Sallie Mae Reviews

Short time after that I received a letter from Sallie Mae with the cashier check stapled to the letter with the word void across the center of the check stating that they do not accept any form of payment other than automatic withdraw from a checking account. So once again I contacted someone and informed them of the situation and why I closed my checking account and that was no good for them. So instead of trying to work it all out they sent me directly into collections. When I faxed the collection agency the letter and voided check they sent my account back to Sallie Mae who in turn kept sending it to one agency after another. If I had known this is the grief I would have gone through, I would have never gone to college. Word of advice for those who plan on going to college and plan on paying for your schooling on your own like I did... DO NOT USE SALLIE MAE!

At that point my son went back to California and left his mother and I to deal with Sallie Mae. So we have been talking to Sallie Mae and my wife finally worked it out with them and setup an automatic withdrawal from her bank account. At first they had one number written down wrong on their end. At this point some lady from Sallie Mae calls at 11am and request us to call her back that something is not going through at their end.

On the same day 15 minutes later, she calls again and starts ranting that we are ignoring her phone calls. Then 15 minutes later she calls again and leaves almost the same message. When my wife gets home, she calls and talks to them and finds out the discrepancy. So we are all set wrong, we get another phone call and Sallie Mae says that my wife bank card expires next month and they won't be able to take out a payment. So she calls her bank and her bank says that is not true her card expires at the end of the month and they can withdraw a payment at anytime that month and a new card will be issued before the end of the month.

So a few days later they call and say now the payment has to come from a joint account. So my wife and I agree to put the payment on our joint bank account and tell them to call back later in the day when we are home together. They never call and my wife left a message on the lady's machine that we are both home. She never called back. Then I get another phone call from Sallie Mae and they are threatening me again that I have not made a single payment in 125 days.

At this point I inform the lady as usual, she like everybody else there, they don't know what they are talking about and inform her we just made a payment. At this point she says “oh hold on”. Now steps in Max her supervisor and he tries telling me everything I told he people already. Then he says “why don't I call you back tonight when your wife is home and we will put it on the joint account.” So I confirm with him that he has permission to call me after 6pm when my wife will be home from work. As I am writing this letter I still have not received a phone call from Sallie Mae.

I lost the .25% credit for auto debit because of 2 different issues with my bank and now Sallie Mae will not ever offer it on my 4 private loans with interest rates all north of 9%. I also no longer receive the 2% discount to my Upromise account and there is just simply no explanation for that when I try to get an answer from Sallie Mae and Upromise. It's really sad that this monster company that makes millions of dollars cannot even improve upon these little things. Then again when you are the top of the business and students have no other options...they do not care. I will do anything to get rid of these loans with Sallie Mae to not give them anymore money.

They see that you are 2 years into school you have no other options but to finish, then they set the trap, knowing that a 20 year old kid will sign anything to stay in school. (SMH dirt bags) I wound up borrowing close to $30,000 from them. After graduation, I found a good job and started paying on the loan immediately. I was then the victim of layoffs in 2008. As you know those were some of the hardest economic times since the depression. I had to take a job washing dishes just to get by. I obviously could not afford the payments anymore.

I went back to school and after begging them to give me forbearance, I was denied. Now they’re saying I owe them $108,000 and I am never paying them a cent until they remove that interest. They called my friends, work, sister, brother, uncle, cousin, and anyone else they could find. The CSR would say things like, “Can you pay John’s bills because he can’t?” “Why doesn’t he stop being lazy and take a job at McDonalds?” Things like that.

They harass my father every night because he is the co-signer. My dad is a disabled Veteran who fought in Vietnam. Does that even matter to this country anymore? They call him all types of names. I am so tired of these people. Even with all these harassing phone calls they can’t even locate any documentation that would prove I owe this amount. They won’t show me, they won’t help me, they won’t explain anything to me, they won’t work with me, and for that I won’t pay them.

They can keep calling all they want. It doesn't matter to me anymore. They have already ruined my credit. I am not sure I can ever live a normal life without fear of a credit check. People use your credit as means to determine your character and it isn't right. These people call my family, friends, place of work, and say terrible things about my father and I. I know that is not legal.

Can someone help me? My credit is ruined. Even when I apply for a job they now do credit checks. It makes people think I don’t pay my bills. With this amount of debt I cant even start my young life. I was always told that going to college would help me, but all it has done is put me in a huge hole. I am now a certified history teacher and in an incredible amount of debt. If a kid asks me if he or she should go to college or not, I’m not sure what to advise them. Should I say, “Only if you have the money”? You tell me Sallie Mae.

I called in again and paid the "pay off" amount. Now they are sending a statement for even more money?!! The only way to get a hold of a live person is to call the collections department. But even then they can't give me an answer. Today it was "I've emailed my manager to close the account, it should be closed in a couple days" but they can't give me a confirmation or let me talk to someone who can actually close the account. I've been hung up on "accidentally" numerous times, sat on hold for countless minutes. Been redirected and listened to several automated systems that end up hanging up on me. This by far is the worst company I have ever dealt with, I would never refer this company even to my worst enemy.

We have attempted to enroll in four different what they call "programs", to try and make our monthly payment manageable and in each case they have set up a direct withdrawal and taken multiple payments, then called a month or two later only to tell us that our "program" was denied and we are behind in payments. At this point I am beyond frustrated and feel helpless as to what I can do to maintain my credit because this company is unwilling to work with us and will probably leave a horrible mark on my credit and future financial ability.

I am a social worker, single mother of a 3 and 4-yr-old. My student loan payments are more than my housing. Now, not only do I carry the burden of this debt, which I did willingly, I now have to carry the burden of this organizations selfish, money hungry acts... As a representative of health and human services, I find their practices appalling and I am saddened that they take advantage of so many in an attempt to better themselves through education. Shame on you Sallie Mae.

After they ask all the identifying questions, she tells me that I owe money. I said thanks, but the reason for my call is to find out who can I send this Private Loan Certification to? She quickly says, You called the wrong number. This is the number you need: 1-800-695-3317. Again, the year is 2014, you would think they could forward you. But that's not the case with the Sallie Mae Company. So I called that number. Entered in my SSN # again and again waited about 20 minutes. Service is fast here!...not. I will be paying these loans back for at least 10 years and be spending THOUSANDS of dollars. You would think that they would provide a little better customer service but that would seem to be asking for too much.

So I ask my question again, who can I send this Private Loan Certification to? She paused and said, "well this is the wrong number." You can imagine how upset a paying customer would be to have to play the ring and pony show. So I said, you have got to be ** kidding me!? You wouldn't believe what she said then nothing. She hung up on me. So today I wasted roughly 45 minutes speaking to imbeciles that I pay for. Literally, I would advise to go another route with another lender. Someone who appreciates your money and smiles at you when they rob you blind.

I get $691 a month in SSI. I sent them the information three times until they finally found it when the loan was overdue. They said they will postpone payments until next month; however, I still have to pay $100 for forbearances every 3 months and about $54 a month for the student loan that will not forbear anymore. I asked them if they don't have any income sensitive program. They said no. For some reason they won't let me see the contract. I am just told that it has expired after ten years and I have to pay whether I am disabled or in school. This was not my understanding of the terms when I signed the contract at NAU. I was told that after 2 years after paying $150 per month I have to pay $500 a month. I have not even received any answer until today and they are telling me that in spite of permanent disability they will not lower the loan payments as long as I am in school.

So if Sallie Mae has ILLEGALLY looked into your finances, if they have verbally assaulted you over the phone, if they refuse to work with you, which is also illegal, if they don't offer you some way of paying off your loans in a manner that you are able to afford, and if they threaten your livelihood then please email me at: ** I am starting a huge lawsuit and would love as many voices on this as possible. It's about time Sallie starts to feel some of the pain and trauma they've caused the people that keep their ** open for business. I give them negative stars.

He told me that $150 was for 3 MONTHS, as that is the minimum amount you can do a forbearance. He explained that for each loan, there is a lifetime limit of 12 months of forbearance, but they are in 3 month increments. He said I can opt for a 1-2 month forbearance, but the 3 month forbearance fee would be the same amount. So I said, sure - let's just do 3 months! He said my next payment is due on Dec. 27.

I asked Ahmed about my automatic payments, since I still am paying on my federal loans. He told me that I wouldn't need to change anything on my online account because when the forbearance is processed, it will show a $0 balance on my private loans. So I rephrased my question to make sure I understood that I didn't need to change my automatic payments. Again, I was told I wouldn't have to do anything to my online account and my standard monthly balances will zero out.

After 9/27/14, I am doing my monthly budget and I log onto my online banking. What do I see? SM took out not only my $150 forbearance fee but ALSO my standard monthly payment for my private loans that were supposed to be in forbearance! Not only did I have to file a dispute with my bank, I called SM's customer service. The lady was incredibly nice and said, "Yes. This was a mistake. You are on forbearance for 3 months. We will refund the standard monthly payment back to your bank account." She recommended that I remove the automatic payment from my online account to prevent this from happening again. So I did while I was on the phone with her. A few business days later, I was refunded the monthly payment amount that they withdrew.

On 10/2/14, I received multiple phone calls from SM. When I called SM back after I got off work, a lady in customer service told me I was past due on my balance. I explained to her that my private loans are in forbearance until December. I told her everything that happened 1 month prior. She said that she read the notes and that she could see that $150 was taken out for a 3-month forbearance and that the additional standard monthly payment was taken out and refunded back to my bank account. She said she would take care of it and that I didn't owe anything for 9/27/14.

Out of curiosity, I logged into my SM account online on 10/8/14. It showed that my account was past due for my private loans! However, my federal loans were paid up to date. There was a delinquent notice on my online account! So I called customer service again to double check. This time, I called the billing department. The woman on the phone from the billing department told me that information was getting lost between customer service and billing. She said that she did see that my account was in forbearance and she could trace everything I said. She told me she was going to take care of it and that my account was not delinquent. Again, she told me that I was correct and that my next payment isn't due until Dec. 27.

TODAY (10/9/14), I received more than 5 phone calls from SM. I was busy all day, so I couldn't answer right away. Around 9 PM, I received another call that I was able to take. When I answered, the woman on the phone was from COLLECTIONS! She told me that I was past due for 2 months! I told her the same story. She began to tell me that since I was in collections that the maximum forbearance she could do was 1 month. Again, I told her that I was not supposed to be collections because I am in forbearance currently for September, October, and November. My next payment isn't due until Dec. 27. She tried to tell me that I was incorrect! I got very angry and told her she was wrong. She said she would get her manager.

Her manager gets on the phone and tries to tell me that the maximum forbearance they could do was 1 month. I told her that I am in forbearance until Dec. 27th! I wasn't supposed to be in collections in the first place! She said she sent an email to corporate letting them know my story and that my "delinquent" account is supposed to be in forbearance until Dec. 27th. I told her my account is NOT delinquent, and I have spoken to customer service and billing multiple times to get this straightened out - and obviously it hasn't been resolved on their end. I asked her if this has hit my credit. She told me that SM does not report to credit bureaus on delinquent accounts until 90 days past due and my account is currently 60 days past due. Again, I reminded her that I am not delinquent and that I am in fact in forbearance until Dec. 27th!!

I will dispute this if it does hit my credit! I asked her if I needed to follow up and when I should expect this to be resolved. She told me to call back in 3 days. Today is Thursday. In 3 days, it will be Sunday. SM has a scheduled power outage for the weekend where all online accounts and phone lines will be unavailable. I reminded her of this and asked "Do I call on Sunday or do I call on Monday?" She laughed and said, "Oh! So you have been reading your emails and the alerts! You are correct! That is happening this weekend!" Somehow, this manager forgot about a SCHEDULED POWER OUTAGE FOR AN ENTIRE WEEKEND where all call centers will not be available or online account access. This surprises me!

I am very unsure of working with Sallie Mae. Their customer service, billing department and collections department do not seem to know what is going on. Their staff is not knowledgeable about their own forbearance plans or how online accounts work. They do not have an effective communication system between multiple departments. They do not handle customer complaints very well - instead they try to make it sound like their mistake is your fault. I have lost all of my trust in SM since they obviously did not correct the problem in a reasonable amount of time to get a resolution to the problem. They really need to get it together. If this problem is not resolved by Monday 10/13/14 - I would NOT recommend anyone using Sallie Mae for academic financing. This is enough to leave a bad reputation with a customer who never had any previous issues with Sallie Mae.

I finally was able to get caught up, but have since missed a payment or two (well actually late payment). Now they are hounding me again. Daily calls, emails, letters over the one missed payment. Collection threats. I make less than $25k per year, I am single Mom of three. I have to give up my account information for auto payments, and they will call it even. But, if I mail the payment I stay in collection until I am all caught up. I moved to Arizona for six months, to try and find work while staying with family. The calls started at 5 am, even though I complained multiple times that I was in a different time zone than they had on record. They just told me that they were going off my area code to my cell phone, and they would keep calling at 8 am Ohio time. REALLY wish I had never gone back to school!!! This is torture.

My son takes care of his own finances including his student loan. A couple of times there have been snafus with online payments. I called him. SM had not contacted him in any way - phone, letter, or email. I used the number on my phone to call SM back. I asked for a supervisor. First thing, he asked for the last four digits of my social. I told him it wasn't necessary. I wanted to discuss policy. He did the usual bullying more adamantly than the caller. He would not let me contact public relations of any kind. I ended the call. It's a shame SM's employees are trained this way.

I checked Sallie Mae's website. There's no way to contact SM without giving them your ID. There was no general phone number. There's no address, so I couldn't use Yelp. Do not get a Sallie Mae loan! The company uses bully tactics and is not upfront with their business. There is no real person to talk to. The frontline employees are trained to intimidate no matter what the problem. My son was never contacted. Both of us have tried to straighten up their contact information over the years.

When I was asking them to honor the program I was already in and making on time payments to them. Nothing has changed since I began the program financially so I don't understand how my financial statement has suddenly changed by their standards to kick me out of that program now. I was told when I signed off on this program that I just had to make on time payments in this program to be able to stay in it and I have not had 1 late payment.

They are rude, don't help you until you are really delinquent, and are not very well organized. They sometimes lump checks and only put towards 1 account causing the other to fall behind (that's with account numbers written on checks). Don't use them unless you plan on living home rent free, car insurance free, car payment free, basically no bills other than Sallie Mae for 15+ years. They are a disgrace.

They also stated I signed paperwork in Pencil, which is untrue. When asked for the original copy, they stated they didn't have it. They stated Sallie Mae would not accept paperwork. Have called Sallie Mae 4 times in the last 6 months requesting to open a case to research this. I was asked to send all proof I had, which I did. Now they say they opened and closed it based on what collection agency told them, instead of researching case. I have proof of every transaction, I have sent them. I was told 20 days ago someone from Sallie Mae would call me back in 7-10 days, that didn't happen for the 3rd time. I called today and was told the case was closed. I asked to be transferred to supervisor, was put on hold for 2 hours, and then was disconnected. These guys are POS.

So, when I called Sallie Mae, they told me that their only deferment options are for enrolled students and active members of the military. They told me that my only option was a maximum of 3 months forbearance. Having no other choice, I opted to do the forbearance. After I'd settled on this option, I was told I would be charged a $100 forbearance fee. I was very surprised, and rightfully angry. Let me make this perfectly clear. I was calling Sallie Mae to responsibly postpone payments because I don't have any money right now. I did this instead of simply not paying. And their policy is to charge people extra money if they are experiencing financial hardship. Despicable.

My request would not be processed unless I agreed to pay and give them my banking information on the spot. "Thankfully" I was able to post-date the payment by 30 days, so let's hope I have some income by then, I guess. I never would have imagined that their customer service policies could have gotten any worse. But they have. If you can get your loans transferred to another organization, I highly recommend it. This company is, without question, the single worst organization I have EVER dealt with.

SM contacted me in October 2011 (after a move to a new city) to say that my deferment period had ended and I was now in default for not reestablishing payment. I said I had never been made aware that I had been in deferment, that we had moved, gave them my new bank information, and payments resumed at $75 a month from November 2011 to April of 2012, when I closed my account with that bank (6 months x $75 = $450). There were some tight spots, but I always assured that my SM payment had gone through, and there were several months where I made higher payments, typically between $150-$200. $2,700 + $450 = $3150. If nothing else, this loan should have dropped into the last few hundreds of dollars owed.

SM's website payment information does not reflect all of these payments. At last check, their website claimed that I owed over $3,700 - this is in excess of my original loan, and there is NO conceivable way the interest rate could have collected that high. And so I told them I needed accurate payment records before I would recommence payment. They told me the payment information on their website is accurate.

I have nothing to dispute their so-called "records" because I don't have any of my own. Yeah, I totally get that I should have kept records now, but frankly, I was naive enough to think a student loan company wouldn't actually try to screw me THAT BADLY. I have made SM an offer through the Federal Credit Protection Bureau that I would keep $1,000 for them in escrow, which was theirs as soon as I had written confirmation that this would settle anything left owed on the account (and then some). They refused the deal. So I refuse to pay them anything. Ever. Again.

SM is now not only calling me multiple times a day, they contact my husband and even my mother, whose number has NEVER been associated with this account. I have filed a harassment charge against them, but they continue to demand higher and higher payments on an account that is and has been paid off, and they're reporting me to collections agencies. I will NOT be cowed by them just because they are a corporation that feels it can prey on students and citizens by charging them outlandish rates of interest. I would rather never own a home, never purchase a new car, and never be offered another credit deal, than ever relinquish to them another cent.

Now that this other company came in to boost the doors opened. They broke my privacy act by calling people in my family and my daughter's ex boyfriend. Who are they to break the privacy act and get away with it? The special education should do something about stopping this illegit company that is taking over millions of children. What are they waiting for, some children to commit suicide? I'm looking for a lawyer for my privacy act that Sallie Mae broke.

After my August payment was made, the collection calls started again in spite of the fact that I was supposed to be in the rate reduction program for another 12 months. I spoke with a representative there who told me that they had made an error (this is about the 3rd or 4th time that they have erred in my account causing me a lot of headaches trying to get it fixed) and that they would fix it and I would get no more phone calls. I got another harassment call from them again the very next day and it was again unresolved after I spoke with the rep there who told me that if I really had spoken to someone, they would not be calling me again.

In summary, my FICO scores dropped approx. 20 point because there were 3 Hard Credit Inquiries. I'd like Sallie Mae to fix this issue ASAP. We went elsewhere for the loan and I am still getting emails asking me to accept the loan.

Since then I have contacted the Credit Reporting Agencies and disputed the loans, I have sent a registered return receipt letter requesting an in person meeting to resolve the fraudulent claims as well as any that may be legitimate. I have also asked that due to their non-responsiveness that they reduce interest, penalties and any jacked up fees. There have been claims that I have 5 of these Sallie Mae Loans which would mean I am over $500,000 in debt. Before I pay on anything I sure would like to know it's a legitimate debt. If anyone else has had a similar issue I would appreciate hearing from you.

A representative from Sallie Mae then told me, that because all my payments tabulated to almost a $1000 dollars over the two months, she would re-appropriate the payments correctly and it should cover May and June and therefore my next payment would not be until July. The representative also gave me the amounts and account numbers, as well as mailing addresses for each account. As directed, I sent in payments on time for the Month of July. Then I got another call saying my payment for the private loans are now behind. I sat on the phone arguing with someone for over an hour, talked to a manager, who apologized and said she would take care of it. She left me a voice mail message stating that it was resolved.

I still have the message. Only to get another call saying that my federal loans are now behind. I am at my wits end with the level of incompetence with regards to my account. They are bouncing customers around each side (federal vs private) and blames the other side for misappropriation of payments. They also act as if they don't talk with each other and they leave you in the middle trying to fight their battles. I am really considering contacting an attorney. This is really aggravating and a poor way to treat good customers who have been responsible in their payments. I left another message for the manager who said it had been taken care of. We will see on Monday what excuses are made regarding this problem

I'm also a service member who qualifies for the Service members Civil Relief Act where any debt accrued before joining has an interest rate cap at 6%. I had to jump through loops to prove to them I qualified and in the end, I was successful in being refunded $10,000 in overpaid interest over four years. Again, what's the big deal? Profits. Sallie Mae is a publicly traded company who is responsible to shareholders to return and increase profits. While none of their shenanigans are illegal, they are not transparent and will take advantage of any nickel they can take from you. Automatic in school deferment benefits their profits, knocking my interest rates down when they knew I was in the military didn't.

Bottom line is this. It is public information that for FY14 they returned a net interest increase of $44 million and a yearly increase of INTEREST profits up 35% to $144 million. If you think they will not nickel and dime you to increase these numbers you are naive. Their customer service is somewhat polite but could care less about working for a socially irresponsible company who is not transparent with their business practices and do not care about the consumer.

I called the Customer Advocate number and wrote the email address, and they said they can fix it if I can verify the bank transactions. I'm still in the process of doing this, but was surprised at how easy it was to get into contact with them. The strange thing is that these transactions were only not applied to my account when I made multiple payments on any given loan in one day. I would do this because I was paying on different loans instead of just sending all the money to my account to be split up equally. I wanted to pay off the higher interest loans first. Anyway, thousands of dollars virtually disappeared after leaving my bank, which is why EVERYONE should make sure the money they send to Sallie Mae is actually being applied to your loan. Use the number from the Customer Advocate I mentioned above. They can help like they helped me.

When he called several times to ask what could be done, they gave him quite the runaround. Firstly, they kept hassling him to find a different co-signer altogether for her. Ok let me stop there for a second. Dear Sallie Mae, I AM NOT GOING TO ASK MY DOG WALKER'S SON'S PIANO INSTRUCTOR'S MOM TO CO-SIGN A LOAN FOR ME. They seriously act like it's no big deal, people co-sign for 40k loans all the time... As if it doesn't even have to be a very close member of your immediate family who is also financially stable? Gimme a break...

Anyways so he can't get her a school loan much to his lament after we already have 50-60k invested in her degree. He doesn't know what to do. I don't know how to help either. Then after we tell them on seriously 5-10 or more occasions we can't find a different co-signer, they tell us that they figured out what the problem was. I was messing it all up for her by my dad being the co-signer with me. They told me it is a simple solution though. We say awesome what's the solution. Answer: remove my dad as a co-signer for my loan. Sounds easy enough and makes sense.

So, now I have to get involved. I met all the criteria to apply for co-signer removal. After dragging their feet for several MONTHS, and yes that is legitimate, my first contact with them was on May 5th and today is Aug 16th and talking to them dozens of times, this issue remains unresolved. I applied to have him removed. Several weeks later, it was accepted. Several more weeks later, I obtained the letter of notice that he was officially removed. Perfect. My sister then miraculously gets approved for her loan so we feel we are safe to assume everything is now all set once and for all. NOPE.

My baby sister goes to take out a small 3k loan to go to community college. Dad tries to co-sign and can't do it. He calls them and they say it's because he is still active as the cosigner on my loans. We have gone through this with them a genuinely exhausting amount of times. Have called them dozens and dozens of times. My online profile has my acceptance letter and his release and they can confirm that they can see this too, but it still shows up on my dad's credit! IT GETS WORSE.

So then they tell us because it is such a small amount of money to be borrowed, if we just keep trying, "eventually" one of the applications will go through the right avenues and be accepted. Nonsensical but whatever, ok we will try anything at this point. After applying several times in a week, my dad comes to realize that his credit score has fallen 100 points! All because he keeps applying for credit as they instructed him to do so.

In conclusion Sallie Mae has single-handedly sent us from a respectable working-class family to an unaccredited poverty line family in financial turmoil. My sisters very well may not be able to finish school because of this. And my older sister is one semester away from finishing her masters! LOL. Which she will have to default on the loan if they won't give her the money to finish. It is an overly complex, convoluted web that never ends. Which is truly saddening because after federal loans run out, they are pretty much the only game in town. No bank will agree to a loan like this without collateral. However, If you have any other option not limited to selling yourself on the street or "exotic dancing", I would suggest do that first before taking out a loan with this "company". Ugh.

They accused me of sending it to the wrong address, but that was all electronic on my part. So, no separate accounts for the private and educational loans and after multiple calls telling them what happened and their promising to fix it, they still send me threatening letters. BTW, I only have an education loan with them because the government sold it to them. Thanks, Uncle Sam.

My son was named after my husband. Without even comparing date of birth or any other information they assumed the signor of the loan had passed. It took months to get the loan back into the my husband's name. Now they both receive threatening letters and phone calls. Sallie Mae refuses to dismiss the loan due to untimely death of the student because my husband actually signed for the loan. My husband signed for the loan because my son was only 17. We were not financially prepared to lose our son. It took us over a year to pay off the funeral and pay for a headstone. My husband recently lost his job due to one of the casinos closing. We do not have the money to pay back this loan. Financial reasons aside. The lose of our son and the manner in which we lost him has been a heartbreak from which we will never recover. It is inhumane to remind us every month of that lose by sending us a bill for his student loan.

I checked my bank account this morning and $208.51 was deducted from my bank account instead of $25.00. I immediately called Sallie Mae and after 30 minutes of trying to speak to an actual person, was told that because my grace period was over my payment jumped from $25.00 to $208.51. WHAT??!? I understand once the grace period was over that payments should increase, however, I received NO notification of the increase from Sallie Mae and was quoted $25.00 by the customer service rep. If my grace period was over in 30 days from my phone conversation, the rep should have known that.

Not only am I now overdrawn in my bank account, I have been on the phone all morning with Sallie Mae trying to get this resolved. I have been passed to multiple people in a call center who are clearly not located in the United States and all said, "There's nothing we can do." I am beyond frustrated.

I went online to take myself off of automatic payments since I had a $0.00 balance on both loans. One of the loans was cosigned and it wouldn't let me take off automatic debit without my cosigner's PIN. I figure since I had a $0 balance, they would automatically stop taking money out of my account anyway... Wrong. They deducted like $127 from my checking account. I called outraged and demand that they put it back into my account immediately and informed them that was stealing. They essentially blamed me for not notifying them that I didn't owe them money and they would have continued to take money out had I not said anything. But it gets worse...

It took them WEEKS to give me my money back. When I called (which was almost everyday), the people would never give me a callback number or a full name of a manager (I'm pretty sure there are not any managers). I asked repeatedly for a direct number to a manager and they stated, "We don't have those numbers." After many phone calls, I finally got a paper check from Sallie Mae for 8 dollars less than what they had taken out. I was told that it was for interest on my $0 balance... I have the statements from when they took it on my bank account. Unfortunately, when you pay off all your loans, the only thing you can get from their website is your tax information. Nothing else... You would have to call which we all know would be a joke.

I contacted SALLIE MAE the following day and the customer service rep verified this. So now we complete her application, uploading the required and verified documentation. This was a week and a half ago. My daughter is getting nervous over her "status" and we contact SALLIE MAE today. The very nice customer service rep informs me that her documentation has not been received but she managed to "push it through" to received status. Great!!! Right??? Wrong... I am then informed that she needs to send her SS card... Really? A week and a half later? Do you know how LONG it takes??

I explain that I was told that the passport is valid and could be used... That my nephew's loan from SALLIE MAE was approved with such documentation. No, they can not help her/me/us... Is this discrimination of some sort? We obviously need to get her SS card, but I am more upset that not one person at SALLIE MAE could tell me WHY this has happened... I am beyond upset and needless to say, my daughter's experience with going off to college is not going well as far as the SALLIE MAE front goes. You think anyone could give me a valid reason/answer?

$6420 - $4462.50 = $1957.50 payments less interest with a remainder that should be applied to principal balance.

Current Balance on Principal $7756 after 64 payments.

$8500 - $1957.50 = $6542.50. This is what my principal should be with my 64 consecutive payments paid to Sallie Mae. This does not include interest that should be deducted for making payments two weeks in advance of payment due date.

Can anyone explain Sallie Mae math to me?

Then I have had to try and contact them because they don't disburse my payments evenly through each loan. There is always something wrong with my payments. I'm so sick and tired of dealing with this company. I just feel at this point I'm never going to get these loans paid off cause they keep trying to add more onto the minimum payments or add hidden fees in there somewhere. I want to find a way to have them consolidated or switched to someone else. Anybody has to be better than Sallie Mae!

When SLM bought my federal student loans from Citibank, I was enrolled in school half time in order to keep the loans from defaulting any further. Around 2010, SLM informed me that I owed a few thousand dollars due immediately because 'my grace period' of ten years was over and loans were now due even if I was enrolled in school. This is when a program was offered to halve my payments. After two years of making consistent payments, suddenly my payments are being made to federal loans and not private loans. No offers to enroll me into a program before the last had ended and payments expected to be made to both private and federal loans.

I request payments that were made to federal loans be rerouted to private loans, and still no offer of a program to be enrolled in. So now, after continuous harassment for payments to be made and threat of being taken to collections, I am now enrolled in a program that makes automatic withdrawals from my bank account and SLM operator informs me my federal loans are over 300 payments behind and she cannot help me. How is this possible when federal loans were set aside because of payments being made in previous programs over the last two years and I was enrolled in school? I am sick of SLM. They offer no real visible goal of debt relief. I am currently seeking legal counsel and proactively researching about Sallie Mae.

Customer service, as most others here complain about, is a joke. I asked for a true breakdown of what part of the payment was applied toward principal and what was applied toward interest and they sent me the same paperwork they showed on the website. It was then that I decided I needed to get out of this "relationship" fast. So I found a new company to take over the loan. The amount that was sent to them was more than the current balance since I had to make another payment while waiting for the loan to finish. But, guess what... They just applied all of the extra toward interest and made the balance be zero. Great accounting... if you are a crook! I'm a math major so I have a little accounting sense too. I have calculated that they owe me over $500 at this point. You can be sure I am not going to let them get away with this without a fight. My advice to everyone is to stay away from Sallie Mae!!!

So now I have to pay to get my credit report to verify that Sallie Mae wasn't lying and make sure they didn't report to the credit bureau that I dispute my loans. And God forbid if your loans are in default, do not call for any reason. No matter what you call for, they will transfer you to their collections department who have no clue to anything but the amount that you owe. But they will try to get your phone numbers out of you so they can sell them. I have a new phone number, only place I gave it to is Sallie Mae and now I get all kinds of calls on how I can get free money and trips... weird.

The first time this happened, in March of 2014, I was so angry about them garnishing what little money I have to live on every month that I had to take a moment, go mad, and laugh and cry for a couple days (yes, this is it's very own step). I learn about TPDD (Total and Permanent Disability Discharge) of money owed and fill out the forms twice and immediately. I also have a signature secured and tracking number applied to both mailers sent out about a week apart. I am approved for the TPDD! Finally some good news, albeit news not received until July.

Even MORE good news: I find out that I can be retroactively reimbursed for each month that I was garnished; there were five. So, if you're keeping score at home, I am owed $175. On July 11, 2014, I receive a check in the amount of $35 which Brings me to today where I have been transferred twelve (yes, 12) times to find out why I even received the check... let alone why it only seems to cover one garnishment. It's important to take a time-out for a second and explain that if you have ever been through anything like this with any other collection company, DO NOT deposit or CASH the check because that will be the END of that business relationship. Meaning, by depositing or cashing the check you AGREE that is the amount you are owed and NOTHING more.

I just learned that there are THREE arms of disability garnishment: Sallie Mae, where the loans originate, Nel-Net, where the TPDD was approved and U.S. Department of Education, who actually conduct the garnishment on Sallie-Mae's behalf. It is important to note that NONE of these arms communicate with each other. Even now, I was just informed by USDEd that they show NO APPROVED TPDD, as it seems that their computers have no correspondence from Nel-Net. My experiences with USDEd was even more poor than the one star rating I gave Sallie Mae here; they are all very hostile and treat you with parental overtones that reflect a general disdain on their part for lenders who have defaulted.

I FINALLY did get to the bottom of this and it turns out that when the TPDD was approved in June. It effectively wrote off the debt and transferred my account BACK to Sallie Mae, which also STOPPED the garnishment from USDEd after May. Sallie Mae still continued to garnish me, even in July but apparently wrote me a check for the garnishment which BEGAN with them in June. The check from Sallie Mae demonstrates that they too will no longer garnish me by August (hashtag #fingerscrossed).

Summation: When USDEd gets official notification from Nel-Net (I'm guessing that they are the last to know), that the TPDD was in fact approved, that they MAY go back for March, April and May and retroactively reimburse me for those three months. Whether I get a reimbursement for July from Sallie Mae, I will not know for at least another month.

Final Arguments: I am not a thief nor an irresponsible, habitual defaulter. I know this money was owed and I planned on paying it back. My chief complaint in all this is once again, bureaucracy must be served like the Vogons in Hitchhiker's Guide. What I mean is why doesn't the right arm know what the left (or center) arms are doing? Why does a garnishment happen to someone that falls BELOW the Very Poor (poverty) line? And was getting those million dollar bailouts, for which Chief Administrators then paid themselves gargantuan bonuses this difficult?

I'm willing to bet $175 that it wasn't. I would not have known about the TPDD unless I did my own research and reading and endless hours of phone time with people working in loud and lousy call centers. By the way, they cannot hear you and you will not be able to hear them. One last important note: USDEd is with one branch of government and Social Security is with another. That is why they do not communicate with each other. If you have been approved for SS disability, that is NOT THE SAME as being approved for USDEd disability; even though they are the same thing with the same name for the same disability. It's a smart and screwed up system meant to protect the government from the very laws that they do not abide by... unless of course, you know how to file the right paperwork. Ignorance is bliss, until it's not.

When I inquired about the overpayment, Sallie Mae stated that the money would not be returned to me but that they would forward the overpayment to my new lender. More than 30 days passed and I sent a second inquiry. Sallie Mae informed me, in writing, that the payment would be forwarded to my new lender within 45-60 days of the consolidation and again asked for my patience. After the 60-day mark came and went, I sent a third inquiry. In response I received a letter stating that I needed to wait for processing time and to be patient.

At that point I finally filed complaint with 2 different companies regarding Sallie Mae's refusal to return or forward the overpayment. When 90 days had passed since the consolidation, I received a string of email correspondence letters from Sallie Mae stating that my loans had all been paid in full. At that time, I found out that my online account access was locked so I had to call to inquire about the overpayment. A "supervisor" proceeded to tell me that the payment was supposedly forwarded to the new lender. He gave me no good reason as to why the money could not have been refunded to me, and he refused to tell me why it took 90 days and a complaint with BBB for any action on the account. The "supervisor" also refused to offer any explanation as to why I was told in writing that the process would take only 45-60 days, and he refused to transfer me to anyone who was willing and able to provide an explanation.

Bottom line: if you want a student loan, I do not recommend Sallie Mae. This was not the first time I have been lied to in writing by them, but it was by far the worst. They took my money and refused to return it in a timely manner. They refused to stand by their written promises, and they refused to offer any good explanation as to why it took so long to refund or forward the money. As of this review, 2 days have passed since the money was supposedly forwarded to my new lender but there is no record of the new lender receiving the payment. There are many competitive choices with regard to student loans. Do your research and give a lot of thought to the lender you want to be dealing with for the next several years of your life.

After reviewing my account the guy said they would grant me another and proceeded to tell me what my new payment would be, how much it would go up after the plan ended etc. So next my online account showed nothing due. I made a payment anyways, so as not to be late. Then in June the amount due wasn't correct but I paid it, thinking maybe it takes a month for them to get it updated. July, my payment due was the full amount.

WTF???!! So I call the idiots today and they tell me that there was never a request put in for interest only payments, and I never qualified!!?? SO I WAS LIED TO?!! Are you freaking serious?! I bet those "phone" records they keep are "missing" the day I called and was given an interest only plan. Yeah, the only option they said I could take was the lowering my interest in the collections department, BUT MY LOAN IS CURRENT!

Be careful. They will overpay one loan and let another run consistently past due so they can collect late fess. I finally paid $1200 yesterday just to try and see if my loans will show up as current and up to date. They will reverse your payments in order to charge late fees if you do pay online. Only option I have now is to pay online and keep track of every single person I speak with.

They have been caught in my opinion as 'Phone Phishing' telling these people that I have turned their numbers in. One was my ex-wife whom still has the same last name and told them to stop calling her as she does not speak to me that often and does not wish to know my business as they are telling her flat out that I owe them money without saying the exact words. To me 'this is about a personal business matter...' is as telling as actually saying 'hey this person owes us money and we want it paid.' They continue to call my home phone but no live person ever answers me and yet they call my family and neighbors and speak with them saying they are unable to call me when I have on countless occasions gave them my number and even went as far as telling them in both verbal and written form that I am fully disabled and wish to speak to a live person and will not call long distance to speak to them. I have grown so angry with their practices that I have resorted to searching for options as they do not even send me mail. It's all harassment of other people and myself.

My husband is still getting his masters degree and we make out interest payments every month. We have yet to go to court on the matter. My husband is still in school and is not even required to make the payments yet and Sallie Mae has already made the choice that they plan to go after her estate. They are not allowed to call it "auto default" anymore but that's pretty much what they are doing.

I have done a lot of research on this matter and have found that this is happening to lots of people right know. If a co-signer dies or files bankruptcy they ask for the payment in full. The worst part about it all is that my husband found another co-signer and called to try and start the process. Sallie Mae said "no" and they still plan to place to go after the estate. This is a soul-less company. Like I said she raised my husband and was his main support system growing up. He not only is grieving the death of his grandma but is also stressed over student loan payments and money we shouldn't even have to be making. I can never say enough how HORRIBLE this company is. This will all eventually pile up on Sallie Mae and their day in court will be coming, but until then thousands of people are suffering.

She kept telling me over and over there was nothing she could do for me. I told her I had been helped before when I was laid off and that they accepted not even $100 a month because I was in a financial bind but was still willing to pay something. She said the only, the ONLY, way they would help me was for me to go into default and then they would help me. So I even repeated it to her, "So you're only willing to help me if I ruin my credit score and go into default causing my co-signer to affected as well?" Her response was, "Yes, we can only help if you are in default." I'm willing to give you money, $350 to be exact, and you won't take it because it's not the full amount, which was different than what I had agreed on the previous month! I've never heard such ** excuses on top of excuses from customer service. They say they record their conversations; I'd really like access to those so I could throw back in their face what they agree upon and then how they lie to you the next time you've called because you've caught their lie when you look at your bank account.

I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone. Don't get a loan from them and don't even go to their website; it's full of nothing but crushed dreams and hopes. Stay clear of them and go ANYWHERE else to get a student loan. Trust me, if I could even save one person from the heartache this review will be worth it.

Unfortunately, due to the timing, Sallie Mae wound up owing me over $900. It is now 3 months later & almost $600 has not been paid back to me yet. Each time I call, I am told completely different things, forced to wait a full month for a new check, which I recently discovered they have at some times never even sent and treat me as if I am unreasonable for wanting the money they owe me. I have never missed a payment and have even been forced to work 7 days a week in order to afford the payments. I have everything possible, but Sallie Mae continuously fails to resolve problems and I am now forced to get a lawyer to receive the money I am owed.

I have some major issues with Sallie Mae not being able to apply online payments correctly, and I'm wondering if they can be gotten on a fraudulent business practices, or even malfeasance. A company who secures your information does not just "send or apply the payment" mistakenly "to the wrong routing number" or a checking account. I'm sorry, no one is that incompetent, and if their billing and financial department has access to such sensitive information and is mishandling it... I'll stop there. Please, Frank, if you see this message, contact me back--I would love some advice, b/c short of hearing the collective moaning of injustice, people need to stop ranting on Consumer Reports, and write their State Reps--this stuff won't change until people March on Washington...They will listen then...

I understand that money costs money, but essentially, at this point of these three student loans, the interest rate is 59% monthly. To put one positive spin on this, the daughter for whom these loans were made, (part of the entitlement generation) may have to pay for some of her own education should these loans outlive my wife and myself.

I went to set up automatic payments the other day and my 49k has turned into $90k over night!!! The new payment online is now $250 more than the original unconsolidated payment!!! How does this happen? Are there astronomical fees for consolidation? Has someone made a mistake? Is there something illegal going on? My interest rate only went down and no one can seem to answer my questions on how the balance doubled.

I am fortunate to have a good job and have the ability to pay my loans, however I will only pay the amount that I borrowed plus interest. I will not pay a fictitious number that seems to be illegal. If this situation is not corrected along with other implications that may result in this error, I have an attorney is on stand by. Moral of the story, DO NOT use Sallie Mae for any financial services. DO NOT fall into the trap of flexible loan payments or options. I am a financial professional and looking at the end result, you will end up paying 2x to 3x more than you borrowed. PLEASE be careful, these people are criminal. More to follow.

I then spoke with a supervisor named Amber **, and she was just as difficult to speak with. I explained to her the situation and detail and her response was to set up a credit card payment or debit card payment today for nearly $500.00 and then schedule automatic payments monthly. I again explained the fact that this 91 year old woman does not have the money to pay this bill for her grandson and she needs a deferment. I was told that cost $100.00 and would only cover this month...She paid $200.00 this month, when the monthly payment is for $86.00! I again stated she does not have the money to keep paying this bill and she shouldn't be threatened and I was told she owes the money and needs to set up a payment today on the phone before we hang up! Again, she paid $200.00 a week ago! She cannot pay her electric bill now and she has no food, yet they want her to pay more today!

The loan balance is around 1,500.00, yet they're acting like it's thousands! I don't understand how a loan company for a student loan can threaten people, especially 91 years old that financially cannot pay this bill. This company is nothing more than LOAN SHARKS! Because of their threats she'll continue to go without paying other bills or buying food, and because of this I'm afraid she'll lose her home. Sallie Mae should be investigated for what they're doing to people.

I started getting calls numerous times a day. They would not tell me who they were and asked for my SS # for "security" reasons. I refused and they get very mad on the phone. My home phone showed calls from Sallie Mae on the caller id from 1 - 8 times a day. Sometimes they would call and I would not answer, they would call back immediately.

Finally I called back to see what the problem was. They said the loans are in default and they wanted my credit card number to get them current. I asked if they called the student and they said yes, and their was no response. I called the student and was told they never received any calls from Sallie Mae. Since I am a joint on the students bank account I could see $1000 per month going to Sallie Mae which is more than the minimum payment. I called SM back and they said they have no record of payments. They said I needed to speak with the Department of Education and they transferred me. Finally I got a nice person who was willing to help. Thinking I was speaking with THE Department of Education, I unloaded on how horrible Sallie Mae is and there must be someway to get them out of the business. I got the persons name and her phone number so I could call her back if I had further problems. I requested a complete accounting of all loans from the beginning and was told I should have that in 7 - 10 business days.

Two weeks went by and I got nothing. I waited a couple more days and nothing came so I called back again. They answered the phone "sallie mae", surprised, I said no, I am calling The Department of Education, they said this is Sallie Mae "department of education". Mad that I was misled again about who I was communication with, I asked for the person I spoke with, who was so helpful and they said they had nobody there by that name and did not know who it was. I said I had not received the accounting of the loans and they said it was sent and to give it more time. Another week and I called back. I asked to resend it, they said no. I asked them to fax it, they said no. I asked if they could give me the info over the phone, they said no.

Desperate to resolve this, I asked if I could fax to them printouts from the bank account showing the $ going to Sallie Mae. They gave me a fax # and I have a confirmation that it went through. A week late,r I called to follow up and they said they did not receive it. They said I used the wrong fax # and gave me another. I faxed again and have a confirmation it went through. I called a few days later and they said they never received it. I faxed a third time with the same results.

The student was able to finally get through and they set her up on auto payments to resolve the issue. 5 months later I get a letter from the school, this time saying the loans are in default. SM did auto pay for 3 months and then stopped for no apparent reason and put the loans back in default and are sending a collection after us. There is always plenty of money in the account and we have never had a NSF on the account. Needless to say, both our credit scores are ruined. The issue is still not resolved and perhaps won't be until whoever Sallie Mae is paying in the government that allows them to continue to operate like this is removed. We tried to find other servicers but it has been impossible.

The schools are pissing me off too as it seems they sell a bill of goods ( our student went to a well known and respected expensive private school despite of us offering to fully pay for a state school), and don't back it up with jobs. It's as if they have their money, the students are gone and they can sell the next ones in. Yet they continuously send me requests for donations to their foundation. This has been going on for over 2 years. It's taken a toll on me and we're not sure where to go with Sallie Mae. I wish I could give them negative stars.

I have spoken with financial advisors who recommended making payments to the unsubsidized loans, and they all said that payments should be made over the phone so you can request the payment is allocated to only the one you specify. Sallie Mae tried to tell me they don't normally put payments towards only one loan. When I asked them if I was the first person to ever request this, and if they had done it in the past, the supervisor responded that I was not the first person and they were able to do this. Unfortunately, I had several very incompetent people "helping" me.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on college and medical school, I can say I would never recommend Sallie Mae to anyone for loan consolidation. Their customer service is horrible. I have paid off all of my loans, and have no one there to thank. I wanted to pass this on to anyone else with a lot of school debt. Research your lenders in depth!

What happened was I had taken a summer school class at a community college that summer I was planning to leave the country. So at Sallie Mae they had completely change everything, specifically changing my status to being a student that will be graduating all over again and this time from a community college; hence the deferment they granted, completely unrelated to my real plans and not the deferment I was asking for in the letter sent - the letter they chose to completely ignore. So I go abroad for one year just to come back to a tarnished credit record. Be careful if you have to use Sallie Mae as a lender. They will make major changes on your account without notification or verification, and they will completely ignore letters you send to them, even letters with vital information telling them you are moving to another country and need a deferment.

In trying to get this corrected I also ran into some real scum. Some workers at Sallie Mae are real scum and it is probably because of them that this lending company has a bad rap. They are careless, unethical and won’t really want to help you. Best not to deal with this unprofessional, disorganized and flaw-filled company, so if at all possible I would advise any potential borrower to borrow from a different lending company.

At the same time, I challenged them daily/weekly. After about a year, TGSL agreed they had made a mistake and took my loans out of default. Well, all but a $2,500 Sallie Mae loan that was over 25yrs old, that I had paid on and worked for AmeriCorp to pay off, which is another ripoff, they never applied the amt to the loan, plus they farmed me out to another company for more money. Anyway, Sallie Mae refused to take the $2,500 out of default, even though it had been consolidated with the others, and they jumped it to $25K and sold it to TGSL!!! Scam, scam, scam.

After months of trying to work with the ombudsman at TGSL, she told me the only way to bring it back down was to go consolidate it with the other loans at the Wm. D. Ford website. So, I did. Then a week later I get a letter from Sallie Mae saying they now have all of my loans and the amount is now over $87K!! I've asked what happened to the money I paid on the loans, over $10K. They applied it to the interest when it was wrongly put into default, They never reversed the amount because of the mistake on their part and kept the amt from the 27% interest! I'm still fighting them. I've tried hiring an attorney to see about bankruptcy, to no avail. I'm looking for any atty that will help me possibly sue the bank for their mistake as well. This has caused me such stress, they need to be sued big time!

One reason they get away with there low-life tactics, is that a lot of politicians have a lot of stock with Sallie Mae, especially the speaker of the house, John Boehner!!! Hate the guy!! If anyone knows an atty that can help, please post his name. We, the People need to peacefully protest on the WH and or our state capital and or local city hall to let them know we want justice and Sallie Mae to be shut down. I tried starting a petition on Change.org about Sallie Mae and to force some oversight, plus student loans / Sallie Mae were part of the subprime mortgage scam that ruined millions of people. Yet, Obama is helping those who should never have taken out a mortgage and forgiving their loan. WHY WON'T THEY DO IT FOR STUDENT LOANS?? PRESIDENT OBAMA... PLEASE HELP!

Next month rolled around and I get another angry and persistent call from a Sallie Mae rep saying my payment was late and barking at me to pay it. When I tried to fix my account info once again I was told that they couldn't help me and to take it up with my bank. Worst service ever. I am so fed up with this.... they keep knocking me for being late on my payments even though it is on their end, not mine and they can clearly tell that I am trying to pay each month. I am so over this. DO NOT use Sallie Mae for your loans. Extremely frustrating and big waste of my time. Save yourself. I would never want anyone else to have to go through this.

I never get a call back and then like clockwork 2 months later same thing. Third time happened today. When I ask Greg, a manager, he says, "Oh, I agree with you. I have to research it but looks like your forward payments were never applied to the account." When I ask what I can do to correct this once and for all, they want to make automatic withdrawals. Now why in the world would I do that when they can't prove to get the account balance correct? When I ask how I can escalate to an Ombudsman to get this corrected, they say I cannot. Only they can internally (what is the point of an Ombudsman if you cannot reach them?).

Never in my entire 45 years of adult life have I dealt with people so unwilling to help. When I asked Greg if they could provide the results of the research, which mind you they have promised to do twice now, in writing, he tells me he does not think he can because it's not company policy. These folks are terrible at reconciling an issue, unwilling to provide any responsibility in writing and basically just a harassing organization that is predatory in nature. Please people read all these complaints and look elsewhere for your student loans. I sure wish my daughter did.

Fast forward to now and my sister is finally current on her loans and she has a nice repayment agreement with them, but now I'm trying to get a loan for my LAST semester of college but it was denied because of my sister's stupidity and how she messed up my mom's credit (that's not why I'm mad). I'm angry with Sallie Mae because today we filed an appeal with the Dept of Education in order to get my loan denial reversed - they informed us that we would need documentation that the Sallie Mae account was current. We called Sallie Mae and were transferred FIVE times until we reached the right person, and then we couldn't even understand her because it sounded like they had the phone half-way down her throat.

When we tried to explain to her what was going on, she kept interrupting and was extremely rude. We told her that we needed a letter stating the account was current and that we could give them a fax number to fax it to the DoE. She said that the request for the letter would take 7 TO 14 BUSINESS DAYS and then because it's a manual letter, it can't be faxed and it would take another 7 TO 14 BUSINESS DAYS just to send via mail. Needless to say, I am extremely upset because all we needed was something saying the account is caught up, and we have 30 days to get this appeal processed because my summer classes start June 9. Sallie Mae is worthless and has screwed too many people over in the past (and currently). They need to be stopped. They're just a money-hungry corporation that feeds on the pennies and dimes that they can squeeze out of middle class America until they're all in poverty.

It's May 8 and Sallie Mae states that the request can take up to 5 business days. It's been about 12 business days when I originally made the request and 8 business days since my payment cleared. I called again today and was asked all the same questions as before. While on the phone, I was disconnected 2x. There is still a chance Sallie Mae can deny my request. This company is a huge joke!

Now, in my older years, I would have stopped it there since they should have been obligated to contact me before proceeding since there was a discrepancy in the application. Fast forward 14 years (I was a teacher, so minimum payments were all I could do), I am still paying on this loan with an interest rate higher than I have ever seen before or since. I didn't understand interest rates then but I sure do now. In addition to this, they do not (unlike most student loan lenders) allow you to check a box when you are paying each month to give extra to the principal. This is one of the companies that got bailed out in the bank crisis, yet, I am still being taken advantage of by them.

I proceeded to call the number, identify myself with a number supplied to me and I asked what was this call in reference to and this is when I found out that it was about a student loan I had cosigned a few years back and the person responsible was not paying the due amount. Instead this person was paying a minimum amount (what this person consider they could afford) and I was told that I was responsible for this loan because the person failed to pay. I asked if they try to contact the person and the reply was that because they did not paid I was responsible and that I should pay the amount of $20,000. Immediately I said that I did not have that kind of money. The person in the other end said that I did and that I could also pay with a credit card. I reply that their request was ridiculous and that I would call back.

Someone by the name of Tim ** continuously call my work number and leave threatening and very intimidating messages in my work voice mail. I called them back, spoke to someone by the name of David because the person Tim ** was not available. I specifically said that the message was for Tim **, that a lawyer will be contacting them within a week or two, to please not to call my work number again because this intimidating messages and the way they contacted me was affecting me my work performance. This message did not stop Mr. **. He has left me multiple messages that legal action, such a pay garnish, will take place... my work place will be told (already done).

There is no words that could explain how ashamed, embarrassed and nervous I was, needless to try to explain how it was already affecting my work performance and how I perceived how people were looking at me. This entity or company never try to reach out to me any other way before. I never received a letter or any other type of communication prior to this incident. I am certain if they were able to find my work information they also had the ability to find my resident address, phone number, cell phone etcetera.

As a consumer I must have some right to protect me from being harassed like this especially when I was never contacted before in any way. While I do understand I have certain responsibilities as a co-signer, companies like this should make an effort to pursue the original loan owner and make attempt before proceeding to the next step. I truly believe the way they are proceeding is unorthodox, as I also know that I have certain responsibilities as a cosigner, I have right as a consumer. I take my responsibilities and work very serious. I hope you can assist or intervene in this matter. Companies and entities should have work ethics. I understand everyone needs a job including Mr. **. The same way I know they have been trained certain way to achieve the best work performance, some individual like him should be re-trained. I also know that this has merits for a class action for fairness. I kindly hope you can assist me in this matter or point me in the right direction.

Meanwhile, they began calling my cosigner with threats of collections! I finally called Sallie Mae back to call their dogs off, and was told that because of their computer I was sent to their collections. When I told the supervisor that the way their reps threaten and talk to the borrowers is "thuggish", he said that they are just following directions. I asked him to put his boss on so I could talk to him about changing the instructions he gives. The supervisor got into a shouting match with me and would not put his boss on.

Fast forward 11 months to yesterday. My husband called me to tell me that the ACH payment we send to Sallie Mae through PNC was misapplied and we owed a late fee. The process worked perfectly for 11 months then all of a sudden there is an error on an automatic payment. I think Sallie Mae does this on purpose in an effort to get the unpaid portion paid even if they take the money from someone who doesn't even owe it. It's unscrupulous. How do they continue to get away with it?

Many years later, I heard from an attorney that I could have used forbearance. Years ago, as a single mom, someone approached me, on the phone, trying to "cut a deal" for $650. per month, my rent at that time, making me and my children homeless - not an option. So, I had the same nightmare as described by many. They have retained my tax refunds for many years and garnished my paycheck. Now I heard read, online, that they may freeze my checking account, by others, and that it's usually a surprise. If so, how so, since it's the account where my check goes to pay bills, the check they're already garnishing. Make sure you pay attention to your bank accounts!

I also paid off one of the loans and they were telling me they applied it to the wrong account. I do not know why the government uses our tax dollars to give Sallie Mae to loan to us and they are not interested in deferment like the government Direct Student Loan. In order to get deferment, they charge you over a hundred dollars for 3 months which makes no sense because you put on your credit card because you're not working and can't pay the bill and they keep doing that but remember that these payments are not going towards your bills. So it is defeating the purpose but good for them because they're in it for profit unlike the government Direct Student Loan who is more empathetic in understanding the economic situation. And the kids are overburdened with student loans and no jobs.

See why they should not be giving our tax dollars to Sallie Mae to loan to us. Let us do away with the middle man and deal with Direct Student Loan of the government which is less stress.

Once this "grace/Forbearance/Deferment" period was over my payments had jumped to $1000 a month and my total balance went from $52,000 to $72,000..(nice interest amount over a year don't you think?)

Almost had a heart attack at 25.. the walls were closing in.. quick again being a dumb lemming I had to move back home and "buckled down"... Off went my $1000 a month for a year and a half.. finally one day I figured I'd call Sallie Mae and inquire about this letter I received that said my remaining balance was 82,000..2nd almost heart attack...300+ calls multiple managers and nobody could figure this one out.. They saw my payments.. and yet the balance just rose.. Not to mention it was one snotty customer service rep after another..after another.. seemed to get progressively worse..

I remember my ignorance as a younger man sitting in the loan office and words whizzing past my head in a cloud of smoke.. because "I'm going to college.. I'm going to make something of myself!!"

Unfortunately I chose the WRONG lender... and was oblivious to the scams they were running..uh.. deep breath..Screw it.. you can have 300 a month or nothing.. they chose nothing.. payments stopped (since they didn't seem to be applying to the loan anyway).. Credit Destroyed..

Fast forward..7 years..No tax returns.. irritating but whatever..Started to get wage garnishments.. didn't like that.. went and talked to the local social security office, because that's where my money was "going" after it was taken out..Talked with them for a hour that arranged manageable payments ($400 a month) that actually apply to my loan!! amazing.. Sallie Mae got dropped from the loop and they just sent it on down the creditor line until I finally found someone not crooked..

Moral of the story.. Worst experience of my life.. If you are thinking of using sallie mae for ANYTHING... Stop.. STOP... go punch yourself in the face until that idea pops out and then you can find something else... seriously don't let your kids get screwed.. This whole fiasco put me back 4 years career wise.. Companies like this are whats destroying our youth..

In 2010 I printed out from their website after paying my daughters loan showing nothing on any line, now they have added only the loan and total payment dollars but not amount sent and have also put it on my credit report, however, under student loans there is no amount.. They are back pedaling to try to justify the amount they say I owe which was 245.00 and now with interest and late fees is 350.00.. I get at least 5 calls a day from student assistance aka Sallie Mae and have sent a letter to Dept of Education Ombudsman with no reply... all I am asking is paperwork showing how my money was applied and they cannot produce it.. I have considered taking them to small claims court but it's the government and how much luck will I have with that... I have also sent my paperwork to a consumer protection lawyer and am waiting to hear from them. I am luckier than most people on here with my small amount, however it is the principle of the matter. Thanks for listening.

Now they claim my credit which is in the high 700's is not good enough. And I would like to stress on both time I talked to dozens of associates and managers (especially after the first disappointment) and no one sees an issue but when I made that request SUDDENLY EVERY associate tells me I have to be a US citizen as if they were trained to say that. At 12 month use this excuse, at 48 months use this one, it really, really felt like they were trained that way. And I am afraid they will use another excuse in another 12 months when I try again. **

Sallie Mae should not be in the credit advice business and stop bullying these kids into placing all loans in deferment. The loans should be at least partiality immediately and only go into deferment at the request of the customer. And finally auto payments should not take weeks or months but should be done in minutes online. Sallie Mae is an example of a government program run wild and not in any way consumer based. The government needs to remove the levels of stupidity and run Sallie Mae more like a business.

Well 4 years later, after paying between $209-$207 a month to Sallie Mae, I get a bill in the mail saying that they want $645 a month from me! I got this Thanksgiving weekend 2013, mind you. Those cowards...of course their customer service office is closed during the weekend, especially during Thanksgiving. I figured it had to be a mistake so I called them Monday and of course their lines were all busy. I put my name, account information, and phone number in so that a rep could call me back. Well, 4 hours later I finally get a phone call from a customer service rep at 8 P.M. telling him that this must be some mistake. He said it's not a mistake and that I owe $645 a month because their "loan program" is over and I was only paying $209 a month towards my interest. Seriously??

I was so mad. I tried to get the guy to lower my monthly payment but he wouldn't budge. I told them that I cannot pay that a month and I will try and pay as much as I can monthly. For December 2013, I paid about $215 in loans (federal and private). They had split up my loans into private and federal which they did before. I usually just paid towards both. Well after a couple of weeks, they kept calling me non-stop on my cell phone with an automated system telling me to check my account information. I was so sick and tired of hearing from them and getting emails sent to my phone that I called on December 23, 2013. I spoke with a woman this time and she told me the only options were to starting paying the $645 a month, or enroll in school. Seriously? I thought these companies were supposed to at least work with you.

I only make $16/hour for 40 hours a week. I decided to go on forbearance and I agreed with the rep that I could still pay the federal loans monthly since it was only $75.00 a month. The private ones would cost me more than $500 a month. I agreed to the forbearance. Then beginning of January 2014 on the weekend I started getting phone calls from them again saying that my loans are past due even though my monthly payment is due on the 11th of each month and they called me on the 6th!!!!!! I was so irate. I called first Monday night and screamed at the girl on the phone that I am on forbearance. She tried to cut me off by saying "but you have a private Stafford loan" and I quickly cut her off by saying "I am on forbearance since December 23, 2013 and have been paying off my federal loans. Please stop harassing me and calling me."

I have had it with this company. They finally stopped calling after that. It is now the end of February and my forbearance is over so I will now have to pay the $645 a month. I am getting so much anxiety over it because I cannot afford that a month. I wouldn't mind paying around $300 a month but I do not make that much money. I have been struggling to find another job for the past year so I cannot afford these payments but sadly I have not found a new one yet. This company is shameful and should not be allowed to demand money from people who can't afford it. At least work with people on how much they make so that they can make their payments without going bankrupt. Someone really needs to do something about Sallie Mae. They are ruining the lives of college graduates.

Get this: I couldn't make payments after my grace period ($1,400 monthly) because 2009 was the worse year for finding jobs. They reported me to the credit bureau and destroyed my credit. I've been stuck with a 10% variable interest rate loan and they refuse to refinance because... get this: because of the late payments they flagged me for. They offer absolutely no way of flexibility and honestly, it was the worst decision I have made in my life to finance my education with Sallie Mae. My family and I live just to pay those loans... and the federal government offers no way to alleviate borrowers with Sallie Mae Private loans.

My advice: go to a smaller name school which you can pay with a part-time/full time job, get the best GPA possible and go work for a company who is willing to pay for your masters. LOANS WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE (RULE OF THUMB: ONLY DUMMIES FINANCE THEIR EDUCATION WITH INTEREST BEARING MONEY). DON'T BE A DUMMY LIKE ME.

I complained to the consumer financial protection bureau. They called but never validated anything in writing or sent me proof of the loan. Now I find out it is considered an "asset backed security" and people were betting on me defaulting! Just like the mortgages! So without my knowledge or consent my loan was "transferred" from Sallie Mae to Sallie Mae! Wtf? My credit report from 2006 lists Sallie Mae, but there is no cosigner. Suddenly in 2012-14, my mother is a cosigner. Except she isn't! Every request for information or proof is ignored. They call and harass but cannot validate.

That's the biggest point- If they cannot validate or produce papers with your signature and dates- do not pay anything! You are giving money to their shareholders. Stop perpetuating the bs and make these idiots obsolete. Let their stock plummet! All the angry lenders and investors who see no returns on their bets, will soon look elsewhere. Sallie Mae Not!!!

I have sent hard copy checks in separate envelopes, same result. I have faxed proof but still being accused of nonpayment. What is worse is there is no offer to fix the damage Sallie Mae is doing to my credit score when they report me late. I have had it up to my eyebrows with this. My other lender, MOHELA, no problems whatsoever. I have recently applied to move my Sallie Mae loans. I think I will have to prove to potential lender that I am actually current on my SM loans and will hire an attorney if I am denied a loan with new lender because of the incompetence of Sallie Mae. I am at my wit's end. Fed up completely!!!!

I also found out they'd been harassing my dad, too, the same way, along with sending him junk mail. My dad doesn't answer numbers he doesn't know, or 800's so he won't talk to them. SM can virtually find anybody, but they're bugging my parents I'm sure about making payments? These bozos know where I am, they've bothered me here for years, harass me, leave my parents alone.

I was overjoyed when I was told by the local postmaster that I can refuse their mail.

Now all the sudden years later I'm married and my husband filed jointly, Saturday Feb 8 2014. We checked IRS site and they said his federal income taxes were applied to a financial obligation. We thought it was his child support. NOPE!!!!!! It was Sallie Mae. We have to now fight with IRS, filed a injured spouse form and have to wait 8 weeks for him to get his full return back because they were taking it. IRS and Sallie Mae are quick to take it. But are not quick to give it back. So basically if you know you have defaulted student loans, DO not file jointly. It SUCKS. We were taking this money to relocate to Florida next week and have to wait until some time spring.

Random amounts of money were applied to the five loans January 2014, none of which matched the amounts due in each account. After spending more than 30 minutes trying to get some woman in another country to understand my issue, I requested to speak with a supervisor and was told there were none in her location. I asked to speak with someone in the United States and was given some guy whom I am sure was another customer service (?) representative - probably a guy sitting right next to this woman. Needless to say, my entire lunch hour was used and I requested his telephone number in order that I could call him after work. He said he had no phone. Is this a joke?????

I took three days to calm down and again called Sallie Mae and somehow I got everything straightened out. However, this representative told me to put only the 16 digit loan number on the check and to leave off the account number as it 'confuses the machine processing payments. I did as she indicated and today looked at my account and loans. Once again, the loans are a complete mess. I sent in one check for $150 and only $131.14 was applied to the loan. My second check (each check now being sent in separate envelopes) was written for $32.25 and $18.55 was applied to the loan. The third check was for $22.16 and only $11.53 was applied to the loan.

On loan #4, I sent a check for $57.97 and $27.89 was applied to the loan. Finally, I sent in a $100.00 check for loan #5 and $18.86 was applied to the loan. I can't even bring myself to call them today. My questions include where did these random amounts that were credited to the loans come from? How come the amounts of my checks credited to the loans as specified according to their directions? And, lastly, where is the $151.41 of my money that was never applied to my daughter's loans? I plan to go to the bank and take out a loan to pay that shoddy place off.

There was no way that I would let this happen again so I made arrangements with a second party contracted to collect debts on Sallie Mae's behalf. The terms of my agreement consisted of me making nine on time payments and I would then be taken out of default and my file would be transferred to another collection agency. As of December 21, 2013 I was out of default, all information was reported to the Department of Education. I was so proud of myself, I made a mistake and took responsibility for my actions. I just knew that I would have a refund this year.

So let's move forward to the present shall we? As I said I filed with Turbo Tax and on the 23rd of January I was accepted and in the next few days approved to receive my refund by the 6th of February. On February 3rd I received a notice that said I may have an offset of my refund. I was thinking, not me, I did everything that they told me to do. I concluded that they probably sent this message to everyone but I called the offset department just to be safe. Guess what? My refund is due to be offset again this year. How and why?

So I contacted the Department of Education and told them what happened. They informed me that someone (who knows who) was suppose to contact them and let them know to take me off of the offset list. Keep in mind that I asked the collection agency if there was anything that I needed to do and they said that THEY report to the Department of Education. Who dropped the ball here? It was then stated that MY taxes would be sent to them and they'll mail me a check 30 to 60 days. I told them that it was their fault so they needed to fix it.

To make a very long story short, I was on the telephone for about four hours speaking to every federal agency that I could think of. Everyone redirected me back to the Dept. of Education. So in a last ditch effort to get my taxes I called back. The person (and I use that term loosely) that I spoke to was arrogant and constantly stated that I will eventually get my money. She even asked me if it was their fault that I was in default. After I read her the riot act I found this website to release my frustrations. I feel better now and thank you for listening.

I am trying to do the best I can by making my payments on time, I even live with my parents because with a baby, daycare, and my school loan I can't afford to live elsewhere. I filed bankruptcy in October because I hard a large medical bill from when I didn't have insurance and had to take unpaid maternity leave. My cosigner has received letters from Sallie Mae since October saying my account is past due. I called and when they found out I wasn't the cosigner but the borrower they said not to worry about it, that it was an automatic mailing and they couldn't collect money from me until my bankruptcy was discharged. So I put it in my file and ignored it.

November same thing, December same thing, January same thing. I called each time and even called the day my bankruptcy was discharged to see how much my payment would be and what day it would be due. They said they could not tell me how much but that it would be due March 22 and the other March 28. Well today I got a call saying my account was 4m past due and I owed over $1000 to bring my account current. I asked them how that was even possible and got the runaround. Even after talking to a supervisor they couldn't tell me how things didn't add up.

I paid $600 in October when I wasn't obligated to under bankruptcy law and yet my account was past due? They said I only paid $395 when my bank statement says otherwise. So shady, wish they would get on the same page, put better notes in their system, and just stick with simple math. You borrowed this much, your interest will be this much, and you will pay this much. There is no reason to change the interest, account numbers, and site every year, makes it way more confusing for them apparently. Sallie Mae is such a waste, they just care about getting money, not about improving society by allowing individuals to get an education.

This doesn't make any sense on any level. I have expressed this to them on several occasions and requested they send me the statements with payments and interest since the beginning of the payment process which has yet to happen. Now the payments will double and I feel that we are paying and getting nowhere with the balance it keeps increasing. This is unjust. How could the government allow this company to remain in business. I live in MD and requested to go to the office in DE and was told I wasn't allowed to do that. I'm at the end of my rope and I will be filing a complaint with the attorney general's office and seeking an attorney.

Sallie Mae continues to use different collection agencies which resets the credit clock on this debt. The value is beyond a small claim, and there is no established industry for lawyers to get involved. I paid several attorneys to get involved, one said "divorce her", another said she would have no idea how to sue a bank, and the latest included the Fair Credit Act in the suit which got it thrown out for untimely (1 year statute). I involved every office possible, from the FTC to the Student Loan Ombudsman. NO HELP!

This must to be a rampant problem that stays quiet when a desperate student lists family as a cosigner for student loans. Sallie Mae secures more student loans, because family will not report family for fraud. They will honor the loan rather than send family to jail. This needs to be a class action against Sallie Mae. The same greed that brought them to the top should bring them down. I am reaching my sanity limit.

My credit would be perfect, and Sallie Mae is content with ruining me until I pay them $60,000 for the principal and interest on Internet acquired loans. Even if I sued my wife to get out of this, my life is still turned inside out between how to manage my kids and my job. Sallie Mae put $40,000 in a candy dish, and they act like it's my problem to deal with.

My husband is a post 911 disabled veteran, and we have struggled financially and these bloodthirsty leeches, have wanted nothing but money during our most difficult times of our lives. In 2012, they kept our tax return and we had just been told by our landlord that we needed to vacate the home, because they were selling, and we had been expecting the tax return to rent a home. Unfortunately, we ended up selling all our furniture and moving to Puerto Rico, because we couldn't rent, because our credit was affected by the Student Loans, but the worst part was that we needed that money to survive and they kept every penny of it. We were forced to live in a very rundown home with no water or electricity because we couldn't stay long with family in Puerto Rico.

We have to settle for close to nothing, because no one would rent to us due to these Student Loans. When I tried calling to settle they tell me they are charged off and sent to USA Funds, a debt collector for Sallie Mae. So, we are screwed, we can't afford to live a decent life, all because I decided to finish my last two years of college. I wish I could turn back the clock, because I owe more in Student Loans than a doctor or lawyer and all I have is a Bachelor's degree that is not even worth having, because since 2007 I have not been able to find a decent job to help pay bills. Congress needs to bail out families just like they bailed out all these banks and companies. How can a family move on if these Student loan debt collectors sit around trying to figure out how they can destroy families.

SURE ENOUGH EVERY SINGLE MONTH, THE AUTO DEBIT DOES NOT WORK AND I RECEIVE A NOTICE THAT MY LOANS ARE DELINQUENT. I then log on to their confusing website to pay one loan manually and call customer service again to be assured that NEXT TIME IT WILL WORK FOR SURE. I think I finally figured out the problem (on my own). It takes this horrible excuse for a company longer than one month to process my auto debit request. If your loans are "delinquent" then your auto debit request is rejected. So it is impossible to sign up for auto debit without logging on and manually paying this specific loan for 2 straight months BEFORE it is due but AFTER my auto debit request. THANKS SALLIE MAE! I HOPE YOU GET SUED FOR YOUR INCOMPETENCE AND PREDATORY LENDING PRACTICES!

Then I get a letter in October and same thing. Delinquent payment. I called the number again (I used the website number because I wanted to be sure it was not a 'fake' letter to get my information). Again, it was at least an hour. This time, when I asked why it didn't go through after I had changed my account number they said they never changed my account number or address. I was furious because when I told them they had told me to do so. They said there was no record. However, my money from the previous month was showing as paid now. I changed the information yet again and when I demanded to speak to a supervisor to explain this to me, I was laughed at by the representative. I hung up.

I have since received 2 more letters with the same issue. The latest payment was made January 2nd and I received a letter on January 18, 2014 saying I had not made a payment. I don't even want to call them at this point or make any more payments and just suffer the consequences. They are corrupt and charging people fees and interest on things that were paid. I am at the point I don't care. It is too stressful. I have not worked in 8 years due to health problems, but am not "permanently" disabled.

I have $214,000 in student loan debt and have made every payment on time. We have our 3 kids sharing a room in a tiny condo we rent so we can pay my student loans. It is very stressful and we see no way out. If this harassment by Sallie Mae continues, I may just stop payments. If they don't want my money I am paying them, they don't have to have it. My time is more valuable than spending hours trying to fix problems that are their problems. I should start billing them for my time.

Due to life circumstances I was unable to make the $300 payment and placed the loan in forbearance. I do not receive statements while the loan is in forbearance and won't receive one until the forbearance is over. I received one a while back and placed the loan back into forbearance. I just found out through a third party that Sallie Mae has purchased my loan and once again owns it. Sallie Mae took my loan out of forbearance and placed it in repayment. I was not notified of this and have not received a statement from them. Once again I have late payments by no fault of my own. My credit is very poor because of this and made buying a car difficult and a house impossible. It doesn't matter what I do I can't win and my loans keep ending up back at Sallie Mae who is continually damaging my credit.

After an obscene amount of time and energy on my part, the problem seems to be resolved, and I am assured that they have "corrected the matter and I should not have to deal with this issue again." But, guess what? Two months later, without fail, I am getting emails again with delinquency notices, and so the cycle of insanity begins again. Now I try very hard to be a generally calm person, but this just makes my blood boil every time. I am at a complete loss of what to do. I fulfill my end of the bargain, I PAY MY BILL!!!! What else should I do??? The incompetence of the people who run this company is astonishing. I have had negative reports on my credit because of this issue, countless lost hours, and incredible amount of necessary stress. The thing is, I feel like there is nothing I can do. Any suggestions as to how to deal with this horrible company would be more than welcome. TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THIS HORRIBLE COMPANY!!!!

I called again and again and was told that the investigation team would call me when they figured out what went wrong and I would not be charged interest or penalties after the date my bank had paid them off, numerous times I was told this. One person named Lisa told me she would get to the bottom of this and get it straightened out, but to give her time and call her back in mid January. Then I would receive and emails telling me to check the website for information on the loan, which I did and it still should a balance and payment was due on January 3, 2014. I called Sallie Mae again and a representative told me not to worry this is happening a lot and they would not charge me any fees or interest after my banks closing date. Then I received a message on my phone from my bank and she said to call her or stop down. I am not going to believe this one. I stopped in the next day and my bank received a check back from Sallie Mae for 37 thousand and something for a refund of overpayment. Who in their right mind would overpay a loan by 37 thousand?

We were not sure where to go from there, she said she wouldn't cash it and just leave it in my file. I called every week to try to get this figured out, being put on hold for 20 min to 45 min and sometimes getting cut off, but no one I talked to knew what was going on but assured me I would not be charged ant penalties or interest after my banks closing date in October. Then after January 3rd went by and I was getting phone calls and notices that payment was overdue I suggested to a Sallie Mae Representative that I needed to get a three way conversation going with my bank and straighten this out. We did this Last Thursday and talked with a person name Trisha and her supervisor named Hunter. We figured out that the delinquent loans were with Sallie Mae Inc. and the other seven loans with Sallie Mae Department of Education. And my Bank had sent the pay off amounts to the Sallie Mae Department of Education. So they cashed them all, computed interest from when my son had took the loans out, added that to the principle amounts and took out their share and sent the remaining balance back to my bank with very little explanation. So once we figured this out we sent the refund check amount in a cashiers check from my bank and I paid the 2300 dollars worth of interest that had accumulated in another check to Sallie Mae Inc. and explained to Trisha and Hunter that it would be there Monday, 1/13/14.

Trisha and Hunter both informed my bank and I that I would not be charged interest or penalties after the closing date, for this mishap. Friday I called again to check to make sure we did everything correctly and I first spoke to and oriental lady that I could understand very well and I tried to explain things to her. I gave up and asked if I could speak to her supervisor and she connected me with a guy named Keith. I discussed things with him and he asked If I was the one that called previously and I said yes. He then went on to inform me about the loans that they said we were delinquent on which were the ones thru Sallie Mae Inc. and I had called a number for Sallie Mae Department of Education. A little confused, but I was talking to a manager that I could understand so I continued. He explained to me that he thought that they could not waive the interest from October to January and it amounted to $840.43.

When I told him I had been told I would not be charged interest by several people along the way, he said that Hunter was a new person to the company and that he and all the rest of the Sallie Mae Representatives had been misinformed and that I would have to pay this interest within 10 days. Today I took another day off from work and sat down with my bank and called Sallie Mae, again to try to straighten things out. Trisha and Hunter were unavailable so we ended up talking with Kieth again. He said Upper management made a decision not to wave the interest charge from October to January and that we could not speak with them but he could give them my number and they would call me if they felt they had to. I then paid Sallie Mae Inc. the $840.43 over the phone to put and end to this madness.

Angry doesn't describe what you feel like when you have been scammed. My bank has paid off Sallie Mae Loans before and this has never been an issue. Apparently Sallie Mae Department of Education used to communicate with Sallie Mae Inc.until some manager from Sallie Mae Department of Education decided to send refund checks back to the source and collect interest for as long as it took for the client to straighten things out. Unfortunately I am a single parent/recent widower just trying to put my two sons thru engineering colleges so they can support themselves in the future and it has been one nightmare after another. I will never do business with Sallie Mae Again!!! !

When I called SM, I asked them to please reconsider and to let me apply for economic hardship. I would find a way to pay something. The rep on the other end of the phone kept putting me on hold. He said that I would be granted another forbearance for another year, but that this would be the absolute last time. I asked him about deferment. He said, because my loans were consolidated, I relinquished the right to deferment for economic hardship. That sounds a little sketchy to me, but okay - a forbearance would be better than nothing.

When I told him about the medical condition of my son and that I would send whatever documentation was needed to prove it, he said, "That will not be necessary. I am pre approving your forbearance now. It will not go into effect until your current forbearance is exhausted and you are within 30 days of your payment date." That sounded sketchy also, but the rep seemed so nice, helpful, and knowledgeable! After I was approved, I asked the rep about the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program. We spoke about amounts that could be forgiven. He said he would send me an application, which I received on Jan. 8th. When I received the application, it was titled Information about your requested forbearance. When I opened the letter, I saw only the teacher loan forgiveness application. Another sketchy feeling came over me. I took the survey at the end of my conversation with this rep because I was so overjoyed to get this forbearance. I had another year to straighten out the hospital bills that I had not counted on. It seemed too good to be true.

This afternoon I called SM just as the rep instructed. Today is the day after my last forbearance. I spoke to another rep. I told her I had been pre approved for another and last forbearance just a few days ago - I just had to call to activate it. This rep informed me that no such forbearance was approved by anyone. She said that the only note she saw read, Once the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Application is filled out and approved, the forbearance will be approved. This was NEVER even mentioned by the prior rep. Teacher Loan forgiveness was brought up by me after the prior rep approved my forbearance. The rep told me tonight that I had other payment options. I can pay no more than $100 a month - and that is stretching it.

I was so outraged that I had been lied to by the prior rep. that when the current rep told me about another repayment option, and that she was sorry I was misinformed I broke down over the phone. The prior SM rep did not misinform me: He LIED to me. He misrepresented himself. He even tried to talk me into a SM credit card! Luckily, I knew better.

I do not want to default on this loan. I want to pay it back. I will pay what I can over the year, but I was counting on this forbearance (actually hoping for a deferment). I was already mapping out payments for the medical bills and SM after that first rep told me I was approved. I will be applying for the Teacher Loan Forgiveness program, which I hope will be approved, but I must put my son's mental, emotional, and physical health first. I am a single parent and it has been difficult - in other words, there is no other income.

Why would this rep falsify promise of forbearance??? To get a good grade on the survey I took at the end of the conversation? Isn't what he did against the law? Aren't the conversations recorded? He told me I was pre-approved - that I needed to call back to activate the forbearance. He told me I did not qualify for economic hardship and I could not receive deferment. I would have to pay the interest on the forbearance. What did this rep gain by falsifying a pre-approved forbearance???

Just for the record, I did not give my real name for this online post. I want to keep my name private because my child is mentioned here. But everything else here is true, as God as my witness. If I can sue SM the cost of my student loan debt for what this rep did, then please put me on that train. I did send this exact letter to a Sallie Me advocate to see what they can do, but if they work for SM, it seems like I would be making a pact with the devil himself: Sallie Mae advocating for me after their rep falsified a forbearance request (????) Yeah- okay. I am required to give at least one star to SM, but if I had my choice here on this website, I would put NO STAR.

I sent in 2 pay stubs and CLEARLY noted on the cover page that I am paid 9 months out of the year, not 12 (teacher). 8 days later, I had not received approval. I e-mailed customer service and got a notification that I would receive approval within 7-14 more days. I waited, still no approval. I emailed again, they said 24-48 hours. Guess what? NO APPROVAL. This is over the course of the next 2 months. I called - first time, they apologized and said they'd do it in 24 hours. Not done. I called again, they apologized, they said they would call me back after they spoke to the processing dept. They never called back. 3rd call was to a supervisor who said he'd call me back by the end of the week. NO CALL.

My next payment was due - they debited roughly 7x my normal payment. I called to find out why, they said my application was approved. They calculated my income as what I made in those 2 pay stubs over the course of 12 months, not 9 months. Here we go again... I had to reapply for IBR and the same b.s. process happened. This time, I immediately asked for a manager, and in a frustrated tone (choice words) explained what was going on, didn't take no for an answer, demanded to constantly speak to someone higher than whoever got on the phone. I finally got someone who sounded legitimate, they gave me the phone number and e-mail contact of a woman named Charolotte and told me to call her extension directly. I did so. Charolette called me back immediately, explained the processing dept. had overlooked my pay stubs notation that I get paid over 9 months, not 12 months.

I told her that I explained that to everyone but nobody understood. She told me to upload my recent tax return. She got it done ON THE SPOT with me on the phone. The only bright side of this post. Here I am a year later... This year, I put my tax return in. I got the same b.s. delayed responses from Sallie Mae stating 2 weeks, 24 hours, 24 hours blah blah blah. I am literally on hold right now with a 'managing supervisor' who claims to be on the phone with the processing department to get this done again... If she doesn't come through I'll be asking for her supervisors direct number. To be continued.... P.S. this year's IBR renewal has taken over a month at this point. Don't let them give you excuses. Tell them you want your written approval prior to the next payment cycle.

This vicious cycle continues until your credit score is low. My first signs of issues with Sallie Mae was when they sent me a letter in the mail telling me they took me to court without me knowing and winning. Let's talk about the credit agency names the first one is NCO financial if your military at first you think it's the military helping nope just a trick to get you to pay, they don't tell you what the APR is which can possible be sky rocket high loan shark tactics.

After graduating I found a job teaching, as according to plan. However, the amount I made was not enough to pay the full amount each month and allow for my other expenses. I called SM, whose call center appears to be in the Philippines, and asked for a lower payment. The amount was still too high and I suggested an amount that I could afford until such a time as I was in a better financial position. The person at the call center said they could not accept anything but the full payment and suggested I get a deferment. Things still have not improved concerning my financial situation and I have left the teaching field after five years.

The other day, I received two statements saying that my new payments would be 73.49 a month per loan. However, this morning in my email I received a statement saying that my payment due was over $600.00. After a "wonderful" conversation, with a person who had a tenuous grasp of the English language, I was informed that the statements only pertained to two of my loans and that the total of all four of my loans was the $600.00 figure. Again, I told her that I would be willing to pay the 73.00 for each loan, totaling $292.00 per month. I also told her she better not suggest that I get, yet another, deferment or I would chew her head off (said in the nicest way possible). She was adamant that I pay the entire amount.

What kind of business would turn down a person that was sincerely trying to pay them back? Sure, it's not the full amount, but it's something! I'm about to tell them to take a flying leap (sure, that's what I want to say..) and default entirely on the loan. I know this is not the right thing to do and I don't feel good about doing it, but they're leaving me no choice. STAY AWAY FROM SALLIE MAE!!!

This is wrong on several levels: 1) I am supposed to pay 12 months at each given payment amount. This year's new amount should have started on 1/18, as it did last year, not two months earlier in November. 2) Even if November were the correct start date, they have the end date listed as 9/18. But each IBR re-application is supposed to go for 12 months, not 11. 3) To further complicate matters, Sallie Mae did not even adhere to the documentation stating 11/18 as this year's start date - instead they debited the new amount from my account on 10/18, thus making my payments at the new higher amount start a full 3 months earlier than they were supposed to, and unfairly taking money that I am not supposed to be paying yet. I have contacted Sallie Mae 5 times and not gotten anywhere with them. I have also contacted the Federal Ombudsman's office and asked for intervention.

It's clear that the rep after the call did not process the request properly and thus I'm back to square one with possibility of default. Of course the supervisor replied, "Oh no problem, we'll just process another phone forbearance request." At this point, I'm irate and request that nothing should move forward until you acknowledge the mistake and rectify it immediately so that I am not penalized once more. She refused and that got nasty and told me that somebody else (i.e., previous rep) erred in processing the claim and that I should accept that and move forward with her (supervisor) offer or I will be processed for default. I declined her offer and am documenting this now on this forum to see if anybody else has experienced such ineptness from this organization and have suggestion what to do next. I am not that naive to Sallie Mae's business practices but this mishandling tops a new level of ineptness till the point where I actually believe they do this intentionally...

My first bill arrived and was approximately $70. I paid $1,000 and waited for the next bill. After a few months without receiving a bill I called and worked my way through the automated service. Inconveniently, I was disconnected on quite a few occasions. I did finally get my next bill about a year later. I called Sallie Mae to ask for a monthly bill. However, I was informed that it is against Sallie Mae's policy to send a bill if you are ahead of payment schedule. Even if you request one.

I have not dealt with any other loan company that has this policy. It is very inconvenient for someone like me who wants to pay the loans off early. And in my opinion should not be legal. Especially, when you consider all the extra fees this company will charge you. In fact over the period of one year between the time I paid the first $1,000 and got the next bill my principal balance had only decreased about $120. Approximately $10 a month for a principal that was over $10,000. At that rate, how is that bill ever going to get paid off? Over the year that I waited for the next bill I saved enough to pay off the entire loan. However, to borrow $7,800 for two years it cost me over $3,000.

My wife has had a similar situation on private loans from Sallie Mae for approximately $13,000. I have not calculated the exact numbers. Partially, because is extremely aggravating to know that a company is getting away with this type of robbery. I started making her payments over 2 years ago. And again, following the principal found out that it was only decreasing by approximately $12 a month after all the fees and interest were paid. For this loan I did the same thing and saved the balance to pay it off. Only this time I made minimum monthly payments until I had saved enough to cover the entire balance. This way I could watch the monthly changes until I was ready to pay in full.

Upon calling Sallie Mae and working through the automation service I finally reached a representative. Typical these days, but still inconvenient. The balance on the loan was still over $12,500 after paying $155 a month for about 3 years. I asked the representative for an exact balance so that I could make a payment by phone to pay the entire balance. She told me that I had to guess the exact amount since I was not the recipient of the loan. She told me this even though I was on the account and I had made all the payments for 2+ years. I also got the run around with her telling me that it would be $14 cheaper to pay online. I had just read to her that the last bill stated that the balance on the account was $12,488.49. She knew my intention was to pay the balance off but according to her Sallie Mae policy prevented her from telling me the exact balance on that day. That is quite obviously just another way to give the customer the run around.

So, I had my wife call. She got a different representative who told her that the exact balance was $12,514.12 but the check would have to be for $12,521.02 because of the time to process. He then gave my wife the $14 run around if she paid the bill online. So, we tried to pay the bill online. Three time the website failed to process the payment. We called back and got a third representative. This one told us that the current balance was $12,540. Almost $20 more and of course we got the whole save $14 if you pay online routine. She asked why the guy that we talked to less than 10 minutes earlier gave us a different number. Hem... Haw... Hem... Haw... The third representative told us that the second representative must have calculated with the 3 day fee.

Well yeah! We were trying to pay the bill the same day. Of course wanted to pay the lower amount. He recalculated and the new number he gave us was $12,519.40. I'm not sure why we got 3 different numbers and it worries me after dealing with this company for the last few years. I will watch online to make sure everything goes through. To the very end though, anyone reading this should be aware that this company will attempt to get every penny they can out of you. And, they will use means that are deceptive.

Unfortunately, my wife's federal loans have now been transferred to Sallie Mae. It has been 3 months and I haven't gotten a bill. I am about 8 months ahead of schedule on those payments and true to form Sallie Mae has a policy that says they will not send a bill if the payer is ahead of the payment schedule. I know this because I called and asked for a monthly bill. This, quite obviously is just a way for this company to try and get people to pay more money. This policy seems like it should be illegal. As well, the hidden insurance fees on the private loan seem like they should be illegal too. I just hope that they cannot apply these same type of fees on the federal loans. Anyway, student loans are no fun. However, they are a necessary evil. If I had to do this again I would avoid Sallie Mae if at all possible. From everything I've read, this company is criminal. Hopefully, something can be done about it.

Sallie Mae said I needed to make a payment over the phone in order to avoid my payment being considered "late". They said the payment would be applied "instantly" over the phone, whereas if I made it online it would take 2-3 business days to clear. As my monthly payment is actually split between 3 different loan payment groups, I confirmed that the total amount I was about to give them over the phone would be correctly applied as normal to the 3 payment groups. They said, of course. The payment still took 2-3 business days to clear, so it was still not considered to be an "on-time payment". Additionally, the full amount I paid over the phone was applied to only one loan payment group, overpaying that set of loans and causing the other two sets to still be in delinquent status. I had to pay those two manually. More importantly, I am also stuck with one additional "on-time payment" I need to make at the end of the life of my loan, in order to qualify for the 25-year forgiveness benefit of Income Based Repayment.

Recently when I reapplied for Income Based Repayment (as I must do every year, to re-calculate what my following year's payments will be based on my earnings), I received correspondence stating that my application had been approved, and detailing the new monthly payment amount, as well as when my first payment would be under the new amount (November 18th, 2013). Instead, Sallie Mae debited my account for the new, higher amount one month early (October 18th). The first time I called customer service (10/18) they said there was nothing they could do to stop the in-progress payment, and that I had to wait for the payment to fully clear before they could issue a refund. I called back a few days later (10/22) after the payment was cleared - the service rep said it was indeed a mistake on their end, and the new payment amount should not have gone into effect until November 18th as stated. After waiting on hold for about 20 minutes, the service rep said that his supervisor had approved a refund for the difference in payments, and that I would receive the refund in "7-10 days". He asked how I would like to be paid back, and I said via credit to the account the money was debited from (my checking).

Two weeks later (11/5) I called back, having not received the refund in the specified time. During that call, I was told that the refund had not been approved until November 1st, and that I would receive the refund in 7-10 days from THAT date. On 11/15 I still had not received the refund and called once again. This time the rep told me that it was not 7-10 days, it was 7-14 days. He also stated specifically that these were "business days" (the other reps did not say this, though I had assumed as much and taken that into account when quoting them on dates). When I asked why the other reps quoted me 7-10 days, he could not give me an answer, he just kept repeating that it was 7-14. I also asked him to email me written correspondence confirming that the refund was approved, on what date, etc. and he refused to do so.

I called once again on 11/22, 15 business days after the refund was supposedly approved. This rep said that Sallie Mae was still working on it. I told him that at this point I did not believe I was getting the refund, as I had received no written confirmation of such, and every service rep was giving me a different story. This rep responded by saying that he was "CERTAIN" that my refund would be returned to my bank account no later than the following afternoon (Saturday, 11/23). I asked him how he expected me to believe this when Sallie Mae had failed to meet every other quoted date - his response was that he would "bet his job on it". I then asked to take the customer satisfaction survey offered at the end of all calls, and he instead hung up on me. Today is Monday, 11/25/13 and I have still not received the refund. I have received no official detailing my refund, and every customer service rep has either lied or been unable to help. It is unbelievable to me that Sallie Mae has the legal right to overcharge my account without any recourse.

First, I waited almost week and the funds had not posted to my SM account but it was surely gone from my checking account. I called and the rep tried convincing me that there was a system issue on Nov 14, 2013 (the date I requested my phone payment) that for whatever reason prevented ALL payments from processing and that I should fax a copy of my bank statement to prove that the funds had cleared... Absolutely Not! I explained that the burden is now theirs and not mine and that I would rather not be inconvenienced any more by their internal issues. After a long, intense discussion the rep put me on hold and apparently spoke with a supervisor. She then told me that I did not need to send my bank statement and that the issue will be handled by her manager. The very next day, Nov 21, 2013, the funds posted to my account, but not the way I requested.

Instead of the funds being applied solely to my unsubsidized loan, they were split between both. I called customer support about the issue only to be told that the reps are not able to apply the funds as I specified because I have a 'Smart Option' Loan (or something like that)... Needless to say, the rep could not explain to me what that meant and because I have to work to afford these loan payments I dropped that issue (for time's sake) to return to the bigger problem. She stated that my request would have to be forwarded to a different dept to be handled and should be resolved and reapplied correctly within the next 5-14 business days.

This many errors with one payment is messed up on so many levels. It seems like they are purposely trying to lessen the payments I put towards my interest-bearing account and it has become a drain on not only my financial resources but also my time. I am paying interest on loan amounts I have already paid and the time that I spend monitoring and correcting their mistakes is annoying at best. These practices are nothing short of robbery... I'm being charged interest on balances that should not exist and there is absolutely no recourse for it. Something told me to process a normal monthly payment online and luckily I did because I'm sure their process for penalties on my part is much less error prone.

Finally, she realizes that I'm right and goes about the process of fixing it which of course is like another 10 minutes on the phone. I called back today to make sure that this is being processed and again had to explain myself all over again. I then asked once again if my bank info is correct and she said she couldn't find that out for me and transferred me... and of course, I had to hold for 10 minutes. I hung up, I can't take it anymore. I will call later to get that info. They are the worst, worst, worst.

So besides them not contacting me back after writing emails, and on the phone asking for supervisors my biggest issue is the small sentience explaining how much interest will be charged on each payment is the most important thing to know. The rest for the language will give you false feelings because it is not like a home/car or any other loan. Pay early, often and keep record because the principle won't go down unless you do and if your principle amount does not go down you pay more interest.

I don't have the time or energy to get into specifics…It would take forever. My advice would be to harass them like they harass us. Call them often to make sure that your plan is set up correctly especially if you make any changes. They WILL not do it right the first place. You have to keep on them. Obviously this shouldn't be the case but it is. How they get away with this gross misconduct is beyond me. Like others said I am convinced they do so in order to keep us indebted to them. They are beyond shady and I have told them so on many occasions.

Now I have a $103 overdraft in my account and the bank is threatening to shut it down for good unless I can come up with the replacement by Friday. I don't know what I am going to do. It seems the more I try to work with this horrible company, Sallie Mae, the more it turns into a nightmare and bullying monster full of greed and insensitive to compassion and understanding. It is like dealing with the corporate executives of Wall Street, who are blinded by their greed and don't care about the sufferings they inflict on their fellow citizens. I am getting really stressed out in the paralyzing rush to save my bank account from extinction and from my credit being ruined again by Sallie Mae's insensitive "mistake" and I don't see any alternative than to go talk to a friend of mine who is a banker. Since Sallie Mae misleads everyone by pretending to care about their customers while leaving them hanging, this company should be put out of business.

They do not go by the original guidelines and change the rules as they go. Save Your Paper work! Anything they send you for every payment arrangement and what they confirmed was okay to do. Save those Sallie Mae Letters of confirmations! As I understood it, the IBR program suppose to calculate your monthly income based on how much you make annually and then an outcome of the minimum monthly payment is calculated. I make 0 dollars a month and unemployed. I have the education, but dang it, no experience = NO JOB! I'm in the hole with Sallie Mae. What do I do? GO online and sign up for an IBR and was qualified for 1 year of $0/month based on my income.

All of a sudden, in 8 months, I get a later saying that my payment is due for $X amount of money. WTF? I thought it was 12 months before I have to reapply again for the IBR Program. I can't find my paperwork stating it was 12 months. I scramble and then I quickly apply for IBR again with enough time to get a quick evaluation since resubmitting the same income tax paperwork from the 2011 were submitted... Again. I mean, they already have the info and nothing has changed. Tax Season deadline is 4/15 annually.

So I submitted my application just in time to be considered and I received a letter saying that my payment is now due on such and such a date. But dang, my IBR should have expired so quickly and my registration should have gone thru. I then get a letter saying that there is a slight delay on my application for IBR. So with enough due time I apply for the Financial Hardship Deferment. Documents submitted. I then get a letter saying that my IBR application has been accepted, that my monthly payment is $0/month for 9 months. Okay, so I thought the rule of thumb here is for 12 months. Now they have that in writing and I am saving it.

When IBR first was introduced, it was a 12-month program, but Sallie Mae has been able to make it into a 4-month, 6-month, or 9-month program so they have a chance to catch you off guard and make you pay what you can't pay, even though you have the same tax records in 2013 as in 2012, it would only be logical for them not to have you reapply for IBR in the same year. WTF!>?

Now I am late with a payment and they say that if the IBR was approved after your date due of $0/month, I am still responsible for that payment due of $360 that month regardless of income ($360 not bad, I just don't have it). I still have to pay it even though I am a $0/month qualifier and they are trying to make me rob bank so I pay them and maintain my credit. Stay Away from Sallie Mae.