Smart Tuition

Review: SmartTuition wrongfully debited a $548.33 tuition payment and late fee from my checking account after my son was withdrawn from the school he attended. The school waived future tuition payments but SmartTuition still withdrew the money from my account even after I notified them of the change and requested no future payments be withdrawn. When I saw the debit pending in my account on January 18, 2014 I called SmartTuition and was told to email a refund request and I did that day. The customer service rep said that if the request was received by 2pm on the next business day it would take 24-48 hours to process. When nothing happened and no one contacted me I called SmartTuition again on January 22, 2014 and was told the account was under review and that it would take 3-5 business days. I've called the company almost daily since then to check up on the status of my refund. A customer service rep and supervisor both told me the account was zeroed out and there is a $548.33 credit showing in my account but still, no refund. When I called at the end of the fifth business day a supervisor told me my account was still under review. She said she would send an urgent email asking an account manager to call me but that it could take 2-3 business days for someone to get back with me. In addition, I requested that a copy of the company's refund policy be emailed to me along with any paperwork necessary to avoid future debits. I have received nothing. All communication and attempts to resolve this matter have been initiated by me. No one from SmartTuition has contacted me - except for one email dated January 20, 2014 stating they received my refund request. Every time I speak with someone at SmartTuition they change the time frame as to when I can expect contact and/or a resolution. *Just spoke again with SmartTuition. Now they say I have to contact the school and it will take them (SmartTuition) 7-10 business days to email the paperwork I requested. Unbelievable!Desired Settlement: That the company contact me and refund, in full, the tuition/late fee payment it wrongfully withdrew from my account.

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted],

I do apologize that your refund was not immediately processed. [redacted] has a refund process/policy that we must abide by, which means they must authorize Smart Tuition to process refunds. Originally, we contacted the school about your refund request on 1/20/2014. On 1/21/2014 the school authorized us to zero out the remaining balance, but said they needed to review the refund request. Finally, on 1/29/2014 the school authorized Smart Tuition to process the refund. We have since refunded your checking account in the amount of $548.33 and as stated above the remaining balance was zeroed out.

Again, I truly do apologize for the delay and any frustration you experienced during this time.

If you have any question, please feel free to contact me directly.

Thanks,

Like others have said, since our school decided to use this Company my relationship with the school has not been the same anymore. If you work for a school - RUN FROM THIS COMPANY! If we didn't like the teachers so much I would take my children somewhere else next year, that's how bad they are.They always find a way to charge a late fee, their billing is very hard to understand, and their timing (both for billing email and due dates) is carefully planned to make you miss a payment date (e.g. your only bill is a Friday night email). While the billing person at the school generally deals with Smart Tuition on our behalf, it is still a hassle to have to research what happened, email the school lady and wait for resolution (who herself chose Smart Tuition after reading all these bad reviews, so I don't feel bad about bothering her). In HALF a year that our school is using them I've been assessed THREE late fees - and we pay tuition 2x year! Incredible isn't it? First time they said the ACH didn't clear because I typed the wrong account number (maybe I did, but I do ACH payments all the time and this had never happened before - how did I type the same wrong number twice and it passed validation is beyond me), then there was an "activity fee" twice in a month and I got confused with the way they bill and thought I had already paid it - and boom - the second one was somehow a new fee, and now, the 'twice a year' tuition was due on Jan 1st, right in the middle of Christmas vacation. So missed it. We pay bills all the time, and before Smart Tuition I had paid a late fee twice in my 40 years of life. But with Smart Tuition, they are smarter than you. You will have more late fees in 5 months than in your whole life.

Review: Smart Tuition, a third party tuition collection agency withdrew $30 from my checking account after I had previously paid the full tuition amount directly to the school. They withdrew these funds without notifying me. I have attempted to disconnect my bank account from their web site, however, there are no options to cancel my account.

The withdraw of these funds also incurred a $30 service charge from my bank.

I believe other consumers should be alerted to Smart Tuitions deceitful business practice.Desired Settlement: I would like the $30 they withdrew from my account and I would like them to pay the bank overdraft charge of $30.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any confusion on your account. Smart Tuition is not a collection agency, we are a tuition management company. In reviewing your account, I do not see any calls to our company to stop your auto debit. I have switched you to mail in so your bank information will not be rolled over next year. I have also absorbed the failed bank fee for $30 because the in school payment was not credited until the auto debit was in process. We need 2 business days to stop an auto debit before it goes into process. We will send you the $30 plus the $30 service charge for the service charge however we were never notified that you would be paying the school directly. We could have stopped the autodebit so you would not have had any issues. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out to us directly. Sincerely, Smart Tuition

Review: this is the second time in 5 months that this company charges me for a late fee of 65 dollars , they argue that my payment was received late, I checked with my bank and the payment was sent 9 days in advance, it takes three days for the check to arrive, the fact that they take more than six days to process should not affect me , the check was electronically sent , this is no the first time they do this to me, it seems to me like they do this practice very often , for the number of complaints filed agains this company.Desired Settlement: late fees waived and internal investigation by the [redacted] against this terrible company.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration you are experiencing with delayed payments. Online bill payments are not sent electronically to Smart Tuition. Payments from your bank are sent by regular mail. The USPS suggests 7-10 days for delivery. We do plan of receiving online bill payments electronically in the future however there is no ETA. We understand that many parents use online bill pay to make payments to Smart and this issue is important to us as well. We offer many other ways to make payments in the meantime that are simply quicker than relying on transit times in the mail. We offer automatic debits, one-time payment options, and cash payments. If you have further questions about this please let me know.We have waived both late fees for you and apologize for any confusion with online bill pay. We understand this is an important issue and we are making strides towards receiving online bill payments electronically. If you continue to send payments by online bill pay you may wish to consider sending your payment a few days earlier. If you do not, we offer other options to make payments. Sincerely, [redacted]Director of Parent ExperienceSmart Tuition

Review: Smart Tuition is either inept or has shady Business Practice. This year my kids school started business with them and I have to use them for first time. I believe I put my numbers properly but not according to them and they said I owe them 30$ fee. According to them I typed wrong account number. They are wrong and I don't believe them.Desired Settlement: I want everyone to know about there random fees and defend them selves

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration that you have with Smart Tuition. The situation in question began on August 26th 2015. Apayment was made by the parent on our website by typing in the checking account numbers themselves. The payment failedfor R03: No Account from our bank. This error code from the bank is most likely an error with the numbers that weretyped in that could have been incorrect/transposed or the account was closed. We emailed the parent automatically on 8/27/15 to notify them of the failed payment. The parent did call us to question the fee on 8/28/15 and we left an open note in our system to review. On 9/29/15 the parent called back the 2nd time to address thisissue. We immediately absorbed the failed bank fee of $30 on 9/29/15 as a one-time courtesy. I apologize that it took a month to addressthis issue. During enrollment season we are very busy and attempt to address each open request in 7-10 days. I will speak to the account manager aboutthis issue going forward. We also waived a late fee on 8/3/15 as a one-time courtesy. There are no other Smart Tuition fees on your account at this time. If you have any additional question please contact us anytime at ###-###-####.Sincerely,Smart Tuition

Review: I enrolled for Smart Tuition on June 1st per schools request . I was scheduled to have money withdrawn on 6/10/15 via a checking account through my prepaid checking account (Rushcard) . I called on 6/9/15 to inform the company that I would not have adequate funds on the payment due date of 6/10/15 . I was told by smart tuition that had I called on 6/8/15 they could have granted me a grace period of several days without penalty because the payment is actually one day before the due date electronically and a late fee and fail fee had already been placed on my fee $70.00 . I was very upset but there was no accommodation made .I then was charged another "fail fee " $30.00 several days later , when I had adequate funds within my checking account . I called smart tuition and was told that I could make a payment over the phone but it would cost a 2.6 % processing fee in addition to the $100.00 in collection fees. At this point I'm frantic so I go online and attempt to make a payment utilizing my prepaid card as a credit card , the payment was accepted but I was charged $59.00 to process the payment . I call smart tuition and they void the payment o 6/12/15 and re input all my checking information . I am assured not to worry the fees will be removed and payment taken electronically . On 6/15/15 I am sent an email I received an additional failed fee . I call Smart tuition and am told they can not process my card which I have used numerous times including to make car payments electronically . I am told again not to worry , I can go to family dollar or 7-11 and make a payment for $5.00 that will post right away or I can send a money order . I go to several family dollars and a 7-11 to make the payment and the managers have no idea what I'm talking about . I purchased and sent a moneygram money order on 6/16/15 for $417.50 June payment and one for the payment due in July several days ago . I called today 6/28/15 and was told the money order was not received and to contact moDesired Settlement: I was told to contact the post office and moneygram .

I would like to assure my money orders are processed and all late fees , fail fees are removed . I believe this company uses illegal practices to collect fees . I am out almost $800.00 in unprocessed money orders and over a $100.00 in late fail fees I was assured would be removed .

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration youexperienced with Smart Tuition. Inresearching your account, on 6/10/15 your first payment failed because accountnumber structure is invalid. You wouldneed to speak to your bank directly as to why they failed the transaction. We absorbed the failed fee on our end. No late fee was assessed.On 6/12/15 a phone payment was attemptedwith a different checking account and that transaction failed due toPolicies/regulations restrict activity to this account. You would need to speak to your bank directlyto see why they rejected this transaction. We absorbed the failed fee on our end. No late fee was assessed. We credited your account for the missing money gram today6/29/15 for $417.50. The payment wasdelayed because the Smart Family ID was written incorrectly on the moneygram. This caused a delay in processingbecause the money gram had to be sent from our lockbox to our company office toresearch. We have not received your Julypayment yet, I would give it a few more days.We have many different payment options. You do not have to use a credit card but ifyou would like to use one there is a convenience fee of 2.65%. You can avoid this fee by paying from achecking or savings account by providing a routing number and a bank accountnumber.I will reach out to you directly and confirm the correct SmartFamily ID number for future use. Thankyou for your patience in this matter.

Review: Smart Tuition is not processing check payments in a timely fashion resulting in late fees. This is my third year dealing with Smart Tuition; however, this is the first year in a new school, so I had to set-up a new account, all over again. They are always claiming to receive payments late and subsequently charge a late fee. Recently, I received my son's 1st tuition payment due July 15th. I set-up a manual, on-line bill payment via my bank, [redacted], on July 3rd and was given a date of July 11th, as to when it should be received. As of today, July 16th, Smart Tuition is claiming that they still have not received the payment and as a result, accessed me a late fee. After contacting my bank, [redacted], I was assured that my check was processed according to my instructions.

In my son's, previous school, I had the same issue of them claiming not to receive checks. Yes, Smart Tuition reverses the late fee; however, I know they would only probably do so once or twice, so I felt forced to set-up automatic payments through Smart Tuition or set-up all of my bank information on their website for making a manual payment via their website. I should not have to provide my personal information to this company, in order to avoid a late fee. I give about two weeks leeway for them to receive and process my check, yet that is still not enough. It's not right and there are numerous complaints from other parents about their unethical business practices.

Could you please look into this company and stop this bullying tactic of forcing parents to set-up automatic payments or give them all of your personal banking information to keep on file with them?

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: They need to improve their check processing time and stop blaming it on the post office or bank. I have an excellent payment history with all of my other bill collectors, which have no problem receiving payments in a timely fashion. I live in [redacted] and I'm sending the payment to their P.O. Box in Newark, New Jersey and they're claiming non-receipt of my check mailed almost two weeks prior. I can walk to Newark, New Jersey from [redacted], [redacted] faster then they're receiving my payment.

Business

Response:

Dear Mrs. [redacted],

I read and understand your concerns about paying automatically via Smart vs. [redacted]. I would like to first stress the fact that we do not have or push a preference of payment for parents; however, we have control over auto-debit, phone, web and mobile payments. Those payments are considered paid in good faith the day they are made. You never have to worry about delivery delays. Unfortunately, when paying via [redacted] your payment is now handled by a company that they use to cut your check and then it is handed off to U.S.P.S. for delivery - they recommend people allow 5-7 business days for regular mail delivery. We do not have control over U.S.P.S. or the other third party used to cut the check. What we do control is what happens when we receive your payments and that is we will process it the same day (M-F, except federal holiday's) and then post it to your account the next business day.

Banks like [redacted] will recommend setting your "delivery by date" to be approximately 5 business days before your due date. So, for July [redacted] would recommend July 8th as your "deliver by date". If you continue to elect to pay using [redacted], then I would highly recommend you try what [redacted] recommends.

I do apologize for any frustration you have experienced over this. Your late fee for July was removed and if you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Parent Advocate

Smart Tuition

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

I've been using [redacted] On-line, Bill Pay for years and have never been late with any creditor. However, the first time I was late on a bill was with your company, Smart Tuition for another school. It was recommended by a Smart Tuition representative to set-up bank transfer info with your company to avoid future late fees. Therefore, I did and had no further problems. However, this year, I do not wish to furnish my bank account info for either manual or automatic payments via Smart Tuition.

This year, I was late again on my very first payment through a new school. I set-up my payment on July 3rd; however, it wasn't mailed until July 7th due to the July 4th holiday. As I stated before it was due to arrive July 11th, which still allowed 2, additional business days to process the payment. (My mailing instructions were followed, as verified by my bank, [redacted].) Yet, it wasn't posted to my account until July 17th, even though a copy of my bank check shows it was deposited on July 16th, still 1 day late. So, my question is why does it take 5, additional business days to process a payment? (Following, your example of the check being received on the 8th of July)

Thank you in advance.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Dear Mrs. [redacted],

I would like to clarify the steps/timeline of how and when Smart Tuition processes payments received in the mail. Every Monday-Friday (excluding Federal Holiday's) we collect payments from our lock box five times per day. Payments are processed the day they are received and post to the account the next business day. I can confirm your July payment was received on July 16th and posted July 17th. The question of time between July 7th and the 15th is one that should be addressed with U.S.P.S. Typically, there is a backlog of mail to process following a holiday, so this could simply be a US mail delivery delay.

I would like to point out that your August payment was received on 8/10/14 and your September payment was received on 9/9/14. Unfortunately, US mail is not as reliable as it was in years past. With cutbacks and facility closures/consolidations there are simply too many variables that can delay mail from being received in a timely fashion.

Again, the late fee on your account has been waived. If ever in a pinch you can always make an immediate payment online or by phone 24/7 without the fear of delivery delays. I hope my follow up response is to your satisfaction. Please don't hesitate to contact me directly at [redacted] ext * with any further questions or concerns.

Best regards,

Parent Advocate

Smart Tuition

Review: On 10-13-2015, I received a letter in the form of a b**l from this company. The b**l is for 5 dollars and is due 10-25-2015. The b**l does not state why I am being charged this 5 dollars. The b**l has a telephone number, and it states you may call 24/7. I called the number. A computer answered, after processing the information on the b**l, it put me on hold and told me that my call would be recorded. When the call was answered, in keeping with [redacted] law, I informed the person on the other end of the call that I was calling from ** and did not want to be recorded. I was put on hold and disconnected. I called back and told the second person the same thing, and she informed me that she could not turn the off the recorder. I asked for a supervisor. A short time later a woman named Davina answered my call. I gave her my request. She told me that she would need to have someone call me back on their call back service. I was put on hold. She came back on the line and asked from a number and time frame for a call back. Before I could respond, I was disconnected. Since I received this b**l, I have spent 20 minutes trying to use this call service to find out why they are b**ling me.Desired Settlement: I would like a telephone number which allows me to contact this business and is in compliance with [redacted] law regarding the **licit recording of telephone calls. Furthermore, I would like to know why this company has sent me a b**l, and I would like to know what the claimed about pertains to. Also, I would like to know the invoice date of the afore mentioned b**l.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration you are having with Smart Tuition. We have confirmed with the school2 in school payments that were made were for $955 and $500 for a total of $1455. The amount that was b**led to youby the school was for tuition $1431 and a Smart Admin fee of $29 for a total of $1460. This left a remaining balance of$5.In regards to speaking to you on a recorded line, we disclose that we do record all calls. Wedo not have the ab**ity to speak to you on a non-recorded line. If you do not wish to speak to someone aboutyour fam**y’s tuition account on a recorded line, you may speak to your school directly about your account. We are notbreaking any laws from the state of ** by stating we are recording the calls or not offering you a recorded line. If you wish to speak to someone at Smart Tuition, I am ava**able Monday – Friday 9 AM EST to 5 PM EST. If you have additional questions and prefer not to be recorded, please speak to your school directly. We have advised yourschool that you may be contacting them.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

I never sent any information to this business. I do not know what a smart fee is or why I am being b**led for it. In the state of **. anybody doing business in the state must follow its laws. Since this company does not offer a way to communicate without being recorded, it violates that law. I am being b**led by a company I can not communicate with for services I never requested. I w**l forward the matter to the [redacted] attorney general for evaluati

Business

Response:

I apologize again for any frustration you are experiencing. I have spoken to all contacts at the school and they w**l be reaching out to you. I understand that some parents that did not enroll on time were signed up automatically by the school through Smart Tuition. They w**l be contacting you about this process and I have explained that enrolling parents automatically is not the best process for fam**ies. I w**l be in contact with the school to see how they w**l be handling your account going forward. I am sorry to hear you w**l be going to the ** attorney general. We typically never get requests to be on a non-recorded line regarding tuition accounts. We record all conversations to provide transparency of what happened during the call to the schools. They have the ab**ity to listen to these calls to review how our customer service agents are doing. If you believe we are wrong that is your right to investigate further however we are not aware that we are breaking any laws at this time. If you have any additional questions please call me or the school directly.

I ve had the unfortunately pleasure of dealing with Smart Tuition. There priority is not top customer service. They can care less about the customer. They have only develop to talk in a way to not disrespect the customer but honestly they are just sugar coating what they actually do for the customer. It is more of a scam business interested in charging the customer late fee and "Acting like they deliver the best service.

Review: The [redacted] moved to Smart Tuition in July. I selected auto pay as this was encouraged and I read several complaints on this website warning that Smart Tuition took a long time to process mailed payments and customers had incurred late fees. My monthly bill was paid on time every month through October. In November the payment didn't go through. Even though I provided my mobile number and email address as directed, I didn't receive any notification that the payment failed. I contacted SmartTuition and they told me to try again with a manual payment. It didn't go through and so I was charged a $30 fee for the payment not going through and a $30 late fee. Of course, it takes a while for the payment to process by the time it failed it was time for the next payment. Again in December there was no notification that my payment did not go through. In a panic, I tried again manually so that I wouldn't have another late fee and that didn't work. I talked to my bank which explained that they had manually posted the payment because there was an error in the account number. Inexplicably they stopped manually posting which caused the payment to not go through starting in November. By the time it was fixed my payment was late (by 2 days) and I was charged with another $30 late fee and $30 fee for the failed payment. I explained all this to the rep who sent it to the group that decides about the fees and they declined to waive any of them. I find this completely unreasonable given that I contacted the Smart Tuition representative who encouraged me to go ahead and try a manual web payment since there were no changes to the account and it had worked in the past. I was not told there would be a $30 failed payment fee if it didn't work. All the while I was in good faith trying to resolve the problem contacting the SmartTuition several times and they never contacted me to let me know the payments failed.Desired Settlement: I believe that Smart Tuition should waive these fees given that I had paid on time from July to October with no issue and then the payments stopped working without me making any change to my account. I contacted them right away and clearly showed good faith in trying to resolve the issue. Additionally, they should change their practice such that you do not automatically get charged 2 fees if your payment fails. By the time your auto payment fails incurring a $30 charge for the failed payment, your payment is late and you are charged a $30 late fee. Additionally, they shouldn't collect your email and mobile number if they have no intention of using them to let you know there is a problem with your payment. I am considering changing to mailing my payment. At least at that point (as long as the check doesn't bounce, not sure what they charge for that) you will only incur the late fee.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration you are experiencing with Smart Tuition. Your account with Smart Tuition was fine with the auto debits until November. The bank account that we had on file was closed in November. We did send you emails for failed bank payments and they are noted on your account that the emails were sent to your email address. It's possible they could have gone to your junk folder. If the bank account did not close there would have not been an issue. I understand that it's easy to forget about changing your bank information after you close your bank account. We did waive the initial failed bank fee on 12/01/15. I will waive the other 3 failed bank fees because of this oversight with your bank account and also waive the late fee on your account for $30 as a 1 time courtesy. In total we waived $120 in fees. Please be aware that going forward we will not be able to waive any additional late fees. [redacted] allows 1 courtesy late fee waiver per school year. If you have any questions about anything in the future please call our 24 hour call center at ###-###-####. The other issue of slow mail delivery does not apply to your situation. We cannot control how long mail takes to be delivered to Smart Tuition. We advise our parents that mail delivery is accepted however it simply is not the fastest way to make payments. Transit times can vary due to weather, change of delivery routes, and basic inefficiency in general. We offer many different payment options so that you can avoid late fees. We are not trying to hold mail to generate late fees. Our goal is to get the payments to schools as fast as we can so the schools can function properly.If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly. Best regards, [redacted]Smart Tuition

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I am appreciative of the quick response made by SmartTuition and their willingness to waive the fees that they charged. I would, however, like to clarify that the statements made by the business regarding the issue are not entirely accurate. I changed my account AFTER the first failure in an attempt to rectify the situation. I did not forget to tell SmartTuition that I changed my account. The failure of the auotpay was in no way due to any change I made to the account. In fact, all of the actions I took with my account were done after I talked to a SmartTuition customer representative and sought their advice. In addition, I have not been able to locate any emails from SmartTuition about autopayments not going through. I do have email responses when I asked direct questions via email but no responses relating to failure to receive autopayments.I am thankful to Revdex.com for helping to reach this resolution.

Regards,

Review: I had sent my children's tuition payment as I always do, through my banks bill pay. They do suggest allowing 7-10 days for the payment to reach them. I made the payment through my bank on February 20th. The payments are due the 1st of every month. According to my banks bill pay, they have tracked the payment as being in Kearny, NJ on February 25th, & that my payment should have reached them by February 27th. As of March 3rd, smart tuition claims that they still have not received my payment and therefore added a late fee. I find it hard to believe that my payment has not reached them by the 1st, due to the fact, that my payment was in Kearny, NJ 4 days before it was due. According to smart tuition they check their mail 5 times a day. If my payment was in Kearny, NJ 4 days before it was due & they check their mail 5 times a day, I feel as though this should have been plenty of time for them to have received my payment as well as enough time to process my payment to my account. When I try to call, they offer no help in trying to resolve this matter. All they say, is there's nothing they can do until my payment is posted to my account. I feel as though more can be done from their end. Some kind of grace period or some kind of review or hold on the account until the matter of my missing payment is resolved. I have obviously made my payment on time, but they don't care. They are too quick with slapping people with late fees & making them feel like nothing can be done unless a payment is made.Desired Settlement: I would like them to immediately review my account & realize that I have not have been late with a single payment all year & acknowledge the fact that I did in fact send my payment in on time & not have to be responsible for a late fee. I also feel as though this company should allow for a grace period of some sort to allow for such unforeseen instances, such as mail delay or some other kind of hold up with delivery of payment.

Business

Response:

Tell us why here...My name is Jim [redacted] and I am the Director of ParentExperience with Smart Tuition. Iapologize for any frustration you had with Smart Tuition. I have reviewed your account and pulled the check that wasmailed to Smart Tuition. The check wasdated 2/23/15. If you submitted thepayment through your bank’s online bill pay system on Friday 2/20/15, it’s verypossible they would not have issued the payment until the next businessday. The next business day would havebeen Monday 2/23/15 which was the date of the check. The check was received on 3/3/15 and postedto your account on 3/4/15 which is the next business day. I have waived your late fee as acourtesy. If you need more informationon the when your bank sends the payment out after you submit the payment, youshould speak to your bank directly. Thetime frame from the 2/23/15 which was the date of the check to when we receivedthe payment was less than 10 days.Regarding your request for a grace period on your payments,that is entirely up to the school to determine. Smart Tuition works closely with each school and if they have anyconcerns about grace periods, we will address them.If you have any further questions you can contact me at###-###-####.Best regards,Jim [redacted]Director of Parent ExperienceSmart Tuition

Review: My son attended [redacted] School November and December of 2014 in which the tuition was $292.00 being billed through Smart Tuition. My son only attended the school until 12/19/14. I informed Smart tuition and [redacted] School of my son's disenrollment. Smart tuition is charging me a full $292.00 for the month of December when my son only attended up until 12/19/14. This amount should be prorated. I called and requested the prorate and Smart Tuition has not adjusted my bill. Also, I was charged an additional 30.00 failed fee for January. Smart tuition does not charge late fees, but this 30.00 fee would be a bank failed fee. I did not try to initiate a payment in January in order to have this 30.00 fee charged to my account..Desired Settlement: I am requesting for the 30.00 fee to be removed from my account, I am also requesting Smart Tuition to prorate the 292.00 amount on my bill based on the amount of days my son attended which was only until 12/19/14.

Business

Response:

My name is [redacted] and I am the Director of Parent Experiencewith Smart Tuition. We have absorbed your failed bank fees in the amount of $60. I have instructed the Account Manager for [redacted] School to callthe school on Monday regarding the tuition amount for December. The school advises Smart Tuition what thetuition amounts are per family. Smart Tuition does not have any factor in determining tuition amounts for theschool. After we confirm the tuition amounts on your account, the Account Manager will reach out to you directly to adviseyou of their decision.If you have any further questions, please contact me atSincerely,[redacted]Director of Parent ExperienceSmart Tuition

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

I received an email today from Smart Tuition stating that I owe 585.00 for the months of November and December 2014, and that the 60.00 Bank failed fee was waived. I accept that the fee is waived however, I am not in acceptance with the balance that I owe because [redacted] attended [redacted] School only up until 12/19/14 and did not attend the rest of the days therefore, Smart Tuition needs to contact [redacted] School and the amount for December 01, 2014 until December 19, 2014 needs to be prorated. I will not pay for days that my son did not attend this school.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Good morning,Smart Tuition has responded to the parent by way of a conference call with the school. The school has resolved the tuition dispute by charging the parent a per day rate. The parent has agreed to the resolution. The school will contact the parent when the account has been adjusted to arrange payment on the account.[redacted]Director of Parent ExperienceSmart Tuition

Review: On May 11, 2015 I was assessed a $35 late fee by SmartTuition. My daughter's tuition is due May 10. On May 1, I submitted an electronic bill pay request to my bank, Bank of America to pay the amount before the due date. According to the bank, payment was processed and received by SmartTuition on May 6.

I called SmartTuition customer service on May 11 and was told the payment was not received and the bank could not guarantee the check was received. The problem is likely because the "US Postal Service is always late."

This is not the first time SmartTuition has claimed to not receive payment, while my bank disagrees.Desired Settlement: I would like the $35 late fee returned, and I would like SmartTuition to examine their business practices. They have have years of complaints of these late fees, so something in the company is a problem.

Business

Response:

I received an email from Mrs. [redacted] on 5/11/15 about thedelays she was experiencing with online bill pay. I called her immediately to address theseissues and explain that most of the delays associated with online bill pay areout of our control. I waived her latefee and suggested some quicker ways to make payments with Smart Tuition. In speaking with the parent, she advised that the paymentwas sent on 5/1/15 however the check we received was dated 5/6/15. Wereceive the check on 5/11/15. When bankssend online bill pay checks through the mail, they are mailed by regular mailso there is no way to track the payment or verify when the payment was received. Payments are credited by the next businessday that we receive the them. I have emailedMrs. [redacted] a copy of the check that we received dated 5/6/15. Smart Tuition is looking into a number of solutions with ourLockbox company to reduce some of these delays that are out of ourcontrol. Director of the Parent ExperienceSmart Tuition

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find this resolution is satisfactory to me. I appreciate the follow-up from the company's Parent Advocate, and the agreement to remove the late fee.

Thank you, [redacted]

Review: We had our children enrolled at [redacted] and decided to withdraw for various reasons. We made an electronic payment through our bank dated 6-30-15. Smart Tuition was notified by the school that we were not returning. They said that they did not receive our check until 7-2-15 and still did not post the payment. They said that they do not refund anything but the school says that Smart Tuition has our money and they are the ones who need to reimburse us. The money came our of our checking account on 7-2-15 but Smart Tuition says that they still do not have our check. The payment was not due until 7-5-15, they received it on 6-30 and deducted it from our checking account on 7-2-15....well before 7-5-15. All I want is the money to be returned to us.Desired Settlement: Refund our whole payment amount.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any frustration you experienced with Smart Tuition. Online bill payments madethrough your bank are sent by regular mail to Smart Tuition. We do not receive online bill payment checkselectronically. At the time of your initial call, we didn’t receive your payment yet. As of today, we have received your payment and we are issuing a refund check. We are looking to receiving paymentselectronically in the future. If you have any further questions, please call our 24 hour call center for assistance. Sincerely, Smart Tuition

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because: they withdrew the money from our checking account last Thursday and have yet refunded or cut a check for the refund or mailed the check. I want to know when the refund will be cut and sent. It should have been done already since they've had our money for almost a week. I'm not satisfied until the check has been sent and it was cleared through ME. So, when is the check going to be cut and sent. I expected to have already been done but apparently it's ok to keep someone's money for as long as you want. How can this company keep on doing this without any consequences.

Business

Response:

I apologize for any confusion. We received the payment on 7/6/15 from your bank. We issued a refund check to you on 7/9/15 by mail for $564.59. If you have any additional questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

Review: I am currently on a monthly payment plan with Smart Tuition for tuition for my daughter who attends St [redacted] H.S. in [redacted]. I have been charged a $50.00 x 4 ($200.00) late fee by their billing department even though I have paid my bill via credit card to which I have been assessed a 2.65% processing fee. It is down right despicable for them to continue billing me in error and then send email's stating that payment has not been made and they are assessing a $50 late fee. I have forwarded a letter to them informing them of the billing error and to no avail they have not corrected the error and have continued to bill me improperly.Desired Settlement: The removal of the late fees ($50 x 4 = $200.00) and make the necessary adjustments to my account and stop this from happening in the future to my account and the accounts of all the other parents.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

Thank you for reaching out to the Revdex.com regarding your concerns. I certainly do apologize for any frustration you have experienced, thus far. As a courtesy, I have waived all of the late fees on your account, but to ensure this is no longer a pain point for you, I would like to take the opportunity to explain the joint agreement that Smart Tuition has with St. [redacted] High School, regarding payment due dates and late fees.

The establish due date on your account is the 20th of each month. The school has also extended a 9 day grace period, as a courtesy. If there is an outstanding balance greater than $35 the day after your grace period ends, then your account will be assessed a $50 late fee. Subsequent payments will always post to late fees and bank fees first, and then, the remaining payment amount will post to the schools tuition and school fees. With all of that in mind I am going to review why each late fee was assessed.

Payment History

Due Date w/grace Amount Due Payment Date Payment Amount Month Applied Late Fee Additional Notes

6/24/13 $200 July

7/29/13 $600 7/20/13 $400 July

8/29/13 $670 8/29/13 $670 August

9/29/13 $720 10/21/13 $720 September $50 $670 tuition + $50 Late fee = $720

10/29/13 $670 10/25/13 $670 October

11/29/13 $720 12/31/13 $670 November $50

12/29/13 $770 1/15/14 $670 December $50

1/29/14 $820 1/22/14 $670 January $50

3/1/14 $870 2/20/14 $670 February $50

3/29/14 $920 3/20/14 $670 March $50

4/29/14 $620

5/29/14 $670

As you can see the payment amounts were not enough to cover the total amount due, so as a result, late fees were assessed. Again, I have waived a total of $300 in late fees, as a courtesy. Your April balance of $620 is due by 4/29/13. We did reach out to the school to discuss your concerns and they have asked that in the future you bring your concerns to their attention immediately. You may also feel free to contact me directly should you have any further questions or concerns.

I hope I was able to clear up any misunderstanding and that you are satisfied with the resolution.

Sincerely,

###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: Smart Tuition invoices sent by mail are delivered to our house the same day the invoices are due for payment or later. In principle I could file a complain with the [redacted]. But by looking at the date of the invoice and the date of delivery, the issue is clearly the very late mailing of the invoice by Smart Tuition with the unethical and probably fraudulent objective to collect late fees.

The last invoice was issued on 9/24 with a due date of 10/1, i.e. only 4 working days after the issuing of the invoice. It is reasonable to assume that the invoice is actually mailed the day after it is issued, leaving only three business days to deliver the mail. Assuming First Class delivery, it would leave us two days to respond in the best case scenario.

We have paid the invoice today 10/1 by using their web payment service but the receipt said that the payment will be posted tomorrow 10/2 even if we performed it today 10/1. Therefore, we anticipate we will be charged another late fee of $35, i.e. about 15% of the charge!

We have already been charged a $35 late fee with the previous invoice cycle. We did not pay attention then and blamed ourselves. But this time my wife and I realized that the invoice arrived the same date of the due date and only 4 business days after the invoice date.

Smart Tuition needs to mail the invoices at least three weeks in advance of the due date, or set a due date three weeks after the mailing date.

I have read several other complains about this issue on this website. So I think where there is smoke there is fire. I am also filing a complaint with the [redacted] and with a federal law enforcement unit because I doubt this is just about ethics.Desired Settlement: No late charge fee for the last and the previous billing cycle.

Smart Tuition needs to increase the number of working days between the date of mailing and the due date of the invoice.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr.[redacted],I would like to apologize for any frustration you have experienced. Invoices are generated 20 days before your due date on the 1st of the month. The reason the invoice was generated late was due to an adjustment on your account on 9/24/14. An invoice was then automatically generated to your account which resulted in the invoice being generated in less than the typical 20 days. We waived the late fee and turned off the follow up service for the year on 10/3/14 so you will not receive any additional late fees. I understand that the school responded to your request on 10/2/14 and in turn we responded to you on 10/3/14 via email. If you wish to receive email invoices in the future, you may activate that feature by calling our parent help center 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at ###-###-####.Please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any further questions or concerns. Best regards, [redacted]Director of Parent Experience?