Sallie Mae Bank
Reviews and Complaints

My citizenship and residence are in Australia

Sallie Mae cheque No. 021324 dated 12/21/22 was received by my bank, Credit Union South Australia and sent to Western Union on 1/20/23 as a Bill for Collection into AUD.

Western Union have advised that the normal timeframe of 6-8 weeks for processing of the Cheque relies on the payee's processing bank (which is Wells Fargo) to meet this timeframe.

Western Union is still waiting on the funds from Sallie Mae to complete the processing.

I have written to Sallie Mae 3 times enquiring as to when the funds might be sent. My emails have been ignored.

Sallie Mae continually sends email correspondences claiming that they have several options available to assist with student loan payments, when in reality, this is not the case. The latest ones even tout different information, but when they are contacted, it is the same results, there is nothing available.
These types of emails are very misleading and deceptive, and Sallie Mae should be stopped from sending them, as they are deceiving the borrower.

When I decided to go back to school to pursue my calling after leaving an abusive marriage, it was supposed to take 2 1/2 years total, including internship. After enduring over a decade of abuse, I wanted to go into a particular field which utilized my existing degrees and skills while allowing me to help others with compassion and empathy. I was starting over after my divorce because after we were married, my ex said he didn't want me to work so that I would be there for him whenever he was home. I reluctantly agreed on the contingency that I could work on certain skills, such as writing and piano, while I was on indefinite hiatus.

Upon applying, interviewing, and auditioning, I was accepted into one of two universities in my state offering the program I wanted to enter. Before my first year was complete, the university suddenly and unexpectedly announced it was closing. This left me with the choice of giving up on this calling or enrolling at the only other university which offered the program. I chose the latter. But there was one problem; the only other option I had cost approximately three times as much as the previous university.

In a state of trauma and out of desperation to continue the pursuit of my calling, I contacted Sallie Mae and applied for a loan. In retrospect, I regret this decision. I should have explored more options. Over the past few years, this lender has caused me more anxiety, on a nearly daily basis, than I ever thought possible.

The worst has been since my graduation in August 2022. I had just completed my program and was beginning to study for the board exam, the final requirement to practice in my field. I managed to pay the first few payments by BORROWING money from friends and family to feed the greed, all the while contacting Sallie Mae "customer service" and trying to explain that I had just graduated and trying to understand why I wasn't eligible for the graduated repayment program. It took several calls for me to understand that Sallie Mae thought I had withdrawn from my university after I finished my coursework. I tried to explain to them that this was not at all what happened, but they would not work with me or waver in the slightest.

I finished my coursework in December 2019, and as I was applying for internships (unpaid, I might add), the pandemic hit and shut down nearly every option I, or anyone else in my field for that matter, had. Sallie Mae has in their record that I withdrew from the university as of December 2019, but that is not the case. When it became clear that I would not be able to find an internship due to a GLOBAL pandemic, my program director informed me that I would need to take a Leave of Absence (LOA) to remain enrolled at the university, so that I could complete my internship when one became available. So I took a LOA, remaining enrolled and affiliated with the university, until I was accepted into an internship in November 2021. At that time, my internship supervisor wanted me to wait to start until the beginning of 2022, and due to the stringent standards of the hospital where I was to complete my internship, I did not begin until February 2022. Due to time off because I contracted COVID despite being vaccinated, I did not finish my six-month, unpaid internship until early September. Because the dates were so close, the university allowed my degree to be conferred on August 21, 2022.

I would have completed my degree by completing my internship in 2020, but circumstances which affected all of society prevented that from happening. I remained affiliated and enrolled with my university until such time as I could complete this requirement. The customer service representatives at Sallie Mae to whom I spoke neither understood this nor cared about this fact. I told them repeatedly, "I JUST graduated", but they did not waver from their conviction that I was disconnected from my university when I completed my coursework in December 2019. All I was asking for was the "Graduated Repayment Program", which allows a borrower to pay interest only for six months while they search for work in their field. They are adamant that I am not eligible for this program because I finished my coursework in December 2019. But internship is required to graduate and obtain the degree, which I finally did in August 2022.

Now I am behind on payments and have been working at my low wage job nearly seven days a week to try to catch up. But I am not able to catch up with the low wages, and working every day stifles my ability to find a position which pays the wages I can earn with this degree. I'm in a Catch 22 and stressing about it on a daily basis. To say this has affected my quality of life is an understatement.

If I could leave a -10 star review I would do it in a. This is a classic example of a ridiculously unmanaged government program with zero oversight and zero sensibility.

In April 2022 I applied for a student loan for my sons flight school. I had a few credit cards and a couple of car notes on my credit report and had about a 740 credit rating.

I requested a loan in the amount of $113,000 and they wanted 8.75% interest rate on a 15 year loan. That was ridiculous as I haven’t had an interest rate that high since I was in college. I am now 54 I’ve had my home since 2006 never a late payment I have been employed by the same company for 21 years as a professional pilot. There are no negatives whatsoever on my credit report. I had to call them five different times because it took ten days when I reapplied for $100,000 loan and every single time I was on hold for a solid hour or more to get a human being that not once offered any sensible assistance.

I reapplied for a lesser amount given the horrific interest rate. I had since paid off three cars, all credit cards and I have zero short-term debt. I have a primary mortgage that is well within my means and a second mortgage on a rented rental home. I also have a boat payment that is more than half paid off . Those are the only three line items on my credit report and I have well over $150,000 available credit in credit cards. They all have a zero balance. I also show an 820+ credit rating on all three bureaus.

During one of my five phone calls the person on the telephone attempted to educate me on how credit scores are calculated. I really wish I had said, do you think with my credit rating that I don’t know how to use credit properly? I did not say that, I did ask her why on earth with my credit rating and my credit file how they now have come back with a 14.75% interest rate, the highest one they can charge.

She had no answer, only to try and educate me on credit scores and informed me that it was automatically done by the computer and there was nothing she could do, needless to say this is a broken system with zero oversight no accountability and no common sense.

They have you over a barrel when it comes to flight school training they are literally one of the only ones that will offer a student loan for this type of school.

If anyone out there thinks that Sallie Mae is a good option for any financing I would think again I would look long and hard to avoid dealing with these [censored]s at any cost

They sent thousands of dollars to someone using my name and SSN. I discovered it on my credit report and went to their website and could not believe they are allowed to conduct business as a FDIC bank. They did nothing to verify my identity, there is only 1 other person in the United States with the same name as mine - he is young and male and lives on the East coast. I am a 65-year-old female living in Arizona. They didn't even attempt to contact me or verify the information they had been given. They hand out money to kids after a 'quick and easy' 15 minute application and promise that once they are approved, they can come back anytime and ask for more money whenever they need it! They give 'Student Loans' for thousands of dollars to applicants that attend school LESS than half-time. They left me holding the loan for a huge amount of money they'd given to an identity thief without lifting a finger to get in touch with me or locate me at all. I doubt they even care about the verification as long as they have all the blanks filled in on the application, they money flows like water. They have a special building in a completely different state for the sole purpose of acceptance of subpoenas - what does that say about their customer satisfaction rating? Sallie Mae Student Loans has ruined our credit, jeopardized our retirement and left us unable to put food on the table and gas in our vehicles.

Would not allow me to terminate CD despite numerous calls. No ability to terminate CD upon expiration online within my online account. Tried calling before CD expiration and no assistance and called during the day again the day of expiration and the phones were shut down again with the message repeating all afternoon that phone service was off for 30 minutes.

Horrendous service and exploitative CD program.

I have been making interest payments since 2015 to Salliemae for my daughter's student loan. Her username and password never changed and they are both saved to automatically fill in when I make a payment. This past winter, while attempting to make a payment, I received an error message that the username and password were incorrect. The system also did not recognize my daughter's loan number.

I have a gmail account and only access when I'm expecting an email from someone. It can be a significant amount of time before I access it if I'm not expecting anything. I was expecting an email and saw an email from Salliemae. In reading the email, I found several emails from Sallie Mae. I immediately called (March 30, 2022) and spoke with customer service to talk about what I had been experiencing when trying to make a monthly payment. The customer service person was very helpful. I explained to him that I had been given permission to talk with them about her account and he saw it in the system. That evening I paid $127.67 and was advised to have my daughter Candace call to set up a payment plan and Sallie mae would also need her current employment information. I informed the customer service person of the problem I had been experiencing with the user id and password not working. He said this was an IT issue. I also wanted to find out if anyone else was experiencing this same issue. I googled an inquiry and found out that multiple complaints had been filed about this same issue.

This evening my daughter and I called Salliemae and we experienced much difficulty with the customer service woman believing there was an IT issue and not a problem with making the payments. I've never had an issue making the payments and her condescending interaction was very unprofessional. When we finally got on one accord, she found a program where I had to make 3 consecutively monthly payment and it will bring us out of the impending default status. My complaint is that I researched online to see if anyone else had the same issue and there were many. What is going on with Salliemae? My daughter had to create a new username and password. I do not trust their system at all.

I have 11 student loans for my three college aged students. One loan I had a dispute over and fell behind payments while trying to resolve the issue, or at the very least, get some questions answered. As of writhing this, 10 loans are current.
Sallie Mae is contacting my sister about repayments as well as my brother's In-Laws. My brother and I are not on speaking terms for over 15 years. Yes, his in-laws. My sister, nor my brother have anything to do with my finances and were never part of the loan process.
How is shaming you to extended family ethical? Who is next? My employer? My pastor? My neighbors?

I was called incessantly by Sallie Mae regarding online payment for a loan that I co-signed being past due. I logged in online and made payments twice. Twice it was rejected by sallie mae. I called them and asked why my payment was being rejected, and they told me that I can only make payments online using bank information. I asked them that I am using the creditcard option and I was informed that I can only give them my card information so that they may put it in from their end. I told them that they have the option online to pay with a credit card and that I am not comfortable giving my card over the phone. I informed them that I dont see why they have the option online and yet tell me that I cannot use it. My complaint is that this is a merchant deceptive practice that is misleading and that I feel that this is a ploy by sallie mae to ruin my credit history. Please assist.

Their 'redesigned' website forces existing customers to submit their FULL Social Security Number AND their Birthdate in the same webform to regain access to their account.

No only is this a ridiculous ask ('security questions' are already in place to use as verification) but it has the capability of undermining the security of client accounts.

Regardless of whether it's over an https connection, this is extremely irresponsible as it exposes the data to interception on the client side.

I am moving my money to a financial institution with a better understanding of web security vulnerabilities and client account protection.

I wanted to consolidate my debt and in the mail came an advertisement from sallie Mae for a pre-approved personal loan up to $35000.00. I was only asking for $14000.00 so I filled in the application. Later that evening I received a phone call from them telling me I was approved for $3000.00. Not much help. I declined the offer which I considered a bait and switch.

Sallie Mae quotes a fixed interest rate in the range of
5.74-11.85

You must complete and submit the application in order to find out what interest rate you will actually get. The application requires you to agree to accept robocalls and emails for "future applications" which basically means they can market to you. They also state up front the will share your email address.

Then when you finally submit they offer an interest rate that is almost twice the federal plus rate.

Is this just a scam to get people to submit their contact information?

I can't find a way to opt-out after having submitted the application, and being offered an interest rate of 10.50%

Why would anyone pay 10.5% when a federal PLUS loan is 6.31%

I have been fighting with Sallie Mae for years, I contacted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who assisted me with getting a history of my student loan. I found a payment that had not been applied to my loan for over 8 years, I was charged late fees during my forbearance, multiple payments applied to one month then the previous month or the month after shows no payment applied, the full payment amount was applied to a past due amount and late fees were charged. Sallie Mae refunded me over 2 years of late fees and applied the 8 year old payment, but not one penny went to the past due. Demand monthly statements so you can see what is happening to your account. WWW.sallimaeiswrong.com is a good site to help you contact the right agencies to help you.

Never sign a loan with Sallie Mae! First to begin with how they handled my grandfather's account. My grandfather died in August 2013 and immediately we received a letter from Sallie Mae stating that his loan had defaulted. My grandfather had co-signed for my cousin. My mother offered Sallie Mae $15, 000, which Sallie Mae accepted and later they officially released my grandfather from the account. We have a letter signed by a Sallie Mae agent. However, they began sending letters to my dead grandfather and calling my family (we live in my grandfather's house) looking for my cousin. We had already given Sallie Mae her contact information. We repeatedly told Sallie Mae to stop calling us and sending letters to a dead man! However, they refused to. Suddenly, they began telling us that my mother made a payment and that they don't have proof that my grandfather is dead! I am speechless on how low they would go. We had sent them a death certificate twice now and they still deny the fact that my grandfather is dead. I am beyond emotionally distressed.

Then for my own account. Where do I begin? How about Sallie Mae writing unauthorized checks and causing my bank account to become overdrawn three times? How about Sallie Mae telling me that I don't care about my account, because I explained to them that I am currently injured and can't work? What about the fact that my uncle made two payments for me and they are not listed in my payment history? Now last week I spoke to man named Rob and he told me that my last payment was in April, therefore Sallie Mae is legally able to send my account to collections for default on July 31st. Now I'm being told that I never made a payment. I am so tired of Sallie Mae. I can't sleep, I can't breath, and I feel helpless because Sallie Mae knows that they are protected by the law. They can mess around with people and drive them crazy, because they believe that they are above the law!

Well, guess what? They'll have to sue me to get the money. When I am summoned to court, then I will petition a class action suit for emotional distress. I am ready for it. I know that I am not the only dealing with lies from Sallie Mae. You make payments, but somehow according to Sallie Mae then this never happened. "We need proof." How many times must I send them the death certificate for my dead grandfather before they leave us alone? I am so tired, but God is going to help me. But I want help for everyone. Let's start a class action suit!

At Sallie Mae they may make major changes on your account and wont take the time to notify the borrower. They also completely ignore information you send to them, as with a letter telling them you will be moving abroad for one year to take part in a volunteer program and requesting a deferment. It happened to me. When this happened I had already graduated from a 4 year university and was about to begin payments as it had almost been 6 months. As I was planning to go abroad for one year to take part in a volunteer program, I sent them a letter telling that and also asking for a one year deferment. On the phone call I made they sure enough confirmed the deferment for one year so I thought I would be fine as I would be back in one year. Little did I know that they had made major changes on my account that had nothing to do with the letter I sent them. What happened was I had taken a summer school class at a community college that summer I was planning to leave the country. So at Salliemae they had completely change everything, specifically changing my status to being a student that will be graduating all over again and this time from a community college, hence the deferment they granted, completely unrelated to my real plans and not the deferment I was asking for in the letter sent, the letter they chose to completely ignore. So I go abroad for one year just to come back to a tarnished credit record. Be careful if you have to use Salliemae as a lender. They will make major changes on your account without notification or verification, and they will completely ignore letters you send to them, even letters with vital information telling them you are moving to another country and need a deferment. In trying to get this corrected I also ran into some incompetent and unprofessional people. Some workers at Salliemae need to be fired and it is probably because of them that this lending company has a bad rap. They are careless, unethical and wont really want to help you. Best not to deal with this unprofessional, disorganized and flaw-filled company, so if at all possible I would advise any potential borrower to borrow from a different lending company.

We have received phones calls, non-stop since December from Sallie Mae. They have the wrong person as validated by the last 4 digits of my husband's SS #. He has called them, they said they would correct the information in their system. That was weeks ago. We are still receiving letters every other day or so, as well, even after writing return to sender. Not at this address, on the envelope.
We are in our late 50's with children who have NO debt. They have mistaken us for another person of the same name.

Help!

My Step son took this loan and I was his co-signer. Apparently he has not paid and I have been paying this loan since 1999.
Doing the course from 1999 to present, I have been working and off and have always made payments on time. As of Aug. 2013
I was no longer employed and my Unemployment Benefits were Exhausted. I am 62 yrs of age and had to file for Soc Security Retirement. I called Sallie Mae and explain to them that I would have no income until Nov. 27, 2013 which is when I would receive
my first Soc. Sec. check..My last payment to them was Sept. 2013; which means I could not make Oct. & Nov. Payment. I explained
that I would pay 1 1/2 mo. on 11/27/13 and 1 1/2 mo. on 12/27/13 till I catch up. They call anywhere from before 9 AM in the
morning till 8:30 PM at night including weekends. They call anywhere from 4 to 5 times a day. I told them you can't get money
from the well if the well is dry then i really got sarcastic and told them I would go in my back yard to my home grown money tree and mail them a payment. Today is 11/27/13 and as promised i made a payment for 1 1/2 months and they are still harassing me and calling me. They donut know when to quit. There is nothing else I can do when you have no income; thats it...and they just keep calling and calling and calling. Today alone 11/27/13 they called me 6x and I told them to check there dang... records..and stop harassing me.

Thank You Diane Hauselt

I have a student loan with Sallie Mae and I went back to school to further my education and the day that I pulled out of school for the birth of my child they have been calling and harassing me day and night. They send me threatening letters and voicemails. I have been having trouble paying the minimum payment but I have been paying on the interest. They are now threatening to send my account to collections. Every time I talk to them to set something up they claim there isn't any assistance that I qualify for but then they call and leave messages saying that there are. So which is it? These people are crooks. If I would have known this was the result of going back to school to do better for my family then I would have never done it. I hope this company goes belly up because with as many people out of work these days it is very difficult to make these $2000.00/month payments they are demanding. Who makes that kind of money. I am a single parent and living day to day and doing what I can to feed, clothe and house my children. They will get their money when I can give it.

Sallie Mae is asking me for $2000.00 per month and I do not even earn that much money. I am extremely financially disadvantaged. I gave them a retirement check and they refused to acknowledge it and after I screamed and shouted for 30 minutes, they finally acknowledged it was posted on August 8, 2013. They continue to hike the fee up an extra $2000.00 each month and then have the unmitigated gall to refuse income sensitive repayment applications or extended repayment options. I went on line and the site automatically calculated that I could pay as low as $384.00 per month, according to my income and other expenses. I have to pay rent. If I do not pay rent, I become homeless and unemployed. They call me at least 72 times in one 24 hour period and adamantly refuse to make notes in my account that I will pay $500.00 per month until I can do better. People need to earn a six figure salary for what they are asking and I do not earn six figures. When you do try to pay them something, they hound and harass you so much, and it appears they do not want you to at least try to comply so you will be in debt to them even after death. I have made Sallie Mae my beneficiary, so they have employed the psychological tactic of terrorizing me via email and on the phone in order to cause an expedited death, e.g., heart attack and stroke. If there is anyone out there that can do anything to stop this organization with their mafiastic, cartel type terrorization, I would be greatly appreciative. I am so fed up, I do not see the point of trying to send anything to them. They have absolutely no right to demand money that people do not earn. If I earned it, they could have it. If I won the lottery, they could have that, but I simply do not have any money to spare. I strongly urge people to band together and file a petition, and to not pay them anything until they curtail their tactics, become honest, and I would also strongly urge that no one borrow from them. It will be as if you had joined the mafia and they will hunt you down until you are dead and even come after you when you are dead.

I send in my defer status of the loan, they don't process the date as request, this way they find way to impose on penalty.
They also change my original loan doc. promissory note, which it does not allow tthem to impose certain type of interest on my unsub. loan. I request them to take a look at my origina promissoryl note but they never care to do so, so they can impose a lot of interest. There conspiracy going where they are cheating studdents with all their penalty. I really help, please help me...