need to know what I'm going through at the moment so that they can make an informed decision about their education loans! Going through Wachovia is an easy start-up process, with fast approval and low interest. However, these people are at heart a loan company. They will, at the first given chance, try to take advantage of you. I am a college sophomore who has attended university continuously and all of my education loans have been through Wachovia. I transferred after my first semester, and have now been a student at my current university for three semesters. My problems began when I transferred. I was told all my paperwork was in order and that Wachovia was aware of my transfer. They assured me that they knew I was only transferring, not leaving school. I thought all was well and went on my way happy as a clam. Now, though, I'm dealing with a loan that is delinquent, because they claim I didn't properly notify them of my transfer. They also tell me that I haven't been going to school full time, when in fact I've been overloading so that I may graduate in four years. I have gotten no paper statements for this delinquent loan, no emails- just a slew of collection agency calls in the past few weeks. The loan status is not visible on my online account, either. There is no way for me to pay it, even if I could access an online or physical payment method. Aside from that- I'm still in school. I've never left school. I've sent in two official enrollment verification forms, neither of which Wachovia seemed to receive. Meanwhile, the customer service agents are rude, curt and not at all helpful. Also, most of them barely speak passable English. They give me canned responses that are obviously not personalized. It took my mom and I two back to back conference calls, today, with ACS/Wachovia to finally get anyone to tell me what I needed to do to forestall this default. I'm sorry to say it, but we both had to get extremely angry before any of the representatives would give us any good information. This is unacceptable, stressful and ridiculous.

Jean of Vancouver, WA March 24, 2009

Jean of Vancouver WA (03/24/09)
ACS claims that they cannot get the statements that they sent me for the last six months. I asked them how do they satisfy their auditors. The problem is that they sent me a statement sometime in the last six months, which said I had prepaid, and that I did not have to make a payment until March 2009. Now they claim I am delinquent. And they put me on forbearance which I did not request, and they claim that I requested the forbearance. they claim that they cannot see the comments on the statements that were sent me, either, and they finally said prove it! which I can't without the historical statements.

the forbearance made my payment go up and my credit go down.

David of Westerville, OH March 18, 2009

David of Westerville OH (03/18/09)
ACS has been nothing but trouble ever since the company I consolidated with was bought out by them. I am on a graduated payment plan, and the payment goes up without prior notice and even if you make the payment on time for the month, the payment goes up in the middle of the month and they charge you a late fee for not paying the new full amount. They have done this to me twice. If I could find a different company to take these over, I would do it in a heartbeat. They also take at least 4 business days to post a payment. Do they only have one person working there? I have some friends in the Ohio Attorney General's office that im going to be consulting about this, because this seems to be in violation of fair lending laws.

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