Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Nelnet - National Educational Loan Network's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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• 

  Nelnet - National Educational Loan Network

  121 S 13th St # 201 Lincoln, NE 68508-1911

  
• 

  Nelnet - National Educational Loan Network

  12165 W Center Rd Omaha, NE 68144-3962

  
• 

  Nelnet-National Educational Loan Network

  P.O. Box 1649 Denver, CO 80201

• 

  Nelnet-National Educational Loan Network

  P.O. Box 17460 Denver, CO 80217

• 

  Nelnet, Inc.

  6420 Southpoint Pkwy Jacksonville, FL 32216

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:12/28/2023

  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 have had to call Nelnet 5 times, about the same issues, regarding my repayment plan. Each time I call the wait time is close to 2 hours long, and I receive different answers from each representative I speak to. On top of this, each time a representative gives me information, nothing of what we spoke about actually happens on my account leading me to have to call back again, over and over. I was initially told that all groups of loans will be placed on an extended graduated repayment plan and the total of the payments will be $290.38. This has changed several times since I was told this on 11/28/23. The payments have jumped to over $570, then reduced but still higher than the initial amount given to me on 11/28/23. Then I was given completely different information and amounts of what the payments will be. Literally, each time I speak to a representative, the amounts and information provided to me are completely different. I want resolve. I want a payment that I can afford so that I can make them timely each month. I want what I was told would happen to actually occur on my account. I was told, $290.38 TOTAL - this includes all groups of my loans, on the extended graduated plan. The amount of time, anguish, irritation, effort, etc. that I have to put into getting accurate information for my loans is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable. Nelnet is a student loan servicing company contracted by the Department of Education to service direct and ******* ****** ********* *****. However, it seems they are severely understaffed as well as not fully equipped or trained as to how to properly service, process, and execute the information provided to customers about their loans. I want resolve. I want to not have to spend time each week, holding for almost 2 hours each time, just to be told different information than the last time I called. I want the total payment that I was told I would have of $290.38 TOTAL which is inclusive of all my groups of loans. I want this resolve

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Pertaining to ******** ******* federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provided the attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2023

  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.

  Dear Sir/Madam,
  I am employed at a hospital that is willing to pay some of my student loans back. At the time of the payment it was to the company "Great lakes", however Great lakes was later dissolved and became Nelnet. Neither com. However, when i looked at my account with Nelnet, this was never applied. I have called numerous times since October of this year. November i've sent emailed documents twice showing the check number and that it was cashed from my employer. I've been patient since I'm sure they are busy, however it has been another month with no contact and my balance has not changed. I'm not sure what happened to the $24,000.
  I sent this email in november 11 after they finally sent me to someone who might be able to help:
  Dear Sir/Madam,
  My employer sent a check with student loan account balance 4/27/23 and it has also been cashed 5/8/2023. The amount was for $24,000. I have included the loan information insert accompanying the payment sent to Great Lakes. The balance on my account at the beginning of the year was 130,700.01 and my current balance is $130,766.71 with interest applied from October. It doesn't look like it was applied to my outstanding balance and would like your help to find out any issues that may have happened with this payment. I appreciate your time.
  
  ***** ***** ********* ******* *************** Nel Let account number: **********  However with no response, I called again 11/22 and they told me there was an issue with the images in the email. I was sent them the file again the same day and confirmed they were able to open the image. After a month, I'm not sure if they are going to resolve the issue since I have not heard back from them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Pertaining to ******* ********** federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/28/2023

  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.

  Nelnet does not reply to messages and has not transferred my student loans to MOHLEA in order for my loans to be forgiven.
  
  This has been going on since August.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/12/2024

  Pertaining to ***** *******
  federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the
  attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/27/2023

  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 applied for an income-driven repayment program (SAVE program) through Nelnet on October 25, 2023. My application is still pending, and my loans have accrued thousands of dollars of interest which would not be happening if my application was approved. Per the Federal Student Aid website, applications for IDR programs should be processed within 2-4 weeks. I have emailed Nelnet, and they did not give me any idea of when my application may be processed. I need this application processed ASAP so my loans stop accruing unnecessary interest.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Pertaining to ***** ******s federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/26/2023

  Type:Product 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 requested my refund for a payment made 5/2023 under the Biden Program. I do not have a payment due until 09/2024. Nelnet has told me they are refunding me back and advised it was issued to me. That was over 5 months ago. They now say they are researching it and not calling back after promoised.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Pertaining to ****** ******** federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

  January 5, 2024

  
  ****** ******
  **** *** ***
  *** **** ** *****

  
  Account: **********

  
  Dear ******,

  
  Thank you for your inquiry regarding your federal student loan account with Nelnet Loan Servicing
  (Nelnet). The Better Business Bureau forwarded your inquiry to us for a response. On behalf of your
  lender, the **** ********** ** ********* ****, we service your federal student loans. We take your
  concerns seriously and appreciate the opportunity to respond.

  
  Your concern, as we understand it, is, you previously requested a refund of your payment made in
  May 2023, during the COVID-19 emergency relief, but you haven’t received it. When you called us, a
  representative advised you that your refund was issued but that was over five months ago. You were
  recently advised that we are researching your request and will follow up via phone call, but you
  haven’t heard back from us. You’re asking us to issue your refund.

  
  We apologize for the experience you described with us. We highly value customer feedback and will
  take your input into consideration as part of our continuous effort to enhance our processes, so that
  we may serve you better.

  
  Our records indicate that we previously mailed a refund to you for $2,187.50 on June 21, 2023.
  However, this amount didn’t include your payment of $437.50 received on May 15, 2023. We
  apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. We resubmitted your request to our
  Payment Processing team and asked that they expedite your refund.

  
  As of December 29, 2023, our Payment Processing team has processed your refund request. Next,
  the **** ********** ** ******** must approve your refund request before the funds can be issued.
  We appreciate your patience during this time. Due to the high volume of refund requests, we cannot
  provide a time frame for when you will receive your refund. Once the refund is issued, it will be noted
  on your account. Please continue to check back with us.

  
  We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, you may call us at ****
  ******** from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Eastern) Monday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and 8
  a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday. You can also email ********************************** or
  visit Nelnet.com.

  
  Sincerely,
  **** **
  Nelnet Loan Servicing

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/16/2024

  Thank you for your time and effort on making it right.

   

• 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.

  Nelnet was made aware of errors in my student loan accounts months ago. Repeated attempts (with 4 hr hold times to reach customer service) have resulted in no corrections to my account. I have tried three times to adjust my auto draft. Each time Nelnet acknowledges my change but does not implement the change. They have misapplied my payment resulting in a ‘missed payment’ amount reflected that is NOT missed. They continue to deduct an extra amount each month from my bank account that I did not authorize, and no one seems to care. Even a conversation with a “supervisor” resulted in no change to the errors.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/05/2024

  Pertaining to **** ************ federal student loan account, we
  reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.Thank you for your inquiry regarding your federal student loan account with Nelnet Loan Servicing
  (Nelnet). The Better Business Bureau forwarded your inquiry to us for a response. On behalf of your
  lender, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), we service your federal student loans. We take your
  concerns seriously and appreciate the opportunity to respond.
  Your concern, as we understand it, is that you have attempted to adjust the amount for auto debit
  and a payment was applied incorrectly. You have been calling us to discuss your account but have
  been unable to get through. You are asking us to contact you.
  We're currently experiencing unprecedented call volumes, which is leading to long hold times. We
  apologize for the inconvenience.
  We apologize for any confusion this issue may have caused. On December 26, 2023, during a
  telephone conversation with a Nelnet representative, we provided information on your payment
  history and advised your next auto debit amount of $676.78 is scheduled for January 15, 2024. We
  emailed instructions on how to change auto debit online and sent an Auto Debit Enrollment Form
  letter for information on how to request the change manually. We also submitted a request to our
  accounting department to have the $500.00 and $176.78 payments from October reallocated to all
  loan groups. Currently the entirety of the payments has only been applied to Loan Group AE.
  We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, you may call us at 888-
  486-4722 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Eastern) Monday, 8 a. m. to 8 p. m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and
  8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday. You can also ***** ********************************** ** ***** **********.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/05/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:  I never received the email referenced in this letter.  I did, however, receive a generic "thank you for writing to us" on Dec 27th.  As I never emailed on that date I can only assume the "email" received by Nelnet was your own customer service rep submitting the written request on the 26th.  

  Attached I have email confirmations of my 5 attempts to change my auto debit online.  None have been successful.  Each time I receive the "confirmation" and nothing changes.  I also spoke with a 'supervisor' customer service transferred me to in November.  She stated she changed my auto debit as well but obviously nothing changed there either.  She also had requested your accounting dept. reallocate the payment in October, but that didn't happen either. I have no faith it will be corrected now.  

  This business seems to be all talk and no action.  There is no excuse for these kinds of problems regardless of your call volume.  Apologies don't get the job done.  Someone needs to contact me directly and straighten this out.  

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** **********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2024

  Pertaining to **** ************ federal student loan account, we
  reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

• 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.

  Nelnet has fraudulently left my loan in deferment instead of it being in IDR. They've kept extending deferment to keep tacking on accrued interest. They refuse to communicate/respond to any written correspondence (legally required). I am a disabled individual and they're taking advantage of my situation and leaving interest to accrue on my loan without having it in the correct status per FSA.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/29/2023

  Pertaining to ******* ******* federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/10/2024

  Pertaining to ******* ******* federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provided the
  attached response.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/11/2024

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because: Nelnet continues to admit blame on their internal delays, but is continuing to charge me money due to their own internal issues. I should not be charged for their own mishandling of my loans. 
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ******* *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/22/2023

  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 December 8, 2023, I called the company's phone number to pay off my student loan in the amount of $5,843.00
  I completed the transaction via the telephone and have been waiting for them to process the payment. All the while during my wait for them, I was checking the payment status online and continually saw "payment processing". During this "processing" period I kept noticing my interest rate accruing while no action with the payment was taking place.
  On December 22, 2023, I finally got through to a live person and asked what the status of the payment was. During this long and arduous phone call, I was transferred back and forth between departments in what felt like an attempt to get me to hang up.
  Eventually I received an answer from their payment department and was told that they "saw it" but was unable to complete the transaction due to my financial institution "not releasing the funds".
  I immediately called Harborstone Credit Union on December 22, 2023 and was informed that there was no "Department of Education" trying to accept a payment.
  I feel as if they are just prolonging this transaction to continue to accrue interest.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/11/2024

  Pertaining to ***** ******** federal student loan account, we reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/22/2023

  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.

  Nelnet is not maintaining a stable website for their borrowers to use to promptly pay on their loans. They most recently on several occasions in the entire month of December have had multiple errors with being able to login to the account, or being able to process a payment. They are obviously poorly equipped to handle the students loans that have been transferred to them as this was never an issue with the previous student loan servicer ****** ******* Student loans have a very HIGH rate of interest and borrowers should be able to make payments at ANY TIME and a failure in this results in extra interest accruing, late charges being placed on the account, and ultimately is resulting in higher profit for Nelnet because of their incompetence in running a simple payment system website. It is basically a form of theft of the borrowers money to collect interest when several days out of the month you cannot make a payment because the website is down. The company also does not provide prompt phone service to collect payments by phone, and submitting payment by mail is also resulting in several days of added interest and is often unreliable/unsafe since the payments for these loans are so large. I hope the BBB will put enormous pressure on Nelnet to remedy this issue promptly, otherwise I would advise all borrowers paying extra interest because they cannot make their payments as intended to begin filing a class action lawsuit against the company for theft and fraud. They are FRAUDS if they cannot provide basic payment system needed to manage these loans.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/29/2023

  Pertaining to ******** ******* federal student loan account, we
  reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/22/2023

  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.

  Nelnet has recently doubled my payment and is taking more money out of my account than what they are showing on their statements. For the last three months I have been charged around $218.00 a month but my December payment jumped up to around $475 without notice. I looked at the statement for December and the statement balance was only for $378? Why did $100 more be taken out of my account? Why did my payment double in the first place? What the heck is going on here?

  

  Business Response

  Date: 12/28/2023

  Pertaining to ******** ****** federal student loan account, we
  reviewed their concerns and provide the attached response.