American Education Services [AES] review: loan 100

I co-signed a loan for my daughter about 8 years ago. I had no idea that the interest rate woudl go so high - the loan was for $30, 000 and today the amount due on the loan is $45, 000. $15, 000 in interest! Something is not right. The payments are so incredibly high - my daughter is unemployed, I can't come up with $400 a month in payments and I have no idea what do do. Can anyone give me some advice?

This company is ridiculous! They are worse than Citibank. I tried to pay off my loan based on the balance shown on the account. Apparently they don't show you the interest accrued for that loan in the balance. Yes, it seems so simple that I should know what my principle is but when you have 10 different loans from undergrad and grad you tend to forget the principle of every loan plus I applied for forebearance and blah blah blah everything gets twisted around. I even keep an excel spreadsheet of all my loan info but since things change so often and repeated mailings about this change to your account and that one it is sometimes hard to keep up with everything. Sorry, back to the issue at hand. Anyways, I was trying to pay of the balance at this time and failed to add in the interest accrued into the balance amount. So when I made a payment, I still had a balance left. Of course they don't apply the entire payment you made to the principle, but to some of the interest. So for a $10, 000 balance and say a $200 interest (that you didn't realize was not included in the balance) you pay $10, 000 and they apply $9, 800 to the principle and the rest to the interest. WHY? Because by the time you figure out what has happened (7 days later) they have accrued interest on what's left of the principle at the very least if not accrue interest on the original loan amount. Now that means you owe 7 days more of interest than the original day you tried to payoff your loan. Who knows for sure but what you are certain of is that you are getting screwed no matter what. The customer service rep was not that helpful and he just read off his script and then added slight jabs of insult into his "explinations" such as, "you have to call in to find out what your loan pay off balance before you make a payment and when you do this is when we give you a disclosure about what is going on." Such bull. Even Citibank's customer service isn't this inept. Why do I have to call in for my loan "pay off balance" when you show the balance online. Just like any other bank account or credit card statment, include the interest in the balance for every billing cycle / stament issued!

Its bad enough that the mortgage bankers gave suspect loans to people trying to fulfill their american dream and buy a house, but now banks and loan companies have found new and unsuspecting victims in students who have no other choice. If you want the american dream of an education, you have to succum to these ridiculously shadey loan companies. This is akin to getting a loan from the mob.

I have a monthly Payment of $475.00 a month, I've paid these guys over $10, 000 over the past 3 years and due to daily accrueing intreast I now owe MORE money than when I started.

Last month I worked an extra job to earn the $500 I needed to get the accout current. Each month the due date was always around the same time rent was due, so I would have to wait for my next check to make my student loan payment. I would always be a month behind due to this. Finally I worked an extra job so that I could get current. I went to my computer and paid my current bill ( I paid them 2 times in one month to catch up)

I got a call 10 days later telling me that my balance for the previous month had not been paid. I checked my account and the money had not come out, so I went to my computer and paid them a second time.

One week later I got a call telling me that I still had not paid my bill and I was almost a month behind, and that I now had to pay a late fee.

I paid a third time, and agrued for hours on the phone with their customer service who refused to believe that I had made the payment. I asked them "Why should I have to pay a late fee because of your incompetience?" They responded "Our records say that we haven't done anything wrong, It's not our fault that you can't pay your bills on time."

I went through great pains to catch up to these insane bill payments, just to end up behind due to their mistakes, just to be told that it's all my fault.

Look, I've got no problem paying back a loan, but to structure the intreast in such a way that they can jack it up at will, so that by the time you pay it off you've paid more than twice what you borrowed is nothing more than theft.

AES is essentially the mob. I used to think Sallie Mae was egregious, they are lambs compared to AES. not only do I agree with all of the astute comments made here about the inept customer service, these people are purposefully rude, confusing, and not helpful. Over the years, I have been talked down too, been told to speak English (I only speak English), I've asked questions that were followed by disconnecting, pretending to not hear, and then just put on hold. I so wish I wasn't duped into getting a loan for a degree that was supposed to be covered by insurance claim, (another matter) and essentially insurance and AES worked together to get me the 17% loan. Now I own 20 grand more than the original loan amount and still pay over $700 a month to them. I really can't afford to do this the rest of my life, after 5 years in my career I still pray for each payday to come so that I might reach ZERO. Thanks for duping us, I had no choice about getting this loan, and I have no options than to be fleeced for what seems like the next 30 years. Damn I won't even live that long. Meanwhile, I still won't be able to buy even a trailor. I seriously dream everyday of just going to a non extradition country, or doing a identity change, but I have real people I love, and I think that is illegal too. I so wish I didn't ever go back to school. AES, thanks for working with me to take every cent I'm worth. A holes. I hate your customer service, you are totally subsidized 100% and yet you rely on Loan Sharking to pad the coffers of your CEOs. Go to hell you rich greedy ###s. You strangle the working class of this once strong country.

Agree! Avoid if possible! I have been fighting with them for 6 months to get a deferment for my daughter who is in the Peace Corps and cannot contact them herself. They have been totally unhelpful- wouldn't send the correct form or even tell me which form to send her. At the same time they keep calling an harassing me 4-5 times a week. I ended up picking the wrong form (it said specifically it was for Peace Corps volunteers). The result is she is 6 months overdue and they have tacked on all kinds of late fees. I am beginning to suspect they are dragging their feet on purpose for this reason. I am very close to filing a formal complaint. BEWARE!

I've had my student loan differed for a year due to being on temp. disability and I recieved a statement of the amount interest incured 3 weeks ago that stated that AES would be sending me a bill 20 days before it's due... right well I just recieved it today the 20th saying it's due the 1st! The letter was post-marked the 18th and AES says "We don't know why the post office didn't send it out but we sent it on the 12th" Oh and they had to add "legally we don't have to provide a bill it's a courtesy that we do" What the hell is this! I work with postal mail and I know that the post office has to post-mark the mail the day they recieve it! Hey AES way to pass the buck! The Federal Postal Service is going to love hearing about how they are to blame for your billing date issues!
On another note I'd like to say I love this site! With AES handling pretty much every student loan out there we definately need a site dedicated solely to their complaints!

I mistakenly sent them $1500 using my bank online bill pay. I was trying to pay my American Express bill and American Education Services was in the box above American Express. I simply put the payment amount in the wrong box. When I discovered the mistake, I called asking for them to return the money. They said that it is their policy that if a customer sends them money and it's not due to their error, they keep the money! They keep they money! I had an officer of my bank talk to them and worked up three levels and were met with absolute stubborn refusal to return my money. I have filed a complaint with the BBB, for all the good it will do. They are crooks, plain and simple. I loathe them!

I am unemployed and my ex husband is not working either. We are trying to get a deferment for the loan. I've filled out the forms 3 times and I've faxed them about 10 times with confirmations of reciept. I've mailed them with UPS and tracked them, they got them. I've scanned them in and emailed them. They keep telling me they didn't get the forms via fax, they didn't get the email and once they told me they lose mail internally. They are intentionally dragging thier feet. I went so far as to ask to drive to AES and meet with someone to submit the forms, but they refused to see me. I've been considering filing a complaint with the court house and calling my congressman.

Yes, I agree with all of these commets. In my case I am unemployed due to the economy, not due to my fault, have been since last year (what's new?). I had a deferment through 12/31/08.

I wrote to them in response to their bills in January, February, March and April, informing them I had NO MONEY to make ANY payment and when I have an income again, I will determine how much I can afford to pay and set the new payment terms on the account. I kept copies of all of these documents AND included state certification of my lack of employment (food stamp benefit received) since October 2008. I was out of work BEFORE October 2008, but had to ask for state help at that time.

They have ignored ALL of my written communication, but did send me a deferrment/forebearance form last month. I completed it, returned it, they replied "denied" because no payments made since last deferment ended in 12/08 and three payments must be made to be considered for addtional deferment(!)

I AM OUT OF WORK. I HAVE NO MONEY. WHERE DO THESE *SSHOLES THINK I WILL FIND IT, ROB A BANK?

I am getting ready to send them my last letter, it will read something like:

"As you know from the numerous past letters I have sent to you and you have ignored, I have no means to make payment on this account. This is the last time I will communicate with you. No payment will be made on this account, now or at any future time. I have written this debt off and will refuse to make payment. When the statute of limitations for this private (educational) loan have expired, it will no longer appear on my credit history or will be legally removed. Do not contact me again. Any further mail will be returned, unopened, to you, postage-due, at your expense."

I have no assets, no real property, no employment and these jerks seem to think they can squeeze blood out of a stone. They are sending a "reconsideration form", but if they refuse the "reconsideration", I will write them off and refuse to ever pay them, ever.

I encourage others to refuse to pay this company, if enough do, they will get the message. Even better, tell them in writing you have written the debt off and under your policy it is no longer a valid account and you will not make payment and they are not to contact you again...(return to sender etc).

The more who refuse them, the better.

Absolutely assisnine. My daughter has been ill, got 18 days behind on two payments due. Eighteen days. Because of missed work whe had to wait an additional week to pick up another paycheck before she could make the payments. My wife was the co-signer on one note, I on the other. We have received a minimum of two phone calls a day, Saturdays and Sundays included - as early as 8 AM on a Sunday morning.

Each time I explained what was happening and was told bluntly the phone calls would continue until we paid our bills and there was nothing we could do about it. Rude, insdensitive, uncaring. Today I indicated that the bill was paid online this morning (2 months, both notes) and was told that the calls would contine for 2 to 3 more days until the electronic transaction "cleared" - and was again told there was nothing I could do about it - pay my bills on time next time.

I am going to be contacting the offices of senators Dodd and Leiberman here in Connecticut, and filing a complaint for harrasment with the state department of consumer protection.

I will NOT be bullied by a ragtag bunch of rude, don't give a damn 20 somethings who work for a "squeeze shop" contracted by AES. I intend to be as rude as they are as often as they are. This is about to become sport, and I might as well enjoy it.

American Education Services has been rejecting my payments from two valid checking accounts for over 90 days. If i knew what I was doing wrong I could fix the problem, but no customer service representative has any idea!
They've told me to try forbearance while I "fix the problem." I don't understand why I should go into forbearance when I've been making timely payments from checking accounts that work everywhere but AES. This has already affected my credit rating, and AES says there is nothing they can do about it. One customer service rep told me "well, try a check from that account again and see what happens." WHY? So my credit score can take a bigger hit while I wait around and get no answers because the rep's can't pull up the specific information on my individual payments? All I'll be told is that I've entered some invalid info for my account, and I'll go back and check everything I've entered (again and again) find NO ERRORS, and confirm that this is the exact payment info I've been using on other sites with no problems.

Has anyone had a similar problem? I feel helpless.

Do you people realize AES is a loan SERVICER. Therefore, they are not the ones setting interest rates, how the interest accrues, what the limit is on deferements and forebearances. The LENDERS do this. AES has been a lender, but unless you have them as a lender, which most of you don't, all they do is manage your loans for the likes of PNC, Citi, BOA.

You are all inept idiots. Your MPN clearly states the guidelines of the loan. Here's a thought, next time you take $30, 000 out in student loans, maybe read the fine print, its pretty important. For God's sakes, you're all going to/went to college, you can use your head and figure out how this stuff works, its not rocket science.

As for the people refusing to pay, go ahead. You'll default on the loans, ruin your credit score for 12 years, and never be able to get a credit card let alone a house. Have fun have your paychecks/taxes have a lien.

Whats the most asinine thing about all all complaining is that you think you have some sort of leverage "power to the people". Guess what, AES, your lenders, and your guarantors are FEDERALLY BACKED. That's right. The US government is the reason you all got to go to school in the first place. Try taking them and their team of lawyers to court, and have fun on the way.

Interest accrues daily on ALL FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. Whether it be serviced by AES, Sallie Mae, or Federal Direct. Take your principal balance, multiply it by your interest rate (in decimal form for you ###s out there) and divide by 365. There ya go, you have your daily interest accrual. Now when you go to send in your payment, you can actually figure out how much will be going to interest in a given month. Of course, thats if you pay on time. If you're behind 60 days, take into account 60 days of interest.

Going to college isn't everyone's right, its a privilege. That's whats wrong with liberal America today. Everyone should be entitled to everything. ###. If you can't even figure out a loan and how it works, you don't have the brain capacity to go to college. Stay out. Wash dishes the rest of your life and let the people with half a brain do the thinking.

Oh, and here's a thought to the Mom with the daughter in the peace corps. Maybe she should have taken care fo her financial responsibilities BEFORE she left. I'm sure she just didn't disappear into the night without letting anyone know she was going. Its something called privacy policy. If AES let everyone call in and make changes to your accounts, how would you feel? I could call in and ruin your lives. A person needs to take a certain responsibility with their money. Don't complain if they didn't think of that before they left. Shes entitled to a deferment right now, and all it takes is about 30 seconds to print the form, fill it out, and put a stamp on an envelope and send it. But its AES' fault because she couldn't find one minute of her day BEFORE she left to take care of that right? You just thought the loan would magically disappear, right?

The ignorance of Americans is absolutely astounding.

I went to a US Medical School--a private one, which means that I have borrowed from possibly every bank there is...may be even some of you guys/gals. Anyhew, finished my 1000 years of training and the loans started coming back like a tsunami. With due deligence here and there I got everything squared away and things are going nice and smooth...except AES/KEY bank . Essentially, everymonth, I spend about two hours correcting their mistakes. KEY bank is even funnier. When AES decided to use all my monthly payments to oversatisfy one account and leave all others in delinquent state, KEY bank calls me that my payments are late. When I asked which accounts are late, not only do they not have the answer, but they get upset with me...kind of like one of my demented patient who was mad at me for not knowing her son's name, which she had forgotten. To make the matter worse, their stupid mistakes led to my credit score dropping from excellent to very weak. I can't buy a house, get a loan or anything for the next 60 days. So, all you prospective borrowers, I would rather pay a bit extra in interest rates to save the headache later. Run away as far as you can. Personally, as soon as my credit is restored, I am going to move from them as well.

I hope it helps.

AES, simply put, are ### infested loan sharks. They lie, cheap, steal and do do with implied impunity. I have the means to hire a damn good lawyer to take them to task, and I am going to do just that. I suggest all of you do the same. Once they start paying huge amounts in damages to those they harmed, perhaps their behavior wil chance, or better yet, they will go away//back to the sewer they call home

I have been having a similar experience with AES and have decided to give them a taste of their own harassment. They automatically send a forbearance form when you don't pay, which of course they will decline if you try to apply. I xeroxed this form and, since all you have to do is fill in the address, have been sending them one application for forbearance every day. Wonder if/when they'll catch on. Anyway, I won't cause them much trouble alone but if we all were to flood them with daily forbearance applications maybe they'd get the point.

I filed for a forbearance and these idiots didn't put it through and now my credit is hurt because of these incompetent A$$holes. Then when I try to complain and voice my opinion all the supervisor says it im sorry that happened is there anything else I can help you with?
Besides all this, you have to very 15 pieces of information when you try to do anything over the phone in an era of identity theft, what are these people thinking?!?

My son is paying so much interest he will probably never get it paid off! Should be a law against it. Maybe he should sell his house and move to a shelter.

haha keep sending those forbearances in, harassment? i think not lol just pay your damn loan. stop crying that they are calling you and get off your lazy @ss and get a job! and the interest rates are given to you by the banks not aes, prom note says variable interest rate so thats what your gonna get unfortunately. Maybe if you people talked more with your financial aid officers before you took the loans out! And for you getting lawyers? how the hell can you afford lawyers when you can't pay your loans? Im pretty sure your lawyers will laugh and say good luck with the lawsuit! Pheaa/AES has their own lawyers that only deal with pathetic people like you! Hey lets try and bring down a company that is backed by the federal government! Yea good luck

Absolute Joke of a company! getting harrassing collection calls and my account is paid each month...
today alone 7 phone calls by 12 noon! STAY AWAY the are criminals... they will promise you the world then take the world from you!

i am writing the us attorney General, my senator even the president... someone has to hold these people accountable for the practices of harrassment. STAY away then they will go out of business and everyone will not be taken avantage of by this crooked company.

AES bites! I have never once had a problem with Sallie Mae, and I havce heard many bad things from people about the way they handle their customers...but AES is by far THE WORST! I have loans with Sallie Mae and AES, and when I decided to go back to school I wrote each of these companies asking that my loans be deferred until I graduated. Sallie Mae had no problem postponing payment, making it a little easier for those of us that enjoy contributing to society to be able to do so. AES on the other hand was a little bit different, you see, when I initially began paying back my loans I made the mistake of slipping on payments to AES, I had defaulted on my account but was able to get it back into rehab and had been paying on it religiously for years. AES hass informed me that my loan is not eligible for deferment because it is in rehab (where it will stay for the life of the loan). How is it possible to keep someones student loan in rehab for the life of the loan. I have checked numerous other lenders/servicers and they show that loans stay in rehab for months...not years and years and years. How can you get ahead when AES refuses to work with you. I am a full time student, employed full time with an incredible family...I'm not an uneducated bum looking for $30, 000 scot free!

OH...and whinerssuck...how long have you been on the AES payroll...why dont you go somewhere that your wanted...we come here to let the world know that AES is a terrible company, not so we can hear how much you loooooove them! I'm sure we all realize that our debt is OUR responsibility, we dont need some douch bag telling us this. There is the chance for everyone to fall on hard times, and when that happens it shouldnt be too terribly awful to ask for a little help from a company that we pay a good chunk of change to every month for years! I would loooooooove to see how much you whined when you lose your job, your house is foreclosed upon and your wife leaves you for that young strapping lad down the road...douch bag

Maybe if you folks would have read your promissory notes before you signed them (i.e. promise to pay all principal and interest, and yes, you folks who cosigned too) instead of worrying about how quick you could get your money you wouldn't be out here complaining...readyourMPN and whinerssuck were right on w/their comments. And you cosigners and parents who do everything for your kids, you are pathetic. How are these kids every going to learn responsibility if you do everything for them.

I've been fighting with AES over the past six months. They have continued to bill me despite the fact that I am enrolled as a full-time student who should be under deferment. I've sent forms, had the school I go to send forms, I've talked on the phone with them, e-mailed them and I get the same response every time. "We don't have you listed as a student, until we get proof that you are we will continue to bill you." I'm usually a pretty mellow guy, and I understand that these people who work there probably don't like giving us the run around, but the hoops they try to make us jump through is beyond insane and I'm going to go berzerk if they don't fix this situation soon. I never had a problem until I graduated from under-grad. I graduated, was accepted into grad school and moved two months laters to start classes, I informed them and they have refused to acknowledge my student status. I fully intend to pay off my debt, as crazy as it is.. but not while I'm enrolled as a full-time student.

And I have read the MPN, yada yada. I think we have some AES folks sneaking in here trying to do some damage control. It isn't working very well.

u notice its only the deadbeats that complain on here, the ones that or totally ignorant and dont have the common sense to do the most simplest tasks...first off aes/pheaa is a servicer for you ###s that cant understand that ill break it down, they service the day to day activity of the loan which is instilled by the lender(bank for the idiots) meaning aes dosent make the rules they just follow them...so if you deadbeats that get a call about being past due, they're just performing their "due dilligence process"...secondly nobody made you take out the loan so to call aes a criminal, or the bank a criminal is upsurd, everything thing is in writing for you idiots before you take out the loan...deferments and or forbearances are misused by the student so they use it all up until theres nothing left, and then the student/cosigner gets irrate because they cant make there payments and they just sat on their lazy ### instead of activly looking for work...dont get me started on cosigners, normally cosigners are older in age, ones that established a decent credit history or old timers that are retired now and could care less about credit...these older people are normally more ignorant then the student, they dont understand what responsiblities they take on by becoming a cosigner, meaning your equally responsible for little johnnies loan that he suddenly took off and is nowhere to be found...you would think college students would be more educated about "life" but i guess they don't teach them common sense...in case you havent figure out yet i do work for aes as an collection agent, and by no means am i trying to rep my job just trying to make the clueless aware of some simple knowledge...its amazing how many people i have to speak to every day that have no clue whatever about their college loan...stupid people suck...

oh and aes is satan, to respond to your post, first off it depends on the type of loan you have, whether its federal or private as far as what options you have when you default your loan, so to compare aes to sallie mae without letting us know what loans you have tells me your ignorant, secondly you defaulted on your loan and thats on you buddy, you made your bed now you have to live in it...idiot...im just going to go out on a whim and say you probably wouldnt even rehabed your loan until you found out you was going to have your wages garnished then that probably sparked a light in your tiny insignificant head...student loans arent a joke ladies and gents, dont take it lightly unless you want your paychecks garnished or your tax income seized...for you losers that want to claim bankruptcy that want a free road to life, it dosent work...your loans wont be forgiven...all these disrespectfull people i speak to on a constant basis i would love to see your look on your face when you find out you aint getting a tax refund...

AES is the most horrible compnay ever. I am in the process of trying to have my loans transferred toanother company. I spoke with a lady by the name of Kalynn Stevers. She is extremely rude and nasty. Asked to speak to her supervisor numerous times and she proceeded to yell in the phone and tell me no. I have never encountered service such as this. How tacky can a company be? Avoid this sham of an operation at ALL costs. They issued a wage garnishment after I made a payment and asked them to send me an automatic debit form. No one ever informed me that I could obtain the form from their misleading web site. They told me they sent me a notice in December. I have every letter they sent me both hard and soft copies and they did NOT send me the notice. I am logging a complaint with the BBB today. As a matter of fact their rating with the BBB is an F. I wonder why...NOT

To the dumb idiot who said we need to get off of our lazy ### and work. Did you see the article today about the woman who is a doctor and can't pay back her student loans. I make payments every month and work you sorry bum. Obviously you are on AES payroll and collect minimum wage. GET A LIFE!

This company was a servicer for my loans. I couldn't pay them and fought them constantly on the amounts. My loans tripled and my payments were unreal. I was paying $12 of interest a day and I felt so hopeless for so many years. I finally decided to fight back. After reading other blogs, I sent a certified debt validation letter and CC'd the loan originators (National Collegiate Trust) that I wanted all documentation regarding the promissory note, the way the payments were calculated, and the history of my payments. I just googled Debt Validation Letter Sample and found a couple. I sent them certified yesterday. I'm sick of these companies thinking we don't have a leg to stand on. This is the link to the complaint board I learned a lot on yesterday... http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/collection-agencies/nes-threatens-legal-action.html NES is the collector for AES. I didn't know about the laws in place to protect us and I suggest everyone take the time to research and learn these. This is the link to the Fair Debt Collection Act... http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre27.pdf

Who are the ### that have the time to harass the people who are venting their frustrations about AES.

Yeah that's you whinerssuck and a few other overly conservative tea baggers.

I hate AES and I havent had half the problems these people have. Their customer service sucks ### and the biggest bug for me is why don't these [censored]s show the daily accrued interste on your statements so people can get a feel for what they owe from 10 years prior. Not really that hard to add a column. I paid the majority of my loan off years ago when really couldnt afford to do so. I've been getting statements with teh same principle balance for 5 years or so until payment recently became due.

In those 5 years not once a mention of how much interest has acrued on the balance due. Why not enough space on the paper? It's a financial sham to keep people in the dark. interest in late fees is where the real moneys at.

Where I come from unfortuantely, there's not a lot of money and sadly enough maybe not even responsible parents to help their minors make good financial decisions when entering college. Hey poor youngster, heres a whole bunch of subsidized money that you can have now and we'll get you later.

AES is pretty much the loan shark for 17-19 year old kids .

Another sad thing is that my loans have been sold off so many times over the years, don't know who owns them now. Doesn't matter. It's a company I'm sure that hardworking people are unknowingly investing their savings and retirement in, getting a modest return(until they go belly up like every other US private owned financial smooth criminal). Then the people investing lose their money, the students who are getting hustled lose their money, the CEO gets rich and the Gov. bails the private company that took the stupid short term risks(and cooked their books) out.

I hate republicans and you know what, i make a bunch of money. I work hard and have been through the ringer but can't stand the silver spoon uptight dicks that have no understanding of what financial hardship is.

AES are criminals plain and simple, unfortunately the corruption and heartlessness of the entire republican party and most of the dems allows this to happen.

If the harassholes arent on AES payroll then they are the worst of this country. Most of the people on AES payroll are just trying to make a living. A sad day when most people need to work for ### in order to survive.

When did people start growing up saying "I want to be a loan officer" or "I want to be a CEO"?

What is a CEO?, the biggest ### kisser that's strangled his way to the top or the son of another financially "Important" ###. And they sell widgets or destroy the entire US economy, better yet the world economy, whether it be directly or indirectly.

That felt good. You guys who are having problems need to get your butts together in a class action suit against AES. At least make the dicks list your accrued interest on your bill. Good luck and f*** you AES!

I think the whiner dude is from a crooked debt collector-- they are selling the same load of crap! I have a student loan and have been paying it since 1997. My loan was NOT a private loan and was NOT from AES -- it was backed by the BOE -- when I got my first bill it was a total of $400 a month! YIKES ...who can pay that kind of money a month ..and WHO graduates from college then 6 months later can pay that kind of money? I am assuming the answer is NO ONE! Oh, and the total of my loan was $40, 000 -- Anyhoo, my husband said "Hey, I heard of this great program through the gov't to consolidate and the interest rate will be adjustable but NEVER go over 8% -- I said, I am sold! I have basically been paying about $100-$150 month on that loan -- NOW, my brother's situation is a completely different story -- the only way to get his degree in culinary arts was to get a private loan ... we co-signed because we had such a positive experience with my loan ... well, whiner is right -- I should've read the fine print that said "Sucker, a private loan means it's private, not gov't backed which means no matter how hard to try to bring that payment down -- we won't do it cuz we're crooked and you're a sucker" ...damn, I guess I should've worn my glasses the day I read the fine print. AES has REFUSED to consolidate my brother's payment of (combined) $350 a month ...isn't that a bit much for someone who is only in a cook position? Because they've refused to bring payment down (but, if you go to their website it says something totally different -- they're deceptive) ... we have a crooked junk debt collectors saying they're going to take my wages (which is illegal to say) unless they have a judgement ...yes, we have to pay our debt I agree BUT deception, lying and poor business practice is not allowable...even the gov't is offering students a break on their loans since there are no jobs out there --

Well here is the TRUTH about private loans. If they are not FEDERAL and the word STAFFORD never appears, they are PRIVATE. PRIVATE loans CAN be discharged through Bankruptcy as can all other debts, such as credit cards and loans. The only reason Bankrupcy can't be used with FEDERAL STAFFORD loans is because the program has enough ways to help those unable to make payments and the interest is REASONABLE.

But Bankruptcy IS the answer to PRIVATE LOANS -or- you can wait 7.5 years and they will automatically disappear or you can have have removed from your credit record. As a matter of fact, in the state of FLORIDA, they can not legally collect after FOUR YEARS and 180 days without payment.

To the JERKS who work for AES, check with a lawyer before you preach YOUR laws.

First, a garnishment requires a court order. A court order requires a lawsuit. A lawsuit requires a delivered summons. If summons goes back undelivered, service was not completed and lawsuit does NOT proceed.

A stalled lawsuit results in no garnishment. In FLORIDA after 4.5 years, accept the summons, go to court, use defense of STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS and you walk out never owing it and with the court's blessing.

What AES likes to do is keep adding interest and late fees and re-billing. One problem, I have written them off, so no payment will be made as none is therefore due to them. I am going to start returning their statements, unopened, postage-due, as undeliverable. After 7.5 years, I will contact credit reporting agencies and advise them of the error of this account on my credit report and document the 7.5 years. They will legally have to remove the entries.

With that off my credit report, if they still keep sending statements, I will open a PO box and have all my real mail go to a PO box and write on theirs "moved--no forwarding address" and see if that gets their attention, without an address, they can't mail out bills each month and with it removed from my credit report it can't hurt me. If it is more than 7.5 years since a payment was made, the entries on my credit report BY LAW must be removed.

SCREW AES. I have done and you can too.

The Unemployed

There is some really interesting information on here, especially "another unemployed"... I wonder if you can really do that?

I'm 32 and have been paying on my AES/BOA private student loan for 10 years now. My dad cosigned a loan for me for $40.000. I did have to use a forebearance AND deferrment within the first 4 years of graduating because I was a customer service rep and could not afford the $350 payments consistently.

When I began the repayment again, my monthly payments became $575 a month. It was high, but I understood the logic and was able to pay it (I had been promoted in that time). I never missed a $575 payment and was enjoying life in Chicago without any complaints.

Dec. 2009: The company I was working for closed and I was out of a job. I move back in with my parents (so I can still make those AES payments!). Once I moved home, my dad commited suicide right before Christmas. We discovered that his business had failed and he was penniless and ashamed of it.

Since this happened, I knew I could not pay AES probably for a few months until I get the house sold and settle my mom into a new place. I had some savings to get me through the packing/moving/fixing the house up to sell (the house is underwater too), BUT I plan on moving back to Chicago, getting a job and living like before.

Under these difficult circustances, I was hoping AES for give me just a few months to pick up the pieces. It is an incredibly frigtening and busy time for us. They said "no" and "send us the death certificate so we can take your dad off". Well, I have NO funds to pay them.

It sounds like whinersuck will DELIGHT in my misfortune. He'll probably think my dad should have killed himself. He was a hardworking man who wanted the best for his family, but that counts for nothing in whinersuck's world. Ick. Still, I hope something terrible doesn't ever happen to him because if he had a heart, it would be utterly broken and it will be hard to get right back up and be the joyous yes-man that he is. Good working people who care for their families will sometimes run into hard luck. That does not mean that they want the loan to go away. They just need a minute to catch their breath. But I guess with AES, that comes with a 10% increase on the total balance.

I thought for sure that a death in the family would offer some temporary relief, but it's just business as usual for AES! Are they alien or human... Maybe mosquitos?

I don't think I'll get too far by writing politicians, but I'm going to write Good Morning America, Oprah and The View :)

I love these AES people in here touting their job and AES to the hilt! So basically, from what the AES-homers here have stated... AES is a servicer and doesn't actually own the loan or set any loan rules. I think we all understand that as college educated people. What we also do understand, that you AES dummies are obviously overlooking is... there is no real need for your business to exist in the first place. I can easily walk down to any local bank, take out a loan, and pay off my AES loans and never have to deal with your stupid ###ing company ever again. If the economy wasn't ###, I'd do exactly this, and I hope many others do as well. Then you'll be the one forced to work at McDonalds lol! And I wouldn't be so demeaning to the people on this board, obviously we are college educated to say the least, and are finding a means to get the word out about your ragged ### company (that shouldn't exist in the first place). I work for the government, the same government that bailed your ### out and let you keep your job. Try and come here again and belittle hardworking americans who are trying to scrape by in the worst economy of all time. We pay out bills when we can. And college shouldn't be a privilege, it should be a right. If you are smart enough, you shouldn't even have a choice. You conservative ###s think you have it all figured out because Daddy left you a big lump sum after he had a heart attack ###ing a hooker two years ago.

When I initially consolidated with them, I qualified for an interest rate reduction if I made all my payments on-time for a certain period of time. To be sure that I would not have any problems, I signed up for direct debit to make the payments. When the debit was first set to go through, I called to check whether I had to keep making payments in the meantime, and was told that it was set to draft the next payment on-time.

It didn't draft the next payment.

I found out and payed immediately, but there was no going back. They wouldn't give me the interest rate reduction of .75%. I've now paid on-time for over 4 years, and there's still no going back. Because of their mistake I'll pay $600-$800 more interest over the life of the loan.

Thanks AES !^#&*!^#&*!^#!&*

I would like to start a civil lawsuit agains this company. Anybody in for it? I have paid this company IN FULL. They sent me a letter stating it was paid IN FULL with O DELINQUENCIES. HOWEVER, THEY ARE REPORTING YEARS OF DELINQUENCIES ! THEY ARE REFUSING TO FIX THIS PROBLEM, WHICH IS DAMAGING MY CREDIT ! I would like the US TO KNOW HOW THEY WORK SO NOONE WILL GET A LOAN THROUGH THEM AGAIN. I AM GOING TO POST ADS ALL OVER CRAIGSLIST.COM AND ALL OVER OUR LOCAL NEWSPAPER TO LET PEOPLE AWARE OF THEIR ILLEGAL PRACTICES! I ALSO ADVISE EVERYONE TO CONTACT THE PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE AND FILE A COMPLAINT. AFTER SO MANY COMPLAINTS THEY WILL INVESTIGATE THIS COMPANY AND FINE THE HELL OUT OF EM. KEEP IT ROLLING !

AES will hound you for the rest of your natural life with phone calls. DON'T SIGN ON THEIR DOTTED LINE

This company is a major ebarrasment to the American public.

My son went through aes to get 2 different loans when he got out of high school that my fiance co-signed for (I'm on disability, so couldn't sign). He also has had trouble with aes, he has tried at first to try forebearance, what a nightmare that was. They never received the papers, no matter how they were sent. He must of sent 20 copies. He decided to go back to college to get his Master's degree. So, he tried notifying aes that he wanted to defer his payments until after he was out of college. He had more papers to fill out. Meanwhile, not being able to find a job he couldn't make his payments. So while he was going back & forth with them to get the right forms filled out his payments were late. Well, he signed the papers assumed all was okay. Nine months later my fiance received a letter stating he must pay $27000.00 immediately due to default on a student loan. This was the first letter we received about any of this, my son lives in GA us in OH. Tried calling them, what a joke that was! Mean, rude *ssholes answering phones. Told them we needed at least 24 hours to see what this was about. Called them back the next day and was treated worse and told now we owe $30000.00.
Any students/parents out there stay away from aes. A lot of high schools even give you their info to contact them...round file it. And never look back.

I hope that we can initiate a lawsuite against this company for infalting the loan that is really for low income, and very poor students and families that can't afford to pay out of pocket. These loans are goint to take all of our lives to repay because of the daily incured rate and the interest rates are compounded. I think that we should band together to file a class action lawsuite against this company. This company is ripping us off and we are going to starve as a result from the dailyrate is at 7.53 % Our kids are going to live the same life that we have scraping through because of con artist companies like this one. We need to tak ethis issue to the White House.

My wife and I have spousal consolidation loan with Sallie Mae, according to Sallie Mae the debt is in their name not AES. AES called 19 times in one day. AES sent us forms to update our records, we refused as my wife has changed jobs 4 times since June 2010 and is now laid off and I just came off disability to save my home. I refused to give any information. I was told they could use our Social Security Numbers to trace up the Dept. of Revenue and "DO WHAT THEY WANT WITH OUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS' I took that as a threat to steal identities and I asked to speak with a Supervisor, I told the Supervisor what was said he laughed when I asked if these two reps. had cameras over their desks, I was told "WHAT DO YOU THINK?'.
I blocked our credit reports and put fraud warnings on them and contacted Sallie Mae, MA Attorney General, PA Attorney General and Trade Commission I have not decided to seek damages yet. I need to keep an eye on my reports.