Each month I send 2 checks to Sallie Mae, one for my student loans and one for my daughter's. Each check is accompanied with its payment ticket, each has the account number written in the memo section and each is sent in a separate envelope.
At the beginning of May I started to receive upwards of 10 phone calls per day from a number in Muncy, IN - they would call as early as 7:00am and as late as 10:30pm. I was on vacation at the time and while I was able to check voicemail, the messages that were left were either pure static or completely inaudible. As soon as I returned home I googled the number and was disturbed to see that it was Sallie Mae's collections department.
I called back and at that time I was told that my daughter's loan was delinquent for the month of April. A quick online check of my banking record indicated that not only was the check I sent received by Sallie Mae but that it was also cashed on April 20th, a fact which I brought up to the woman I was speaking to. I spent the following 2 hours rotating between speaking to this woman and being placed on hold, and as it turned out both payments were credited to my account. I was assured that the problem had been taken care of and that the money would be transferred to my daughter's loan.
Bright and early the next morning the phone calls started yet again and they have yet to stop. I've spoken to customer service reps and managers at Sallie Mae 15 times since May 10th, each phone call lasts on average of 1.5 hours and each time I'm assured that all is well. Yesterday I received notice that my daughter's account is, surprise surprise, not only delinquent for the month of May but that they reported it to the credit bureau. Sallie Mae once again put both checks toward my account. I've given up trying to be civil with them when I call and yesterday's phone call lasted 3 hours while they "figured it out". Apparently they didn't since I received 7 calls from their collections department today.
I'll be hiring a lawyer on Tuesday if this mess isn't cleaned up by then. All of the mistakes are being made on their end yet they reported US to the credit bureau! You have GOT to be kidding me! I truly believe that this company does not train its employees at all and seeks every way possible to obtain more money via late fees.
Backtracking just a bit, in August I had my account set to automatic debit and was aghast when I saw that they hit my account 3 times [for a total sum of just over $1,200] for that month! When I called to demand the extra $800 they took out I was told, "Sorry, we take money, don't give it back".
If you're in the market for student loans please stay far, far away from Sallie Mae.
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