I have spent the past week attempting to obtain information regarding the issues would my account. I received a telephone call from Sallie Mae stating to call them. After waiting on hold for over 15 minutes, an agent answered the telephone who I could not understand. He advised me that I was past due in my payment. I never received any type of notification of the payment due and since I had not graduated until the end of May, my payment should not be due until the date of graduation. The guy stated that the statement went out in the beginning of May. He said that they are not responsible for the postal service. What I find hard to believe is that I have lived at the same address for over 4 years and have always received correspondence from Sallie Mae. Then all of the sudden when a payment is due they want to say it was sent out and they have no control ovber the postal service. Pretty crappy service if you ask me. After going round and round with this guy, I wanted to speak to someone else that I could understand and speak to regarding the account. The next person that came on the phone spoke worse English than the previous person. I immediately requested a supervisor. I spoke to a supervisor in the Texas location (or so he said he was a supervisor) and he explained that the date of completion is set by the school. What I find hard to believe is that Sallie Mae never sent correspondence stating the deferrment was about to end.
In any case, I was charged late fees for something that I had no control for.in addition to the mailing address issues, I had a problem with a forbearance agreement. I spoke to the forbearance department in Vega and set up the information. The agent advised me of the terms of the agreement and asked for my bank info on June 8. She said the payment will post on June9. On June 12, I received a letter through e-mail (did not agree to send account information through e-mail) that I needed to send in a payment. I contacted Sallie Mae again and spoke to Lisa that said that the forbearance did not go through. She said that she would need to re-read the agreement and then said the payment with go through. Granted, she did not ask to verify my bank account information again. She said that she would send a letter confirming the payment and that she would send a letter confirming that the credit will not be negatively affected.
June 15, I receive another letter stating that the bank information was invalid. If the first agent put the payment through and it was an ACH debit, why did it take so long for them to show that it was invalid account information, they reflected information on June 13,5 business days when I authorized the check. The first lady also took my check number. June 15, I have spent almost 2 hours of the telephone mostly waiting for agents to answer. After reaching customer service, Janie advised me that the forbearance was processed on June 12 and that the payment posted on June 13. The forbearance runs from May 12 until Nov 26. She stated that I needed to speak to the forbearance department. She gave the telephone number so that I did not have to wait another 30 min. So, here was go again, I contacted the telephone number 800.538.2632. Alfi (Alfred - could not understand him) answered the telephone. I needed to verify that the forbearance was alright. He stated that it was for 6months and that Sallie Mae made a mistake. He said the next payment due would be Nov 26. I asked about the late fees and he stated there were no late fees on the account and any fees have been waived because of the forbearance agreemnt. He was giving me short no yea asnswers and did not firmly believe that he was even looking at the account. He seemed to try to get me off the phone as soon as possible. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he hung up the phone on me. I called back again and he answered the telephone again. I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor. He stated that they were on a telephone call. I waited 7 mins and then he came back on the line and said super was still talking to others. Asked him if I could speak to someone else in the department and he said that he is not allowed to transfer but I could call back. This is after spending over an hour on the telephone with Sallie Mae. I stated to him that he needed to find a way to transfer me and he hung up on me. Called back again and he answered the telephone again. I was irrate by then, tried of speaking to him. I immediately again requested a supervisor and he wanted to know why. I felt that I did not need to justify to him why I wanted to speak to a supervisor. Granted I spoke to the same guy three time and he still did not get the point. Alfi hung up the telephone again with no reason and no indication that he was hanging up the telephone on me.
The next time I contacted the same number, I spoke to Duron who was a collections rep. I was not sure why I was in collections but later found out the private credit and collections are the same. Strange to me. I advised him of the situation and all the hassles I have had the past week. He got his supervisor on the telephone, Quanittia Supervisor #229. She said that the forbearance did go through on June 12. (What happened to the one on June 9?) She stated that the bank number was invalid. (This is not true because I have had the same account for over 15 years.) She said that if I did not make the payment again, the forbearance would cease and payments would resume. I advised her that I gave the prior rep my routing number, my bank account number, and the check number. Quanittia stated that is was an ACH debit and a check number was not needed. Why did I give a check number when it was not required? Now I am concerned about an outstanding check that someone may try to use because the June 9 transaction never occurred. Although I received another e-mail document confirming it was processed. After taking the payment, the agent was very short with me and I asked her about the late fee. She said that the late fee was from the signature accounts. I had been making a good faith to work out the situation and attempted to explain everything Sallie Mae has put me through in the past week. She stated that it was late as of June 4 and there was nothing they could do. Granted my forbearance goes back to May 12. So, I should not have a late fee on the account correct?
Overall, I encourage people to avoid Sallie Mae because of the emotional distress they have caused me and because of the mixed information that I have received. I do not relie of Sallie Mae as a creditable servicer and warn people not to use them in the future. After almost 8 hours on the telephone, I am still unclear whether my forbearance will be handled in a professional and accurate manner.
S
Dallas, Texas
U.S.A.
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