Complain about a product or service

Sallie Mae

Jacklyn of Turbotville, PA January 2, 2010

I returned to school as a single mother, trying to better our lives, and leave dangerous situations behind us. I got a Tuition Answer loan from Sallie Mae to help cover the difference in school costs and living expenses. After I graduated, I was unable to find work. I received the paperwork for my loans via USPS mail forwarding. I contacted Sallie Mae and updated my information.

For three months, that called and sent out mailings to friends and family, saying that they had no information for me, but they were calling me multiple times a day and talking to me the whole time. They even called me on my pre-paid cell phone, despite my requests for them to remove that number. The worse part, the letters that they sent out, had my correct mailing address on them, and ended up in the hands of my ex-, who used that information to find me, and try to kill me.

And when I complained to Sallie Mae about what happened, the representative told me that if I had just gotten a job and paid my bills, that wouldn't have happened. I eventually had the opportunity to clean a woman's house and barn for the deferment fee, which lasted only a few months. Now they are calling again, and can't understand why I can't find work, or pay over 500.00 a month. I'm willing to do anything for work, and they can't even do what they are paid to do.

If I were able to add up all the time I spent on the phone dealing with their poor excuse for representatives, I probably would have lost a several weeks of my life. Time that would have been better spent searching for a job, advancing my skills, or spending time with my special needs child.

Candace of Renton, WA December 31, 2009

I, like many borrowers of Sallie Mae, am over my head in debt. Sallie Mae graciously lent 60,000 in private student loans to me well over 6 years ago. I often wonder why I ever chose to higher my education. Recently now at over 72,000 my monthly payment has jumped to 1008.00. I am currently on maternity leave bringing in no income and don't ever anticipate me being able to afford this amount when I go back to work. Sallie Mae has no grace. After explaing over and over again my living expenses on top of being away from work, I was told that since I have used "interest only options" prior to, I now have no other choice than to pay the 1008.00 or extend my loan for another 10 years to lower my payment down to a 489.00 monthly option. Of course I could do a defferment for three months but what good will that do me... Ill still be in the same situation in three months. The numbers just do not pencil out. Mortgage + insurance + car payment + medical bills + living ... I am SO discouraged. I don't know where to turn. When will this cycle end???

Marisa of Levittown, PA December 30, 2009

Oh Sallie Mae. How you rob young people blind and than effect the rest of our lives. I am current Sallie Mae user because it was the loan company suggested. As a naive individual and not intune with loans and repaying them I was sucked in to a intrest rate that was too high and having to pay back double the loan.. I fine that to be loan sharking at its finest.

Now my sister used thm because they were the company I used and willing to give out money. Unfortunately,with my sister they took over 3 months to process all the paper work. She signd up for there amazing(sarcasim) Smart Option Loan which was not explained at all. Just told to fill out that loan over and over again. They took so long because they lost info, stated there was missing info and misscommunication from every representative that works there..but that can be continued later. Her loan was for 18,000 because Sallie Mae took so long and her school issued a late fee so we had to take more money...oh how joyous they are..

Well, a few days ago my sister recieved a statement asking her to pay 171.44 a month while she is in school. They changed the agreement during the process No wonder why they prolonged everything. I called Sallie Mae (because I wa the gracious sister to co-sign) and complained how come they hve some nerve to charge money during school. I cant pay it because I gie Sallie Mae enough money. My parents cant because whose can nowadays. All they could tell me was the Smart Option Loan was the only loan option they had..BS. I asked what happened to the SIgnature Loan they had and not havign to pay until 6months after graduation. They conveniently do not offer it anymore.

Such a large company and multi-million dollar company and such great service..NOT. No one ever knows what they are doing and most are not from America. I don't begrudge people for working but when you cant understand someone and they ae not trained it makes it real hard to get things accomplished. I have been told i was given wrong information but only was told that same information days earlier. This company is a digrace and a poor representation for America and the people that work there. My sisters loan is 33,000 after being paid back.. how is anyone supposed to survive after college. Apparently, with Sallie Mae its not possible and with a poor econmoy it doesnt make it an easier.

Someone need to look deep into this company and find out WHY they can charge the high interest rates and charge the payments they do. I rather stimulate the economy by buying a house but that wont happen and I'm 25 years old and student loan poor. I think that these private loans companys are abusing people and blinding them. Im paying Sallie Mae my mortgage. A 60,000 loan for me has become 120,000+. I hope that if you read this to never use this company EVER EVER. They have no couth, are not customer service frienfly and they dont care if you suffer with any other bills or just scrape to get buy. They want there money and thats it. Too much money is the problem.

Cynthia of Duncaville, TX December 29, 2009

Sallie Mae is not customer friendly and they are loan sharking....

1. They send out notice of payments that have different amounts due each notice.

2. Call into the call center and hold the line for 30min or longer. At times the phone hand ups, then I have to call back in and wait.

3. No payment option is provided. No work out plans! a. Customer Rep. stated that they are mailing out paperwork that never make it. Ex: I have been calling since Oct. about payment option. I have been refused payment options. I stated I just started a new job and I am unable to make payments right now. A customer rep was suppose to mail me out papers on 12-17-09. I never received them, so I called on 12-22-09, but my payment is due on 12-27-09. I did not receive the paper work until 12-25-09. Plus, I called the 888 number on 12-26-09 the customer care center was closed.the automotive service stated that my payment is late and it has assessed late fees! My payment was not due until 12-27-09. Plus, stated that the current payment of 897.00 is due immediately to bring account current.

4. Retaliator Practice because I filled a complaint before.

5. Unable to use debit care to make payments. Must give checking or savings account information?????? If I use the automotive service a 14.95 fee is charged????? Customer Rep. can take your payment over the phone for a 14.95 charge??? If I make an payment on line the only account I can use is my savings or checking?

6. Plus, I am disputing Sallie Mae on the number of payment that I made in early 2000 and something.

7. Why are they charging me interest on money that was sent back?

8. Payments that were paid off suddenly reappeared.

9. Sallie Mae never settled my dispute of false reporting to the credit bureau. I was unemployed and submitted paper work and someone neglected to do their jobs. They found the error, but never corrected it!

10. This is another housing crisis...

11.Sallie Mae has used every excuss not to offer me a loan forgivness... I worked at a charter school as a teacher and princpal. I work as a mental health worker....I was from a low income household yet my interest rates were outrages...

Steve of Stephens City, VA December 24, 2009

I co-signed a Smart Option Loan for my son in Aug 09 which is for him to pay monthly interest only until 6 months after he graduates. Less than 3 months into the loan, Sallie Mae decided to change the rules and start requiring principal payments as well, which of course he can't make and is in complete violation of the Truth In Lending Agreement which is a legal document for both parties. While making multiple calls to their customer service lines all over the world including the Phillipines, India, and the U.S. everyone agreed that Sallie Mae screwed up and apologized for the inconvenience, nothing has been corrected back to the original agreement.

Meanwhile my son's loan shows delinquent, they have assessed a late fee, and they bumped the interest rate by 1/4%. My son made his first 3 monthly interest payments as agreed on time but because of their pathetic customer service procedures they cannot get this fixed and live up to their end of the agreement. I know that I am not the only person having this experience with Sallie Mae - it blows my mind that they are allowed to get away with their practices and make people's lives miserable. I pride myself with my credit rating and have instilled good credit practices for my children.

Usually after 1 or 2 calls about clearing up issues with companies is all that is required - but not with Sallie Mae - I have placed at least 10 calls and they all agree that Sallie Mae made a mistake by changing the agreement and that my son kept his end of the agreement and made his interest payments and made them on time. But because of their incompetence, he shows delinquent and is getting charged fees and bumping his interest rate - it has turned out to be a horrible nightmare. I can't believe that a company continues to operate like this in this country. I know there are a lot of deadbeats out there that will blame loan companies when the problem is probably themselves - but that is not my case. Somebody out there needs to help the honest people in dealing with corrupt and unethical companies like Sallie Mae.

Danny of Elmhurst, NY December 22, 2009

I went to Katherine Gibbs School here in New York City. I finally got what I thought was a legitimate two year degree in Visual Communications. Until I found out that it's not a legitimate degree and it's been verified by CUNY as a non accredited college. Now for all my trouble I'm stuck with a loan, that I have no money to pay for. They consistantly harass me six days a week, call five or more times a day. I got one of them trying to act friendly to me as if he was really trying to help me. I recently had to borrow some money to give them something and guess what, THEY WANT MORE.

TODAY I received a letter from them via UPS saying that if i don't pay, I'll go in default and whatnot, if i don't give them more money. I've been reading stories of fellow students who attended the same school and people who have borrowed from this company and it's an absolute disgrace that they aren't out of business. I talked to the supervisor who is a pompus and rude and told him, that my money feeds his family and he just shrugged it all off and flat out didn't care. I had to hang up on him because I was tired of hearing the garbage that was coming out of his mouth. So much so that I had to curse him out, and it's not the only time it's happend with these people at Sallie Mae. They think that the fifty times they call a week isn't harassment. Under legal channels it is harassment. I've kept all their mailings as proof and I'm sure there are many people like me who are doing so as well in hopes of legal action against them.

Shirley of Corpus Christi, TX December 18, 2009

Sallie Mae extorts money--end of story. They tell me they charge 10% interest per day (like that's going to make you want to pay them when you don't have the funds to even pay them 1 a day). I co-signed loans for my son. At the time he graduated, there were no jobs, and still are not any jobs using his degree so he is waiting tables to make ends meet. Does Sallie Mae care? No they don't. I went through a financially devastating divorce and now they are after me--do I have to funds to pay? No, I don't. I offered them what I could pay and they said no dice. They are true scum of the earth and their collection people are very rude. In my opinion, charging 10% per day is extortion.

Keith of Redlands, CA December 10, 2009

This company is impossible to deal with. I have several loans with Sallie Mae, and like everyone else, I have trouble making the 700 a month payment program they have set up. After all, I just graduated and you don’t see me driving a BMW. So they changed the program to 300 a month interest only, which I still have trouble making, but I sacrifice food and other necessities to accommodate for these shylocks. The biggest problem I have with Sallie Mae is their customer service is horrible. Horrible! I used to work telephone customer service and we always lived by the maxim, “one call resolution”. These guys are really bad, and you can tell the company doesn’t care about training. I spoke to at least 50-75 reps and each one was about as helpful as a rock. It’s like they take classes to be unhelpful. And when you do find someone helpful (twice for me) the next time you call back it’s like calling for the first time. My wife just called 5 minutes ago, and said all I have to do is approve a plan setup, yet when I call back they change the plan and say they don’t know what I’m talking about.

They say the conversations are recorded for customer service purposes. I’d like to get my hands on a few of those tapes and take these guys to court. I know I borrowed the money for education, and I plan on paying it back, but these guys are shylocks to the fullest extent. Anyone reading this, don't go through Sallie Mae if you can avoid it. They are strickly a for-profit company and will destroy your life if you have trouble making payments!

jamie of blue ridge summit, PA December 10, 2009

My co-signer and I became unemployed about 3-4 months ago. I called for a forbearance on a private loan.My mother called about a forbearance and was told 1 month would be a fifty dollar fee. That made no sense to me,so I called. I was told 3 months with a fifty dollar fee and it would about 15 days for the paperwork to arrive. After 20 days no paperwork arrived. I called back and was told they could email it. Then he said "oh you have an ETCS? loan and could process it over the phone. I had to call back so i could move some money around for the fee. He noted it in my account.

When i called back I got disconnected or hung up on at least 4 times. I was sent to busy signals and dead air after the first transfer. The phone system could not understand my info. When i got a real person,I was told that I now had 2 late payments and it wouldnt cover it. Even though the second payment was because they didnt send the paper work. A few other people there told me different things regarding a forbearace,and none were the same. I finally had enough and called there corporate number. I was going for the CEO but I couldn't find his number. LOL

He transferred me to the customer adovate,which is based in the USA and only four people work in that department. I was helped quickly and now my loans are all set to feb 2010. I will only be calling those 2 numbers from now on. I can not stand them and there scare tactics. They do not care about there customers,and do not want to help. This is not the first problem I have had with them. Money has been applied to wrong loans,payments haven;t gone through. They call nonstop even after a payment has been made. i still don't know why my 30,000 dollar loan won't be paid off till 2021 and will be the cost of a porsche when it's done. I ask for the loan agreement and 5 requests and 2 years later nothing.

Tia of Indianapolis, IN December 10, 2009

Wow! what crooks! i signed up for the 3 pay program. What was suppose to happen is you give Sallie Mae your acct. # and then for three months they take out a certain amount of money and at the end of the three months you will be brought current. During the three month JULY, AUGUST, AND SEPTEMBER OF 2009.I was receiving threatening letters saying I was going into default.

Then I called every month and the assured me that "everything was okay" During this time I asked for several...several pieces of mail stating that I would be brought current, and I also asked them to send me somthing telling me when my monthly payments were due. I received nothing.

I called at the end of September and spoke to a young man who told me not to worry. He said a supervisor would call me to set up my monthly payments and to make my account current. I did receive a call from a supervisor threatening me. Of course I called back and explained that I had spoken to someone and they told me everything was okay that the emails I received were system generated. They then told me, I needed to pay something for the month of October. I did that, and they told me everything was okay.

I received an email in Nov. telling me two of my student loans were going to default! I called again! By this time I had spoken to several (6 or 7) supervisors. This is when I was referred to Joe S. He got on the phone telling me I only paid 20 in August and that's why my loans were going to default. I asked him to send me a copy of the statement and the he magically found the real amount I paid.

Mr. S. and I have battled it out. He let me know that Sallie Mae doesn't have to send me any kind of bill in the mail. He told me I borrowed the money and I have to pay it back. Well of course I know that, so I then asked how much would my monthly payments be and he told me he didn't know they would vary. OKAY. So then I ask how in the heck am I suppose to know when and how much to pay if you don't. Oh it has been an awful and painful experience!

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