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Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

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drkaje
Senior Contributor

Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

For a year I've been paying extra against a smaller student loan hoping to pay down the principle. Of course they decided to pay me ahead and wouldn't actually send a bill. I called and asked for the bill to be made current and payments made over be applied towards principle. They had me paid a year ahead, LOL!

 

Later that day I got an updated bill but none of the previous overpayments were corrected. Before calling them I had already set up a payment on-line through BoA...

 

As you can expect, I immediately made a payment (though their site) upon having the bill and called complaining that overpayments hadn't been applied to principle. The CSR said the only way a payment could be applied to principle was to denote 'account number and to be applied to principle' on the electronic checks. I explained (patiently) that this had been done on multiple occasions but they had paid me ahead, anyways. According to her, the only way to pay on principle was: wait to be billed, pay on-line and then send in a paper check with the account number and "to be applied to principle" on the memo. I've had the BoA account since 2008 and just used the last starter check due to doing all things possible on-line. Out of frustration, I went and got paper checks... Sent one to Sallie Mae... Exactly as instructed and yes... They did it again, LOL!

 

Am I stupid? Is there a better way to write "Apply to principle" on a check?!

 

At this point, I don't even believe calling and asking for a supervisor will help.

 

 


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18 REPLIES 18
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

sorry to hear of your troubles.  i don't really have any good advice, just wanted to sympathize.  my mother-in-law had this same problem but with a different student loan company.  she even went so far as to write "APPLY TO PRINCIPAL!!!" across the entire bottom of the check in huge letters, & highlighted it bright yellow!  they still applied it to a future payment.  she was pretty po'ed after that.

 

i want to say that i read here where someone had been told to make a payment online, & then make another payment online the same day, & the second payment would be applied to the principal.  but to be honest, i've never tried it, so i can't say if it works or not.

Message 2 of 19
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?


@laz98 wrote:

sorry to hear of your troubles.  i don't really have any good advice, just wanted to sympathize.  my mother-in-law had this same problem but with a different student loan company.  she even went so far as to write "APPLY TO PRINCIPAL!!!" across the entire bottom of the check in huge letters, & highlighted it bright yellow!  they still applied it to a future payment.  she was pretty po'ed after that.

 

i want to say that i read here where someone had been told to make a payment online, & then make another payment online the same day, & the second payment would be applied to the principal.  but to be honest, i've never tried it, so i can't say if it works or not.


Paying through the website and a separate check doesn't work.

 

It wouldn't be tree-friendly but demanding a payment book might be the only solution. That way I'll be able to send in two checks/month; one for the current amount due and another towards a later payment with higher principle.


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Message 3 of 19
Peach8321
Frequent Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

I was bascially told by SM that they won't do it.  So my thought was to save up enough to PIF on the loan, then send one payment telling them to kill the whole loan.  They first told me the check thing too, but then admitted it probably won't work.  When I tried to send two payments, they changed my payment amount to be double what it was!

 

There is no winning with student loans, just save up and pay off in one fell swoop.

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Message 4 of 19
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

Spoke to a supervisor. It is also necessary to include "Do not pay account ahead" in the memo, along with my account number, loan number/name/group. I may have someone here (at work) create a bar code containing all that information (just for poops and giggles), since it's obvious the calls to fI'd this wll become a monthly routine, LOL!!

I'd be willing to bet they could get a late payment right.

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Message 5 of 19
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

They got it wrong, again.

 

Apparently a laser printed label including, account/loan numbers, loan group, loan name, and "Apply to principle, do not place loan in paid ahead status" was difficult to understand.


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Message 6 of 19
laz98
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

i wish i could say i was surprised Smiley Indifferent

Message 7 of 19
Travis-84
Regular Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

Its a shame they make it so difficutlt.  On my student loans (serviced by great lakes), any extra payment will go to principal, and push your due date back.  So it lowers your interest, and pushes back your due date.  Kind of nice that if you are having financial troubles you can skip a payment (my next payment isn't due until 2014).  I guess sallie Mae does it differently so they can make more money on interest, but its really a shame they can't be more consumer freiendly. 

Message 8 of 19
IOBA
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

I had the same problem.

 

1.  Make the payment with the notation - PRINCIPLE ONLY Payment (has to be made after that month's payment has already been made).

2.  Immediately call them and tell them you made a payment and it is a PRINCIPLE ONLY payment.  Tell them to note it and get their "name and employee number".

3.  Call back 2 days later and follow up.

4.  Demand to speak to someone in the USA about this problem since they continually screw up and can't apply your payment correctly.  (The cs reps actually told me it was illegal to pay more than the designated amount on the loan!)

 

I got to the point that I frustrated the call centers so much that they finally gave me a USA number and told me to call THAT office.  It was awful, but I managed to get my loans paid off in about a year by paying extra on the principle and following up.  

 

Don't give up!!!  Keep calling, keep following up, and keep detailed notes.   And ask for the USA office.    All of the people that answered the phone when I called where geographically located outside the USA.  Out of frustration they finally did give me a number for a USA office.

Message 9 of 19
drkaje
Senior Contributor

Re: Sallie Mae sticking it to me. Is this fixable?

IOBA,

 

I call once/month and ask for a supervisor. Basically 10 minutes per month.

 

They'll never get it right but that doesn't mean to let them win, LOL!


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Current Score: EX 753 FICO, EQ 737FICO, TU 738
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