Student Loan Education Center

Review: I want my money back... I have been in contact with Student Loan education Center since January 2015. They took $700 in exchange for consolidating my student loan. I was assured on February 10, 2015 that the process was to be completed within 45-60 days. They contacted me again on May 11, 2015 saying that my loan consolidation was ready to be completed and had me call them to finalize paperwork... However in August 2015 when I received an email from the original company that had my student stating that my loan forbearance was up and that I needed to resume payments. I contacted the Student Loan Education Center and they assured me that my loan should be completed with the Navient company by September 1, 2015 and that they would request another month on my forbearance with the other company. As of today Navient has never received any consolidation for my loan. In fact no consolidation was made in my name since 2010 and the original company that had my student loan still has my loan in their records and are requesting that I resume payments again.. I've contacted the Student Loan Education Center multiple times but they always had the same explanation, that the loan is still "processing".Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded the money I paid for consolidating my loan. I paid $700 and according to the National Student Loan Data System no work was done on my loan what so ever.

Business

Response:

We spoke to [redacted] and resolved this matter. Her full refund was sent via FEDEX overnight. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.Thank you,SLEC

Review: I received a letter post-marked from Sacramento, CA to my address marked "Personal and Confidential" with the title "Effective Immediately - Federal Student Loan Notice".

The letter was customized to me, including both my name and the approximate amount of an outstanding federal student loan. The letter states " Due to your student loan balances totaling over $xx,xxx; you are now eligible to receive benefits from a new law that has passed regarding federal student loans including TOTAL FORGIVENESS in some circumstances." The loan balance represented by $xx,xxx is my current loan balance. The letter states they are a consumer advocacy group. Through some research, I have learned that the company that sent me this letter is the "Student Loan Education Center" in Irvine, CA.

My concern is two-fold. One, my privacy regarding my loan balance has been breached. Upon checking the privacy policy of my federal student loan servicer, I do not see any legal way they could have obtained this information. I did not authorize a credit check to this company. On top of that, anyone who sees my mail can tell I have a loan without opening the letter.

Second, the letter format itself and the claims are deliberately misleading.Desired Settlement: Determine and stop the source of the information leak. Stop all communication to me and stop misleading letters to all consumers.

Business

Response:

[redacted],

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very seriously.

We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and reviewing all incoming

and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest level of customer service

in the industry.

Student

Loan Education center uses multiple marketing companies that use direct-mail

solicitations, radio, internet and email to generate leads for the student loan

industry. We are told that the marketing companies using direct-mail as a

way to generate calls, use many different response models using proprietary algorithms,

not credit reports. More than half the

time people call in from direct-mail solicitations, the information is way off.

We

will speak to the marketing companies and discuss your comments with them. Our goal is not to mislead anyone. Student Loan

Education Center assists thousands of individuals each month in helping them

apply for government benefits that they are entitled to. These

benefits have been around for some time, and many people with federal student

loans never realize that they pay more on their monthly student loan payments

than they have to. Moreover, their current loan servicer does not bother making

them aware of these programs because the servicer would lose money if they

significantly reduced every customer’s monthly payments.

We are sorry

for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Review: I received a suspicious mailer about my student loans promising to lower or even forgive my student loans entirely. The agency's name was not stated anywhere on the mailer I received at all. When I called the number and started going through the application process, I found out that the agency is an actual business that collects fees to help you qualify for government programs. I thought that I was speaking to a government agency. I was wrong.

My representative[redacted] told me I would be expected to pay a large fee to process my loans. I told her that I wanted to think about the math of allowing them to process my loans. She said that was perfectly alright and gave me her personal line number(Can provide if needed). I called her back just so I could get the name of the company because I didn't catch it anywhere in the conversation that we had before.

I started to grow even more nervous at this point because the more I heard from[redacted], the more this company started to sound like a scam. She even said that they were just a middle-man.

They now have all of my personal information, and I have no desire for their product.Desired Settlement: I would like proof in some way that they have deleted my application and it's information entirely and to please not contact me again, as I have no interest in their product.

Business

Response:

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Before discussing further, we would like [redacted] to know that we have deleted her information from our client

relationship management software and added her to our do not contact list.

The marketing companies we use have been

sending these types of mail pieces for years.

They all look similar and are very generic. The mail piece itself does not promise to

lower or even forgive student loan debts.

However, the majority of our callers do qualify for programs that reduce

their payments significantly.

We listened to the recorded call, and

[redacted] followed the script outlined by management including our

fully-transparent responses. She even

answered the phone with “Thank you for calling Student Loan Education Center.”

If anything was unclear about the company name, it was not mentioned to

[redacted] as she plainly stated it on a recorded line. The first thing [redacted] said was “I

received a mailer that says I could possibly lower my payments” which is the

type of verbiage many marketing companies employ.

[redacted] mentioned in her complaint that

she was concerned she was being scammed because our company is not a government

agency. However, our business practices are wholly based on compliance and

consumer protection. We never take any upfront fees. All funds are held in a

dedicated trust account under the client’s name with full access to said

account until the service has been performed successfully. We are not in the

business of scamming people which is why we offer a full money-back assurance.

Student Loan Education Center assists thousands of individuals

each month in helping them apply for government benefits that they are

entitled to. These benefits have been around for some time, and many

people with federal student loans never realize that they pay more on their

monthly student loan payments than they have to. Moreover, their current loan

servicer does not bother making them aware of these programs because the

servicers would lose money if they significantly reduced every customer’s

monthly payments.

Many of our

clients attempted their own applications prior to contacting us. They found

that the forms were confusing and the questions asked did not always correlate

to their specific situations. After receiving letters of denial or, even worse,

higher payments than they were paying, those very same clients contact

professionals like us because we are specialists that can make sure the

application is done correctly and accurately the first time.

We wish [redacted] the best of luck and want to assure her that all her

information has been deleted from our system. We apologize for any

inconvenience this may have caused her.

Review: I received a mailer about my student loan information on it and a notice saying that I may be able to get my student loans consolidated and that I may qualify for student loan forgiveness. I called and spoke to a representative named [redacted] who said I need to pay a fee of $599. The representative told me that I qualify for complete forgiveness and I went through the entire process including giving them my bank account information, loan PIN number, and other personal information. [redacted] gave me his phone number of [redacted]. In our conversation he said things and made promises that were not in the paperwork he sent to me and which appear to be fraudulent. The more I thought about it, I believed this was a scam and something I did not want. I sent emails and faxes stating I wanted to CANCEL and did not want the services of Student Loan Education Center. I asked them to "Please cancel any and all of my services with you effective immediately. I do NOT want your services. Please remove from your records and computer system all personal information including social security number, ID, phone and other personal information."I request this be done immediately and that a letter or email stating that this has been done be sent to me.Desired Settlement: I want the Student Loan Education Center to cancel any and all services with me effective immediately. I do NOT want any of their services and I want them to remove from their records and computer system all personal information including my social security number, ID, PIN number to my loans, phone and other personal information.I request this be done immediately and that a letter or email stating that this has been done be sent to me at [redacted]@gmail.com.

Business

Response:

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Before

proceeding any further, Mr. [redacted]’s application and information has been

deleted from our software system and his contact information has been added to

a “do not contact” list. Gaining the trust of our clients is important to us.

In fact, we use a payment system designed with consumer protection in mind. By

utilizing an FDIC-insured bank and trust accounts for each client, we guarantee

that we will never take a dime until we perform the service we promised to. We

also abide by all federal and state guidelines to maintain the utmost level of

compliance.

We

are a document preparation company that assists clients by preparing and

submitting their applications quickly and accurately. We work with many clients

that attempted the application process on their own prior to working with us.

Many of these clients received denial letters, higher payments, or simply gave

up after reading some confusing verbiage available online.

Mr.

[redacted] states that the documents we sent to him appeared fraudulent. We do not

know what he means by this statement however we remain adamant in our stance

that we maintain the highest-possible level of compliance in our industry. If

our documents were fraudulent, the thousands of applications we submitted would

never have been approved.

We

urge people to understand what’s available before claiming fraud or scam.

Those being scammed are the students and former students who diligently make

their payments to the loan servicers, never exploring the government benefits

that are available to them. Finally, we ask that those same students and

former students learn more about companies like Sallie Mae and how they were

fined by the federal government for over $139 Million dollars for defrauding

their customers.

Mr.

[redacted] states that his complaint involves our “selling practices.” We are the

ones spending the marketing dollars to educate borrowers like Mr. [redacted] who

would never know about these government benefits before contacting us.

We

apologize for any confusion or inconvenience that Mr. [redacted] experienced and

wish him the best.

Review: When I cancelled consolidation of my student loans (to use another company), I received an email stating that my account had been cancelled and my credit card would not be charged. Two days later, my credit card was charged in full. It took an entire week to issue the refund, and since I did not expect to be charged I went Christmas shopping on that card and their charge put me over the limit of my card. This negatively affects my credit score. Also, during that week, I called a couple of times to both SLEC LLC and [redacted], and only got this issue resolved on Friday when we had a 3-way call and it was clear that my funds made their way into a mystery account. The issue had to be forwarded to their banking department.

Here is the email I received:

Confirmation of Cancellation

Dear [redacted] This email is to confirm that we have received your cancellation request effective 12/11/2014.

We are sorry to hear you won’t be continuing your services with us. Your cancellation request is being processed and all scheduled payments will be cancelled. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

Regards, [redacted]Processing Department

19800 MacArthur Blvd. Ste 300 | Irvine, CA 92612

Direct [redacted]

And here is the email confirming the refund:

[redacted]General Information

Merchant Account: SLEC LLC

Date/Time : 12/15/2014 10:56:41 AM CST

----

Transaction Information

Order ID : [redacted]Description : [redacted]Draft

Transaction Amount : $-[redacted]Transaction ID : [redacted]Transaction Type : Card Refund

Response : SUCCESS

----

Customer Billing Information

First Name : [redacted] Last Name : [redacted]Desired Settlement: This business did not apologize about any of this until I asked them to. It should have it's Revdex.com certification grade lowered, and this complaint should be visible to people shopping for student loan consolidationservices. They need a more streamlined account cancellation process, so that [redacted] does not bill in their name without their knowledge, in order to be a legitimate and professional document services company.

Business

Response:

[redacted]Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry. Upon

reviewing the notes in the system, it appears that you called in on 12/5/14 to

cancel. The cancellation was processed immediately, however, it takes 3-5 days

(sometimes up to eight) to process the refund. This is completely out of our

control. Let

me explain the process in greater detail:We do NOT

get paid until we complete all the work as contracted by the consumer. As such, a part of our services include,

assisting the consumer with setting up a third party trust account with an FDIC

insured bank. This bank operates like

any other bank in complying with Federal and State banking regulations. As

with any other bank, this bank provides monthly bank statements to consumers as

their funds are held in their account which is in the consumer’s name. When a

request to cancel our services is made, we process a refund on behalf of the

consumer with the bank. Because we do NOT have control of or ownership of those

funds, we cannot expedite the refund any quicker than what the bank policy and

procedures mandate. We have no control

over the bank nor the Federal Banking laws and procedures. The bank typically processes and refunds

consumers their funds in their accounts within 3-5 business days, we have seen

it take longer though. We

apologize for the inconvenience. However, we are mandated by law to never

accept advance fees. These

laws and procedures are put into place and followed by Student Loan Education

Center in an effort to protect consumers and ensure the public’s trust. Any

inconvenience that arises from these policies are beyond our control and we try

our best to assist consumers with their needs. All consumers who request to

cancel can expect to see their bank accounts closed and funds returned to them

by the bank.Student Loan Education Center assists thousands of individuals

each month in helping them apply for government benefits that they are

entitled to. These benefits have been around for some time, and many

people with federal student loans never realize that they pay more on their

monthly student loan payments than they have to. Moreover, their current

servicers don’t bother making them aware of these programs because the

servicers would lose money if they significantly reduced every customer’s

monthly payments. Armed with this knowledge, Student Loan Education

Center aids consumers in realizing that they can save a tremendous amount of

money each month on their student loans by not only lowering their payment but

also possibly qualifying them for various types of loan forgiveness. We

urge all members of the public with federal student loans to read into the

Health Care and EDUCATION RECONCILIATION Act of 2010 and become enlightened to

the benefits that are out there for those struggling to make their student loan

payments every month.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.The business SLEC claims that the refund process takes a long time, which I understand. But they are not explaining why my card was charged in the first place! I gave them plenty of advance notice to cancel my account, so they need to revise their practices to contact [redacted] when a client cancels. If the processing department employees are not in better communication with their accounting and billing counterparts at [redacted], this will keep happening to other clients of the business SLEC LLC.

Review: On July 3, 2014, I got a notice from the "Student Loan Consolidation Center" (I realize that this isn't the same company as described by the name, but keep reading -- it's relevant) telling me that I was eligible for a loan consolidation program. I called the number on the letter and began services with them on July 18. They told me on the phone that I could cancel within 30 days and get a refund. Having been told this, I agreed and signed a contract with them. Two weeks later, on August 1, I decided I wanted to cancel my services with them. I emailed the representative who I'd been talking to and told her I wanted to cancel and to give me the refund. She said she would cancel, but that I wouldn't get any refund because they'd already done a lot of work on my file, and that the refund was only for the payments to Student Assist Plus, and not for their company.

I continued being charged for payments to their company. I called the company back and told them I had canceled, and they told me that since they'd already done a lot of work on my file then they had to charge me for that work that they'd done. They also looked at my file and they said that the original representative had only canceled with Student Assist Plus (the loan company that they go through) and not with their company. I told them to cancel everything and they said they would. Today they charged me again, and I called and talked to the manager. After getting nowhere with him, I told him I was going to file a complaint with the Revdex.com, and that I'd seen that their company had 118 complaints against them (complaints like mine) on the Revdex.com website. He basically said "What are you talking about, we're Revdex.com accredited and we have an A+. We're the Student Loan Education Center, you might be getting us confused with another company." Apparently, they changed the name of their company last month (July), so now, very conveniently for them, they get a fresh start and an A+ with Revdex.com since they have no reviews yet.Desired Settlement: I want the $599 that I paid them back, I want them to get rid of all my information that they have on file (including my bank information, my social security number, and I think my FAFSA PIN which I just changed), I want them to never charge me again, and I want other people to be aware not to deal with this company, and not to be tricked by the A+ or the "Revdex.com-accredited" logo on their website or on this website.

Business

Response:

We have received the compliant

made by Miss [redacted]. We take all complaints seriously and work hard to

make sure any and all complaints are addressed in a timely manner.

The client signed and completed a contract with our company,

Student Loan Education Center, on July 18, 2014. This contract states

that the client may cancel for any reason up until services are rendered.

We completed the requested services as outlined in the contract and recorded

calls with the client on August 5, 2014. On August 11, 2014 client

requested to cancel her services. The services had already been rendered

for the client. We made every attempt to accommodate the client and

explain the entire process of our services. Upon signing the contract

with our company, the client was made aware of all services that we provided

and the cost of these services.

After reviewing at length the consumer’s complaint via a

telephone conversation with the consumer, we decided to honor their request of

a refund. We want to ensure that all of our clients have the best

possible experience with our company and felt that a refund of their fees would

be made in good faith. Also, the client had some confusion as to our

business name. We have no affiliation with the company named in this

complaint of Student Loan Consolidation Center. Although our company

names share a similarity, there is zero affiliation between the two companies.

This was acknowledged by the consumer in our discussion. As of today,

we have zero unresolved complaints, an A+ and thousands satisfied clients.

It will continue to be our goal to maintain this pristine record of

outstanding service to our clients.

Review: I contacted this Student Loan Consolidation & Payment Reduction Program(877-[redacted]) on 02/11/2015. Due to my student loan balances totaling over $34,000; I was eligible to receive benefits(benefit id #[redacted])from a new law that was passed regarding federal student loans including TOTAL FORGIVENESS in some circumstances. They advertise to be a consumer advocacy group. They stated that they would work on my behalf with the U.S. Department of Education to find applicable financial relief programs to make my Federally Insured Student Loans flexible and easy to manage. So, I first needed to pay a closing cost to start the processing. I ended up making three payments(Feb. 21, March 13, and March 28, 2015) totaling $699. This was difficult to do, but I did. I was initially paying [redacted] $52.81 and [redacted] $42.05 a month. My understanding was that this company was going to combine the two and I would make one payment of around $66.44 a month after the completion of the processing. The company initiated the first forebearance request for me to [redacted] and [redacted]. That ran from Feb.-May. During this time I had no contact with this Program nor [redacted] and [redacted]. I ended up contacting them sometime after making the last payment of the closing cost. The number I had was 949-[redacted] to a [redacted], who was my original contact/advisor. I never reached her directly and was referred to the client services number 888-216-3547. I wanted to know what my next step was. They notified me that they were still processing and I would get another forebearance request to fill out and it would be submitted to [redacted] and [redacted]. This was sometime in May. I was notified that my payments would be around $90 and would start in July. I mailed the forebearance back in the day after ai received it. I heard nothing else from this program until I called 06/19/2015, because [redacted] had withdrew $233.80 on 06/15/2015. I needed to find out what happened.Desired Settlement: I spoke with two agents([redacted] and [redacted]) who both stated it was my responsibility to stop auto- pay with [redacted] and [redacted] and that my forebearance was received and sent to both on 06/09/2015. I notified them that is not how the forebearance was done initially. I didn't have to contact [redacted] or [redacted] and I didn't stop any auto-pays that were in place. I asked to speak with a supervisor. I spoke with, [redacted], Supervisor. I told him the situation. He researched and determined they hadn't sent the forebearance to the correct places. He approved my refund of the closing cost of $699, only

Along with the closing cost of $699, that I paid, I would also like to be reimbursed for the $233.80 withdrawn by [redacted] and the overdraft fees that were taken because of the unplanned withdrawal. Had the student loan education center forwarded the forebearance request to [redacted] these withdrawals wouldn't have taken place on 06/15/2015 along with overdraft fees there after

Business

Response:

We would like to apologize for

any inconvenience Ms. [redacted] experienced. Our office takes any and all

complaints or reviews very seriously. Upon further review, our dedicated

Customer Service team contacted Ms. [redacted] via phone and resolved the issue

with her directly. We believe this matter to be resolved and closed.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: I received a flyer from the Student Loan Education Center stating that I may qualify for a student loan reduction or total payoff on my student loans. When I called the number, I spoke to a representative, named [redacted]. Over the course of our conversation, he made me two offers. The first offer he made was a so called "better" loan. When I informed him I was a school teacher, he then made the bold claim that he could get me full forgiveness of my loan. Throughout the conversation, he used aggressive tactics in attempt to get my credit card information promising me that for $300.00 he could get me full forgiveness of my student loans. I had to ask him three times if I could call him back after I checked things out. When it was clear I would not give my credit card information, he let me hang up. After hanging up from him, I checked into the legitimacy of his claim and it is in fact false. I have a FFEL loan which according to the Department of Education does not qualify for loan forgiveness. Also, the so called "better" loan he offered me would have wound up costing me over 6,000. more than I currently owe. They way he phrased it however lead me to believe that I would get some of my loan forgiven. He was clearly pressuring me to give out my financial information.Desired Settlement: I am requesting that I receive a letter in writing from the Student Loan Education Center confirming they have deleted me and all of my information off of their database along with an apology for their high pressure tactics. I have already requested this in an email to Mr. [redacted] and his supervisor Tim Myers but have not received a reply or any indication that they will honor this request.

Business

Response:

Student Loan Education center takes any and all

complaints very seriously. We have a dedicated compliance team to full evaluate

and review all phone calls to ensure our clients receive the best customer

service in the industry.

We would first like to apologize to Ms. [redacted]

for any inconveniences we caused and would like her to know that none of her

personal information has been saved and her contact information has been placed

into a “do not contact” status within our customer-management software.

After listening to the call with [redacted], we

determined that he was in fact overly-aggressive in a manner that we absolutely

would not condone. In terms of disciplinary action, we have decided that the

best course of action is to review the call with [redacted] and his supervisor in

order to correct any exchange we deem either incorrect or simply unsuitable. As

[redacted] is one of our most experienced advisors with zero complaints, we feel he

can continue to be a successful member of our team.

In regard to Ms. [redacted]’s issue with the

information that [redacted] provided, we feel that some miscommunication took place

as some information doesn’t correlate with the phone call we reviewed. Ms.

[redacted] specified her loans were FFEL loans and, due to this designation,

would not qualify for a specific benefit program called Public Service Loan

Forgiveness. In any case, Ms. [redacted] stated that she contacted the Department

of Education who told her that no, she doesn’t qualify for Public Service Loan

Forgiveness due to the loan type. However, this is not the final outcome in

reference to her situation. Once the FFEL loan has been consolidated into a

Direct Consolidation, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness can then be applied

for.

Here is the verbiage from studentaid.ed.gov to

assist in illustrating this point.

Link: [redacted]What loans are eligible for forgiveness?

Only loans you

received under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program are

eligible for PSLF. Loans you received under the Federal Family Education Loan

(FFEL) Program, the Federal Perkins Loan(Perkins Loan)

Program, or any other student loan program are not eligible for PSLF.

If you have FFEL Program or Perkins Loan Program

loans, you may consolidate them into a Direct Consolidation Loan to take

advantage of PSLF.

We understand that student loans are a difficult

subject to navigate with so much information out there. However, we are

professionals that assist thousands of clients each month with the preparation

of their applications so we know how to make sure our client’s documents are

handled and prepared accurately with no guesswork.

We wish Ms. [redacted] the best of luck and hope she finds the solution she is

seeking.

Review: This company uses three different names (Student Assist Plus, Student Loan Education Center, and Trans2pay). I contacted the company about cancelling my services because I no longer felt safe with them handling my information. The customer service representative that I spoke with to set me up for the services told me that I would have to pay a closing cost of $599 upfront or split payments of 174.75 that would amount to $699. I clearly asked them would the money go towards my loan to bring down the balance, the service rep said "yes". I also asked them was there a way that I could get my loans consolidated without having to pay a closing cost he told me "no". The people that I spoke with today and expressed my concerns with told me that I would not be able to get my money back. I explained to them that I had already spoken with Nelnet who is currently billing me for my loans and they stated that there was an inquiry about my loans made on May 11,2015. The Student loan education center service rep told me that they requested for my loans on April 29,2015. They also told me that they would be the company over my loans and that I would not have to deal with nelnet any further. The service rep also stated that the payments were made for them to submit an application to the department of education to buy out my loans and that they would consolidate them off of my credit after they take their full payment of $699. The service rep offered to give me $100 back of my money but did not offer the full amount of $699. I asked her to cancel my services with them and I wanted my money back, she refused.Desired Settlement: I would greatly appreciate it if this company would simply refund my money. I do not want their services any more. I told them they can cancel the application for consolidation and cancel my services with them. They have not taken anything off of my credit at this point so I believe I should be entitled to receive my money back.

Business

Response:

Student Loan Education Center takes any

and all complaints/reviews very seriously. We have a dedicated compliance

department monitoring and reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to

maintain the highest level of customer service in the industry.

After listening to the recorded call by Ms.

[redacted] and [redacted] (agent), here are our responses to all Ms. [redacted]’s accusations

in her Revdex.com complaint:

1st accusation: Student Loan

Education Center uses three different names (Student

Assist Plus, Student Loan Education Center, and Trans2pay).

Response: Student Loan

Education Center is the only name we use.

Student Assist Plus is a third party company we refer clients to.

Trans2pay is a third party payment processor that we use to set up trust

accounts for our clients. We guarantee that we will never take a

dime until we perform the service we promised to perform. We also abide by all

federal and state guidelines to maintain the utmost level of compliance.

2nd claim: Ms. [redacted] claims she

no longer felt safe with us having her information.

Response: Ms. [redacted] told [redacted]

(processing department) that she was informed that this can be done for free

and wanted a refund. She never mentioned

a word about us having her information and not feeling safe.

3rd claim: [redacted] told Ms. [redacted]

that the closing cost of $699 would go towards her loan balances.

Response: At no time did Nick ever say

this or was asked that question by Ms. [redacted]. They spoke about the document

preparation fee and how it can be paid in full or in payments.

4th claim: Ms. [redacted] asked if

she can consolidate without having to pay a fee.

Response: Ms. [redacted] never asked that question. However, during the quality control call, the

agent told Ms. [redacted] that this service can be done on her own.

After reviewing the recorded call and the

notes in her file, it becomes obvious that Ms. [redacted] is upset because she

wasn’t offered a full refund. Instead of accepting that we did our job, she decided

to instead make false accusations in order to force us to provide a full refund.

Ms. [redacted]’s forbearance was submitted to

NELNET on 3/13/15 and her application was sent to FedLoan on 4/29/15. The application process takes 1-3 weeks. Once processed, FedLoan will be her new servicer.

Ms. [redacted] received exactly what she paid for. We did everything we promised and

even offered her a $100 refund to satisfy her.

If Ms. [redacted] is still upset and would like

us to cancel everything we have done, we may be able to perform a three-way

call with FedLoans to attempt a cancellation of the entire process. If she chooses to do this, please have her

call [redacted] in processing directly.

We are a document preparation company that

assists clients by preparing and submitting their applications quickly and

accurately. We work with many clients that attempted the application process on

their own prior to working with us. Many of these clients received denial

letters, higher payments, or simply gave up after reading some confusing

verbiage available online. Although it is possible to complete these

applications without the assistance of a professional, our clients choose us

because they know we will do things correctly the first time.

We wish Ms. [redacted] the best.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

I felt I was giving too much vital information without getting enough answers. I don't know if I felt like my information will be secure. [redacted], who took my call at first was nice, but got really defensive. She asked to speak to a manager about a question I had. Even after that she could not answer my question. She did not disclose how long she worked with the company. I wanted to speak with someone with more experience. I stated I wanted to speak with someone with at least two (2) years experience. I was then told that that person was in a meeting which sounds like the oldest trick in the book to get you off the phone. I then stated, "you already have my name and number if they will call me back." [redacted] said she wanted to verify that information to make sure it was okay. I didn't get any answers to my questions. When I shop for products or services, I like my questions answered, and they were not. I don't even think they could lower my interest rate lower than it already is. The thing that concerns me now, is that my email will get bombarded with messages from this company, and I don't even have confidence that they will call me back within 48 hours.

Review: I received a notice in the mail saying that my student loans could be forgiven or reduced based on new government guidelines. The mailer said the agency was a "consumer advocacy group," so I assumed it was a nonprofit. The agency's name was not stated anywhere on the mailer I received at all. When I called the number and started going through the application process, I found out that the agency is an actual business that collects fees to help you qualify for government programs. I was very angry when I heard that I had to pay anywhere from 599-699 dollars within a month so that this company could prepare my documents. This charge was not at all mentioned in the mailer, nor was there any indication that I would be paying for a service that my current loan provider does FOR FREE, even though they are a for profit company! The representative on the phone made it sound like they are helping people, but in reality, they are not. They are charging desperate people money to 'expedite' the loan consolidation process. I am extremely upset that I received this nondescript mailer that I thought was sent out from a government agency (it came from Sacramento) to help me, but then spent my entire lunch hour having a conversation with someone who charges exorbitant fees for what I could simply arrange through my current loan provider within 15 minutes online. I sincerely hope this agency will sell itself honestly with their advertisements. A consumer advocacy group does not charge money for its services, nor does it falsely advertise. I know this because I have had my credit card debt managed by a consumer credit counseling agency that is a NON PROFIT and they charge me a small monthly service fee of 1.50 with every payment I submit. On the other hand, the Student Loan Education Center wanted half of my monthly salary to 'expedite' an Income Based Reduction plan, and said I could simply put it on a credit card! So much for consumer advocacy.Desired Settlement: I wish to be removed from the Student Loan Education Center's mailing list and database, and have any information on my started application deleted from their records.

Business

Response:

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Before

discussing further, we would like Ms. [redacted] to know that we have deleted her

information from our client relationship management software and added her to

our do not contact list.

Student

Loan Education Center is in fact a consumer advocacy group. We ask that Ms.

[redacted] look back at her payment history with her current loan servicer. If

these government benefits and programs were available for free, why did her

current servicer not make her aware of them? We are the ones spending the money

educating consumers about these programs so we simply must charge a fee or go

out of business. Ms. [redacted]s current loan servicer would happily take her

current monthly payments for as long as possible even though these benefits

have been around since 2010. Again, we ask that if these benefits are both free

and easily available from your current servicer, why wait until now to take advantage

of them?

Student Loan Education Center assists thousands of individuals

each month in helping them apply for government benefits that they are

entitled to. These benefits have been around for some time, and many

people with federal student loans never realize that they pay more on their

monthly student loan payments than they have to. Moreover, their current loan

servicer does not bother making them aware of these programs because the

servicers would lose money if they significantly reduced every customer’s

monthly payments.

Many of our

clients attempted their own applications prior to contacting us. They found

that the forms were confusing and the questions asked did not always correlate

to their specific situations. After receiving letters of denial or, even worse,

higher payments than they were paying, those very same clients contact

professionals like us because we are specialists that can make sure the

application is done correctly and accurately the first time.

We wish Ms. [redacted] the best of luck and hope that she understands why we must

charge for our services. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused

her.

I just want to take a moment to comment about my experience with this company. When I was concerned about the amount of information they require to access my student loan history, both [redacted] and [redacted] were very helpful, taking an exorbitant amount of time to explain their business practices to me. They also followed up very quickly in email, in writing, to assure me that all my information was deleted from their files when I decided that their service was not appropriate for someone like me who has been paying loans for many years. I thank them both for their time and energy.

Review: I received a mailer from this company saying to call them regarding a "new bill that has been passed" regarding lowering student loan debt. I spent 1 hour on the phone with them and gave them my personal information including social security # + drivers license only to find out that I would have to pay for their service . Upon further review of the company, I find out that this is a legit scam and now am concerned about my private information being in the hands of an illegitimate company.Desired Settlement: I would like assurance that my personal information is removed from their records.

Business

Response:

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Our

business does in fact charge for a service that can be done yourself. However,

many companies charge for services you can do yourself such as accountants,

mechanics, landscaping, etc. Anyone can do their taxes however they choose to

hire a professional that can make sure the service is done accurately the first

time. Our company offers the same assurance and we back it up with a full

money-back assurance.

You

mentioned that this service can be done yourself however you still contacted us

and went through the application process. These programs have been available

since 2010 yet our clients call us day and night looking for help. We know this

because we have seen the challenges that people experience when dealing with

loan servicers themselves or even with the Department of Education. We have

seen countless clients call in with denial letters or higher loan payments than

they had originally made after attempting their own applications. If the

process is so simple, our company would not be in business.

To

address your concern of providing too much information, you application and

information have been deleted from our software system and your contact

information has been added to a “do not contact” list. Gaining the trust of our

clients is important to us. In fact, we use a payment system designed with

consumer protection in mind. By utilizing an FDIC-insured bank and trust

accounts for each client, we guarantee that we will never take a dime until we

perform the service we promised to. We also abide by all federal and state

guidelines to maintain the utmost level of compliance.

We

urge people to understand what’s available before claiming fraud or scam.

Those being scammed are the students and former students who diligently make

their payments to the loan servicers, never exploring the government benefits that

are available to them. Finally, we ask that those same students and

former students learn more about companies like Sallie Mae and how they were

fined by the federal government for over $139 Million dollars for defrauding

their customers.

We

apologize for any confusion or miscommunication that Mr. [redacted] experienced. However,

we cannot apologize for educating millions of borrowers paying higher monthly

payments than they have to about the federal programs available.

Review: I received this letter about the new federal student loan qualification programs that was released by Obama's new law, just called this #888-819-1034, and it sounds to good to be true of the arrangements I was offered, because of my student loan debt. They said I qualified for the best, that they would lower my interest to 2.9 and that I would only pay a monthly of $29.99 for 20years, but before that I would have to pay a one time only payment of $599.99 to get this movement going. And when I called I did give out my SSNDesired Settlement: What can be done since they have my SSN what preventive action or legal can be done to be safe, I wont get Identity theft or get charged by credit scam

Business

Response:

We have attempted to contact Mr. [redacted], on four occasions, to resolve the issue and have not received a call

back. Additionally we have listened to

the recordings and the information in the complaint is false, as there was never

a mention of lowering an interest rate to 2.9%. We have also reviewed the

advertisement and find no such statement of “Obama’s new law." To protect the consumer over his

concerns, we have deleted and removed any and all of his personal information

from our servers. His file is non-existent.

Review: Review: I received a suspicious mailer about my student loans promising to lower or even forgive my student loans entirely. The agency's name was not stated anywhere on the mailer I received at all. When I called the number and started going through the application process, I found out that the agency is an actual business that collects fees to help you qualify for government programs. I thought that I was speaking to a government agency. I was wrong. My representative [redacted] told me I would be expected to pay a large fee to process my loans. I told her that I wanted to think about the math of allowing them to process my loans. She said that was perfectly alright and gave me her personal line number(Can provide if needed). I called her back just so I could get the name of the company because I didn't catch it anywhere in the conversation that we had before. I started to grow even more nervous at this point because the more I heard from [redacted], the more this company started to sound like a scam. She even said that they were just a middle-man. They now have all of my personal information, and I have no desire for their product.Desired Settlement: Desired Settlement: I would like proof in some way that they have deleted my application and it's information entirely and to please not contact me again, as I have no interest in their product.

Business

Response:

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Before discussing further, we would like Mr.

[redacted] to know that we have deleted his information from our client relationship management

software and added him to our do not contact list. The marketing companies we use have been

sending these types of mail pieces for years.

They all look similar and are very generic.

We listened to the recorded call, and [redacted]

followed the script outlined by management including our fully-transparent

responses. She even answered the phone

with “Thank you for calling Student Loan Education Center.” If anything was

unclear about the company name, it was not mentioned to [redacted] as she plainly

stated it on a recorded line.

Mr. [redacted] mentioned in his complaint that he

was concerned he was being scammed because the more he spoke to [redacted], the more

Student Loan Education Center sounded like a scam. However, our business

practices are wholly based on compliance and consumer protection. We never take

any upfront fees. All funds are held in a dedicated trust account under the

client’s name with full access to said account until the service has been

performed successfully. We are not in the business of scamming people which is why

we offer a full money-back assurance for our document preparation service.

Student Loan Education Center assists thousands of individuals

each month in helping them apply for government benefits that they are

entitled to. These benefits have been around for some time, and many

people with federal student loans never realize that they pay more on their

monthly student loan payments than they have to. Moreover, their current loan

servicer does not bother making them aware of these programs because the

servicers would lose money if they significantly reduced every customer’s

monthly payments.

Many of our

clients attempted their own applications prior to contacting us. They found

that the forms were confusing and the questions asked did not always correlate

to their specific situations. After receiving letters of denial or, even worse,

higher payments than they were paying, those very same clients contact

professionals like us because we are specialists that can make sure the

application is done correctly and accurately the first time.

We wish Mr. [redacted] the best of luck and want to assure him that all his

information has been deleted from our system. We apologize for any

inconvenience this may have caused him.

I'm writing a review in regards to their customer service line. I honestly wish I wasn't in such a rush since I had to make the call in between work but my brief experience is not pleasing and has left me pondering on my decision to consolidate with this company. The lady that answered did not address herself, so I had no idea who I was talking to and after I asked my question about the Public Service program she just said bye. This sort of business practice in providing customer service is not acceptable and due to it, I will most likely cancel. I only hope that this organization will improve their customer service line. Thank you.

Review: I called in on Fri. Dec 5th to cancel the service since I couldn't afford it and I was told then that they would cancel it and it would take 5-7 business days (From the call date) to refund my money it is now 8 business days no refund I called them back and demanded to know where my refund is they told me that the refund will not be back into my account 5 business days from the 12th this was NOT THE VERBAL AGREEMENT. I also had a hell of a time canceling they tried everything to stop me from doing this. I do NOT trust this company to keep their agreements and I will make sure that the FTC is aware of these deceptive practices.Desired Settlement: I want the person who originally told me that it will be 5-7 business days to contact me and apologize to me, I want the company to be less deceptive in its refund promises. I want to also have a letter of apology from the company for the stress I have gone through over the refund of my $149.75 not being back in my bank account in the time I was told at the time of the cancelation. This company seems very shady and I do not want any others to go through the stress I did over a lie of one person who really did not know. If they did not KNOW they need to say that it is better than making something up that is not true. I feel a little leery of debt consolidators now. I will not trust anyone to do this now even legit ones because of this company. I will do everything on my own which I could of and I did not know how easy it was. I thought it was a lot harder till I called in and found out how simple it was to do the forbareance and ICR.

Business

Response:

We have already

replied to your initial complaint and issued your refund. Trans2Pay, the bank

where your trust account is held, issues the refund. They tell us that it takes 3-5 days to issue

a refund and that is what we tell our clients.

We do, however, explain that it may take longer in some

circumstances. In your situation, it

took nine days. Of the 4,000 plus files

we prepare every month, a refund taking nine days is extremely unusual. We do apologize for that but these types of

things are outside of our control.

Your frustration

is valid, however, we are frustrated as well.

Every time we have attempted to contact you, your phone picks up and

goes silent or goes directly to a voicemail box. Our voicemails and phone calls

to you have not been returned. Since the bank that issued you your trust

account is slow in returning your money, you decided to bad mouth us on the

Revdex.com, claiming that we use deceptive practices.

We follow the FTC guidelines and that is one of the reasons why you are

upset.

The FTC prohibits advances fees. As such, a part of our services include

assisting the consumer with setting up a third party trust account with an FDIC

insured bank. This bank operates like any

other bank in complying with federal and state banking regulations. As

with any other bank, this bank provides monthly bank statements to consumers as

their funds are held in their account which is in the consumer’s name.

When a request to cancel our

services is made, we process a refund on behalf of the consumer with the bank. As

we do NOT have control of or ownership of those funds, we cannot expedite the

refund any quicker than what the bank policy and procedures mandate. We have no control over the bank nor the

Federal Banking laws and procedures. The

bank typically processes and refunds consumers their funds back to their

respective accounts within 3-5 business days but we have seen it take

longer. Nine days in your situation.

In regard to your desired

settlement, we apologize for the stress this refund process has caused

you. We will speak to the bank that

issues the trust accounts and see if there is anything they can do to expedite

the process. We wish we had more control

over the banking aspect of the process however the FTC prohibits us from

accepting advance fees which is for the protection of our customers.

Consumer

Response:

To Whom it concerns,

Review: The gentleman who spoke with me about consolidation of my loans promised me terms and rates that are not what was delivered. I was told that my term of payments would only be 10 years and my statement says 240 months. Nothing he promised seems to be true.Desired Settlement: I am planning to cancel my consolidation and want my $599 back.

Business

Response:

We would like Ms. [redacted] to know that we have processed a

full refund on her behalf for her inconvenience. However, we have attempted to

contact Ms. [redacted] numerous times without success. In order to rectify her

complaint, we need more details to ensure we are not only completing her

application correctly but also to improve our internal processes.

We are happy to perform the service at no cost as long as

we know that Ms. [redacted] is not only satisfied with her new loan but also

satisfied with the service she received from our company. We have sent Ms.

[redacted] an email in an attempt to discuss further and look forward to connecting

with her soon.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.

Regards,

Review: This complaint goes beyond poor salespeople and misrepresentation of service, but that is the most dangerous for other consumers - young graduates with student loans.

The salesperson [redacted] (no longer employed there) told me false information about loans and the company, and which loan types I should choose. Their staff is not trained to give advice on economic issues, but they do anyway, along with misleading information about the loan process and recent laws from the Obama Administration. I have a series emails on the issue, and if they tape their calls - that's a much larger issue. Many of these emails are borderline to inappropriate, but their poor hiring and staff education is another issue entirely.

After I paid them to file this loan paperwork, I had questions on the process, which received no response as [redacted] had left the company. It took repeated calls to find this information out, and figure out where my loan was in the process. Then I found the information they had told me was entirely incorrect, and had to fix everything with the loan consolidation company myself. Subsequent calls led to further misinformation and confusion on the part of their employees. So what did I pay for?

I've made repeated calls with request for response - nothing is returned. I have serious concerns about the safety of my personal information like Social Security and more. I have been receiving a huge number of loan calls from scammers over the past few months, and I want to inquire on their security practices - with no response.Desired Settlement: I would like a full refund of the fees I paid - and to make sure that others know not to trust the advice from this company.

Business

Response:

Student Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints

very seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department to ensure our clients

receive the best-possible customer service.

We reviewed Ms. [redacted]’s application details to gain an

understanding of her complaint. First off, we would like Ms. [redacted] to know that

a full refund has been processed and she should receive those funds within the

next 7 business days. However, we would also like to address some of her

concerns in relation to our process as well as our staff.

Our office submits thousands of applications each month with

no issue however there was a lengthy process involved with Ms. [redacted]’s approval

as she was placed into a different repayment plan than what we had submitted on

her behalf. We apologize for this however we ask her to understand that this

was out of our hands once we submitted her application.Ms. [redacted] also mentions that she is being contacted by many “scammers” however

these calls or email are not related to our company. We ask that she understand

her contact information is public information and many marketing companies have

methods for obtaining such info. Again, we would like to clarify that we do not

have anything to do with other companies soliciting her.

We wish Ms. [redacted] the best and hope that the full refund

will alleviate her concerns. Her personal information has been removed from our

customer-management software and her contact information has been placed into a

“do not contact” status to ensure her privacy.

Review: do not trust because the organization is a plus rating, it should go down to c or d minus,

lack of professionalism not answering phone calls, do not sign anything online, print it out all the documents then talk to your parents, relatives, other members into same situation, verify then read it careful then fax to them if you decide it.

cancel or sign within 30 days so they will not against your account.

I have not had a good experience with them so far, I would be cautious and not rushing inDesired Settlement: I had to block the first charge and talk to my attorney regarding this matter.

Business

Response:

Mr.

[redacted],

Student

Loan Education Center takes any and all complaints/reviews very

seriously. We have a dedicated compliance department monitoring and

reviewing all incoming and outgoing calls in order to maintain the highest

level of customer service in the industry.

Upon

reviewing all notes in the system (from 12/18/14 to 1/15/15) as well as

listening to all of the recorded calls, it appears that you are not very

trusting and very difficult to communicate with. [redacted] Lee, the advisor that was assisting you,

did everything in her power to help ease your concerns by disclosing to you our

Revdex.com info, website, brochure and all contact information. However you still

decided not to move forward with our company.

Your

complaint reads more like a review than a complaint. Student Loan

Education Center assists thousands of individuals each month with this

process, there will always be a small fraction of people that are not happy no

matter what we do, and, after looking at the notes, it seems you were one of

those people we were never going to make happy.

We

understand that there are a lot of bad companies out there. That is why we go above and beyond to

separate ourselves. We comply with all

federal and state regulations. We follow

the Revdex.com’s industry checklist to a tee.

We offer a 100% money back assurance. We have a compliance team monitoring

calls to ensure that all advisors are compliant. We do not get paid until we complete all the

work as contracted by the consumer. As

such, a part of our services include assisting the consumer with setting up a

third party trust account with an FDIC insured bank. This bank operates like any other bank in

complying with federal and state banking regulations. Just like any other

bank, this bank provides monthly bank statements to consumers as their funds

are held in their account which is in the consumer’s name.

Many of our

clients attempted their own applications prior to contacting us. They found

that the forms were confusing and the questions asked did not always correlate

to their specific situations. After receiving letters of denial or, even worse,

higher payments than they were paying, those very same clients contact

professionals like us because we are specialists that can make sure the

application is done correctly and accurately the first time.

We wish Mr. [redacted] the best.