E.C.S.I.

Review: I have been trying to pay back my student loans on time. Heartland owns two of my school loans. Their online payment system is not processing payments. This makes payments late. Upon contact with customer support, they told me to try downloading multiple browsers because the site sometimes only worked on certain ones. When I asked to file a complaint with the company, as hundreds of students are beholden to their company, I was told that the best they can do is to mention it to a supervisor. Since I depend on the company to pay my loans back on time and keep my credit current, as do so many other borrowers, this is very unprofessional and inefficient. I'm not the only one. There are hashtags on twitter proclaiming how terrible this company is.Desired Settlement: Heartland has to make customer service a priority. Fix technical issues immediately. do not recommend that the customer fix for themselves. Forward issues to employees who can actually fix the problems. Change policies and seminars to communicate to employees that customer service is a priority and provide evidence of the proof of change. Respond to client communication. Send emails acknowledging customer issues and confirming communication with customer service representatives. Just do what loan servicers are obligated to do: Make paying back loans easy!

Business

Response:

Please note: Heartland ECSI is a third party loan billing servicer on behalf of [redacted]Our site advises all users to ensure their browser is up to date. When customer service is alerted to parts of the site not functioning properly they request the user to update their browser or attempt to replicate the issue on another up-to-date browser. This effectively resolves the majority of issues people experience. Once this has been a completed and we find it hasn’t resolved their problem our representatives will research the issue further. When warranted they will escalate it to the proper department and ensure a timely resolution. Heartland ECSI takes all forms of complaints seriously. When a student or borrower wishes to make a formal complaint representatives will act as a customer advocate sending complaints to their Supervisor, they are also instructed to give the business mailing address and telephone number of their Supervisor. Complaints may also be mailed to the address below. Customer Service Heartland ECSI [redacted]

[redacted]We would like Ms. [redacted] to contact Tony G[redacted], Supervisor of customer service directly at [redacted] or [redacted] if she is still experiencing issues making online payments. We have received documentation requesting deferment from Ms. [redacted] and posted it to both of her accounts on May 27th. No payments will be due until June 1st 2017.

I am a student at a university that has Heartland E.C.S.I. service the refund disbursements. Every semester Heartland has to be informed that student disbursements are behind schedule and that Heartland is out of federal compliance. Which I to totally inexcusable. The question I've asked the Bursar at our university is, "WHY DO WE USED THIS BUSINESS??? I have sat in the Bursar's office asking, "why haven't my refund posted to my account?" Never a satisfactory answer because the people at Heartland refuse to respond. And the Bursar in turn has to solicit the help of his supervisor. And guess what? There is another TWO WEEKS before the monies is posted to the account. Inexcusable!!!! Why doesn't my university handle their own accounting or out-source to another organization? We've been screwed by these heartless, incompetent clowns for way to long.

Review: ECSI's billing practices are not explained and confusing. I called the company to straighten out a billing issue stemming from them neglecting to send me a paper bill (which I DID NOT opt out of) in January 2016. I attempted to rectify the issue by sending the check which they did not cash until after the bill was due. They then charged me with late fees for the following month despite my cooperating and corresponding with them. They also charged me $5.00 for the call I made to them, and another $5.00 for the letter they sent me claiming I was delinquent in payments despite sending them payments in the correct time frames. I have paid this loan on time for the past 8 years and that history is available on their website. Only until the correspondence became inconsistent did I begin struggling to keep up with their confusing policies. After that, my bills were inconsistent and I struggled to keep up. On April 18th I attempted to pay off the entire balance of my account since I did not see a better solution. Their website would not accept payment on the 18th and made me choose a future date to draw the funds. I chose the closest date, April 20, to avoid a late fee. The site took my bank information and I received a PAYMENT PROCESSED email no 4/21/16. I logged into my ECSI account and the balance due said "0". This led me to believe I was settled with ECSI. On 4/26/16 I received another email saying my bank account did not have sufficient funds to cover the balance. I checked my account and the total was back and had a $25 fee added to it, which was not explained whatsoever apart from a code. I contacted their customer service rep via the chat box, Diana. Diana said my account number was incorrect hence the fee. ESCI had literally emailed me saying this was processed on 4/21. There was no mention of an incorrect account number, just insufficient funds which I was told were already processed. Diana claimed that email was my notification that the account number was wrong. How did ECSI know the funds were below the balance if my account was inaccessible to them? Diana refused to reverse the extra $25 fee despite a clear trail of me trying to pay the entire balance on time days prior. I want the $25 fee returned to me, these practices are not properly communicated and unfair. ECSI should also make it clear they charge for phone calls and letters.Desired Settlement: $25 fee returned to me.

Business

Response:

Heartland ECSI is the third-party student loan billing servicer on behalf of [redacted] College. As the third-party servicer, Heartland ECSI provides management services for the accounts only. Late, NSF and phone fees are determined by the University and any monies collected are transferred in their entirety to the University. According to our system Ms. [redacted] did not opt out of paper billing statements, we verified a statement was mailed to the address listed on her account on 1/11/2016 stating $40 would be due on February 1st 2016. A $3 late fee was assessed on 2/11/2016 due to non-payment. Being that no payment was made by 02/25/2016 a call was made to Ms. [redacted] and a letter was sent warning the account was approaching 30 days past due. This is an optional service Heartland ECSI provides to [redacted] College, a $5 fee is applied to the account for each collection letter and call made to a student or borrower. No fees are applied for calls into Heartland ECSI. Fees of this nature are agreed upon signing the Federal Perkins Loan master promissory note. The confirmation email Ms. [redacted] received on April 20th is sent assuming the account information entered is correct and funds are available for the payment to be withdrawn. This is why Ms. [redacted]’s online account showed a $0 balance. When we received notice on April 26th that her bank could not locate an active account with the account number provided the amount of the rejected payment was placed back onto the loan. We apologize the rejected payment email did not accurately explain that the account number was incorrect. NSF is often used to interchangeably to explain any type of rejected payment. We are continuingly updating our correspondence to make it more clear and effective, this feedback will be useful. As stated above, Heartland ECSI does not set the amount or retain the funds paid to cover collections fees. They are transferred in their entirety to [redacted] College. Ms. [redacted] may contact Tony G[redacted], a supervisor in our customer service department directly by calling [redacted]

I have been trying to get my refund from Heartland since 5/9/16. The first time I put in my banking information I did so incorrectly. I understood, so I went in and used a totally different account and bank. The funds were then disbursed again with the system saving my previous account's routing number. The information was processed incorrectly and rejected. So I went in and resubmitted my banking information for my previous account since the system continued to use that routing number. However, this time funds NEVER ARRIVED TO MY BANK. Heartland ECSI supervisor stated to me. "Well, I guess the funds are just lost". That most definitely is unacceptable. I'm in desperate need of answers to my problem. My bank has asked for the ACH transaction number and HEARTLAND refuses to release that information or even look into my issue. All in hearing is I apologize for this issue. However no one wants to resolve it. And it's not my fault!

In Feb. 2016 Heartland assumed managing of my Perkins Loan from WSU. I called to make a payment on the first of Feb and the loan dept. notified me Heartland takes the payments now. I called Heartland around the 20th of Feb to make a payment and they said there would be a charge unless I set up an online auto pay. I set up an auto payment but did make a mistake on the account number. My Department of Education loan, a separate loan servicer, had the same number and notified me that it was wrong. I changed it with them and all was good. When I contacted Heartland to make the change they said I owed them a 25.00 service fee as of the 3rd of March. The payment per the website was not due till the 15th of March. After a back and forth about the fee I just paid the payment for March, not the fee, and the payment for Feb. I was accused of attempting to skip my Feb payment by a representative which was out of line. I set up a new auto pay for my loan that was supposed to include a one time payment of 141.28. Now in April my payment is again 141.28 not the 70.64 it should have been. I just found out today April18. The issue is on March 23 I received a notice in mail for non payment. I checked my bank online and the payment had been withdrawn on the 16th. The payment is due on the 15th but it takes a day to report. On the notice from Heartland it was dated the 21st and had the previous 25 dollar fee, from the mistake, and a 15.00 fee. I called and they said the 15.00 fee was for sending me the notice. I told them that the payment was made per my bank statement. They said they inadvertently sent the notice just in case my payment didn't go through. I said the payment was dated the 21st so how could that be? I asked to speak to whomever was responsible for sending me this notice. I know the person who answers the phone is just doing their job so I wanted to talk to someone a bit more responsible. She left me on hold for about 7 min then came back to tell me she couldn't find a number to the printing company who makes up the notices. Yes I was angry but remained calm. I then asked if there was someone there whom I could talk to that was smarter than her like a manager that could actually get my answer for the random fees and the fraudulent notice? She came back after about 5 min and said the managers were too busy but quickly explained to her what had happened. She said they said that the notice was dated a week later than it actually was. They said the notice should have been dated for the 14th. I said my payment isn't due till the 15th so how could you send me a late notice a day before the payment was due. They said that they do this just in case the payment doesn't go through. I was flabbergasted. I reiterated So you send a late notice and add a fee a day prior to the payment being due? The representative asked her manager, who was too busy to talk to me after several requests, that this was the case. I asked again if she knew you can't send this stuff through the mail if you know these things to be inaccurate. She replied that this is done on a regular basis and all we have to do as clients was to call if we get these notices and the company would fix it. I don't think this is good business or even legal. I called once more on the 15th of April to check that my payment was being withdrawn because I didn't trust them and my bank hadn't noted any withdrawal. They said my NORMAL payment would not post until the 18th of April because of the weekend. Low and behold the 18th is today and 141.28 , double payment, was taken out and this is why I finally decided to post this complaint.

Review: What a horrible company. As many of you know times are tough and my family comes first (groceries, water, etc). I contacted ECSI regarding MY BILL. A nice man helped me set up a payment and told me I would need to call back by October 13th to make the next $50 payment. I ask if this could be set up and he explained he could not do it. I kept receiving multiple calls a day regarding my outstanding balance...WHICH WASN'T OUTSTANDING because I had enrolled in a "repayment". I explained to the 2nd caller the situation and he kept pressing me to make a payment. I had no problem doing so but was at work without my checkbook. I kept receiving calls while at work and finally got a chance to call. I spoke to a very rude woman. She said that I needed to make a payment. I explained I was told the 13th of October and that the payment would be made on or before that day. The woman was not helpful and very rude. She made it seem like I was trying to avoid making the payment. She then notified me I would keep receiving calls EVEN THOUGH I AM CURRENT!This should not be allowed. Why am I being harassed for setting up payments? Today alone I have got 4 calls during my work day. Trying to make money to pay the bill! Companies like this make people not take out student loans to better their family.Desired Settlement: I simply want this to be addressed. I would like the harassment to STOP.

Business

Response:

We do have a loan for[redacted]. However, this loan is in a student deferment and not in collections. Our records do not indicate that we have made any phone calls to the borrower demanding payments. We have tried to contact the borrower to ask her what number has been trying to contact her and we have not received any returned calls. We do not believe this is for a loan that we service for her. It may be for another loan and with another agency. We have not required her to make any payments since her account has been in student deferment, with no payments being due until 08/01/2015. We have reached out to her multiple times again for more information and have been unsuccessful in hearing back from her. At this point, we do not believe the phone calls are coming from our office or about the loan we currently service for Ms [redacted]. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Review: I have a new consolidated private student loan through custudentloans.org which was accepted by [redacted] Federal Credit Union. [redacted] FCU uses a servicer known as ECSI/educational computer systems/heartland ecsi. My complaint is against ECSI. Their website is misleading regarding the amount due. The Account balance page states $77.01 is due. The ebill page states $82 is due because a $5 one time charge is needed for [redacted] FCU. I set up automatic payments and ECSI pulled my first payment of $78 from my account on 6/2/14, which I had previously set up based on the Account balance webpage stating that $77.01 was due. After talking with customer service about why there were discrepancies on their website regarding the amount due and why they did not pull the correct amount due, they are putting the responsibility on my end for now being past-due in the amount of $4.01. The customer service rep explained how there automatic direct pay system worked and revealed that it does not automatically adjust to the correct amount due.In order to pay the $4.01, I will be charged a processing fee of $1.95. I asked them to waive that or refund that amount because I feel their misleading/poorly designed website setuo my first billing amount to fail. They are not willing to waive or refund the $1.95. I have a transcript of my conversation with the customer service.Desired Settlement: I request a refund of the $1.95 processing fee that is charged for the $4.01 past-due payment.

Business

Response:

After reviewing the account and reading Mr [redacted] concern, we have submitted the proper information to our banking department to reimburse the $1.95 fee. We feel Mr [redacted] did try to handle the payment to his account properly and because of a misunderstanding on the website we are willing to waive this fee. If we can be of any further assistance in this matter please do not hesitate to contact us.

Review: I have a Perkins Loan with [redacted]. In the late summer of 2014 they let ECSI start managing their repayments on the loan. I received a notification saying that it was happening. I did not receive anything from ECSI until January and it was a collections notice. I tried calling; was not able to reach a representative. I emailed their customer service and got an automated response indicating that they do not reply to emails. I logged in online to see if all of my information was correct (address, phone number, etc) and it was. I made a payment and wrote a note asking them to please not send my loan to collections and that I'd like to pay the monthly amount that I had been paying to [redacted] prior to receiving the collections notice. I got no response. I received a notice yesterday saying my account is 210 days past due.Desired Settlement: Remove the "delinquency" from my credit report.

Business

Response:

When the borrower’s account was received at Heartland ECSI,the account was already past due, showing a total balance due of $127.28 due 10/01/2014- the borrower’s fixed payment is $63.64. The address on file when ECSI receivedthe account was a Hutchinson, Kansas address. We mailed statements and delinquencynotices to the KS address until there was a USPS skip trace completed due toreturned mail in December 2014. At that time we were updated with a Bernalillo,New Mexico address. When a borrower moves, it is their responsibility to updatetheir student loan servicer with new demographic information. There were nopayments made until 12/31/2014, when a payment was made for $100.00. At thattime there was a total balance due on the account of $318.20, therefore theborrower’s payment did not bring the account current. As of today, April 22nd2015 the account is currently 7 months delinquent, but has not yet been turnedover to an outside collection agency. In order to avoid further collectionefforts the borrower will need to bring their account current immediately, orcontact our office to discuss entitlement options.

Consumer

Response:

Review: I was due a refund for over payment from ECSI for $255. refund was approved on 7/8/14. I have never gotten a refund since. I've called every month since then. its Jan 2015 I still have only been given the run around and that the payment is processing.After contacting Revdex.com in Aug, I was contacted by [redacted](admin of compliance)said refund should arrive in 3 to 4 weeks. I should have it around 8/31/14. after 2 months of never receiving it,I filled out affidavit to re-issue the check. I've confirmed my address and all info to receive the check.I have called every 3 weeks for an update. I've spoken to [redacted], [redacted], [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted],all have to told me its processing.i've waited patiently for 6 months to receive my due refund and it still hasn't happened.Desired Settlement: Refund check for $255.00

Business

Response:

Prior to [redacted]’s loan being serviced by ECSI, the account was being managed by [redacted].After completing a rehabilitation with [redacted], three additional payments weremade to [redacted] in the amount of $85.00 each (totaling $255.00). [redacted] advised theborrower he would receive a refund for the payments. [redacted] then insteadforwarded the payments onto ECSI (the new loan servicer). The payments wereapplied to the balance on his account on 8/11/2014. We have since reached outto [redacted] and provided him with documentation/statements via email whichdocument the payments being applied to his loan with ECSI.

Review: I was solicited using the name of my college. This company claimed I need to complete and exit form for college. I was then asked to enter my social security number and I realized the site was not linked to my college in any way. This email was falsified.Desired Settlement: I want to know that my social security information will not be used for anything.

Business

Response:

We left a voicemail for [redacted] on 7-10-13 to explain ECSI's role for [redacted] University. [redacted] has hired ECSI to be their billing service. Part of this service is to contact their students to complete exit interviews. In order to access the students account, their social security number is needed. Logging into her account requires a social security number not a student ID. [redacted] social security number will not be used for any other purpose other than to access her account so she can complete the exit interview required by [redacted] University. I hope this clears up any questions or concerns. Our relationship with [redacted]l University can be confirmed by [redacted] by contacting the school if needed. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Review: ECSI commits fraud on my account. They intentionally fail to credit our payments, which are sent out every month and add late fees. Once bank got involved and we made a 3 way call, they mysteriously find all payments and promise me and my bank to credit them and refund fees. Fees were never refunded. When I call then today, suggesting to go over my cashed checks, trying to establish which check they might be missing, they flatly refused to do so on 2 occasions within one today's day (July 18, 2014). I opted to payoff my loan, rather than wait for them to commit another fraud and damage my pristine credit, however after I sent them payoff amount, they still claim I owe them 13.37 as of today because of supposedly missed payments and associated fees.Desired Settlement: I would like you to investigate this fraud. I am sure other customers are affected by this fraud. I also would like to get a refund of all these late fees and I do not believe I owe them anything at this point as I paid off my account per their quoted payoff amount which they received before its due date. All payment history of this loan is available in my Wells Fargo Bank as I use Bill Pay service and I am sure WF representatives will be able to assist.

Business

Response:

I would like to address each concern separately. The reason we were unable to apply the payments in a timely manner was because the payments from [redacted] bank came to us with a different name, [redacted]. We did not have any other identifying information which created the confusion. Once we received the information from the bank we found out that these payments were to be applied to [redacted] account, which we did. Because of the confusion we also waived the late fees. We asked that any future payments include either a Student ID or SSAN. As far as the additional amount of $13.37, when [redacted] called on the 10th the payoff amount was given however the account was due for another calculation on the 11th which added an additional $13.37 in interest. When the payment arrived on the 12th it paid everything but the new interest amount of $13.37. It is normal practice for our agents that when giving a payoff amount to alert the borrower how long that payoff amount is good for. In this case, the agent did not inform Ms [redacted] that she must pay that day for the payoff amount to be correct. Because of this, we are currently requesting from the school that the remaining $13.37 be waived for her. In the past, this has never been an issue so I expect the $13.37 to be waived for Ms [redacted]. We have contacted Ms [redacted] with this information and will contact her once the school authorizes the waiver. Please let me know if we can be of any further assistance in this manner.

Review: The organization failed to contact and provide me with a bill for my student loans. When contacting them, they had the correct address and phone number to reach me on file. They stated they try to mail me a bill in 2008 to [redacted], which is my home address and the one they had on file, but the bill was returned back to them for some reason. In five years they never once tried to reach me again by phone, mail, or email. The company never had my former college Urbana University, who also has my information contact me, which still sends me alumni information and additionally has sent me a set of requested transcripts I ordered to that address, until after I contacted Urbana University about a loan appearing on my credit report. Urbana University contacted them, they called my home phone number, the number they had on file the whole time, but never once used, and within hours I reached them back and verified the telephone and correct address they had on file the whole time. I had late payments and delinquency on my credit report which they say they will not fix. I paid the whole balance of the loan off, but they still will not work with me about the credit report. I would like them to fix the delinquency on my credit reports. They had my contact information correct the whole time. The only reason this loan is taken care of now is due to work on my part to find out who I owed and that I notified Urbana University that I have never received any information or paper work about this loan. The company said they had no intentions of furthering contacting me about this balance from the 1 attempt in 2008, 1 attempt by mail. Reminder, they had my information, address and phone, correct the whole time. I spoke with supervisor Jim on the phone.Desired Settlement: 1. I would like them to contact all three credit agency and get the delinquency and late payments off my credit report. 2. A letter stating that they will accomplish this and a letter after it is completed.3. A refund of any overdue interest that was occurred.

Business

Response:

ECSI originally mailed an exit interview to Mr [redacted] on 12/22/2009 which was returned to us by the post office as undeliverable on 1/21/2010. ECSI engaged our skip tracing company Accurint to locate a new or updated address. They responded with the same address we already had. Based on this, ECSI noted this address as a bad address which is why no other mailing was completed. The reason for the long delay in trying to contact Mr [redacted] beyond our mailing was his loan has a provision which granted him a 9 month no interst grace period and was scheduled to end on 8/2010 but before this date Mr [redacted] had entered a different [redacted] College on 4/17/2010 which automatically placed his account in an in school deferment status which is why no bills or contact was attempted. This status remained in effect until 3/2013. We also would not contact Mr [redacted] during this time because the school he was attending was updating the NSLDS (National Student Loan Directory) automatically every semester about his status. ESCI did report the account every month as current and in good standing during this entire period which would have kept him from being reported delinquent. The account has been adjusted to reflect a paid in full status and we have actively contacted Mr [redacted] school to in their authorization to update his credit status. We have also attempted to contact Mr [redacted] through the telephone but did leave a detailed message on what action we were taking to get this resolved for him. We anticipate having this resolved by 7-31-2013. If I can be of further assistance please contact me [redacted]

Review: This company services one of my student loans. I talked to them in April 2013 when I lost my job about getting a deferment- since my other loans were in deferment as well. They were nice and I sent in my information. I never heard back from the until July 2013. They were stating that my account was past due and they were charging all these outrageous fees and threatening my credit score. I called in and we discussed the matter so I resent the forms so they could back date the deferment- they indicated that their records made no mention of me requesting nor sending in anything regarding deferment- only that I called them in April. I agreed to start paying the interest and an NSF fee that they tried to take the money from my old bank account. They should not have charged the bank account at all since I was supposed to be in deferment. I changed my banking information to my new bank in Texas (I moved in April to Texas)and scheduled a direct payment to them. The payment was not processed on the day I scheduled it so I called and they stated that their records did not show any payment and for me to mail them a copy of my transaction confirmation with the payment to avoid any late fees. I mailed them a check and a letter explaining the situation and I included a copy of the email confirmation sent from ECSI that I got about the payment that I scheduled- the very same payment that they didn't make. I got an email today stating that my check payment had been processed. I signed on to my account and they have charged me $16 in late fees. I am extremely frustrated with this company and I am contacting the Revdex.com to get this issue resolved since they are not making good faith efforts to resolve this.Desired Settlement: I want the late fees refunded and an apology from the company. I have no desire to have any business relationship with them, however, my college unfortunately chose them to service my loans.

Business

Response:

We have completed our review of Mr [redacted]'s account. Our records indicate that Mr [redacted] set up recurring debit payments from an account that ended in 2520 on May 6th. When we pulled payments on May 10th, this payment went through fine. On June 10th we again went to take a payment from this same account. This payment was rejected from his bank as "Account Closed". These first two payments were attempted because at the time of the payments due, there was no deferment paperwork in our office. However on July 31st deferment paperwork was recieved via fax. In August Mr [redacted] did make a payment but from a different account number ending in 2740. Because we do not know why Mr [redacted]'s payment in June was rejected as Account closed we have waived the late fees and NSF charge. And since the deferment paperwork was received on July 31st, we are no longer attempting to take any additional payments. We also backdated his deferment which has cleared any negative credit reporting. We have confirmed there is no longer any negative credit reporting on Mr [redacted]'s record based on this situation. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance with Mr [redacted].

Review: On Thursday, 9/4/14 I noticed that my checking account balance was in the negatives and my activity was stating that $639.00 was taken out by one of my student loan companies ECSI. I have auto payment set up on this account where a certain amount comes out monthly. I called the company to find out why they had taken my money considering I was not past due and had no issues. They stated that I had authorized a payment online of $639.00 on 8/22/14. I explained that I most definitely had not authorized that payment, I did not even have that much money in my account. They stated there was absolutely nothing they could do over the phone because the transaction was authorized online. I then proceeded to call my bank to try and reject the payment, which was not possible because it had already went through. They stated I could file a dispute as an unauthorized transaction, which is what I did at that point. Due to the unauthorized transaction I was charged two over draft fees totaling $77.00. My dispute is currently under investigation, but that is all the information I can get at this time.Desired Settlement: I would just like my $639.00 and $77.00 returned to my account as I did not authorize any transaction.

Business

Response:

On 8-22-2014, [redacted] visited our website to set up a monthly payment of $40. By mistake she actually set up a direct payment in the amount of $639.00. She also called our office the same day and set up a monthly payment of $40 per month with an agent. Our agent would not have seen the direct payment because payments set up on our website take 24 hours to show up on the screen that the agent would be working on. In addition, any payments set up on our website would override any payments set up by an agent if completed on the same day. In this case, the payment originally set up for $639 did override the monthly payment ($40) set up by our agent. After speaking with [redacted] we could see what happened and what her intent was. Based on our conversation, we have refunded the payment back to Ms [redacted] for the $639 and reimbursed the NSF fees as of 9-15-2014. If we can be of further assistance in this matter please do not hesitate to contact me directly at ###-###-####.

Review: This company will not allow users to create their own usernames to log in. Users must either use their account numbers (printed and mailed on physical/electronic media that can be taken) or use their U.S. social security number. I contacted them before and they refused to allow users to create strong login credentials. I will not give up until this is changed.Desired Settlement: Allow users to create secure login information. Do not force users to use either their account numbers or social security numbers to login, as this is highly unsafe.

Business

Response:

I contacted the head of the IT group that handles these types of requests/concerns. I was told that a change request has been submitted and is scheduled to take place before the end of calendar year 2014. I will set two separate reminders on my calendar to followup on their progress and once the change has been implemented, I will contact Mr [redacted].

This is the worst company I have ever had to experience. My university uses ECSI for some inexplicable reason for their endowment loans, and I have had nothing but problems with this account. The website is ridiculously complicated. They refuse to acknowledge banking account updates (you have to go through a ridiculous amount of steps to change things, and even then it's a 50/50 chance that the update will take). When you contact their customer service, they can't do anything to help you whatsoever. They can just continuously tell you step-by-step to figure out the system, which is overly complicated. They blatantly state they don't care about customer experience, because it's a loan company and you have to pay them anyway.

Review: I had a small outstanding bill with my University of which I was not aware. They sent it to ECSI for collection. ECSI used an incorrect mailing address which resulted in the bill taking an unusually long time to reach me. I received this bill on 12/3 and paid it on 12/4. The due date on the bill was 12/1. It was stamped 11/12/14 by their postage meter. I assume this was the second bill they sent because it included a late fee, however, I never received any other mail from the,. The address they used was [redacted]. This is an obvious typo and I'm certain it was an unrecognized error. ECSI is reporting this bill as a late payment to Equifax and Experian. This is the only late payment I have on my credit history and there is a substantial scoring difference between a perfect history and one late payment. I cheerfully paid the late payment fee but I am unhappy with having a late payment on my credit report through a billing error that they made. I never received any phone calls about this balance, had they called me I would have paid over the phone. I know they have access to my phone number since it is listed on the account.

I called ECSI 2/26/15 in an effort to get this derogatory mark removed from my credit but the agent said she could not help me and did not forward me to a supervisor. I would have written a goodwill letter to ECSI but the agent indicated that my only recourse was to dispute this directly with Equifax and Experian. Any dispute will simply get forwarded back to ECSI and my concern is that since this is not an ongoing account no one will take my complaint seriously since I wasn't even forwarded to a supervisor when I called.

I know it's not a serious problem but it is unethical to penalize me for a mistake on their end. I have the bill I paid and a copy of my statement from their website to verify my claim of the address error. I told the agent my correct address and I assume she corrected it in the system today during my call but I have physical proof that there was an error which I can provide as needed. In fact, the credit bureaus are now listing my address as Soutgh Highland as a result of ECSI's reporting so this is another thing I need to correct.Desired Settlement: That ECSI reports this account as paid on time to the 3 major credit bureaus.

Business

Response:

In review of [redacted]'s account with Chatham University, an update has been sent to all credit bureaus. The account will be reported as in 'good current standing' for the month if December 2014. The borrower's first bill was due 11/1/2014, although it was not paid by the due date, the payment in full on 12/4/2014 should not have yet resulted in negative reporting. Called borrower to advise to advise the correction has been submitted and update should be visible through the credit bureau 4/1/2015. Was unable to reach borrower - left voicemail with my direct number and ext. for call center supervisor [redacted].

Review: After leaving school to take care of my disabled mother, I couldn't afford the payments to ECSI for a student loan. I wasn't offered economic hardship deferment or forbearance as my other student loan vendors had offered. While I spoke with the company regarding the issue after my loan was sent to collection and default, they had no answers for me.Desired Settlement: not applicable.

Business

Response:

After reviewing this account, all the proper due diligence was followed by ECSI. There were also scanned documents on the account where the University had offered the borrower deferment and forbearance after he had separated from the university. Per Mr [redacted] at [redacted] University Mr [redacted] was unresponsive to both the University and ECSI. As per the promissory note signed by Mr [redacted], once the loan account has gone into default the borrower loses the right to benefits such as deferment and forbearance. The University was under no obligation to offer these options to the defaulted borrower, even though they did indeed offer those options, again with no response. We also confirmed with Mr [redacted] in the loan Repayment and Collections Department at [redacted] that litigation has taken place on this account. They confirmed with our office via e-mail dated November 8th that Mr [redacted] had contacted their attorney [redacted] on November 7th. Mr [redacted] set up a judgement by agreement and made an initial payment to their office. If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact our office at ###-###-####.

Consumer

Response:

Prior to the loan being defaulted, I received no letters for over a year in regards to the loan. I received no letters or phone calls about an impending default status of my loan. I was not offered any forbearance or economic hardship deferment prior to this action being taken. I would not have known these options existed if it hadn't been for me speaking with my other student loan vendors about my financial struggles. A simple letter in the mail saying that these assistance could be available depending upon the circumstances. An 18 year old shouldn't be expected to remember every detail of a e-filed loan. The balance was at $783.66. Now, I'm shouldering over $700 extra dollars from extraneous legal and collection fees; because the university and ECSI failed to see a financially struggling person as such. A teenager whose parents couldn't obtain a Federal Plus loan for approximately $15,000, should have been red flagged as someone who might need some sort of assistance managing over $26,000 debt one year of college had left him to tend to.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Our records (see below) show the following regarding calls and letters to Mr [redacted]:

9/11/2009 - 60 Day letter sent

10/5/2009 - 90 Day letter sent

10/6/2009 - 90 Day call was completed

11/4/2009 - 120 Day letter sent

11/19/2009 - Account assigned to an agency for collection

The address we have had since May 2009 was: [redacted]. [redacted]

Per the promissory note signed by Mr [redacted], he was to keep the his address current at all times with the school. This is important so that when the school needs to contact the individual their contact information is correct.

Please let me know if we can be of further assistance.

Review: My government subsidized student loan is serviced through this service provider. They use predatory practices to prey on students.I entered my information in order to set up automatic debit payments and it was processed successfully per the submission page. One month later I received a late notice of payment via mail stating that I was overdue, that I owed $33.48 in late fees, and that my payment was returned due to insufficient funds. I certainly did not have insufficient funds and when I called them, they stated that this was a standard return reason and that it was actually not processed because the information for my bank was entered incorrectly. I asked them why I did not receive a failure message when I submitted the payment or, at the very least, an email stating that the payment was unsuccessful, they did not have an answer. I was charged late fees - by 'my school' and ECSI - and an additional fee for returned payment. In addition, there were processing fees just for making a payment ($1.95), as well as a fee that I saw charged to my account just for calling them to enquire about this incident ($1). They refunded me my late fees but did not refund a $25 fee that 'my school' charged. They advised me to contact my school, while the officials there stated that it was administered by ECSI and that I needed to contact them.Desired Settlement: I would like for all of these ludicrous, predatory fees to be refunded ($36.43) and the extra money that I paid in interest to be credited towards the principal ($33.34), plus $50 applied to my balance for the inconvenience and time that I have spent resolving this issue.

Business

Response:

In reviewing this account I see where [redacted] attempted to make a payment through the website on 4/29/13. There was an area to enter the checking account number but a debit card number was entered. Because the incorrect number was entered by the borrower, ECSI received a NSF return. The NSF was not for insufficient funds but rather an incorrect account number being entered. The successful transmission mentioned was stating that the information required had been provided but not that the payment actually processed through their bank. A failure message was sent once the payment tried to process through their bank and was returned as NSF. This is an automated e-mail sent to borrowers anytime a payment is rejected by their bank institution. The NSF fee is assessed by the school because the school is assessed this same NSF fee because of the incorrect account number being entered. ECSI is not authorized to waive NSF fees without the schools consent. The $1 fee assessed was for a outbound collection call made as a result of the payment not going through therefore the account being past due. This fee is also assessed by the school for their cost in the collection process. The $33.48 in for interest not late fees. On the June bill this amount is listed under fees because there is no category on the bill for interest. We have contacted the school to request the waiving of the $25 NSF charge but have not received a response as of today's date.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 9620879, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

Regards,

Review: ECSI is running a scam- they do not notify students of extra charges on their accounts, and do not update the bill. Thus, my supposedly smart, secure, AutoPay never covers the full balance, even if just 1cent over. This leads to snowballing "late fees" and credit report damage. I was not notified even once, only found out when my account was being reported as 60 days past due. Worse, this is while they have been happily taking my money each month, with an email before and after every payment, not once mentioning that my account needed attention. Pure scam, and worse, seriously damaging to my credit history.Upon speaking with my college about this, I learned that this situation is actually quite typical with ECSI- many, many students have been unknowingly rolled into bad credit reporting and piles of late fees. This company needs to be shut down.Desired Settlement: On the small side, ECSI needs to refund me the fees they have charged me. They also need to make a full-faith effort to have those negative credit history marks removed.On a larger scale, ECSI needs to flat out change this ridiculous, and I believe criminal, service method. They cannot be allowed to keep scamming students. All it takes is a simple, no-hassle, automatic email to alert students that their account needs attention.