In 2004 I wanted to get my Business Administration Degree and I decided to do it online through Kennedy-Western University. I signed all the paperwork and was good to go and start my online education. I was extremely hesitant at first because I really did not think that I could afford the time to commit to my education. Needless to say, I had to deal with my granddaughter having to have open heart surgery and she was 3 months old and she was experiencing some rough times and then I also had to the opportunity of a lifetime to run my own business and I was still working 2 jobs that I liked. I decided to contact Kennedy Western and I wrote a letter indicating that I did not want the second half of the student loan distributed to the school and they informed me that it was up to the Sallie Mae as to whether or not the money would be distributed not them. I asked them why it was like that because I was the one who was making the payments and I really did not have the time to commit to the program. I was told that I had as long as I needed as long as 18 years. I started making payments to both Sallie Mae and another bank for the same tuition I believe it was 1st Priority Bank or something like that. and usually the paments were more than the indicated amount. I was even told that I did not have to make a payment until I was finished with my schooling but I wanted to start making payments to pay this loan off. I kept trying to get Sallie Mae and even Kennedy Western to just return to the money to the fund that it came out of and I just wanted out of the agreement. I tried since 2004 when I opened the agreement and to no avail I could not get out of it. I offered to repay the $500 that they gave me for books ( the books that I needed for the 10 classes were more than the amount that they sent me for books). The first half of the tuition was $3000 and the second half was $3000 (and remind you I asked in writing to the school for the second half of this amount to not be distributed, but it was).
I had a difficult time trying to get onto the blackboard with Kennedy Western (KW) and I would call and someone who would just say follow the prompts. Then when I would try to contact someone they would tell me that my adviser wasn't in or that the HR individual was in a meeting, wait and someone would follow up with me later. Needless to say that sometimes they would and sometimes they would not respond. I guess around 2006 the school changed hands and was under the name of Warren National University. I tried to call and contact someone at that school and I told them that I was not happy and I really felt that it was wrong that they were given money that I did not utilize and they told me I signed a contract and that I was under the obligation of repaying the loan no matter what and the new HR woman Debbie (someone) told me that I had to have someone that I did not know to give me tests and that was not in the previous contract with KW. I felt that my obligation with them should have been void then but it wasn't. In 2007 I was down for a while and could not repay my loan due to going through a divorce and surgery.
Sallie Mae started calling me as many as 3-5 times a day and on weekends to get money I would complain that I did not have the money and that I was laid up due to surgery and other stresses. A Sallie Mae representative even called a meeting with the WNU and told them that they thought it was wrong that they got money that I never utilized but it made no difference. I still had to repay the loan. As for utilizing the loan I took one class and the rest of the loan remains in the hands of Sallie Mae and the school.
I have made and wrote complaints to the Better Business Bureau and I don't feel that they investigated the paperwork that I sent them but I do believe that they expressed their interests regarding my concerns that I had in writing. I have statements that Sallie Mae sent me for all the years that I have had this loan. It actually doubled in amount $15000, I applied for a credit card to pay off Sallie Mae. I still owe them $436. I was paying $109 a month since 2004 and when I questioned why nothing was being paid down Sallie Mae (SM) informed me that the amount was applied to principal. Looking at my monthly statements the balance remained the same and there was never any indication that money was being applied toward the loan. I have monthly statements and copies of check receipts and letters from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). BBB did nothing to help and I don't feel that they investigated my complaint throughly. I sent them copies of my checks, statements and letters. The $6000 that was sent to Sallie Mae was not even reflected upon my billing statement and when I called and asked why they said they could not find it. I did not want to hear that. I was sent a rebuttle letter from Sallie Mae through the BBB and they stated that it was made on my statement from my credit card company (by the way on my credit card statement it was listed as eMae $6000 and if I had any questions that I was to call Rose Van Dyke 1-888-545-4199 x3689 who is not the only one that answers that phone). I was sending as much as $200 a month to $109 a month in billing payments to Sallie Mae and this is what they considered interest payments (since 2004). I recently asked for a tuition wage form to claim on taxes in February a SM representative told me that I should have received one in the amount of $1, 193.05 and when my ex-spouse called and wanted to know why I had not yet received anything by the end of February Rose Van Dyke informed him it should have been in the amount of $597. Since 2004 I have never received any type of form for tax purposes for schooling from Sallie Mae and they are the most money demanding company I know. The amount that I had left to pay out of my pocket since my $6000 payment was in the amount of $636.99 and I have made $200 since, and I will pay it off, but now statements reflect the amount owed at this moment. Eventually I would like to do an excel spreadsheet and make a copy of the comments that Sallie Mae sends with their monthly statements so that everyone can view this. I found a web site http://www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/sallie_mae.html where consumer beefs are displayed and I am glad to see that I was not the only one who had raised concerns regarding how Sallie Mae does business.