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 has 9 locations, listed below.

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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, Inc.

  6420 Southpoint Pkwy Jacksonville, FL 32216

• 

  Nelnet-National Educational Loan Network

  P.O. Box 17460 Denver, CO 80217

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:09/25/2023

  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.

  My ******** student loans were recently transferred to nelnet from great lakes. I had received a letter from department of education that my loan would be forgiven and to make sure my information was up to date as I may qualify for a refund. As far as I know all ******** loans were forgiven due to deceptive practices, a large lawsuit and settlement, and their degrees not actually being acreditted/transferable. I received notice that I do in fact have to start repayment and made a payment for the full amount on September 16th, a month before repayment is actually due. My payment is still sitting in processing and now my account shows I've generated even more interest since my payment. I have sat on hold for over an hour five times and again today. This time I was given an option to have someone call me back. They called back an hour and a half later, put me on hold for twenty minutes, and then hung up on me. I just want them to post my payment, show it as paid in full and quit adding interest until I can figure out why my ******** college loans are not forgiven when some of my colleagues have even gotten money back.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/04/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/21/2023

  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 requested a refund for all of my student loan payments since March of 2020. My account was previously with Great Lakes. The request was made in July and email correspondence confirmed receipt of this request on July 26, 2023. On Monday, September 18, I received a refund check for one payment in the amount of $306.99. The actual refund amount should be $12,279.60 in accordance with the CARES Act.
  
  Nelnet refuses to address this via email and instead requires several hours of hold time to attempt to talk to a representative.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/25/2023

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/25/2023

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  - There is a lack of transparency of the process.

  - When I call, they say they will put in the request but they will not send any confirmation that the request has been received or submitted.

  - There is no timeline, which makes it very difficult to plan, especially with payments resuming.

  - They refuse to address comments via email and say we have to call. It is a 2 hour wait to talk to anyone.
  
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** *****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/05/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/21/2023

  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 have a student loan that was transferred from ***** ***** to Nelnet with a balance of over $70k. I received a 1099-C for the cancellation of debt that Nelnet is now saying is fraudulent but have not provided any evidence to show how they came to the conclusion of the document being fraudulent. In the meantime I have proof that the document was filed and accepted by the IRS. Nelnet is refusing to close out my account.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/21/2023

  I filed this complaint myself and this is the first complaint I've filed with BBB on Nelnet.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/29/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/19/2023

  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 did not provide an invoice to me for a student loan from 2016 through 2020. Interest was accumulating on the loan, but no payment was being requested. In 2020 when Covid hit then interest was stopped on the loan as required by law, but I am concerned with the years between 2016-2020 where interest was accruing and they were not requesting a paying as they should have been. I spoke to a few representatives at their company and they all say that they see there was an “issue” on their billing side. They say they will review it and call me back, but they have not called back.
  If I would have known a payment was due I could have paid off the loan- or at least payments to reduce the interest that accumulated.
  I submitted complained to them multiple times starting in April 2020 when I realized that we hadn’t received an invoice, but this is still unresolved.
  Melissa Brownlee

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/23/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/18/2023

  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 made some payments towards my student loans during the pandemic. After I paid off the interest, my subsequent payments were applied to my principal balance (please see attached screenshot). My understanding was that interest was NOT supposed to accrue during the pandemic, but when I logged into my Nelnet account in late August, I was surprised to find that there was an accrued interest of over $700. I've tried to contact Nelnet about this ever since, but every time I call them, an automated message says the wait time is over 30 mins, and I cannot get through to speak to a person there because the hold times are excessively long. I've also emailed them, but they have not responded to my email. During that time, interest has continued to accrue on my account; as of today, the accrued interest is over $1000, and some of it has capitalized already. I have also asked Nelnet to recalculate my monthly payment amount based on the new SAVE repayment plan, and now they have put my account in forbearance until December while they process my SAVE application (and during that time, interest will continue to accrue on my account). I'd like to switch my student loan servicer, but before I do so, I want to make sure that my student loan balance is actually correct, because it seems that the balance reflected in my Nelnet account may be inaccurate.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/22/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/15/2023

  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 m**e a payment on 08/11/2023 in the amount of $640.00 to be applied to the principle of loan ** only. However, Nelnet misapplied the amount to the principle of loans ** and **. All interest was Zero and I m**e the single payment to ** to reduce the principle balance prior to 09/01/2023. This is a deceptive practice to get the borrower to pay more interest. This is the second time they have done this. They need to comport and apply payment's to the principle and interest as the borrower submit's them.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/02/2023

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2023

  Dear ******  We appreciate your BBB Rebuttal case 20606494. We understand you still have concerns related to your payment allocation to loan **.  Based upon your recent correspondence received on October 6, 2023, no **ditional information was provided. Our determination dated October 2, 2023, will stand. The full payment of $640.00 has been allocated to loan ** with an effective date of August 11,2023, as you requested.  We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, please call us at 888-4864722, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Eastern) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.  You can also visit our website at Nelnet.com or email *********************************** 

   

  Sincerely,  ***** ** Nelnet Loan Servicing 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/20/2023

  **ditionally, see the balances from my online Nelnet account as of 10/20/2023, which indicate the credit reports are incorrect and do NOT reflect the accurate balances as shown on my Nelnet account. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/15/2023

  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.

  Student Loan payments not being applied to accounts. Because the payment was not posted the accounts that should have otherwise been paid in full are accruing interest. 1680 was not applied to the account although they confirmed that they received the payment and took the money out of my bank account

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/15/2023

  ***** ************** **********My mother (the third party) filed the complaint for me. Her name is ***** ********. Her address is ***** * *** Polk, NE 68654. Her phone number is **********

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/29/2023

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

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/12/2023

  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.

  Throughout August 2023 and early September 2023 this business is unreachable after many attempts via phone and also email. They are not staffing appropriately for a predictable increase in customer service needs due to the end of the pandemic student loan hold. My loans unfortunately are now run through them and after many attempts to reach them I have been unsuccessful. This is a time sensitive matter. I am requesting that they contact me as I need assistance and to speak with someone about my upcoming loan payments and planning. I also am requesting that the BBB make this complaint public for others to see this is an issue. In addition, there should be a way to force them appropriately staff as this is costing persons like myself time and money. I am requesting that they contact me at my email with an actual person that I can coordinate/schedule a call with. I don't want them randomly calling me when I cannot answer and giving me a number to call back where I will then again wait and wait and wait!!!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/21/2023

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/26/2023

  Dear Steven,  We appreciate your BBB Rebuttal case ********. We understand you still have concerns related to scheduling a call with us and our previous response.   Please understand we have made every reasonable effort to respond to your concern. We are unable to schedule appointments for contact. You may contact us at the number listed below.   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: 10/09/2023

  Please see attached image. The problem I have brought to the attention of the BBB in this complaint is very large to the extent that the company and it's poor planning and understaffing is so problematic for so many people having issues like myself they are specifically mentioned often in the news. I have posted one such example. They still have not helped me and I still have not had success contacting them but cannot waste anymore time doing so which is why I hoped the BBB could help. Myself and others need customer service personell we can access for assistance! They have made it obvious they are not providing any customer service and it is flagrant. They need this complaint and information posted online for consumers to see. There should be a way for them to have financial penalties for this type of behavior in the business world. What can a person like myself do if the BBB cannot help? 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/12/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 October of 2022, I requested a refund of payments made to Nelnet towards student loans in the amount of $2,660 that I had made during the pandemic as per guidance issued by the government. Within days the amount was added back to my loan balance and I was told the refund would be mailed to me. 3 months later, in January of 2023, I was able to get ahold of Nelnet over the phone and they claimed they had mailed a check in November 2022 that was returned to them. They did not make any attempts to notify me of this prior to me calling them. I requested they reissue the check as my address was correct and there was no reason it would've been returned to sender. I was told it would be reissued and mailed to me. Over the following 7 months, I sent several emails and made several calls. Only some of which were responded to. The responses I did receive were always saying that they were backed up and it would be processed and I would see the check soon. In August of 2023, I called Nelnet again to inquire about the refund and to demand a resolution as interest would begin accruing on the loan balance again on September 1. Again I was assured that my refund was being processed now. Here we are halfway through the month of September as Nelnet continues to withhold my funds, but now is also accruing interest on the money that I paid to them and was never returned to me. This seems to be fraudulent activity and potentially criminal as they are accruing interest on funds they are in possession of and refusing to give up.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/18/2023

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/20/2023

  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 U.S. Department of Education (ED), we service your federal student loans. We take your concerns seriously and appreciate the opportunity to respond.   As we understand it, you have been unable to receive your refund. You’re asking us to reapply the funds to your federal student loans.   On October 17, 2023, we reapplied your refund of $2,660.83 to your account. Your account currently has a balance of $6,080.81. Of that balance $6,047.23 is principal and $33.58 is interest.  We hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, you may call us at 888486-4722 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 email [email protected] or visit Nelnet.com.   

   

  Sincerely,  ***** ** Nelnet Loan Servicing 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/26/2023

  
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. I appreciate that Nelnet reapplied the payments to my account with an effective date before interest started accruing. It is unfortunate that it took 12 months, countless phone calls, emails, and a BBB mediation to finally resolve this issue, but I am satisfied with the end result.
  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  **** ****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2023

  Type:Service or Repair 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’ve made 2 large payments towards my student loan (totaling in $5,000) that have processed, been applied to my balance then they disappeared and my balance is back to the original amount like the payments never happened. I’ve tried calling and emailing, with no support or answers. They replied to my email stating that they couldn’t get back to me. I’m not sure what to do

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/15/2023

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

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/22/2023

   
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  There was no communication around a routing or bank issue.  I believe the information was transferred from Great Lakes, not manually entered.  I have sent another $1k and $2k payment.  The $1k payment was set for 9/18 and has still not gone into effect.  How will I be contacted if there is an issue?  When will this actually hit the balance?  I cannot reach anyone to communicate with other than through the BBB.  The communication is absolutely unacceptable.

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

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/28/2023

  Dear *******, Info: Your Payment History is Enclosed Account Number: ********** As requested, a copy of your payment history is enclosed for your records. The interest on your student loan(s) is calculated using the daily simple interest method. Your interest accrues at a daily rate based on the principal balance and interest rate of your loan(s). To calculate how much interest has accrued on your account since your last payment or since the interest was last satisfied, do the following: 1) Multiply the principal balance by the interest rate 2) Divide this amount by 365.25, which is the number of days per year 3) Multiply the daily rate by the number of days since your last payment or since the interest was last satisfied 4) This is the amount of interest that has accrued on your account. Please note that when a payment is received your payment is applied first to interest and then to principal. Please refer to your repayment schedule for detailed information regarding your repayment term.

   

  Enclosure On March 27, 2020, the President signed the CARES relief act, which provided an interest waiver effective March 13, 2020. For any loans that had an outstanding balance on or after March 13, 2020, the beginning and end of this period will be noted as “BEGIN TPD INTEREST SUPPRESSION” and “END TPD INTEREST SUPPRESSION”. Please note that it is not related to the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge program. P