Fedloan Servicing Direct Debit Past Due!! Advice Please!!

[AAstra]

So I decided to setup direct debit through Fedloan Servicing since it provides a 0.25% interest rate reduction and is supposed to be convenient to the borrower. However, with the first payment due, it has been anything but convenient. My bill was to be paid by yesterday (12/02/2013) and as of today it is past due and delinquent (12/03/2013). I called yesterday and they assured me that the payment would come out but I checked this morning and it had not. So I called them when they opened and the woman told me that due to the Thanksgiving holiday...all loans were being held and run through at one time (she claims today 12/03). The rep also stated that this payment, once run through direct debit, would show as current and would not appear on any credit report as late payment, delinquent, etc. Can I trust that this is true? I'm afraid that I will look at my credit report when I get my free one annually and see that I have late payments and delinquencies that will hurt my credit. Does anyone have insight on this or similar stories?

Cheers!

[Rikku]

I don't think you have anything to worry about - just watch your statement and call them if you're charged a late fee. If that's the case, they'll likely remove the late fee without much trouble, since it is their fault. If it is possible for you to set up the direct debit on a date other than the due date, I would suggest having it go through a few days early.

You should not see a late payment on your CR unless it is 30+ days late. If it's really stressing you out, wait a month or two and pull your CR for your own peace of mind.

If it helps you feel better, I've noticed that these things sometimes take a day or two to post correctly - both to the account being paid and to your bank account. When they eventually post, the payment has shown up as paid on the correct date. It doesn't make any sense, but it's also never caused me a problem.