E.C.S.I.

Review: I was alerted that there was a serious delinquency being reported on my credit by ECSI. I was shocked. I had taken out an Owen loan back in the summer of 2012 w/ ECSI & had paid it back immediately when I got my fall student loan funding. Now, it was the same exact loan in the summer of 2013 and was attempting to pay the loan off again in full (however it was not due until April of 2014). I called & spoke to Jim on September 12, 2013 & he apologized/explained to me that this was a mistake on their part/that the two loans had somehow been accidentally merged & I was in good standing, but for some reason had been marked delinquent on the first loan. I was baffled but felt confident that it would be fixed & thought nothing of it. Then, in November of 2013, when I went to schedule for classes at my university for the following Spring semester, I was unable to do so because of an outstanding overdue balance on my account. I contacted the financial aid office at my school & was told they would handle it. The next day I got the email that I was able to schedule. I had no idea what the overdue balance was, as I knew I had no outstanding bills w/ the university. Then, I tried to apply for a job & was denied because of my credit. I spoke to Leander on 2/27 & was told that Jim had been on medical leave/that they were so sorry/that it would be fixed immediately. I was told to call back the first week of April.4/9/14: Asked to speak w/ a supervisor after looking @ my credit w/ my one free time per year & seeing that it was still reporting badly. Matt Helbig assured me that it would be fixed but that it was my schools fault & insisted that I call them because he was far too busy with incoming calls. I did so & called back 4/15. [redacted] @ MSU approved the changes that needed to be made & Matt said "Meg" would make the reporting changes. As of 5/29/14 this has still not been done. I just want my credit fixed and feel so let down. I have graduated now & am scared to apply for jobs because of this.Desired Settlement: I want my credit reporting to be changed from serious delinquent to good standing for the months that it was incorrectly reported. I would also like official documentation provided to me that outlines the changes that were made. If this matter is not resolved, I will be forced to take legal action; as I believe they have had an adequate amount of time to address the issue.

Business

Response:

ECSI has sent the proper information to correct Ms [redacted] credit bureau reporting as of 4/18/2014. I have attached both a copy of the reporting currently in Ms [redacted] ECSI reporting as well as a letter we sent stating that this account was paid in full. The letter was sent 4/22/2014. We have also reasched out to Ms [redacted] via e-mail to explain the actions that we had taken and if any negative reporting is still in place must now be addressed through the credit bureau reporting agency. We did receive confirmation that Ms [redacted] will pursue additional corrective action through the credit bureau through normal dispute process. ECSI feels that we have taken all the actions that we can. If/When the credit bureau agency completes their corrective action Ms [redacted] reporting will be fixed.

Review: I already filed one complaint as the company failed to mail my money that was paid earnest for months of student loans to the new payment processing company my loan sold to.After contacted management at ECSI, they not only didn't resolve the issue, the sent me back to the original lender with a defunct phone number that no longer exists.I now have sent them proof of them having received 860.00 of my money (with proof of my bank statements and monthly loan payments they have been receiving since MAY--all the way through October 11 2013. They have all of this money and have not sent it to the new loan processor.They are sitting on six months of my loan payments without sending the money back to me or to the proper company for processing...this makes it look like I have paid zero in my student loans for six months, when, in fact, I have paid 860.00.Again, I have sent them documented proof they have the money.Desired Settlement: They need to send me my 860.00 immediately or send proof of check mailed on my behalf to Firstmark Services, the new Idapp loan processing company.

Business

Response:

ECSI transferred Ms. [redacted] loans to Firstmark on 4/26/2013. At the time of the transfer Ms [redacted] account was current. We contacted [redacted], IDAPP point of contact and creditor of this loan to verify that payments received by ECSI had been forwarded to Firstmark. Below is a copy of an e-mail from Ms [redacted] to Ms [redacted] providing an explanation of the current status of her account and the fact that payments sent to ECSI have in fact been forwarded and posted by Firstmark. A second e-mail from Ms [redacted] provided us with a response when we contacted the IDAPP group on Ms [redacted]'s behalf. This e-mail will provide comments that ECSI has forwarded payments to Firstmark. Please let me know if we can be of further assistance in this matter.

Review: I am currently being charged a late fee for a Perkins loan payment which was postmarked BEFORE the company's apparent deadline for late fee assessment (the 10th of the month). ECSI states that because the payment did not physically make it into their representatives hands until THEIR processing date of June 12th that I am being assessed a $12.00 late fee. I questioned the unusual nature of this policy with one of their Live Customer Service specialists and received a completely indifferent response and was told it was in my best interest to make sure they receive my "late fee" by July 10th so as not to incur further fees or action on their part. How is it the consumer's fault that a business didn't process a payment on time? Every other billing and deadline service I have ever dealt with applies a time sensitive payment by its postmark date. Additionally, my balance also shows a $14.67 charge on top of the $12.00 fee which one of their customer service representatives claims is "accrued interest for my September 1 payment" which is somehow due along with a ridiculous late fee on July 1st, 2013. I noted this discrepancy to the customer service representative in our web chat and she said it is "noted" in my account yet the same bill still appears unchanged on my account balance.Desired Settlement: I am not paying a late fee for a bill that was paid before the due date.I am also not paying phantom charges for accrued interest on future quarterly bills. I also will not accept written threats from ECSI of delinquency reports to credit bureaus for payments that are not delinquent.

Business

Response:

There were a lot of concerns in [redacted] complaint that I would like to address one at a time. First, his quarterly payments are due the 1st of the month. In this case, his payment of $164.01 was due June 1st, 2013. Technically [redacted] would be past due on June 2nd, however, ECSI does allow our borrowers until the 10th of the month for payments mailed near the due date to reach our office and get processed without assessing any late fees. However in this case [redacted] wrote the check on Friday, June 7th 2013 (reviewed copy of check in our system) 7 days after the due date and with it being mailed to Pittsburgh, Pa. did not arrive our office in time to get processed until June 12th. We post all checks within 24-48 hours after receipt. This is the reason for our established 10 days after the due date. We feel any check mailed should be received within 5 days and with our 2 day processing time would still be posted before the 10th of any month. So, the late fee was assessed properly in this case. [redacted] check was written for $149.34. This was short $14.67. The amount of unpaid interest ($14.67) and late fee ($12.00) is the reason for the amount due of $26.67 as [redacted] stated in his complaint. The following is the history of all previous payments applied to [redacted] loan account:

Separated School: 6/1/2011 after normal 9 month grace period for all Perkins Loans interest started accuring 3/1/2012

First payment due 6/1/2012 (Principle fixed amount $120 plus interest of $50) $170 total due Payment received 6/4/2012 $170 (handled by previous Loan Servicer)

Second payment due 9/1/2012 (Principle fixed amount $120 plus interest of $48.50) $168.50 total due Payment received 10/5/2012 $168.50 (handled by previous Loan Servicer)

Third payment due 12/1/2012 (Principle fixed amount $120 plus interest of $47.00) $167.50 total due Payment received 11/28/2012 $167.50 (handled by previous Loan Servicer)

Fourth payment due 3/1/2013 (Principle fixed amount $120 plus interest of $45.50) $165.50 total due Payment recieved 2/26/2013 $165.50 (handled by previous Loan Servicer)

Fifth payment due 6/1/2013 (Principle fixed amount $120 plus interest of $44.01) $164.01 total due Payment received 6/12/2013 $149.34 (1st payment due to ECSI) (Short amount due by $14.67) Plus $12.00 late fee for being received after 10th of the month Outstanding amt: $26.67

I also reviewed the Live Chat conversation between [redacted] and the ECSI agent. There was incorrect information given to [redacted] regarding the $14.67. This was interest from the Mar-May 2013 timeframe, not future interest. This amount was due the first of June and should be paid accordingly. However, in the interest of [redacted] being a new client to ECSI, I have waived the $12 late fee as a courtesy. I have coached the agent who gave [redacted] the incorrect information and apologize to [redacted]. If I can be of any further assistance to [redacted] please do not hesitate to contact me.

Consumer

Response:

Review: ECSI has an online payment system that requires $50 or 10% of each loan for a one-time payment, even if the loans are in deferment or are on an automatic withdrawl system. One cannot pay online unless they pay on all loans regardless of loan status. When I tried to comply with this rule, my automatic payments were cancelled, unbeknownst to me, and I had a late fee. This is a recurring issue. Other than sending a paper check, I cannot pay my bill online, unless I pay a fee for an e-check transaction. So, there is no way for me to pay my bill unless I pay a fee or possibly incur a late fee for my other loans / have to go through 2-3 other steps to make sure my other loans continue to be paid via automatic withdrawl. Customer service reps from this company do not understand this issue (at least 2 of them) and have not been helpful when I have tried to call them to pay my bill. It is unacceptable to require a fee to pay a bill because the online system does not recogniz a loan that is in deferment.Desired Settlement: Fix the online payment system

Business

Response:

Firstly, thank you very much for your feedback. We arecurrently aware of the inconvenience caused by our online ACH payment optionfor borrowers with multiple loans. We are in the process of updating our userwebsite, and hope to have the payment processing updated very soon. For the current time, we would like to assistyou in making your payment. I have had one of our supervisors, [redacted]; attemptto reach out to you via the number provided in your Revdex.com. He has left you avoicemail with his direct contact information. In review of your account, itappears you have called in and scheduled payments with one of ourrepresentatives. We want to make sure you have the opportunity to schedulepayments for free despite the current issues you are experiencing via ouronline payment method. Please reach out to [redacted] at your earliest convenienceto discuss what options would be most beneficial for you. Again, we appreciateyour feedback and will continue to strive toward improving our user experience.

Review: I am a student who borrowed a loan that ECSI is now processing the payment for. I made an agreement for a new loan payment due date with a representative and she stated that she would send me a letter confirming that new date agreement specifically to my email address which is [redacted] by the end of the day on Tuesday April 28, 2015. Today is Thursday April 30th and I have still not received an email from the representative with this promised information. I only received an email with information that I requested about logging into my account. This email was from the webmaster.

Next, because I could not find an email address for the company on their website (ecsi.net) I responded to the webmaster with two requests. The first request was to be sent the email with the payment due date change. The second request was a request as a customer of ECSI. Under the "Mission and Values" section of the Heartland ECSI website they state " With our Service Never Rests attitude, we provide the highest level of customer service letting your institution focus on the relationships that matter most – those between you, your students and your communities". Reading this section of the website, I decided to bring a concern up to ECSI. My concern was about a payment I had made on the loan from my university on April 16, 2015. I received a letter a week later stating that ECSI now oversees the repayment of this loan. I made numerous attempts to contact my university to confirm that they had sent my payment to ECSI to make the May 1, 2015 deadline (the only deadline that had been confirmed in the written form by ECSI). I called and I sent emails to my university and no one at my university has responded to this date. So as ECSI is the newly appointed intermediary for payments between myself and the university, I sent an email to ESCI requesting that they contact my university and confirm that the transfer of my payment has been made.

The responses I got were strange. The first response that I got just had the words "Call Center Operations Teams" and had the company motto, address, phone and fax number. I replied to the email stating that there was no content in the email, please resend the email. Then I got another email from ECSI that stated that a ticket was created for me (Ticket [[redacted]) and then I got an email that same day saying that the ticket was closed. The message instructed me that if I wanted to know more, I would have to call customer service, or participate in an online chat. So, I called customer service and requested 1) a letter stating the new loan payment due date that had been promised over the phone, 2) that ECSI contact my university to confirm the transfer of my payment. After the representative could not confirm that a letter was to be sent or that ECSI would contact my university because as the ECSI representative I spoke to put it "if your university won't respond to you, whats to say that they will respond to us?" I then contacted the corporate office but their was no extension for complaints so I left a message in the general box.

I am contacting Revdex.com because my loan payment is due May 1, 2015 and I still haven't been given a clear understanding of where my payment is between my university and ECSI. This May 1, 2015 payment is important to me because of the fact that due to financial difficulties and personal hardship, I have not been able to be consistent with loan payments and my loan may be facing collections very soon. To stop this from happening, I initiated contact with my university and set up a payment plan. Why am I being punished with confusion and resistance for taking the initiative to pay off my debt?Desired Settlement: I need ECSI to be truly committed to facilitating the financial relationship between students and their universities. I need to be sent the letter that I had been promised to be sent to my email stating that my payments are due on the 15th of every month. I need the letter to state that my first payment has been satisfied with what I paid to my university and that my next payment is due May 15, 2015. I also need ECSI to confirm outright that my payment to my university has been applied to my account with ECSI.

Business

Response:

“Grace, you are able to make your payments of $50.00 on the15th of every month. However, your account is 47 months past due andis reported past due to the credit reporting agencies. The rescheduled payment amountof $50.00 is only set to keep the account out of collections. The only way tobring the account completely current is to pay the full amount due. Your bill’sdue date is the 1st of every month, but your reschedule will not beeffected if you pay on the 15th. If you have further questions aboutthis account, please feel free to call Heartland ECSI at [redacted]”We have re-sent the original email again today to the emailaddress provided in the Revdex.com. In regards to the email you sentHeartland ECSI on 4/28/2015. – Due to privacy laws, ECSI is unable to verify oranswer any account specific questions. Emails requiring such information areresponded to with the following.“To safeguard your account specific information, security measuresdo not allow ECSI to respond to your question/inquiry via e-mail. However, wewill be more than happy to help you through our Live Chat portal or viatelephone at [redacted]. Live Chat hours are Mon-Fri 8am – 7pm. https://www.ecsi.net/bwr/livehelper.html you can also call Mon-Fri 7:30am – 8pm. We look forward to assisting you.”In regards to the payment sent to the university prior to HartlandECSI taking over the role of Student Loan Servicer for [redacted]. Anypayments made either to the university or previous servicer will be transferredto the new servicer within 30 days of making payment. Should the payment not beforwarded onto Heartland ECSI within 30 days of the original funds being send,it would then be the borrower’s responsibility to follow up with whomeverpayment was sent to. As of today, 5/18/2015 there have been no paymentsreceived and applied to the [redacted] account with Heartland ECSI. Theborrower can view payment history and any payment converted by over from theprevious servicer at www.borrower.ecsi.net.

Review: I have asked this company in writing and by phone NOT to contact me via electronic mail. They have continued to do so for the past year frequently. I never signed up to receive correspondence from them by Email.Desired Settlement: IMMEDIATELY STOP ALL CONTACT BY EMAIL AND USE US POST OFFICE

Business

Response:

[redacted] has an account with two Heartland ECSI clients(higher education), [redacted] College and [redacted] University. The account with[redacted] University is not currently signed up for E-bill for statements and hasnever been sent electronic bills. The only email sent by Heartland ECSI, was anExit Email Notification on 4/17/2013. This email was automatically generatedwhen the Exit Interview became available on the web for the borrower to signprior to starting repayment. Heartland ECSI has not received any communicationfrom [redacted] requesting electronic billing be stopped on this account. Noelectronic billing statements have ever been sent for the [redacted] Universityaccount.The account with [redacted] College is currently signed up forE-bill statements. When [redacted] completed her Exit Interview via the web on4/14/2009, she elected the option to receive E-bill statements. A fax from [redacted]was received at Heartland ECSI on 4/21/2010, but it did not contain a requestto have E-bill removed. [redacted] called [redacted] College to discuss the account on5/7/2010, no request for E-bill removal was discussed. Heartland ECSI’scustomer service department received emails from [redacted] on 5/11/2010 and5/12/2010, again [redacted] did not request E-bill to be removed in either of thesecommunications. A call was received in Heartland ECSI’s call center on2/19/2014, the borrower did not request E-bill removal at this time. [redacted] then spoke with a representative at [redacted] College via phone on2/24/2014, no request for E-bill removal was made. On 2/25/2014 an email wasreceived at [redacted] College from [redacted]. A [redacted] College representativeresponded to on 2/26/2014. At no point during any of these communications didthe [redacted] request electronic communication via email be stopped. No writtencommunication has ever been received at Heartland ECSI from [redacted] requestingthe stop of electronic communication.As of 11/12/2014 I have removed [redacted]’s [redacted] Collegeaccount from electronic billing per this request. [redacted] will no longer receiveelectronic statements for the [redacted] College account being serviced byHeartland ECSI.

Consumer

Response:

Please be advised that email was written to the ECSI via their webmaster form asking that they stop using email as contact and send hard copies. So with all these dates that are being highlighted, they were to discuss other matters and not the email issue. Each time I contacted them IT WAS NOT TO DISCUSS EMAIL REMOVAL - IT WAS FOR OTHER ACCOUNTING ISSUES. This is a horrible company and I am going to take further action.

In the meantime, I do not need to be notified when I pay by check and they deduct the money. See below and stop junking up people's boxes:

ECSI has processed a payment for your account at [redacted] UNIVERSITY.

This in no way implies that funds will be received from your financial

institution, only that we updated your ECSI account. You can review your

account by following the instructions below.

Website: [redacted] Account: (your Your Student Id Number, no hyphens)

If you cannot remember your password, the link below will allow you to retrieve your password by email.

NOTE: This email was sent from a broadcast-only address, please do

not reply. You will find customer service contact information on our web

site at:

Regards,

Business

Response:

When [redacted] completed her Exit Interview via theweb on 4/14/2009, she elected the option to receive E-bill statements. The e-billsare generated on the 10th of each month, or following business day,and sent from [redacted] to theemail address provided by the borrower. The borrower’s Truth and LendingStatement, Exit Interview and Promissory Note clearly outline the borrower’sterms of repayment and rights and responsibilities. The borrower’s monthly statementis also available to view via the web every month. At the request of theclient, [redacted] College, Heartland ECSI is not to waive any fees that areconsidered valid due to non-payment. Any valid late fee assessed per the clientwill not be waived by Heartland ECSI. [redacted]’s grace period ended 10/2014 and thefirst payment was due 11/1/2014. Currently no payment has been made on theaccount. A bill was generated via e-bill on10/10/2014 per the borrower’s request when signing the Exit Interview. There wereno requests received prior to the first bill being generated advising HeartlandECSI remove e-bill statements. [redacted] was contacted by a customer service TeamLead on 12/3/2014 via phone and was advised of the $84.00 currently due whichincludes the following: November Bill: Due 11/1/2014 $40.00 (currently past due)December Bill: Due 12/1/2014 $40.00Late Fee: $4.00 (a result of non-payment for the bill due 11/1/2014)

Consumer

Response:

This company was notified that they were to remove the email from the billing so it does not matter what happened at the exit interview in 2009 - 5 years ago. The information they are providing is false. The first rep said he would remove the fees. Have them to go and listen to the telephone calls as they are taped.

Review: This is my complaint I sent to E.C.S.I. I have sent them complaints before, but with no response. "My loan was transferred from another loan company a few months ago. I was delivered a letter stating that there would be a two month grace period to start paying my loan back. The very next day after receiving that letter, I received a letter from E.C.S.I. saying my loans were past due. I paid my loans once a month as always, yet I kept getting letters telling me that my loans were a month or so over due. Frustrated by this, and a few other things, I decided to close my account last month by paying off the rest of my loan (257 dollars). About a week ago I received a letter saying some of my money didn't go through due to insufficient funds in the bank. I had over a thousand dollars in my account, so I had sufficient funds. I checked my bank statement and it has a withdrawal of the full 257 dollars, but no deposit in the difference that ECSI has said could not be retrieved. So now I am out about 86 dollars and, guess what, I got a letter in the mail from ECSI saying my account is now TWO months late... Also, I for some reason still owe 100 dollars. So many things are not adding up here and this is the poorest service/experience I have had. I will pay this magically appearing extra 100 dollars if it means I'll never have to deal with ECSI again.Desired Settlement: I would have liked a refund, but it is so convoluted now, I'm not even sure how much I have really lost now. I just want: 1. My payments to go through 2. For the false late notices to stop coming 3. To be done with E.C.S.I. like I thought I was last month and 4. For them to know how horrible a service they have provided.

Business

Response:

In reviewing this account we determined that Mr [redacted] did attempt to pay on two different occasions. (6/04/13 & 7/10/13) These attempts were through our website but both times the payments were returned by his bank as unable to locate his account. We have left a message for Mr [redacted] to contact us regarding the two month grace period letter because ECSI does not offer this type of letter. However, during the transition of a loan from one servicer to another we do authorize a 3 month hold on any late fees or credit reporting just in case there are issues with the transition but bill are always sent monthly. If Mr [redacted] can provide us a copy of this letter we will investigate the origin of the letter. When we receive a return call from Mr [redacted], we are prepared to set up a payoff over the phone and we are prepared to waive the NSF fee to get his account paid in full for the remaining balance of $77.30.

Review: I called to company to see why my refund did not deposit into my bank account when the company said it would. The agent could not give me an answer, I did not have this problem with the previous company that was handling student refunds. I was suppose to receive the deposit on 7/18/2014 I still have not received it yet, I am very dissatisfied with ECSI service.Desired Settlement: Better service and my refund payment

Business

Response:

I checked with our banking department to confirm a refund check had been submitted for Mr [redacted]. Our banking department did confirm that a direct deposit file with Mr [redacted] refund in the amount of $4,174.82 was submitted to his bank on Thursday, July 17th, 2014. Depending on the individual bank, these deposits can take anywhere from 48-72 business days. It was confirmed that his bank deposited these funds on Monday, July 21st. If we can be of further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me directly at ###-###-####

Review: I had a payment agreement with the school I took the loan out through that I would make a payment of $20 per month. In July 2013, Luther college transferred the servicing of this loan to ecsi. The payment agreement then continued with ECSI. I have been making the 20.00 per month payment to ecsi since July 2013. At this time, I have received a letter from ECSI stating that my account is 60 days delinquent and there is a 156.00 balance due immediately to keep them from sending my account to collections. At no point was I notified by ECSI that my payment agreement was no longer valid or had expired. ECSI continued withdrawing the 20.00 payment from my checking account without notifying me that that was no longer a sufficient payment. ECSI is saying that the payment agreement expired on Feb. 1st, 2014 and that the minimum requested payment was 40.00 per month and since I had a payment agreement in place to make a $20 payment per month that at the end of the on year payment agreement the remainder of the $20 payments per month were then due immediately. This was not a part of the original payment plan. ECSI is unable to tell me how they get to the amount of $156 due immediately. Also, ECSI has listed that my account has been reported to credit bureaus of being 2 months delinquent. I have made the requested, agreed upon payment with no request to increase payment or notification of expiration of my current payment agreement. Reporting me to the credit reporting agencies for being delinquent should not be allowed when you are taking an automatic withdrawal from my checking account that they took out every month since they took over the loan in July 2013. If the amount did increase, don't you think you would cancel the automatic withdrawal of the lower amount and request that I increase my payment? I would like for ECSI to quit reporting this as a delinquent loan when I have been having automatic withdrawals taken from my checking account each month.Desired Settlement: I would like for ECSI to abide by the original terms of the agreement that I pay $20 per month beginning Feb. 1, 2013. In the agreement I agreed to pay $20 per month on the loan. I was not required to pay the entire amount of $40 due each month at the end of the 12 month agreement. I should only be required to increase my feb 1st payment to $40, along with March 1st since they say the payment agreement expired on Feb. 1st, 2013 (even though they failed to notify me of this).

Business

Response:

[redacted] did have a reschedule set up with the Luther college. A reschedule does allow the borrower to pay a set amount that may be lower than the expected monthly due however, it only acts as a delay for the period of the reschedule. In other words, at the end of the 12 month reschedule the rest of the amount is due unless the borrower applies for an additional deferment/forbearance. In this case, after the 12 month reschedule was completed the remainder would have been due. This is the reason that even though payments continued, the full amount of the balance was due to keep the account out of collections and ultimately from effecting her credit status. ECSI did contact Luther college on her behalf and Mary Logsdon sent the following e-mail in response to our inquiry about what they would be willing to do based on Ms [redacted]'s financial situation. "Hello Bill - Jan has asked me to respond to your email regarding [redacted]. We have discussed her situation and have decided to not make her pay the past due amount. But, she should be made aware that we are doing this because of her financial situation and that she has been granted an economic hardship deferment, NOT because she didn't know it was due and payable. We also think that once her loan enters repayment again, she should resume $40 monthly payments. " The school also said that based on the hardship deferment they would allow us to back date the deferment which will clear up any negative credit reporting currenly on record. We tried to contact the borrower but was unable to speak with her directly. However we did leave a message with this information and left a number for her to contact us with any additional questions. If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Review: This is a student loan servicing company.They are charging me fees for which they seem to know all about and why I am being charged, but cannot/will not provide me proof (i.e. where in my loan agreement) allowing the implementation of said fees.If they are servicing my loan, that makes me inclined to believe that I refer to them for any, and all questions concerning the details of my loan. It seems they should have this information available to customers if they are indeed "servicing" the loan?Desired Settlement: Removal of all associated fees.

Business

Response:

We have obtained a copy of Mr [redacted]'s promissory note which was signed on 10-22-2009 with [redacted]. Item V under Late fees state "The Commonwealth or its designee may collect from me a late charge if I fail to pay all or part of a required installment payment within ten days after it is due or if I fail to provide written evidence that verifies my eligibility to have the payment deferred as described under deferments in this note. A late charge may not exceed six cents for each dollar of each late installment or six dollars whichever is less." A copy of Mr [redacted]'s promissory note was e-mailed to him today, May 7th for his confirmation. The late fees in question on Mr [redacted]'s account were assessed based on the terms of his promissory note. Mr [redacted] did make a payment on 4-30-2014 to bring his account current. In a recent e-mail provided to Mr [redacted] we also explained how he could avoid any future late fees. If we can be of further assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at ###-###-####

Review: Although it would be against good economic practice, I have been tempted to pay the remainder of my ECSI loan in one final payment. In short, it is my lowest interest, smallest principal loan, yet the only one that requires constant maintenance and offers almost no leniency.

By maintenance I primarily mean monitoring, in the sense that they have failed to clearly and quickly communicate when 'automatic' payments have stopped or when a payment has been 'missed'. This goes beyond the lack of usability of their website and gets into their inability to use the phone or e-mail to contact me when anything might be awry. Instead they choose to communicate via mailed statements notifying me that they plan to report me to the credit bureau for a payment I had not even realized had been missed. This would not typically be a concern if they were clear about their reporting practices AND mailed the notice in a reasonable time frame. Of the (2) notices I have received, I have had 4 days to respond with a payment on average.

On leniency, I refer back to my comments on their credit reporting practices. I'm uncertain what 'Due Diligence Regulations' are, but I assure you that ECSI is the only loan service company that I have dealt with who seems to apply these. I would be lying if I said I haven't had payment mix-ups with any of my other loan issuers/services, however in all other cases I have received e-mail, mail, AND phone notification alerting me to the issue and direct assistance resolving any payment hold-ups. I feel as though ECSI is treating me as some sort of a fraudulent debtor who can't make my monthly payments.

I have supplied feedback directly to ECSI via their website, but I received no receipt for this feedback or recommendations based on my struggles with the website usability. Between feedback submitted to ECSI, recommendations to my alma mater (loan issuer) to end their relationship with ECSI, and this current complaint on the Revdex.com, I have spent a significant amount of time on this issue and have been thoroughly frustrated by it.Desired Settlement: I would simply like recognition that my feedback has been received and preferably an apology for what I would consider to be a significant inconvenience. Prior to ECSI, I had never been frustrated enough to submit critical feedback, let alone a complaint (at the Revdex.com no less!). This is the third time I have taken the time to file a grievance against ECSI. I hope it is the last.

Business

Response:

Contacted customer and discussed concerns surrounding the borrower website, payment options, billing statements and reporting practices. Verified account is in a good current standing, and all reporting has been updated. Apologized for any inconvenience or confusion created due to issues utilizing the borrower website in regards to automatic debit. Verified that the customer’s dispute has been resolved; provide direct contact information should any additional questions or concerns arise in the future.

Review: Primarily, this complaint pertains rather to inability of ECSI to provide a personalized attention from a member of supervisory team or executive board member than to the outcome of the dispute of this matter of extraordinary importance and urgency. The CSR has indicated that the request of removing a late payment entry from credit file can be approved upon special consideration on case-by-case basis by manager, who would need to get in touch with Brooklyn College that would ultimately have to make a decision as ECSI is merely a contractor providing payments and credit reporting services. Such person at Brooklyn College is Mrs. [redacted] [###-###-####, ext. [redacted]), who confirmed the readiness on her side in satisfying the request. After multiple attempts, I was unable to get in touch with [redacted] (ext[redacted]) the person whom I was told I needed to talk to. The request has been placed for him to call me back before the end of the business day (or at least sooner than average waiting period of two business days), but up until now no one with decision-making capacity has contacted us. The information provided by different CSRs was conflicting, and I have not received no effective assistance. The last person whom I spoke to, [redacted] (she refused to provide me with her last name, employee ID, or extension #), refused to provide me with any information about pertaining to the members of the E-board of the company, company's CEO or any of the mangers' voice mails. On a personal side, she was disrespectful and avoided direct answers to my questions by repeatedly providing me with the information that I by no means requested, and advising me on matters outside of my inquiry. No formal process, or "ticket," was requested, nor was a sufficient information provided for any form of investigation or decision-rendering process. The contacts merely had a purpose of getting in touch with a person with decision-making capacity, but resulted in conflicting responses.Desired Settlement: I would still like to talk to the supervisor or a member of executive board at ECSI about this matter of extreme urgency and importance - removal of incorrect late payment entry with credit bureaus which as it currently stands could lead to a irreparable financial damages. Ultimately, I would like to request an AUD form requesting removal of the 30-day late payment entry to be provided to the three credit bureaus. Thank you.

Business

Response:

I reviewed the call between Mr [redacted] and our agent [redacted]. I believe [redacted] who had only been on the phones for two weeks prior to this call was trying to follow our normal training procedures. I did not feel any information she provided was incorrect during the call. As far as availability of a supervisor, this is the time of year we are extremely busy because of the 4 million plus tax documents we send out for over 550 colleges. We normally request agents to set up a call back for the supervisors and we can normally get back to a concerned borrower within 24-48 hrs. I agree that this situation was critical based on the borrower trying to close on a new home. I did get with this agent and explain that she does have the latitude to escalate certain issues like in this case. She is now aware. We contacted the school on Mr [redacted]'s behalf because ECSI does not fix credit reporting for this Brooklyn College. Brooklyn college actually updates credit reporting for all their students through the normal credit bureau reporting process. However, because of the limited time Mr [redacted] had I approached my Director of Call Center Operations and got authorization to provide Mr [redacted] with a letter stating his credit bureau reporting would be corrected and he would be in good standing. I personally contacted Mr [redacted], got his e-mail and was able to provide a letter that worked on 2-18-14. I believe Mr [redacted] concerns have been satisfied based on an e-mail I received from him thanking me for my assistance. If I can be of any further assistance in this matter please contact me at ###-###-####

Review: I recently was charged twice for the same payment of this month. The first charge was voluntary as I was paying directly. The second, though, was automatically withdrawn from my bank account due to a recurring payment method I had opted in when I first started paying off the loans. It was last month that I chose an option to discontinue the recurring pay method, yet here I am being charged anyway. I have emailed their customer support explaining this, and asking for a refund for the automatic transaction, and compensation for the overdraft fee my bank is charging me as a result of the unexpected transaction. Their response was that they are unable to refund my direct payment charge, and that they WILL NOT refund my automated charge simply for the fact that I "authorized" it, as if I have made some unforgivable user-error. I have had several issues with their website in the past as it is clearly outdated and makes some of the most simple features you would expect to see in a modern website dedicated to paying bills almost inaccessible. As I have said earlier, I have disabled the recurring payment option a month ago. Of course, I expect they are not going to have it on record. I've seen many complaints against this company and it does not surprise me that they have made it so difficult to do something as important as paying back money.Desired Settlement: I want them to refund one of the two charges and to take whatever action they are responsible for towards my Bank and the overdraft fee that is ensued.

Business

Response:

I have reviewed this account and after concluding my research I have determined this was a system error. The borrower did set ach on our website but it allowed him to set 2 payments for the same month and did draft this payment twice. This situation was already reviewed by our programming department and they have corrected this so this does not happen again. We have since spoken to the borrower explained the situation and am in the process of refunding his additional payment of 84.86 to him and have included the 29.95 overdraft fee he incurred from his bank. He has agreed to this resolution and has responded to the complaint to explain it is rectified to his satisfaction. If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call me at [redacted] ext [redacted]

Review: On 01/21/14 I was contacted by a relative at and old mailing address that I have not resided at in 4 years informing me of a letter regarding my student loans. The letter was from ECSI regarding my federal perkins loan, account # [redacted] and due on 02/01/14. I have am a victim of identity theft and had my ssn# comprised multiple times last year and have all my loans consolidated with the US Department of Education for over a year. In addition, I have been a full-time student looking to graduate this summer but have all my loans in deferred status. I am taking all precaution measures to secure my identity and contacted this company on 01/22/14 @ ###-###-#### and visited their website www.ecsi.net. The CS representative refused to provide information but brief description of company and requested that I verify my identity to discuss information regarding the statement received. He told me that my information was sent to him from a company, ACS. The information I found on ACS is as follows: ###-###-####, [redacted], [redacted], www.acs-education.com. I refused to provide any information and informed the caller that I have never heard of either company and felt that this was a fraud and will report to find additional information about this incident. After browsing their website www.ecsi.net I could not find any listing of this company and did not provide any personal information online. I contacted the Revdex.com of IL and they did not find any information on this company as well.Desired Settlement: I would like request a full investigation on this matter to identify this company email or mailed to my home. Please do not send this company any of my personal information, including my current mailing address. Feel free to contact me, if you have any additional questions or concerns.

Business

Response:

ECSI is the new loan servicer for this particular Perkins Loan (accnt # [redacted]) effective 1 November 2013. ACS was the previous loan servicer. We have been employed by the Department of Education to service these particular loans. The original amount of the loan was $1000. The current amount due is $1,263.18. The interest rate on this loan is 5%. Information regarding our company can be viewed at www.ECSI.com. In order to provide any specific information regarding this loan, we must first confirm the identity of the individual calling. The Red Flag procedures require that the caller identify themselves and confirm personal identifiable information such as name, address, birthdate, and social security number. We also ask them to confirm an e-mail address. These are all required procedures to ECSI by the Department of Education. If we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Review: This company apparently owns part of my student loan. I do not receive billing statements from them, either written or electronically, until they claim that I have an overdue account. Until that time, they do not make my account accessible (a billing statement is required to access the account). The company does not answer the phone during their stated business hours, and the website is structured so that it is not possible to make on-time payments without paying ECSI a special fee - so either you pay them a special fee now, or you pay them a late fee later. I am also always hit with "fee", a nondescript term on collection requests with no information as to why it applies. The website is so unprofessional and the company so impossible to contact, that I came to the Revdex.com to make sure they weren't fraudulent.Desired Settlement: I would like this company to at the very least be required to contact me and answer questions regarding my account, and be required to send me regular billing statements so that I know when I have a payment due. As it stands, by not contacting me and not making account information available, they are forcing me to pay late fees.

Business

Response:

I reviewed the account for [redacted]. This account went into repayment effective Nov 2013. [redacted] made her first payment on Nov 11th. The next payment we received was January 3rd. The first bill we attempted to send went to the address we had on file of [redacted]. This bill was returned as undeliverable. We completed a skip trace in order to locate her with any updated address. The skip trace came up with the address of [redacted]. We sent another bill to that address in November. The promissory note signed when the loan was taken requires the borrower to keep a current address up to date in the schools system. This was not the case in this matter which was the reason for the delay and second bill needing to be sent out. However, because the exact payment of the second bill was made it appears the bill was received. The second bill was sent for $41.25 which included the skip tracing fee of $1.25. This amount was the payment we received on Nov 11th. The December payment was received. I also reviewed our system for how many times this borrower attempted to contact us via telecom. There was one attempt on 12-20-2013. The call was released from our queue within 47 seconds. No other telecom attempts were made. Our website does allow for free payments be made on 4 different days per month. (1st, 10th, 15th, and 20th). Our website also allows borrowers to contact us via e-mail and we also have a Live Chat portal that is available to our borrower Monday - Friday from 8am to 6pm. I had one of our TeamLeads contact Ms. [redacted] to answer all her billing questions on 1-7-2014. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance in this matter.

Review: my complaint is too long to fit here. All of the details are necessary. Please see my "supporting document"In essence, the problem is that ECSI incorrectly saved my bank information, (after it was corrected once). Having incorrect bank information caused a second returned check and therefore a returned check fee, and interest to accrue. I do not feel responsible for the check fee or the accrued interest since I already called to resolve the incorrect bank information after I received the first returned check, and because the interest accrued after my payment was submitted with the new bank information. Communication was over the telephone.Desired Settlement: 1) I feel that even if [redacted] does not agree to "waive" that interest fee, it should be ECSI's responsibility and not mine. I would like ECSI to take responsibility for this interest in the case that it is not waived by [redacted]. 2) The returned check fee (still shown on my acct) should be waived as ECSI promised. 2) ECSI needs to improve customer service. for one rep. not to see my info (& to lie about it being deleted) & for the next rep to see everything threatens ECSI's integrity.

Review: I have two complaints with this company.1) The collection of my student loan was sent to this company after the completion of consolidating my student loans with the Central Credit Union of New Jersey. ECSI sent me no information on their company or correspondence of any kind. I had selected a payment due date with the CU of New Jersey, so I had to call the CU to get the contact information for ECSI and then had to call ECSI to request the information to log into my account and to request that they send my monthly bills. Because they did not send me a bill or any information on how to pay back my student loan I paid my loan online and they charged a $5.57 convenience fee.2) They send their bills very late. I received a bill that was due October 1st on September 24th. I mailed the payment Sept. 25th and the check was processed Sept. 30th; however, there is a past due amount on my bill due November 1st when there is no amount past due. The previous bill was paid in full and processed before the due date. I should be not charged a past due fee of $12.16 when everything was paid in full on time.Desired Settlement: I should be refunded the convenience fee that was accrued due to ECSI's negligence, $5.57. I should also be refunded the "past due" amount that was paid even though all payments were made in full and on time, $12.16. The total refund due is $17.73.

Business

Response:

Heartland ECSI is the loan servicer for Lendkey

Technologies, we are not a collection agency for his consolidated loan. We

handle such responsibilities as billing and payment processing for the client,

Lendkey Technologies. Heartland ECSI sent e-bill communications to Mr. [redacted]

prior to his first monthly payment being due, along with an email including web

login information. Lendkey consolidated loans are designed to receive all email

communications. When the accounts are received with Heartland ECSI, they are

automatically setup for e-bill per the client’s request. If the borrower

requests removal of e-bill they need to send a written request to Heartland

ECSI. All statements must be made available within four days of the “grace

period ending”. The Lendkley promissory note states that late fees can be

assessed after the 15th of the month, Heartland ECSI send the bill

by the 19th of the month. We remain compliant within those time

frames. ALL payments made by credit card are assessed a processing fee. The fee

is disclosed and the borrower is required to agree to pay the fee prior to

processing the payment. In reference to the bill from November 2014; the bill

did have a balance reflecting past due, this was a billing error which is

currently being resolved. The balance of $12.16 is part of the accrued interest

for that account that has not yet been paid. This amount is vailed and owed.

The account is not past due and has not been assessed a late fee.

A senior representative at Heartland ECSI has made 3

attempts to contact Andrew [redacted] via phone. We were unable to make contact and

have not received a call back.

Review: ECSI has serviced my student loan since 2010, when I graduated from college. Up until now I have not had any issues with ECSI and the way their business operates. As a teacher in a low income school, I am eligible for the cancellation of my Perkins student loan. I have completed four years of teaching and have recently begun to research and pursue how to go about cancelling the eligible portion of my loan. I contacted someone at my university and got that process going. Due to my eligibility of service, 50% of my loan has already been forgiven and another 20% is going to be forgiven within a matter of weeks. As a result of my loan being forgiven, I have applied for deferment of my loan. That's where I've run into problems with ECSI.Beginning last week, I contacted ECSI for the proper protocol to receive deferment. I spoke with [redacted] who, while friendly, gave me misinformation. He told me that I would only need to fill out the top portion of the deferment form because my university already accepted my proof of employment letter from my boss. So of course I only filled out the top half of the form due to an employee telling me that was all I needed to complete. Well, I called back a few days after to confirm receipt of my form and to check on the status and was informed that what Mr. [redacted] told me was incorrect and that my deferment request was denied due to the incomplete form that was submitted. When I told the customer service representative (who was rude) that I was misinformed, she gave a dry apology and stated that I would have to resubmit the form, despite already having proof that I was a teacher at a low income school. I called back after speaking with her and requested to speak to a manager. The customer service representative informed me that since it was Friday my call would be returned in 24-48 hours max. That was on Friday, June 13. As of Friday, June 20 at 12 PM CST I still have not received a call back from a member of management at ECSI.Desired Settlement: I would like this matter resolved by actually receiving a call back from a supervisor or member of management, as I have requested on two separate occasions. ECSI also needs to train its employees to deliver consistent information to customers who call in with questions and concerns. A third thing that ECSI needs to do is stop ignoring customers. I have proof of e-mails sent to [redacted] that remain unanswered and an online chat conversation where I asked [redacted] to have someone call.

Business

Response:

After reviewing the phone call between our agent [redacted] and our customer Ms [redacted] there may have been a misunderstanding. Our agent mentioned that only the top portion of the form would need to fill out as long as a letter on letterhead was sent along with the deferment form. Ms [redacted] did send the form but did not send the letter on letterhead which is what created the delay. If the letter on letterhead cannot be obtained by the borrower then the bottom of the form would also need to be completed. We have made contact with Ms [redacted] to explain what happened and she has since sent in the letter on letterhead to the school who completed the cancellation. Ms [redacted]'s account is now current and in good standing and the deferment has also been completed for the final year. If we can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

Consumer

Response:

I am highly offended that the suggestion was made that I was confused about the conversation that took place between [redacted] and myself. When I spoke with him on the phone I clearly stated that I had already sent a letter confirming my proof of employment to my university. The letter was mailed in May. I never contacted ECSI until June. That is when he stated that I could simply complete half of the form. He was well aware that only my college had the letter and that ECSI did not. That was made even more evident when I emailed him directly regarding the matter and he never responded.

Despite emails and calls to ECSI I was not contacted until June 25 when Bill Jones left a voicemail. By that point I had already filed my complaint and simply wanted for ECSI to accept my proof of employment. I would like to make it known that I never sent another letter to ECSI. It's really sad that companies will say anything and portray customers to be ignorant when in reality their customers are quite educated (I am a teacher with a master's degree after all) and have done their due diligence. Thank goodness I will be done with ECSI next year after the final portion of my loan is forgiven. They will say anything to make themselves look good and they never even addressed the bulk of my concerns.

Regards,

Business

Response:

I pulled this phone call from our archive location and listened to the call between our agent [redacted] and Ms [redacted]. First, I must apologize to Ms [redacted], there was absolutely no misunderstanding, Ms [redacted] was told and I quote "And you don't need to worry about having your employer will out the bottom part of the form that says have your employer complete or have them verify your employment in anyway because the school already received documentation that you are employed full time." When I spoke to [redacted] as to why he provided this information he was under the impression that because we had received paperwork to provide the cancellation that the production processing team would accept that prior paperwork to authorize the deferment. When the cancellation and deferment are submitted at the same time, that would be the case however because the deferment was submitted at a later time, the form had to be completed in its entirety or a letter on letterhead would have had to be attached with the deferment request. I confirmed with our production processing team on this procedure. [redacted] has now been coached on this process for future use. I have tried to contact Ms [redacted] to apologize via telecom but was unable to reach her at this time. I also was unable to leave a voicemail because her mailbox was full. I will continue to try to contact Ms [redacted] until I am able to speak with her personally. I believe she deserves an apology and not just through this written communication. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me at ###-###-####

Review: Company took money out of my bank account without my permission total $1200. Caused other checks to bounce. Also did not owe this company any money at the time of the transaction.Desired Settlement: Investigation that leads to criminal charges if found guilty with multiple clientele

Business

Response:

In reviewing this account, ECSI did make an error as Ms [redacted] stated. Ms [redacted]'s original debt amount was $2400 however the school had made arrangements that if Ms [redacted] would pay $1200 that the remaining balance would be written off. When Ms [redacted] called our office to set up the one time $1200 payment prior to 5-20-13 our agent mistakenly set the draw date a month ahead (6-20-2013) We set payments up on certain draw dates during a month. Our system looks at any payment set up by date so although the payment was set up for 6-20-13 on 5-20-13 a payment was taken. This payment had satisfied the debt per the school however, on 6-20-2013 a second payment was taken. On 7-8-2013 Ms [redacted] contacted our office to advise us of our error we obtained the proper bank statement from the borrower showing two payments had been taken. That call was on 7-8-2013 at 7:52am. Our banking department had a refund including an additonal $70 in fees to Ms [redacted] bank by 4:48pm that same day. We spoke to Ms [redacted] at 5:08pm that day to explain that a refund was sent to her bank and would be available the following morning. Ms [redacted] contacted our office on 7-9-2013 at approximately 11:30am to let us know her funds were available in her account. This was an honest mistake made by one of our agents clicking on the wrong date. We sincerely apologize to Ms [redacted] for our error. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance in this matter.

Consumer

Response:

I accept the company's apology but this is what really happened

Review: I applied for this companies service through my University. Unbeknownst to me, it was a third party company-not affiliated with my university. I paid the $35 application fee and made my first payment of 4 expected billings. I was then disenrolled from my classes a few days later due to non payment. I called my school, which is when I found out that they are a third party company. The guy apologized, assured me the issue was fixed and my next payment would be taken care of on July 15th. It wasn't. I was notified by my school at the end of July that I was again dropped from my classes. When I called ECSI to find out what had happened, their system had dropped me again. I asked why I hadn't received any correspondence, not a bill, receipt, anything and they said it was a "timing issue" because the date I applied was the date that bills were printed. I still should have received SOMETHING in the way of correspondence from this company. I asked for a refund of my $35 application fee since they did NOT provide me with the service I applied for but they refused. They offered to reinstate my payment plan for no additional charge. This is fraud. They did not provide the service I applied for. They made one transfer which I could have done without all of these problems.Desired Settlement: I would like a refund for my application fee $35.

Business

Response:

I have reviewed this account and Ms [redacted] will be refunded the $35 application fee she paid through ECSI TPP plan. ECSI does not typically refund application fees but Ms [redacted]'s case was not typical and the fee was submitted to our banking department and completed to be returned 8-13-2014. We have contacted Ms [redacted] today 8-14-2014 to inform her of our actions. Ms [redacted] was correct that the first issue was created due to the time of her signing up and the time our bills were calculated and the normal posting of a payment in our system. However, the second issue occurred due to a programming issue within ECSI which was no fault of Ms [redacted]'s. We apologize to Ms [redacted] for the inconvience this error has caused her. Ms [redacted] should recieve her refund with 24-48 hrs from 8-13-2014. If we can be of further assistance, please contact me immediately at ###-###-####.