Sallie Mae= The devil????

[aadam101]

I am helping a friend with her CR and she is having some issues with Sallie Mae. She stopped going to school in December but didn't actually graduate until May. She never opens her mail and didn't realize she was supposed to start paying them months ago. Now she owes them $400 and they are reporting 120 day lates on her CR.

After reading up on them I have decided they must be a spawn of Satan. They seem to be hated even more than CRAP ONE!!

There is even a website dedicated to the people they have screwed over.

http://salliemaebeef.com/

Any tips on how to deal with them?

[whocares]

I had student loans too, over 100,000.00 worth. They have tried email, regular mail and even calling..she can try for deferrment or refinancing...but they will keep it on her report

[Sobe420]

My Gf did deferment with Sallie May. She recieved a letter that they accepted the deferment then 3 months later started recieving letters and phone calls that they were going to keep her Income Tax returns if she did not pay 300.00 to get out of collections, which we ended up paying. They are the devil I think!

[PolarBearnCO]

Yeah, they are the Devil for giving you a chance to go to school and graduate, hopefully bettering yourself in the long run. Shame on them for ever giving you guys any loans at all. I guess if they we Jesus, they'd have given you a $7/hr job at Walmart and shackle you to a cart for the rest of your lives.

Responsibility is upon you. Now that you're out of school, it's time to grow up. First thing I'd suggest you do is get in a habit of opening the mail... EVERY DAY.

Good luck in life. You're no longer in daddy's basement.

[aadam101]

Well it wasn't me. It was my friend who I am helping. At first I was blaming her but now that I have read up on Sallie Mae I realize what a truly awful company they are. They prey on students who don't know any better. They have been sued many times for deceptive practices.

I'm going to call them today. This is the first time I have truly dreaded calling a creditor.

[nascar]

Yeah, they are the Devil for giving you a chance to go to school and graduate

I was thinking the same thing.

[aadam101]

The problem I believe is the way this company operates as well as the schools. They make it seem as though Sallie Mae is the only choice they have. These 18 year old kids don't know any better and then get screwed once they graduate.

This company is not dealing with educated consumers. They are dealing with children. They should make a better effort to educate them more on their options.

[thegame26]

I graduated college last year and have been paying my student loans through Sallie Mae since last August. I haven't had any problems at all with them. I don't see them as bad.

[whocares]

100,000.00 is alot to owe, I paid them off...when I had problems they tried to refinance me and make my payments less...But you also have to understand...Kids borrowed the money...they got the money and many of them partied and bought all kinds of stuff not related to school...many of them never finished school...and they still owe the money...they are a government entity and if they did not take tax refunds, sometimes they would not get paid...Your friend needs to get current and stay current, They will work with her if she at least tries to make an effort...

[swtguy]

The problem I believe is the way this company operates as well as the schools. They make it seem as though Sallie Mae is the only choice they have. These 18 year old kids don't know any better and then get screwed once they graduate.

This company is not dealing with educated consumers. They are dealing with children. They should make a better effort to educate them more on their options.

These poor helpless stupid kids that score well on SAT's and get into good colleges--but can't read a contract written in 5th grade English. These poor kids who have learned by the age of 8 how to find bargains on clothing, are so helpless and cannot shop around for a student loan. These poort kids need mommy and daddy to hold their hands and show them how to open the mail. These poor kids who are REQUIRED to attend loan exit counseling which clearly states that student loans are deferred for six months after leaving full-time status--and do nothing to arrange to pay their bills.

[razr]

Being judgmental does not help anyone. This is the last place anyone should be judgmental.

-r

[SecretAgentWoman]

I agree with razr...

Of course, though, when you are going to school and borrowing all this money, you get a million disclaimers and warnings to read about the loan being paid back! You can register online with the loan holder, check balances, deferrment dates, sign up for email alerts...it's just mind boggling that someone would just assume...and not keep on top of it...

[aadam101]

I'm not disagreeing. I certainly gave my friend a lecture on staying on top of these things.

I called Sallie Mae customer service and they were completely useless. The girl was rude and didn't seem to care at all.

The I called the customer advocate line and spoke to a woman who actually tried to help me. She offered forbearance and is going to send some info in the mail.

I asked her about the 90 and 120 day lates and she couldn't quite figure out why it was being reported that way and said she will look into it. She said the first billing date was March 7, 2007 but it is being reported 90 days late in May 2007. She said she thinks it is because another account was late. Even if that is the case they still can't report THIS account as late. (The other 2 accounts show as current on CR.)

They are going to send a letter about the other lates. I will wait for the letter and see what happens. I'm sure I will just end up disputing anyway. It is not being reported correctly.

[keith]

Welcome to life the big city. She needs tocall the creditor. Quit enabling her. That seems to be a growing problem, no one wants to take responsibility for their actions anymore. A deal is a deal. Buyer beware. Try to do better next time. I don't see where the reputation of the lender has anything to do in her situation.

[Amerikaner83]

I graduated college last year and have been paying my student loans through Sallie Mae since last August. I haven't had any problems at all with them. I don't see them as bad.

Same thing with me - NO problems whatsoever. The only "issue" I had was the damn people don't speak good english, but that's probably my luck when I call their CS dept. But I've done EVERYTHING online, no problems whatsoever. I got all the information I needed before I neeeded it, etc.

I've been paying back on a total of 40K since Feb without issue.

[PolarBearnCO]

Kids borrowed the money...they got the money and many of them partied and bought all kinds of stuff not related to school...

Hey, how did you know what I did? LMAO. Yeah, freshman year I started learning to fly, sophomore year I went to Mexico for two weeks. Junior year I went to Ireland for two weeks. Senior year I bought a 65" TV and started skydiving (was jumping about 6 times every weekend).

I sure have a blast though. I don't like having to pay the loans back, but I certainly don't regret it. Now that I've been out of college for a while, I can say the college years are definitely the best of my life so far. I don't have any kids yet, but man... have fun in college, 'cause after that you're working your fingers to the bone for the rest of your life.

Edited to add something about Sallie Mae.

Sallie Mae has a competitive interest rate, their consolidation benefits are about the same you'll find with any other lender. I don't see why they should be singled out over any other SL lender. A student loan is a student loan. It's a commitment. It MUST be paid back. Responsibility is with the borrow to know what's going on with the loan, when it's due, how much, etc.

One thing she can try is to get a deferment or forebearance active for a date prior to the lates. I have read about someone getting this to work once. They basically got approved for the forebearance with a starting date months earlier and the lates were removed. I guess it's worth a try. Just let her know life is nothing like college. You can't call in sick to avoid paying a bill like you could with an exam. Bills are due on time whether you are in Kansas, Egypt, or dogsledding to the North Pole.

[PolarBearnCO]

Of course, though, when you are going to school and borrowing all this money, you get a million disclaimers and warnings to read about the loan being paid back! You can register online with the loan holder, check balances, deferrment dates, sign up for email alerts...it's just mind boggling that someone would just assume...and not keep on top of it...

Yeah, I'd think at just about every college you're going to have a financial aid department that'll try to talk you out of taking the student loans. That was my experience. They made is so very clear to me that I'd only want to take out what I actually needed and nothing more. I don't think it's Sallie Mae that preys on students. The students probably prey on themselves, realizing how easily they can get a few grand by just signing their name, and mom and pop would never know.

I called Sallie Mae customer service and they were completely useless. The girl was rude and didn't seem to care at all.

You just awoke a memory in my brain. With exception to keeping on top of the current situation, you'll probably never need to call customer service again. I did call CS once when I first consolidated with them. I got someone in India I could hardly understand. I asked to speak to someone in the United States and they transferred me to someone in Texas. I can't really fault SM for outsourcing, as everyone else does it too. But, know that you CAN get someone in the USA if you demand it.

[whocares]

Some of those things sound fun. I had a family and I was 35 before I went back to College full time...no fun for me....I always had to pick the kids up from daycare....

But you know without student loans I could not have ever attended a private college. I'n glad I did it...but maybe a little fun would have been nice too.

[Searching4Freedom]

Sallie Mae is the only thing that still shows up on my CR. I had problems with them throughout the whole loan. Every other year they decided that my parents made too much money for me to qualify and I would have to pull $$ out of my a$$. I paid them in FULL not long from graduating and to this day it still shows that I was 120 days past due. Is there a way to get this off of my CR?

[aadam101]

Dispute the lates with the CRA's.

I did call and they approved her for forbearance. The woman was going to investigate why the lates were reported the way they were. She couldn't figure it out.

[chris.zeman]

There are, in fact, people in this world that are not diligent when it comes to paying their debts. There are also companies, driven by corporate greed, that will find any possible way to take advantage of people to make a quick buck. Sallie Mae is one of these companies. There are people within Sallie Mae that are more than willing to help. I talked with two of these people while fighting with Sallie Mae for three months to fix their mistakes. These people understood exactly what I was going through and openly expressed their dis-taste with Sallie Mae.

Every company has its problems, and that is to be expected. That's life. It's nothing short of dispicable, however, the way Sallie Mae conducts business. Sure, there are lots of people that have had great experiences with Sallie Mae. There are lots of people that have had terrible experiences with Sallie Mae. I hate the attitude that I see pop up in all of the forums where Sallie Mae is the topic of discussion. "I had no problems with Sallie Mae. You should have been paying your loans off like you were told to." People who take this attitude obviously don't know the entire story.

My problem was that Sallie Mae kept applying my payments to the wrong loan and blaming the government. (I have government loans and private loans.) It took more than three months of fighting to get them to fix it! Their automated system was calling my home and cell phones more than 10 times per day, many times waiting 5 minutes between calls!!!

Once they finally straightened it out, the late charges remained and so did the marks on my credit record. I tried to get them to fix it, and they told me that even though they were the ones mis-applying the payments it was my fault for not paying. I WAS friggin' paying, but they kept mis-applying the payments!!! I paid all through the fight.

This wasn't the only problem I had with them either.

Christopher Zeman

http://salliemaebeef.com

[Desert Bloom]

Sallie mae is just messed up.

Last August they sent me a payment plan with the first payment, about $2500, due 11/15.

I was all prepared to do so. Then I get a phone call on 10/28 from the college saying that Sallie Mae is reporting that the payment is almost 3 months past due. I forwarded him the copy of the statement showing the November due date for the 1st payment.

He calls back a few days later and says that they changed the payment schedule and that Sallie Mae is showing it as late. Big problem, because I never received this new statement from them.

I called Sallie Mae, explained the situation very nicely and asked for their help -- they were incredibly rude, and said it was my problem and that the entire amount was now due and payable because the payments were 90 days late -- over $12,000!!!!!

Not sure what to do now -- but I can say for sure that Sallie mae is messed up.