Money was tight for my family, especially while I was in college. It was a reality I completely understood. Loans were going to have to be a part of my college experience. At the time, it seemed simple enough – sign a few forms and a friendly company with a smiling representative with nice pens takes care of the costs and I would pay them back after I graduated and started hauling down the big bucks.

Then… it got complicated…

My junior year, our financial aid office decided to adjust the way they awarded financial aid. Financial aid is based on need, and since my housing was free (as payment for being a Resident Assistant), someone decided to adjust my need to take out the housing costs. This meant that my grants and loans were lowered and all of a sudden there was a gap between what I owed and what my package covered. Almost $1,600 to be exact.

The financial aid employee that explained the whole process was more than happy to suggest I sign up for a Signature loan with… guess who… Sallie Mae. At the time, things like a variable interest rate and the term “unsubsidized” meant nothing. Unless I had $1,600, the employee told me with feigned concern, this loan would be the best option. Looking back now, maybe I should have been tipped off by the multiple chotchkies around their office with the Sallie Mae logo proudly displayed.

Conflict of interest, what?

Anyway, fast forward a little. The time comes to consider consolidating my loans and locking in at a low interest rate. Surprisingly enough, this gem of a loan I was encouraged to sign out does not fall under Sallie Mae’s consolidation policy! Look at the variable interest rate laughing at me as it hovers around 8 or 9 percent. So now I have two loans – the consolidated loan (which has been in deferment since my years with AmeriCorps), and the signature loan (which I’ve been paying off since graduation).

Now, I come to the fun part. Last month, I noticed two things – the deferment on my consolidated loan will be up in April and I could afford to pay the complete remaining balance on my signature loan. To me, this seemed like a great idea because it meant I could get the signature loan off my plate and start working on the behemoth that was about to hit my bank account each month.

Sallie Mae, on the other hand, did not like this idea.

I tried multiple times to enter the complete remaining balance in the online billing form, only to receive error message after error message telling me I could not pay that amount. It allowed me to pay the required payment amount (about half the remaining amount), but wouldn’t let me pay the whole thing.

Interesting practice, huh? The amount they made by dragging my signature loan out another month isn’t a huge amount of money, but think about what that means in the grand scheme of things (and I do mean scheme). That nice little policy means quite a few bucks headed their way… which is definitely interesting considering their stock dropped by about 50% between November and January.

The massive stock drop must have been just enough to push Sallie Mae to unleash their dogs. In the past 24 hours, I have received 11 phone calls from four different numbers that all lead back to Sallie Mae. Why? Good question. My next payment isn’t due until Sunday. I’d love to hear a message letting me know why my phone has lit up multiple times in the past 24 hours, but apparently Sallie Mae representatives aren’t sure how voicemails work. Instead, I have to look the numbers up on the internet to find out who I’m getting these calls from-

866.517.3062
888.272.5543
765.283.3176
866.656.3422

This is why education lending reform HAS to happen. Uneducated high school and college students making decisions based on biased financial aid officers bought out by lending corporations is appalling. I’m deep in this mess now, but others should be spared the harassment and lifetime of debt (make it 12 calls now).