Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Sallie Mae's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Sallie Mae

  300 Continental Dr Newark, DE 19713-4322

  
• 

  Sallie Mae - Dept of Educational Loan Services

  PO Box 740351 Atlanta, GA 30374-0351

• 

  Sallie Mae

  6000 Commerce Pkwy Ste A Mount Laurel, NJ 08054-2226

• 

  Sallie Mae

  2-E. Taunton Road Berlin, NJ 08009

• 

  Sallie Mae

  3000 Lincoln Dr E Marlton, NJ 08053-1500

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/29/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I get multiple phone calls daily on making a payment to Sallie Mae.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/11/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  Their response was to notify me that they will respond later.  I am waiting additional correspondence from from Sallie Mae.
  
  
  Regards,
  Complaint ID: 21364357
   
  
  
  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/22/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/18/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I took a student loan with Sallie Mae for my tuition at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. I agreed on the loan to pay $25 a month while I'm enrolled full-time in school. I took more than the minimum of full time credit hours and have been enrolled constantly from August 2023, to present. The first two payments were charged and paid as described, but my November 2023 payment was billed for $320.52. I have spoken with multiple people multiple times who informed me that I was showing as unenrolled in their system. I spoke with my registrar and financial aid office who have reached out multiple times and submitted multiple documents stating that I have been enrolled constantly. I was informed by Sallie Mae that I was enrolled at Pamlico Community College, which I had never heard of nor taken classes at. I have spoken with them multiple times and they have continued to tell me for multiple weeks that they are waiting on my enrollment verification for The Citadel to come through. I have submitted it through email, as well as my registrar submitting it through email and fax. I have offered to send additional documents but was told not by Sallie Mae representatives. This has put a major negative impact on my credit score and I currently am being being charged more that I originally took the loan out for. I have gone to great lengths to resolve the issue, but no avail as their representatives are unhelpful and refuse to aknowledge my uploaded documentation.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/13/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/07/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In January of 2022, I was able to unilaterally secure a forbearance as the cosigner of my brother's student loan due to medical issues. (As far as I know, I've been the only one paying this loan up to this point.) Before a similar request around December of 2023 (when my debit card happened to get compromised), I was denied repayment assistance due to making such a request too soon. However, online support staff refused to seriously consider the matter due to a sudden and arbitrary policy requiring both parties to the loan to make a joint phone call for these matters. There have been no prior notice that such a policy has been implemented, and it's believed that all who have been asserting said policy lack the authority to change Sallie Mae's policies in any way. Online support staff refer back to the January 2022 forbearance as the source of this policy, but all they can find is a passage that merely allows Sallie Mae to change its repayment assistance policies at any time.
  
  As I tried to explain to Sallie Mae's Consumer Advocate, requiring my brother's involvement in this matter is expected to trigger his anxiety disorder and result in an counterproductive phone call (or anything else that might involve his direct involvement). To the extent that this policy somehow doesn't violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, there are more efficient communication methods that Sallie Mae apparently refuses to make use of, which would include an efficient way to receive whatever documentation might be needed (and a way to bypass the scheduling and timezone conflicts that Sallie Mae has somehow failed to pick up on trying to do everything over the phone).
  
  Even so, it appears that even the worst emergencies isn't enough to overcome this unnecessary and unannounced policy. In any case, the damage has been done, leaving me to take proportional actions should Sallie Mae choose to pour salt on our wounds instead of making this right.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/28/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.A direct response to the BBB complaint is improper, as evident in the attached copy of the business's letter. Nothing here is sensitive enough to warrant such unnecessary safety measures, which insults the BBB's preexisting efforts to mask sensitive information in public-facing complaints. This level of incompetence is not unexpected from someone who can't even appreciate the scheduling problems that come from the timezone difference in effect. Nevertheless, these attempts to defend unnecessary and counterproductive policy at issue, which harm students with so-called invisible (read: mental/psychiatric) disabilities and obstruct their cosigner's ability to keep accounts current, continue to frustrate. If the business seriously believes that such sudden and arbitrary don't violate the Americans with Disabilities Act in even the slightest, that can be (and will) be tested in the appropriate venue. In the meantime, the business's prior response to funds taken away by fraudulent activity under the relevant policy (does it even really exist? I doubt that anyone that has been pushing it even has the authority to make policy changes) has caused preventable harm and added salt to preexisting wounds. The business can either to learn how to (properly) utilize the various communication methods to collect the info and/or documentation to actually process a (perhaps retroactive) request for repayment assistance, or perhaps spend more than the underlying loan is worth defending itself from an overdue ADA lawsuit (and claims resulting from any related credit and credit reporting mischief). Either way, this whole thing could've been prevented had the business chosen (emphasis on the word "chosen", since the business previously processed requests from just the sole paying cosigner) to respond to unforeseeable circumstances the same way other, more competent lenders do.As such, if the business would rather continue refusing to even try to make things right, then I will continue to pursue every remedy available to make us whole and even fight for similarly situated borrowers (other people with anxiety disorders and/or other invisible disabilities) and the cosigners that care for them. Accordingly, it's up to the business to decide whether it wants to be smart about this and, at the very least, repeal the supposed policy in a similarly sudden (here, last minute) manner.Regards,
  Complaint ID: 21258726
   
  
  
  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 03/15/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/02/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am not liable for this debt with SALLIE MAE
  I do not have a contract with SALLIE MAE,
  they did not provide me with the original contract
  as I requested

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/21/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/27/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In 2018 2 student loans were opened with Sallie Mae, through the guidance of the University of Connecticut. One of the loans was in the amount of $6,498(loan ending in 9803) and opened on May 17 of 2018, meanwhile the other was for $5,600(loan ending in 6255) and opened on August 20th of 2018. Total originating balance was $12,098.*
  
  Coming out of school, I started work making less than the national median, and had difficulty beginning the payback process, to which Sallie Mae provided hardship assistance for the first year of the required payback period. through the loan modification they provided, my initial principal balance increased, however, once the hardship lifted and credit reporting became a valid reason to begin payback, I started making payments towards my loan.
  
  To date, based on the calculation of adding all sent payments, the amount paid back to Sallie Mae is approximately $10,750, meanwhile as of January of 2024 the current balance for loan 9803 is $8,207.18 and for 6255 is $6,572.16 making the total current balance $14,779.34.*
  
  To summarize, the loan balance started at $12,098, I've already paid 10,759.22, and it's currently $14,779.34. On top of this, the harassing collections calls over the past 6 years have made a poor situation even worse, and I encourage you to listen to any and all recordings attached to my file, as many of them will display my grievances towards this whole situation.
  
  I need help in fighting this balance, as there is no way I am able to defend myself against a contract that is unfair, in the general benefit of the business against my own personal finances. This might look like a valid model on paper, but in reality, it has completely crippled my financial life, and there is no end in sight. To think how many other people have contracts like this, and how much money these companies are making off of students, explains much of the financial problems that this country as a whole is facing. Please help.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/12/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/24/2024

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I have been paying sallie mae for a couple years. For some reason the system will randomly pull out of one my savings accounts. I didnt know this and got lay payments and missed payments which hurt my credit score. They said it was my banks fault and they will not help to fix my credit score. my bank said the information is correct.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  Thank you for your message. To protect the privacy of our
  customers, we responded directly to the customer. Please allow enough time
  for the customer to receive our response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the Customer Advocate
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/31/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I moved to a new state to help out a family member while she was sick. Due to me having to move out of state I had to quit my current job. When I moved to the new state I hit a financial hardship because I was in the process of looking for a new job. During my financial hardship Sallie Mae was not very helpful at all. I explained to them my situation on why I could not keep up with my payments they did not care at all. They would not change my minimum payments they basically told me there was nothing they could do for me. My current payments were a little over a hundred dollars per month but due to me not having a job I could not keep up with those payments. I asked them if they had any programs or if I could pay a minimum payment of $50 each month and they told me that I could pay $50 each month but they would still report my account to the credit bureau as delinquent. Since I have been looking for a job for 2 months my credit score has dropped more than 100 points and they will not help me at all. They will not put me on a better repayment plan and they said I am not able to make smaller payments. They only want me to make full payments or they will keeping reporting my credit as delinquent.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/22/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/23/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  
  
  
  

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

   

  Sallie Mae said there was absolutely nothing they could do for me during my time of struggle.  

  
  

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  
  

  Complaint ID: 21075673

  
   
  

  
  
  

   

  
  

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/29/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They call me very late at night with all different phone numbers that state they’re someone else. They also have contacted a family member about personal loan information that the family member should not have heard as it’s no one’s business. They also reported my payment as late without warning when I’ve always received a warning in the past.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/16/2024

  Tell us why here...Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/24/2024

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  An apology is not enough. I’m still receiving calls and many emails per day saying absolutely nothing informative. This is harassment and I’d like it to stop. They’ve contacted people who have nothing to do with my account about this which is ILLEGAL and goes against their policy. They say they’re here to “help” but cannot do anything for me. Instead they report inaccurate information causing my credit to decrease which is not fair to their customer and clearly shows they do not care and want to keep people in debt forever. 
  
  
  Regards,
  Complaint ID: 21070121
   
  
  
  
   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/08/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/26/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On 11/28 we mailed payments to completely pay off my sons student loans in the amount of $68, 364. This was due on 12/19. This payment included almost $12,000 in interest and an additional check to cover the one day of interest because the checks were overnighted (as instructed by the customer service rep we spoke to). When checking our account to verify it was paid off on 12/13, there was one balance not paid. Three of the accounts were paid off and negative balances were on all of these accounts as well. We again contacted Sallie Mae and were told after almost an hour on the phone that the issue was clearly an error on their part and it would be resolved and there would be a balance of zero by 12/24. The case number for this call was 105-321-09. When checking the balance on 12/25, we still owed $87 and $65 of this was interest that had been accruing. Again we had to call to attempt to solve the issue and are awaiting a call back.
  This is upsetting and disturbing business practice from a company that deals mainly with college age kids, who I can imagine many have no idea what level of incompetency they are reliant on for managing significant debt that will affect them for decades. The sacrifice was made to be able to scrimp and save to make this payment was significant and for this company to cause distress and aggravation due to their incompetence and mishandling of our money is incomprehensible.
  Clearly a closer look needs to be made into the corporate integrity and money management of this large company that is unable to manage one simple pay off.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/19/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/22/2024

  Better Business Bureau:

  
  
  
  

  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to my complaint and have determined that this does not resolve my  issue.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

  
  

  **In order for the bureau to continue to assist you, you MUST provide your view on the matter or your complaint will be closed as answered.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Regards,

  
  

  Complaint ID: 21056510

  
   
  

  
  
  

   

  
  

   

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/08/2024

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/11/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Sallie Mae had someone look up my contact information in conjunction with a family member's overdue bill. I did not consent to have my information put into Sallie Mae's database. My family member did not give Sallie Mae my information. I did not consent to be contacted about a family member's debt. I demanded that they remove me from their database. The first representative said they could only mark me as a wrong phone number. They did not call the wrong number. They stated my name in the voicemail. They also said I was given as a reference which is not true, so they lied about that. I then spoke to another representative. That representative said she would submit my information to be removed from the database. I don't know if my information will actually be removed from the database. I want to ensure that my information, which I did not consent to give them, has been removed from their database and that I am never contacted by them again. It should not be legal for them to look up family members' online, record their information in a database, and then use that Information to contact people not doing business with them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/29/2023

  Thank you for
  your message. To protect the privacy of our customers, we responded directly to
  the customer. Please allow enough time for the customer to receive our
  response, sent via the U.S. Postal Service.
  
  Regards,
  Office of the
  Customer Advocate