I just need to vent about FedLoan Servicing. They recently took over a student loan of mine that was purchased by the Department of Education. Since taking over my loan, I must admit that they are absolutely horrible. I have another loan with Sallie Mae, and the difference in customer service and usability is incredible.
FedLoan started off poorly in the fact that I had to re-sign-up for all of the direct debit and online statements that I already had setup with the Dept. of Education. To make matters worse, there is a lag time of approximately two billing cycles before my direct debit would kick-in. Also, my student loan qualifies for an interest rate reduction if I sign-up for online statements. Well, I lost the reduction, and had to re-gain it after the transfer.
Next, after FedLoan confirmed to me that my direct debit was processed and I have a confirmation letter stating this, their payment system does NOT process my payment. I log-on to my account, and there are big notices saying “DELINQUENT!” I call FedLoan, and the clerk is completely ignorant and rude, and refuses to answer any of my questions. I call back, and speak to another clerk, who tells me that FedLoan has all kinds of problems with their payment systems, and that this happens all the time. I finally have to get her manager on the phone, who basically admits this without actually admitting it, and fixes all my problems.
Finally, I had a payment pending for 2 weeks before it was credited to my account. If FedLoan is a loan servicer, then why won’t it process my payment! Furthermore, they have a pay-ahead program, which they call a safety net, but it really makes it difficult and confusing.
For example, if you have direct debit on your account, you would expect your payment to be withdrawn each month. Say it is $200. Well, if you make a stand-alone payment of $200, expecting to pay down more on your loan, your direct debit will not go through, since you already paid the minimum. Therefore, you really didn’t make an extra payment. You then have to manually make another payment. How ridiculous. My mortgage debits my account the same each month. If I make an extra payment, it makes no difference!
Fedloan’s business practices are shameful, and what makes them worse is that they are contracted by the United States Department of Education!
Read the Rest of the Story in Three Parts:
- FedLoan Servicing – The Horrible Saga Continues
- Why I Hate FedLoan Continued
- Getting Out From Student Loan Debt
Thanks for following along!
Note: This post was edited to clarify the payment practices. There is a lot of misunderstanding surround this program.
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This post was written by...
Robert – who has written 317 posts on The College Investor.
Robert is the founder and editor of The College Investor, a personal finance site dedicated to young adult and college student finances. You can learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter or Facebook.
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
Since posting this article, we have been receiving over 20 hits a day to check out this single post. The most common search is “Fedloan Servicing Scam”. I want to point out that Fedloan is a legitimate student loan servicer, but they have horrible business practices.
I also want to commend Fedloan’s customer service for reaching out to me regarding this post, but it really doesn’t change the fact that their practices are not fulfilling the spirit of the recently passed legislation surrounding student loans.
Here is Fedloan’s response to several of my points:
“Direct Debit and Online Statements
Robert, I mean you no disrespect, but there is nothing decent about there practices. The more research i do the more i find out how they are deciving people.
jeff
i am so glad someone posted their comment! they are the worst people i have dealt with! out of the blue they cannot with drawl money out of my account and had me for 2 hours thinking it was my fault and had me calling the bank several times and just giving me the run around, they have really messed me up big time! i have to shut down because of the stress and until they get it together i have no other option but to postpone my payments-they were rude! it is hard enough for me to make the payments and to have them cause me stress is not happening, they claim they can’t take it out of my account but didn’t have a problem with it the month before. And my payments were raised, which weren’t suppose to be raised and were suppose to take off the interest which was never done.
not really the worst in my experience. theyve braught me current about 4 times without paying yet, i understand the crankiness with having student loans screw you over by transition though, tis poop
This is a scam for sure. I don’t think the Dept. of Education did their research about this company at all. I just got off the phone with FedLoan and I am just as upset as I was prior to the phone call with them. I have been making monthly payments but their website shows a payment date of 8/18/2010 everytime whether the payment was made in Aug., Sept, Oct. or Nov. it doesn’t matter it still displays 8/18/2010. Interest is calculated on the original loan amount (64 cents a day in my case) and the monthly payments that I have made are applied to the principal but interest is accruing based on the original loan amount with no regard to payments being made. A clear indication of this is that the Unpaid Interest was at over $50 when I knew that couldn’t be since for the last 4 months payments had been made. So, this company is a TRUE rip-off. This year has been a MAJOR MESS thanks to the mandated changes of who can administer student/parent loans. The loans were sent off to multiple companies and you have to question are these legitimate companies that say they now service my loan and I had no input as to who I am dealing with. Due to the inaccurate information provided on their online web page concerning our loans and the I would think illegal calculation of interest and ignoring payments being made, I am using a loan from another avenue to pay off this loan with FedLoan just so I can get rid of them and not have to deal with such a BAD company. Dept. of Education I HOPE you get your act together and research the companies you are farming out these loans to because so far this company really makes the Dept. of Education look very bad.
This company is practicing illegal and unethical practices by just charging me 164.32 for the interest without letting me know. I live below the poverty line and am disabled and I am upset about this. Heck, they give free tuitions to illegal immigrants yet harass me with financial abuse. There letter and their website is not credited by the Better Business Bureau, nor do they have disclosures on their letter heads.
The government contracts with these junk companies to lower your score and to make you delinquent so they can garnish your wages.
Just got a statement from them saying I am two months delinquent, yet, my loan consolidator sends me a statement two months ago saying that all lenders have been paid off and I am good with the new consolidated loan. What IS it? Did the consolidator screw up or did NelNet? I have to sort all this crap out tomorrow and it’s really ticking me off.
I meant, FedLoan, not Nelnet. But they suck, too. Had a couple of student loans sold to them as well.
Glad to hear that it just isn’t us! I have paid it twice to no avail! I’m worried about turning it into a direct debit as I wonder if it’d actually work or not.
Did the manager say how they fixed it? Or do they just like people to call again and again until they’re annoyed and irate with the lowly first rep you get?
Thanks for the post.
No, the manager could not say how they fixed it…and it’s not really even fixed. I had to call so many times, and it wasn’t until I posted it here on my site that it really got their attention!
TOTALLY AGREE. I have had nothing but problems with them since they bought my loan. The customer service people are rude (and just keep repeating the same stock phrases over and over, rather than having a conversation). I have had to re-defer every 6 months, and each time they come up with some reason to deny it a couple of times (thereby making it delinquent and charging me interest) before they allow it go through. There’s always some magic missing piece of data. They are a scam, through and through. The Dept of Education should be ashamed of themselves for working with such an disreputable company. Good post.
I just started paying my Fedloan students loans and noticed this:
59% of my monthly payment is going to interest, 41% is going to principal. (That’s worse than the worst credit card.)
For my (many other) student loans from other companies, my monthly payments always pay at least 75% to principal, and never more than 25% to interest.
So I’ve emailed Fedloan to see if there is some mistake. If there’s no mistake, I will quickly throw all the extra money I can at the principal on my Fedloan student loans, and ensure that Fedloan gets as little interest out of me as possible.
Horrible…I doubt its a mistake. They just rip off their borrowers!
Received a notice on 1/3 stating the Dept of Ed loans were transferred to FedLoans. Same day received a bill for the payment due 4 days later and was $70 more than it should have been. Called but could not get an answer as to why it was increased (the amounts and interest rates were all the same as with the Dept of Ed). Now, one week later I get a notice stating my payments are now almost $1000/month (December was $180 and January was $250). They changed the length of the loan from a 20 year graduated to a 10 year standard so that I know am supposed to pay it off in the next 2 years. When I called, I was offered to change to a different graduated plan that would be for the next 25 years. The idiot couldn’t understand why I did not want to extend the payments for another 12 years beyond what I had, not to mention paying the interest for all that time too. Told it was a “computer glitch” and he would put in a request for it to be corrected. I am not holding my breath considering they website also states the payment I made on the 5th online (for a 7th due date) has not been made and is delinquent.
I need some help. I have been paying off my loan these past two months with nelnet but fedloan is saying I am 24 days past due on a payment and now have two payments due soon. Is this a mixup on fedloans end? Please help!
You should call both FedLoan and NelNet. Chances are, FedLoan bought the loan, but NelNet never reported the payment. Make sure that you have your proof (i.e. canceled checks, bank statements showing the direct ACH, etc.). And good luck! Ask to speak to a supervisor, and maybe even record the phone call (easy with an iPhone). They may make you make your request in writing. Forward them all of your proof, and make sure you get it certified with a return receipt (it will cost you about $5.00, but that is worth not ruining your credit).
Finally, contact the Dept. of Education and file a complaint if you are still not getting a resolution.
Whenever the government gets included shit like this always happens. I read all your posts, and sincerely, I am completely freaked out. Why did my loans even went to that company, or even better yet, why did the department of education bought it in the first place? My loan was supposed to be with a Bank to start with!
Wow, I just got an email that my student loans got sold to these guys.
Wonderful. Absolutely Wonderful. >_<
Update regarding post #15. Originally talked to them on 1/10 regarding what they called a computer glitch. Talked to another rep on 1/18 and was told they are still working on fixing the payment issue. Just talked to a supervisor today (1/27) and was told that the payments were adjusted, but since it went through on their system on 1/25 and the February bill was printed on 1/18, there is nothing they can do for February. Here were my choices: either pay almost $1000 for February (the new correct payment is just under $200) or put in for a forbearance, which requires either payment of over $700 in accrued interest (based on their incorrect calculations) or capitalize that interest and pay interest on that amount for the next 12 years. Yet again, they still don’t understand why I am so upset. Further, I don’t know what I can even do about it other than bend over as I pay them $700 they should not be charging me.
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE.
This is a nightmare for me. I can’t wait to pay this one off
Add me to this list. They cash your check and then digitally harass you with payment late/credit rating threats. But since my recent auto loan rejections, fedloan recorded conversations with reps since 11/24/10, a clear digital trail, bank records, loan statements and most of all a conference call between the previous lender and fedloan confirming the account balance and payments, we’ll be meeting in court. Should be fun. Pro se will never be so easy.
I could not agree more about how rude and unorganized this Fedloan Servicing company is. I was never informed that they were servicing my loan. They sent me a letter stating that I was delinquent on my account. I have not missed a student loan payment in years! I have proof from my bank that they cashed the check I sent them. The guy I talked to said even with proof it could take up to 90 days to resolve so in the mean time I would have to make my payment again to avoid messing up my credit. What a joke, they were so rude I just hung up the phone in tears. How can they legally do this?
Thanks for sharing your story. You do have to continue making payments, but you don’t have to pay any extra interest or penalties until the investigation is complete. You should also call back and speak to a supervisor. All calls are recorded, and they can hopefully help you get this resolved. It is also important to document everything in writing and send it certified mail with return receipt (so you have your proof it arrived). It does cost a few dollars, but it is worth it to not ruin your credit.
My boyfriend is experiencing problems with this company as well. His loans went into repayment, and he paid the first payment online using his checking account with no problem. He has paid January payment 2-3 times and it keeps rejecting it. They have blamed his routing number, the bank, and basically made up a new excuse every time he has called. Whenever he makes the payment, he gets the confirmation number. He calls back a couple of days later and is told the payment has gone through. Then a week later, he gets a letter in the mail saying he is still delinquent. I know this is going to end up affecting his credit and it is ridiculous. He just got off the phone with customer service again and they have told them that some banks are now requiring a separate routing number for online payments. His bank is Wells Fargo, as is mine. I have never had an issue with online payments using the Wells Fargo routing number, so I don’t believe this story. Has anyone else had this problem?
ALL of my loans have been sold to FedLoan. What a nightmare! I only received notice that my Dept. of Ed loans were being serviced by FedLoan. They have screwed up every payment I have made to them; either leaving the payment hanging in limbo for 6 weeks and sending me delinquent notices, or crediting my payments to the wrong loans, and….you guessed it, telling me I’m delinquent. Did I mention that every time I call them they tell me my loan payment is a different amount? Or that they keep forgetting to sent payment notices? Or that they don’t have the 1098 Tax information for interest paid on my loans for 2010. I’m supposed to get that information from the previous loan server who tells me to get it from FedLoan.
My kids have loans with SallieMae and they are every bit as bad, if not worse.
Are there any college loan servicers out there that are doing a decent job?
Fedloan bought half of my student loans from another institution. Shorly after the buyout we sold our house but where required to pay off the student loans directly at the time of sale. By mistake, the entire amount of student loan payoff was sent to fedloan who was more than happy to cash the check eventhough it was for twice the payoff that was owed to them. Since the payoff in Nov, I have spoken to several different people at fedloan who all acknowledge that they received and cashed the additional amount but can’t figure out how to cut a check to ME for MY money. Todays’ date is Mar. 8th and the last person I talked to, yesterday told me that the matter has to be referred to their “financial investigation dept.” which typically takes 30 to 60 days to investigate. I failed to mention that 3 wks ago, a representative lied to me by telling me a refund check was being mailed to me… didn’t happen!!! In the meanwhile the other lending institution that was to be paid off, in Nov., is patiently waiting for me to send the money that I can’t pry from the incompetent hands of fedloan. I am now requesting my 3rd forbarence from the other insitution so that I may protect my credit. AMAZING!!!! Today I am contacting a lawyer.
My son is going through an absolute nightmare with these people. They claim he didn’t pay the full amount, but of course, he did and made him run around finding our from his bank that FED LOAN made the error!! Now they tell him it is with their FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION DEPT and to just pay the “extra” and late fees and ONCE they fix THEIR ERROR, they will refund the money. YEAH<RIGHT
MY Question–Is there anyone out there who wants to file a class action suit against this horrible company?
It would take me forever to share my full horror story with FedLoan, but I wanted to answer to the poster above-I would for sure be a part of a class action suit against them. Their practices are unacceptable. I actually came across this page while googling to find out if anyone had sued them before. It needs to be done!!!
My son is completing his 1st year of college. In this second semester he took about $5k in stafford sub and unsbusidzed loans. He anticiaptes taking more during his next 3 years of school. Two days after the school submitted for the loans, fedloan sent my son a letter advising they control they loans. I was hoping it was just a scam after reading all these negative posts. He’s got years to go before repayment. Can I hope that between now and then fedloan will get its act together? Sounds like online payments are the problem. Do they accept monthly checks sent by mail? How can these people be allowed to conduct business if they are so BAD?
I’m having trouble with my servicer! They’ve grouped them together… is this legal? Its not quite consolidation but still.. they say they can’t separate them and the department of education made them that way. Does any one have any opinion on this? Anyone have any argument I could throw at them? I really need them separated like they were when I accepted them. I start the grace period in may. Serviecer is my great lakes
When you say they have grouped them together, are you saying that you have multiple loans, and Great Lakes wants one payment to pay them all?
Yes, My Great Lakes holds a total of five loans. Some of them are subsidised and some are unsubsidised. They’ve grouped them by year accepted it seems, so the two earliest ones are in one account and the later three are in a seperate account. I did not authorize any type of consolidation. I’m not yet in the repayment phase but when the loans come due it is set up for two payments to them, one for each account. (so one payment for three loans, and one payment for two loans)
That is common practice – because your Master Promissory Note is for the year, and so the two loans are considered one loan with two distributions. They also group the subsidized and unsubsidized together since they are different loans. It is not consolidation. Student loan consolidation would be where you get a new single loan, and you pay off the 5 individual loans with it. Then, you have one single payment.
Why do you want 5 payments instead of 2? Why do you need them separate?
I’m not sure I’m being clear. Let me try again. I have two loans for 2009, two loans for 2010, and one loan for 2012. One of the 2009 loans is subsidised, the other is unsubsidised. One of the 2010 ones is unsubsidised as well, the rest are subsidised. If I understand what you said correctly, they should treat the 2009 loans as one loan, the 2010 as one loan and the 2012 as one loan. Which is not how they’re handling it. They have the 2012 loan with the 2010 loans, and the 2009 loans by themselves. While this is close to what you described its not exactly, and they have unsub with sub (which may be common? But their interest rates and details are different) In addition I cannot direct which loan my money goes to directly.
The main reason I wish them to be seperate is so that I can pay the interest plus the principle on one loan and wipe it out. The way they have set it up inhibits this now and in the future. The payment can only go towards interest of all loans in the account and then to the principle, essentially making it harder to reduce the principle earlier.
Thanks for your help! I had called and bugged them enough so that they separated them the way I wanted. I now have an individual account for each of my loans and will have an individual payment due for each of them. This is the way I had prepaired for, and the way that my peers usually have dealt with theirs.
Thank you
I began grad school in the fall, luckily before the announcement that there would be no more Stafford loans for it, and received notification that FedLoan was going to be my servicer. I googled the name of the company, and then I hoped it was a joke. The first hit was this site.
Since then I got very luckily and got a job that remits nearly the equivalent of my loan amount, so I canceled my student loan for the remainder of the school year. Several people in the financial aid office at my institution told me I would still be on the hook for the loan fees on the disbursed amount and any interest on those fees. This was in December. I never heard a peep from FedLoan about the status of my student loan.
I finally, two months later, went and checked, and it says my loans are paid in full. But how can this be possible? I must owe the loan fee–and I must owe interest on the disbursed unsubsidized loan principle and the loan fee. And more to the point, why the hell didn’t FedLoan contact me to let me know my loans had been canceled? What if I hadn’t been the one to cancel them? I would’ve been royally screwed come my tuition payment in January. What a loser of a company.
My loan is through the US Department of Education. I can’t even begin to tell you the nightmare I am having with them. This all sounds so familiar!!! I have spoken with a few customer service reps and two supervisors. I have had it!! They all give me different stories. I starting making my payments. First payment was in October, that was credited to my account properly. Made my second payment in November and that was credited to may account properly. Made my December payment which I mailed a check Dec. 16, 2011, the US Dept of Education cashed it (electronically) on Dec. 19, 2011 and it cleared my bank account (Wells Fargo) on Dec. 20, 2011. It has yet to be posted to my account. Here I am two months later…still not applied! I have been told numerous stories. “Some checks have to be entered manually, that they are back logged”, “they have a new system”, blah, blah, blah! These are all excuses! They admitted to having my money but won’t apply my December 2011 payment. In my opinion….I believe they posted it to another account and can’t find the mess up or as mentioned above….the US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION is out to SABOTAGE your credit! One customer service representative even tried to talk my into “forbearance”. Are you kidding me??? This is not my problem….it is their problem!! I will not stop here. I have excellent credit and have worked very hard for it….I will not let the US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ruin it!
Question – Has anyone filed a class action law suit against this company??? As mentioned above, I too, would like to file a suit againt them!
Hey, so I just got my first loan and got two emails from that company. Do I have to give my social security info on the sign in right now? I mean, I just started using the loan, do I have to activate an acct with them online now or can I wait till later? Sucks to hear how crappy of a company they are!
You don’t need to sign in immediately, but it could be helpful. You will have to give your social security number to verify your account.
FEDLOAN NEEDS TO DEVELOP A BETTER SYSTEM OF DEALING WITH STUDENTS TRYING TO RESOLVE ISSUES, MAKING PAYMENTS AND SECURING DOCUMENTS. I AM FED UP WITH FEDLOANS. THEY TEND TO LOOSE TRANSACTIONS AND REQUIRE DUPLICATE OR TRIPLICATE DOCUMENTATION. THEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU HAVE FINALLY DONE EXACTLY AS REQUESTED, THE REQUIREMENTS KEEP CHANGING FROM ONE CORRESPONDENCE TO THE NEXT. I AM READY TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH AN ATTORNEY NAVIGATING THE REST OF THE PROCESS WITH FEDLOAN. INCONVENIENCE AND CONFUSION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME THERE.
For More Information or to File a Complaint
To learn about federal student loans, write the U.S. Department of Education at:
U.S. Department of Education
Federal Student Aid Information Center
P.O. Box 84
Washington, DC 20044-0084
800-4-FED-AID (TTY: 800-730-8913)
http://www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov
Notify the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman at 1-877-557-2575 or http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov if you have a complaint that you cannot resolve with your lender.
For questions about a particular lender, contact the federal agency with jurisdiction over that lender:
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Regulates banks with “national” in the name or “N.A.” after the name:
Office of the Ombudsman
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street, Suite 3450
Houston, TX 77010
800-613-6743 toll-free
http://www.occ.treas.gov
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Regulates state-chartered banks that are members of the Federal Reserve System, bank holding companies, and branches of foreign banks:
Federal Reserve Consumer Help PO Box 1200
Minneapolis, MN 55480
888-851-1920 (TTY: 877-766-8533) toll-free
ConsumerHelp@FederalReserve.gov
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Regulates state-chartered banks that are not members of the Federal Reserve System:
Division of Supervision & Consumer Protection
550 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20429
877-ASK-FDIC (275-3342) toll-free
http://www.fdic.gov
National Credit Union Administration
Regulates federally chartered credit unions:
Office of Public and Congressional Affairs
1775 Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-3428
703-518-6330
http://www.ncua.gov
Office of Thrift Supervision
Regulates federal savings and loan associations and federal savings banks:
Consumer Programs
1700 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20552
800-842-6929 toll-free
http://www.ots.treas.gov
Federal Trade Commission
Regulates non-bank lenders:
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580
877-FTC-HELP (382-4357) toll-free
http://www.ftc.gov
The FTC works to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. To file a complaint or get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. Watch a video, How to File a Complaint, at ftc.gov/video to learn more. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, administers the federal student financial aid — grants, loans, and work-study programs — available for education beyond high school. Federal Student Aid interacts with postsecondary schools, financial institutions and other participants in the student aid programs to deliver services that help students and families plan and pay for college.
To learn more about Federal Student Aid and how to pay for college, visit http://www.FederalStudentAid.ed.gov or call call 1-800-4-FED-AID.
The Federal Student Aid Ombudsman is available to individuals with specific complaints. To learn more about the Ombudsman, visit http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov or call 1-877-557-2575.
Fed Loans is unethical. It’s unbelievable. I’ve been paying about $450 monthly through their Kwikpay service with minimal problems. However, due to a system glich, Kwikpay has scheduled a $3700 draft from my account for February 2012. When I called the the customer service center, they said that its too late to change the autodebit, but I can file for a refund which will take approximately 30-60 days. Per customer service, a system change caused this widespread problem due for loans with multiple due dates. (Instead of breaking down into 52 remaining monthly payments, the system broke the balance into 6 monthly payments) According to customer service, they had no procedures to notify borrowers using Kwikpay when they became aware of this problem. Thank goodness I checked online before the draft and I can move funds, but I can only imagine the havoc it can cause to someone not aware of this issue. Has this happened to anyone else?
jackie, i would not do any on line payments with fed loan servicing at all. When you go to their website that they advise you to do please read their disclamer statement. This clearly states that if you use this service you give up your rights to your original promissary contract and give fed loan servicing ” the right to change and alter your loan conditions and payments at any time with out notifing you.” this is only one of their scams as i am finding out.
I posted to pay off the rest of my loan using money from my tax return. It got posted to same day that my automated monthy payment is normally taken out. They charged my bank account for the payment in full and then proceeded to also charge me the normal monthly payment. Now, since it has been paid off the website will no longer show me my payment details. It does show the extra charge in parenthesis on the account overview page. I e-mailed them about this. Their reply:
Thank you for contacting FedLoan Servicing. Approximately 45 days after your final payment was received in our office, a request will be submitted to the U.S. Treasury Department to refund the credit balance. A letter stating your loans are paid in full will be mailed to you 30 days after the loan reflects a zero balance.
I am not happy.
Same problem with the routing number nonsense. Told them I made the first payment online last month with the same routing number with no problem, but now it’s telling me the routing number is wrong. Their response, “As a courtesy, we accept the first payment with the wrong number, then you have to get the right one.” My response, “That makes absolutely no sense! How did it go through perfectly the first time if the routing number was wrong?!?” My bank even said there is no alternate routing number. I should also note that my payments for my other loan provider go through what appears to be the exact same payment system and there have never been any problems (even with the payment I made to them mere minutes before attempting to make one to FedLoan). Do they think we are stupid? I spoke to what was supposed to be a supervisor (though it was probably the regular rep who sits in the next cubicle…or the janitor…) and was told they would have the financial department look into it and get back with me. I won’t hold my breath.
So glad to see all these other comments. I HAAAAAAAAAAAATE THIS COMPANY!!! They are absolutely the WORST. I was just speaking with some little prissy pants who decided to be a total b*** to me even though THEY screwed up. Literally, took money out of my direct deposit TWICE this month (of unequal amounts which doesn’t even make any sense) and then on top of it tells me they can’t refund it…well, they could but it’ll take 30-60 days. WTF?!!! I now have $8 left in my checking account for the rest of the month is it’s only the 22nd. They are so incredibly rude, make mistakes, and don’t fix their own problems. If at all possible STAY AWAY from using these scam artists. I HATE this company.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. I paid my first payment online before the due date. I paid the second payment using the phone service, also before the due date. FedLoan Servicing company keeps contacting me saying the payment is overdue. They are also sending me emails asking me to refinance the rest of my loans with them. MOHELA holds the rest of my loans, which I’ve been paying off since last year. I was searching to see if anyone else thought the Dept of Education refinance offer was a good offer. Even if it is a good offer, I think I might pass it up only because MOHELA holds the biggest portion of my loans. I’ve so far had a decent experience with MOHELA. I think I will stay away from FedLoan Servicing.
I was just wondering — there are so many problems with this company, and a lot of it seems to revolve around faulty debits from checking accounts. Just curious: why are people opting for auto payments from their accounts? Is this a “requirement” (which would not be legal to mandate). My loan just got transferred to these knuckleheads, and I am extremely apprehensive of the issues that will be forthcoming. But, one thing for sure — they will never get auto access to any account of mine, and I will gladly file a lawsuit if it is required.
It’s not just automatic payments, but regular payments as well sometimes. The best advice is to be very vigilant in your dealing with them.
pam, i also will never give these knuckleheads my checking info. Especially after i read their disclamer on their web site which they directed me to. It clearly states that if you use this service you give up your rights to your promisary contract and give them the right to ” change and alter your loan in any way that they want with out notifing you “. That was one of the first red flags.
jeff
Has anyone run into an issue with having to send FedLoan.org an Unemployment Deferment Form?
It was a PDF & allowed me to enter info, but then it made me “upload” it to EchoSign, which wanted either an email addy (which is not available — even via “contact us”) or a Fax number WITH COUNTRY CODE.
My attempt to send it with the country code of “1″ (which I googled) failed.
I called FedLoan customer support and the woman said to “get out of that” and that she had “never heard of that.” She said I should be given the option to print, then sign, and manually fax.
I clicked on the link they (FedLoan.org) sent me in my paperless inbox on their site.
WTF?
When I went to deferment forms and found the list with all the forms, I clicked on “file online” or something like that, not the other link beside it. It prompted me to sign in again. When I signed in AGAIN, it took me right back to my account summary page.
So, I tried again, and just went in the same loop I’d just been in. I did it 3 times just to be sure it wasn’t me, then called the woman who didn’t help me and had never heard of “EchoSign.” I’m just going to print & sign, then manually fax.
But still, my info (ssn, name, address) are somewhere in a database for EchoSign, and FedLoan employees have no idea WTF is going on with that company.
What a freakin’ joke!
I have to add: I have never had rude service from the people at Federal Loan Servicing. They have always been nice and helped me. I spoke with 2 females today, and the first is the one to tell me I could file the Unemployment Deferment Form online. I think she’s the one to send the link for the form to my paperless inbox.
The second was nice, but ignorant to what might be a new way of signing and sending forms online. (Maybe that one form is an experiment? The other forms I clicked on have the option to print that she spoke of and that I’m familiar with.)
However, if all their employees are not aware of a certain service or contract with another company, then it makes the company look bad. And it certainly makes the experience of the end-user unpleasant – to say the least!
What a nightmare. Thank you everyone for the warning about these. Figured it had to be a scam after they sent me 573957039570235 emails disguised as something from the Department of Education.
That’s awesome. So, the Dept. of Education contracts with FedLoan, then FedLoan contracts with other companies…how ridiculous!
You can still make direct principal payments, but you must call or send them a letter stating you want additional payments to go to principal directly. It is annoying, but if you do that, you will get your principal paid off.
When they are talking about the payment going to interest first, I’m sure they are talking about accrued interest (which accrued while you were in school). You should consider this principal and not future interest on the loan.