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spent over 1 hour on the phone

Michael Agruss

Written and Reviewed by Michael Agruss

  • Managing Partner and Personal Injury Lawyer at Mike Agruss Law.
  • Over 20 years of experience in Personal Injury.
  • Over 8000+ consumer rights cases settled.
  • Graduated from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law: Juris Doctor, 2004.

Dear Sallie Mae, I have just spent over 1 hour on the phone with “Connie” at x75584 on 1/15/2013. She was pleasant, but the situation and results were not. I would like to file the following complaint regarding borrower benefits and request remedy of the situation. A. Realization that Borrower Benefit of 1% Interest Rate Reduction “lost” In October 2012, I realized that I wasn’t getting the borrower benefit of 1% interest rate reduction on Loans #13-20. I emailed Customer Service on 10/12/2012 to look into this. It took 2 weeks to receive a response, which was received on 10/24/2012, which is unacceptable. The response indicated I had allegedly made a late payment, and that I had to request reinstatement of the benefit. There are issues here: Incorrect Information: The date referenced by the Customer Service Agent “Stacy” in response to my email is incorrect (which I figured out with “Connie” on 1/15/2013), which states that a letter was sent to me on “January 04, 2008.” I was still in graduate school in 2008, thus under loan deferment, and the alleged late payment (as indicated by “Connie”) was on 1/14/2009. Request Reinstatement: Why does reinstatement need to be requested? Who would NOT want reinstatement of a benefit? I did not know that reinstatement needed to be requested, nor that I had “lost” this benefit. Please send the letter which is referenced in the response from “Stacy.” 24 payment Clock: “Stacy’s” response indicated that my email serves as the reinstatement request, and that the clock restarts on October 2012. This is very frustrating, as I have been making consecutive payments since January 30, 2009, or for 4 years as of January 30, 2013 = 48 consecutive payments. “INTEREST RATE REDUCTION – USCR A 1.000 % INTEREST RATE DISCOUNT AFTER THE FIRST 1 PAYMENTS ARE MADE BY THE DUE DATES AS INITIALLY SCHEDULED. BENEFIT IS AVAILABLE DURING REPAYMENT AND AS LONG AS PAYMENTS CONTINUE TO BE MADE ACCORDING TO THE INITIAL SCHEDULE. IF YOU FAIL TO MAKE A PAYMENT BY THE DUE DATE AS INITIALLY SCHEDULED, YOU CAN REINSTATE THIS BENEFIT 1 TIME(S). AFTER YOU HAVE ACTIVATED THE REINSTATEMENT PROCESS, CHOOSE ONE OF THESE OPTIONS: (1) IF YOU HAVE EARNED THE INTEREST RATE REDUCTION AND MAKE A LATE PAYMENT, RE-EARN THIS BENEFIT BY MAKING 24 CONSECUTIVE PAYMENTS BY THE DUE DATES AS INITIALLY SCHEDULED (2) IF YOU FAIL TO EARN THE INTEREST RATE REDUCTION BECAUSE OF A LATE PAYMENT, RE-QUALIFY TO EARN THE BENEFIT BY MAKING 24 CONSECUTIVE PAYMENTS AND BY SATISFYING THE ORIGINAL, REMAINING ON-TIME PAYMENT REQUIREMENTS. “ B. Missed Payment? While “Connie” did her best with a person researching my account next to her, the information she provided was inefficient and unclear. She had to put me on hold several times, but couldn’t provide clear nor straightforward information after being put on hold for 5 mins. at a time. Rather than be put on hold, I requested that she call me back after research on my account was completed. She called me back, but still couldn’t provide answers to basic questions. My main question was, “When did I miss a payment?” After a lot of back and forth, I realize what had occurred. The very first payment for my Loans #13-20 was due on 1/14/2009. I’ll take responsibility that this first payment slipped under the cracks. I set up auto-debit for these loans on 1/30/2009 bringing the account current, and have been making on time/consecutive payments ever since. So, I assumed that after I made 24 payments, or on 1/30/2011, I would have a received the 1% Interest Rate Reduction. Since I didn’t realized that I had technically missed a payment (the initial payment), I had already “lost” the borrower benefit. Further, I did not realize I had to request reinstatement, as I didn’t know that I had lost it. My position is that I should have received a 1% Interest Rate Reduction on 1/30/2011. To add to my frustration, I only realized I wasn’t receiving this benefit until Oct. 2012, and the 24 payment “clock” restarted at that time, when I “requested” reinstatement. “Connie” informed me that I also lost another borrower benefit that I was unaware of, ***** credit after 33 consecutive payments, which she said is worth $2035. In my opinion, I have been making consecutive payments since 1/30/2009, which means I should have received this benefit in 10/30/2011. Hearing about this borrower benefit only made me more agitated, as I lost another benefit I didn’t realize I lost. “Connie” tried to sell me on this benefit, since Sallie Mae does not normally reinstate this benefit. I clarified this with her, and the clock would start today, 1/15/2013 and I would receive it in 2016 (not to my benefit, in my opinion). My position is that I have been making on time, consecutive payments for Loans #13-20 to Sallie Mae since January 30, 2009 via auto-debit; thus 48 consecutive payments will be made as of January 30, 2013. I should have received the following borrower benefits on these dates: 1% Interest Rate Reduction on 1/30/2011 (after 24 consecutive payments from 1/30/2009) 5.5% Credit on 10/30/2011 (after 33 consecutive payments from 1/30/2009) SUMMARY OF COMPLAINT: Sallie Mae Customer Service could not provide clear or concise information to basic questions per my phone experience on 1/15/2013. I was unaware and do not consider that I made any late payments, thus the two referenced borrower benefits should not have been “taken away” from me. I did not know I had “lost” the borrower benefits therefore I was unaware that I had to request for them to be reinstated. Why do borrower benefits need to be requested to be reinstated anyway? Who in their right mind would not want this benefit to be “reinstated” if they knowingly lost it? REQUESTED REMEDY I have already initiated the process of consolidation of my loans with Direct Loans. I will only stay with Sallie Mae if the following 2 conditions are met in full: Reinstate the 1% Interest Rate Reduction borrower benefit, RETROACTIVELY: Reinstate this benefit counting from 1/30/2009 when I signed up for auto-debit and have been making on time payments. I estimate the date that the 1% reduction to be applied on 1/30/2011, after 24 consecutive payments. Credit my loans with the appropriate dollar amount of resulting savings from 1/30/2011. 5.5% Credit Borrower Benefit: Credit my account with the appropriate dollar amount of the 5.5% Credit as of 6/30/2011, after I made 33 consecutive payments. Please respond to my request and complaints in writing

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