Fighting the Government

The interest rate for student loans went up July 1st. So I thought, even though I have only one loan and it's relatively small (<$10,000), I'll consolidate "to take advantage of this all-time low rate of 2%" or whatever. I did this June 7th, as Direct Loans has told me 4 times in the last week and a half. I couldn't access their electronic promissory page so I mailed it in.

On June 22nd, they sent a letter to my parents' house, 200 miles away saying, uh, we have not received your signed promissory. Please send it by July 22nd. I received this letter July 21st. I called to check if they'd gotten it since the letter a month before. No. So, an hour and a half before the post office closed (and this may seem like ample time to mail a letter, but not in Ann Arbor's wonderfully busy-with-no-parking post offices), I drove over there and paid almost $14 to overnight my two ounce letter they lost in the first place. I was assured it would get to Louisville by noon the next day.

On June 27th, dated June 25, I received ANOTHER letter from Direct Loans saying they were cancelling my application. I thought my letter had crossed in the mail, so I called them. Again. Nothing. But call again later, she said, it may just not be updated yet.

So I called this morning twice (it was a busy time, the automated man said, and I hung up the first time). It was still being cancelled. I pushed the button to talk to a real person. The Unfriendly Woman looked it up and said, they had received it by on the 25th, so it was late. And then she proceeded to speak to me as if I was an idiot. Granted, I didn't understand why it was late, I mean, I trusted the post office! But the woman was not at all helpful and I surlyly hung up.

At the grocery store, I decide, no matter what, I was going to have to fight the government. Either the post office for my $14 back, or the stupid loan people. I called the post office and this automated man (I think it was a woman, actually), said it HAD been delivered on the 22nd at 10:02 AM. I talked with a real person and ordered a receipt of delivery. They were very precise. So I called the STUPID STUPID Direct Scam people back and calmly explained you're wrong! The Much More Helpful But Still Just Answering Phones Man said it was dated the 23rd and delivered the 25th. No, it was sent the 21st, said I. I explained that they were lying and that I had proof. So now I'm waiting for my reciept and then I have to fax it to Correspondence Team, not even one person, so that they can lose this, too.

I no longer blaim the post office for any of this. They've been nothing but helpful, even if $14 flat rate is crazy to send a letter that probably would have gotten there the next day on a 37 cent stamp anyway. I believe that the loan people do this on purpose, thinking people won't have proof or the perseverance to search the truth out. And, if they can't even organize their mail, how do they organize the millions of dollars they give to people? I guess as long as it benefits them...if this were I big ol' check, it wouldn't have gotten lost. Or then, maybe it would have, just for the late fees.