American Education Services [AES] review: loan 100

AES called asking for my daughter who is not available for a telephone at the moment...the lady was rude beyond belief as I kept telling her my daughter was not available. It was as if I was talking to a dead person...I kept asking what this was about...the lady kept telling me she couldn't (wouldn't) tell me anymore unless I had authorization...Then I asked if this company was legit.."Oh, yes we are"...right...then why won't you tell me anything about what's going on as I AM PAYING ON MY DAUGHTER'S LOAN! No answer, just we'd like to talk with your daughter...and, I thought, that IF these idiots had anything to do with my daughter, they would already have her email address! I, very impolitely, told the wench to "have a nice day" and hung up on her...am VERY glad I did after seeing all the comments about them here...

I believe that the so called "Student loan bubble" is going to burst soon and the big government will do its classic act of bailing the suckers like AES out like it happens with the real state criminals.My take is that we will not be able to resolve these unfair issues until we don't get united. Not as a workers-union but doing things like stopping payments simultaneously (all or at least a big majority) of AES borrowers until interests and conditions of the loans are make repayable. If dictators have fallen in countries where conditions of freedom and democracy are sometime non existent, I believe that we could do something if we forget our individualism and start cooperating with each other. I feel sorry for those who believe that college education is a privilege, it should a right that is entitled to all. We are hardworking Americans that deserve second chances (like big corporations have) and that need to fight corruption and injustice that's is protected under the disguise of a failing burocratic structure. Any suggestions as far as how to organize ourselves?... maybe creating different chapters throughout the states, inviting people to public events until we get the national organization to strike back!

AES is operating in bad faith.
I have been ripped off by them for years and years and have now decided to just give up and stop paying. I have paid 177.00/month (after 2, 500) down-payment on a loan that was originally 10k... it ballooned to 20k and now only 1k of the 12 years of payments have gone to principal... it is completely insane. We need a class-action lawsuit. I am no longer going to be paying this junk debt.
It is outrageous.
Thank you, MWA

there are federal and state laws that govern the actions of AES. They act as a creditor although they will tell you they "simply service" the loans or only "tell you your options on how to avoid default." You can look up your state laws online or review the federal act (debt collection fair practices act or something like that). When certain actions (specified within the act) or other abusive tactics are employed the company may be liable for $1, 000 to you plus attorney fees. contact an attorney if they contact you during work hours if you specifically act them not to, call repeatedly to harrass or annoy, call before 8 or after 9, etc. Obviously you should always attempt to repay a debt you owe but are not lawfully bound to be subject to rude abusive behavior by collectors. Also, I was curious if anyone knew more about this company. Specifically, are they contracted out by the lenders to collect these debts? Do they buy debts or recieve commissions for collecting? Anyone out there that used to work for them think there were unethical things going on? Curious. Thank you.

These people wont include their share in loan forgiveness. I qualified due to becoming totally disabled. They told me they dont include loans because itis a private loan so I mentioned bankruptcy and that was not allowed because it is an educational loan, which is it? These jerks belong in jail, report them to your politicians, they need to be stopped and as the saying goes there is strength in numbers.

Here is my story:
I have student loans that are govt backed. I have private loans with Citibank and Keybank. Govt. and Citi are not an issue, I understood they are non-dischargable and they survived the bk intact with me making payments. The problem is Key, After securing my bk lawyer, BEFORE discharge I contacted all these people to make sure they knew I was going for chap 7 and that I was going to still be paying during, and after discharge. I thought everything was fine. Great Lakes (the entity who does the servicing for Key specifically told me on the phone when I called them on this topic that I was eligible for a "bankruptcy forbearance" for a period of one year starting on that day (Feb 2010) I thought, yay, I have some leeway to get back on my feet. Well, low and behold, without my knowledge, they didn't actually do any of that, the clock started on non-payment and a month after the discharge (Sept. 2010) my COSIGNER, not me gets a collections call from Keybank recovery department saying that the loan has been charged off and she now owes the entire $15k balance. Of course I called them up and tried to work out some sort of negotiation, citing the information I had about the bk forbearance from Great Lakes, however Keybank basically told me, Well, you got bad information from them, so sorry, there's nothing we can do for you, all that can be done is for you to pay the whole balance right now. I also did some research and found out that at some point my loan was in fact in a "stay" told directly to me from Wells Wienman, the attorneys that reviewed my situation. Also, this loan went into repayment in 2003 and I have never missed a payment in all that time. In essence, all I want is for Key to reverse the chargeoff and let me give them money to pay off a loan. Even though the monthly payment keeps my hands tied, at least my credit report won't say Chap 7, right next to chargeoff. Also my cosigner's credit score tanked from 810 to 520 just because of this. Needless to say, I'm very unhappy. Ultimately what happened is this. The lender took a look at my situation, saw that I had a cosigner, and decided that your cosigner was probably a better bet to squeeze the 15k out of than you, a bankrupt individual who has just been liquidated of assets.

Fight back! http://infowomen.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/aes-a-student-loan-shark/

I was on a direct debit with them to rehab a loan. One month they didn't take the direct payment and claimed I had requested it not be made and dropped my account from rehab. It was a total lie. They are crooks or just incompetent or both.

This company is owned by the Detroit Mafia who have controlled it since the 1960's. It currently has ruthless owners who will stop at nothing.

My husband took out a loan from AES for $30K to get his Master's degree. They are making it harder and harder to make payments. This is what's happened just in the last three months:

January - My husband called to make the payment. He gave them a routing and account number. They accepted it, then sent us a letter saying our payment was late. He called again. They said the payment didn't go through. He verified the payment information a second time. They accepted it again. Two days later, we get another harassing phone call. We tried a third time. Rinse and repeat. Finally, my husband convinced them to take a debit card. At the same time, he sent in an auto-pay form.

February - My husband called to make the payment. He also verified that the auto-pay was received. They said it was set up, but wouldn't work for February. He gave them the routing and account number (they won't accept debit cards until the payment is late). Same thing happened as last month. Every time he tried to pay, they took the information, then called back a day or two later harassing us for being late. Finally, again after it was very late, they accepted a debit card.

March - AES told us our payment was late. My husband called and they told him the autopay wouldn't activate until April. He called AES numerous times this month--four times this week alone!--trying to make payments. They repeatedly refused to take a debit card, even though the routing and account number never seems to work. When they finally agreed to accept one, after an hour on the phone, they transferred him and the line disconnected. He called back and was told they couldn't accept debit cards. He asked to speak with a supervisor. He was told no supervisors were available (this was around 8 PM) but that they would have someone call him the next day. They never called him, but instead a call center worker (not the supervisor) called me as the cosigner. I was also told they don't accept debit cards, and when I asked that they print and send me a copy of their call logs for the past three months, I was told it was against their policy. I finally asked to speak with a supervisor, who told me they do accept debit cards and they will send the call logs upon written request.

Because of the ongoing nonsense, we now owe almost $38K, $8000 more than the original loan. They call and harass us several times a day, but they won't accept our payments, and they just keep adding fees and then charging interest on the fees. This can't be legal. I reported them to the FTC and my local consumer protection office, but I see from many other complaints online that this has been going on for some time and no action has been taken. I'm considering a class action lawsuit. If you're interested, please contact me at angela_s_perry AT yahoo DOT com.

AES is horrific. I had all of my loans consolidated 2 years ago...and on this tax return I had my entire tax refund garnished because they say their is a loan i havent paid on. Heres the thing...they either havent been dispersing my payments evenly amongst all of my loans which they told me they've consolidated...OR someone has taken out a fraudulent loan in my name from bank of america and even the IRS who is supposed to be better than anyone else at fraud detection...didnt seem to detect this. I have to call everyone and their uncle today to try and figure out why the "H-E double hockey sticks" my tax refund was towards this ghost debt. These people are dishonest...and they do not care if the debt is accrued from fraudulent activities. They want their money even if you werent the one who requested it to begin with. As far as Education Services is concerned...this loan was supposedly sold to a third party creditor...which to my knowledge is absolutely illegal for them to do. Im getting a lawer...one who likes the youth of today and the future of tomorrow...and im going to raise some crap like its never been raised.

This company has the worst customer services. Almost stalker like. They call even when they do not receive payment within the next day after it is due. I tell them on the phone when I can afford to pay them (usually my next paycheck). And even with me notifying them on when I send the payment they call everyday, sometimes 2 or 3 times. I answer the next day they call and tell them what representative I talked to and when I will send the payment but they still keep calling. Day 3 past due I talk to them again telling them I have already spoken about the issue. They tell me that there is no way to stop them from calling everyday until they receive the payment. The representative tells me NOT TO ANSWER when they call and that they will keep calling everyday. And when i was unemployed forget about it I was going to turn off my phone lines. They do not even consider lowering my payment or here is a great idea why don't these companies spend their time and money trying to find people jobs. If they help find people jobs they would get their money a lot faster and easier. It does not make any sense.

This is the worst kind of customer service I have ever dealt with. My other student loan companies are NOWHERE near as bad. Sallie Mae is bad to an extent but they wont call until maybe 2 weeks past due and they actually listen to you when you tell them when the payment is coming.

So please do not ever take out private student loans because they will harass you and not let you get on your feet after college. All they want is your money. They rather have you homeless so they could get their money. They expect you to pay them before your pay your rent and utility bills. Ridiculous! I hope there is some way to pass legislation on the harassment these companies will do. I am not surprised they don't hire people to knock on doors to collect late payments. (Maybe because a lot of former college student cannot even afford their own apartment.

I hope people can read this and maybe we can start a petition.

Anyone interested in a class action lawsuit against these fraudulent people please contact me at daveedwardssr@aol.com

I was paying my student loans back on time, and fell into a financial hardship when my roommate moved out and I was forced to cover rent/utilities/general costs on my own. I arranged to lower the monthly payment with AES and extend the life of the loans. I had missed roughly 6-7 months of payments, because I needed a roof over my head and food in my mouth. Every time I called to try to arrange something I was met with no solution. Well, lo and behold, I had defaulted on my loans. The only reason I knew was because I went back on the website to make a payment and found that my loans were now in default. I called to inquire about this and to complain that I was given no notice of this status, nor any warning that it was coming even after I had been calling to make arrangements. I was told the only thing I could do to get out of default was to pay the loan in full or to pay $3, 000. Since I couldn't barely make my monthly payments, I could do neither of those things. They said I could enter an automatic withdrawal agreement where I pay a certain amount every month for 9-12 months and then I would be out of default. I set up weekly payments with the lowest amount they would allow, which was more than I could afford but there was no other choice. I was fairly diligent about making these payments for 5 months, making almost every payment. Some payments were returned from my bank, I was charged a $25.00 fee, from AES not from my bank. They would simply take a double payment out the following week. Other times I would have plenty of money in my account to cover the payment and they would inexplicably get returned. No payments for anyone else would get returned like this. They haven't taken payments out last week or this week, so I called to see what the problem is. The man I talked to informed me that my automatic payments have been cancelled because I missed too many of them. I have to start the program over now. He also claims that my last payment was returned, yet my bank statement shows the money being taken out. When I told him that, he said, "No, we received the payment, then returned it because we decided to cancel your payments." This money was never returned to my account. I asked if they ever planned to inform me of this and apparently they sent me an email. I went through my inbox, my trash, and my spam folders and there was nothing there. So now I have to restart the payments to try to get out of default. Let's hope that they take the payments out like they're supposed to (they hardly ever do). This is how I see it. They return a payment for one week for whatever reason then take a double payment out the following week. They're getting both payments plus a $25.00 returned payment fee. Seems like it's in their best interests to return payments.

If you have any way possible of avoiding this company, I strongly advise you to do so. This company is extremely difficult to work with. I have been trying continuously to change my student loan payment plan to income-based repayment since January. It is now August. They claimed never to have received my initial application. I sent in a second one, and they took about two months to process it. I eventually got an email saying they would notify me of final approval or denial within ten days. Ten days came and went. I finally called and they said my application had been delayed again on some technicality (though they had not notified me of this). The customer service representative I was speaking with said she could fix the issue and process it immediately. After a few minutes, she said the application had gone through. I got an email several days later informing me of my new reduced payment plan. A week later, I received another email saying that my application was approved "in error" and that I would now need to send in a third application. The deadline for this repeat application was 24 hours from receipt of the email, or they would start the whole process over again. How can I get something to them in the mail in 24 hours?! This company has been significantly more difficult to work with than Sallie Mae (no picnic, by the way), a company run by the federal government. I truly did not realize it was possible to have more red tape and worse customer service than the federal government. American Education Services has proved me wrong.

any chance AES can be sued for failing to inform me of the income based repayment program back when it originated in 2007?
I just learned of it. Meanwhile, my credit has been destroyed by failing to pay.
I would have been able to pay based on the IBR formula.

(AES ) which until recently it is showing a school I never attended.(1/2006). I asked for a pay history and none of the payments from my cancelled check match. Neither of the bills I receive the payments are reflect. They refuse to remove my cosigner. I can't get a copy of the promissory note and the school and the NSLDS reflect a balance of zero around the year 2006. I only paid to keep the collector from garnishing my daughter's wages. The original amount is higher due to billing practices which are horrible-double billing-principle and interest, payments less than a dollar which I would never pay. What can be done? If i didn't have a co-signer-- I would drop it in a heartbeat. The statue of limitations for Texas and Pennsylvania is four years. what should I do? I don't feel that i should have to pay for their lousy bookkeeping antics-they want me to fill out an identity theft affidavit . It is messing up my credit as well as my daughter's. I don't have lawyer money.

The starch defenders of AES are not reviewing comments in the context that they were written. I feel the starch defenders are merely hired "automatons" attacking commenters. These "automatons" are in the same roll as any feedback writer hired by any company or large corporation to bolster online reputations.

I Have proof that AES/PHEAA intentionally and knowingly are forcing me to pay off someone elses student loans. I have original promissory notes, letters from my college, Wells Fargo Bank, ECMC, accounting ledger from my college, all clearly states these loans are not mine, and wells fargo bank, and ECMC never gave me student loans, though are listed by AES/PHEAA as my lender. Clear and undisputable proof they refuse to remove my name from these loans, knowing they are not mine, refusing to return my money they collected, update NSLD, notify who they sold my loans to that they are not mine, essentially forcing me to pay someone elses loans, my guess, since I paid mine off years ago, they are forcing me to pay off a bad, or uncollectible debt of someone who died, or no longer has to pay, is the only reason they wont do anything about it.
I will gladly provide my documents, evidence to any attorney, da office, cfpb, proving what criminal acts AES/PHEAA, and show what liars they are. I will get my money returned to me, if I have to jump on one of the class action lawsuits to do it.