Written By Ben Luthi
Twelve million federal student loan borrowers have their loans serviced by Navient (previously part of Sallie Mae, the well-known private student loan lender, but split as of 2014).
The company has headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, and was one of the nation's largest student loan servicers (the Education Department did not award them a new contract but servicing will continue until December 2021). If you’re one of them, you may or may not have already had a terrible experience with the servicer.
We say that because we did a survey in the summer of 2018 asking Student Loan Planner© readers about their experiences with their student loan servicer. Of the 61 responses we received about Navient, more than half of them were complaints, and very few people gave glowing recommendations.
In fact, we asked people to rate their experience including Navient complaints, and the average score was 2.7 out of 5 stars.
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The top Navient complaints from customers
Like any student loan servicer, Navient reviews can vary. But there were a few areas where we saw an overwhelming number of complaints about the servicer. Here are the top three.
1. Customer service
In an ideal world, you should feel confident that you’ll get the help you need from your student loan servicer. But for many of our readers, that confidence is replaced with dread.
The biggest Navient complaint we noticed is that customer service representatives don’t know their stuff. “I have had to explain plans to them before,” wrote one reader.
Another one of the student loan complaints from a reader, who had more than half a million in student loan debt, was frustrated that it was so difficult to get a person on the line. “The automated response would not transfer me to a representative if my voice response is not deemed necessary or if I can find my answer on the website,” they added.
For some who did get to a customer service representative, they had to wait an inordinate amount of time or talk with multiple people to get their questions answered.
What you can do: If you have a general question about student loans, try searching online first. If, however, you have a specific question about your account, there’s not much you can do about wait times. Make sure to call when you have enough time to wait.
2. Communication
Not getting answers to your questions is bad enough, but many of our readers complained about getting information or advice from Navient representatives that were bad or outright false. When it comes to your student loan payments, you want to get the right information.
When one 2018 graduate called to find out what their repayment options were, the representative gave her only one and refused to talk about alternatives. What’s more, the representative wouldn’t say how much the monthly payments would be on the plan they recommended.
“I ended up just working with the website and figured out what I needed to do by myself,” the reader wrote, “which was not the recommended plan that the servicer stated.”
Another issue some readers surfaced was that Navient representatives don’t volunteer information unless you specifically ask. This can be troublesome if you’re not familiar with the ins and outs of federal loans and repayment options.
“They suggested I take the forbearance to get a lower initial payment and then enter into [income-based repayment],” wrote one reader. “They did not mention this would compound my interest.”
Another reader wrote something similar: “I asked for some time to pay my first payment and instead she gave me three months. However, she did not disclose that they would be capitalized interest for those three months which ended up costing me $50,000.”
What you can do: Do your research on your issue before you call. That way, you can spot misinformation and know when you’re not getting the full story.
3. Payments
While our sample size for Navient complaints is relatively small, the way Navient handles payments was publicized in 2018 when the California attorney general filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging misconduct.
Specifically, the lawsuit states that Navient misrepresented the order in which it applies extra loan payments, and also failed to properly discharge federal student debt for borrowers with a total and permanent disability. This Navient scam is just one of many against the servicer currently.
In our survey, we saw a handful of Navient complaints about how the servicer handles payments. One reader wrote, “When I called for help with options after graduating and couldn't pay my loan they told me my only option was forbearance. Years later after doing my own research, I've realized there were many other options.”
This practice is exactly one of the allegations the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made in 2017 when it filed a lawsuit against Navient.
Other borrowers have experienced similar circumstances, receiving bad information about how income-driven repayment plans worked and had a difficult time getting the servicer to get them on the right plan.
What you can do: If you run into problems with the way Navient handles your payments, file a complaint with the CFPB. As for ensuring you get the right information about payment options, it’s best to do your research before you call to know what you need.
What to do if Navient is your servicer
In addition to the grievances we gathered in our Navient reviews and the Navient lawsuits, the CFPB received a staggering 11,927 Navient complaints in 2017 alone.
If you can identify with some of the problems we and others have shared, know that you don’t have to. At Student Loan Planner©, we can help you find another service. Depending on your situation, it may be consolidating your loans with a new servicer or refinancing them with a private lender.
Regardless of which option you choose, it’s important to know that you have a choice.
What's going on with Navient now
As noted above, the federal government didn't award a new contract to Navient so there will be changes coming soon. Navient has also been embroiled in a number of lawsuits in federal court.
There have been issues with the way Navient handled student loan borrowers seeking Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which lead them to settle a class action lawsuit in 2020. Plus, there were accusations from consumer protection agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), stating the company didn't act in the best interest of the borrowers.
As you can see, there have been a number of Navient complaints over the years. So if that's you, you're not alone and there are changes ahead.
Is Navient your servicer? Do you have some of these same complaints about them?
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Hey Ben,
My niece had a loan with Navient. Two weeks after she paid her loan balance in full on Jan 3, 2019, Navient added a $300 interest charge to her account and then took the money out of her bank account in Feb 2019. She called Navient and tried to resolve this over the phone but with no success. Also, when she compared the Account History (for her loan) from Jan 6, 2019 when she printed out the report to a new report for the same account on Feb 22, 2019 she sees that Navient had gone back and posted charges and changed the balances she owed going back to 2016. Is that legal? My niece is so stressed and is losing sleep over this. My question to you is if she should file a complaint with CFPB and the Dept of Education?
It depends on what the balance is. If it was a large amount, this could’ve just reflected accrued interest that had yet to post to the account, in which case you wouldn’t have a case. However, if she owed a very small amount and had a $300 charge post, then that would be a bit unusual. I recall my wife had a bit of interest leftover when we tried to pay off her loan balance too.
I have the same issue I just paid off my one loan and now their is 559.11 in the spot, I have called 3 times, now they tell me they will get a hold of me 7/19/2019 Really where do these phantom amounts come from. Last call was 3 weeks ago they told me they would take care of it. Oh hey they dont have to keep paying interest like we do. Did you get a pay off letter No I Didnt, send me one take care of this Iam frustrated. No wonder their is a Lawsuit against them but its not in my state.
They are a scam. I paid off full loan in the beggining of last year and received letters saying $0 due for months and today I get one of $162 they are a big rip off. No wonder they have a lawsuit on them.
I paid off my loan balances online yesterday, 12/2/19. They included two consolidated federal loans and 8 private loans. I paid off the amount they listed as the payoff amount if paid online that day. I listed the amounts to be paid off directly through electronic transfer from a single bank account and hit the submit button on all of the loans to be paid off at 11:10 AM PST. I received an email indicating that Navient had received the submission. By 8PM the Consolidated Federal Loans indicated that the payment was processed. However, the private loans still indicated that they were “processing.” This morning, 12/3/19, I checked my account balances on line and ALL of the private loans had amounts due ranging from $1.20 to $3.50 for a total amount of $12.96. My instinct was to just pay the amount but this type of behavior by the company had caused me endless problems and irretrievable grief with my family. I called them and seriously went off about this egregious behavior. There was absolutely no reason why the federal loans would be processed more quickly than the private loans. It appeared to be a blatant attempt to continue to collect more money for me. If I had not checked my balances, the interest would have begun accruing on these small amounts. The interest rates ranged from 5.5% to 7.75%. By the end of the month, I would have owed several hundred more dollars. They agreed to create an application to write off these amounts and I should see zero balances by 12/11/19. I also stated that it should clearly not be labeled a “charge off” that would affect my credit. You have absolutely got to watch this company like a hawk. They take advantage of people who assume that they’ve set up the payments appropriately and don’t check back. There must be additional regulation that compels them to act in an ethical manner.
Horrible company to do student loan business with. They are incredibly rude when you call customer service, even during COVID-19. I called recently to find out about options for a lower interest rate since I have a very good credit score, and once again, was snubbed by their representatives. Their lack of customer service is completely unacceptable. Just refinanced through So-Fi and am VERY happy that I did so that I don’t have to deal with Navient anymore. So-Fi cut my interest rate in half and reduced the amount of my payments significantly. Bye, Navient!
We paid off my daughters loan in January 2019. Sent a bank check to there overnight address in Wilkes Barre. They claimed the check was sent to the Dept of Education in Atlanta Georgia by us.
We have a cancelled check and proof of delivery that it went to Wilkesbarre PA. Been fighting with these morons for 5 month.
They keep adding interest and penalties, as well as ruining my credit on all three credit bureaus. My daughter and I are listed as delinquent.
We are in the process of suing them.
Any suggestions?
If it hasn’t been deducted, I’d login and try to make a payoff directly online as they probably lost the check. I personally would want them out of my life asap. Sorry to hear and I would defer to a student loan attorney
Aout 4 years ago my daughter (Totally disabled) called navient to see if we could lower the payments on her student loan as I am the cosigner and was retiring. They as much as told us there is no other payment plan and maybe we should each pay a portion. They never mentioned she could apply for disability forgiveness. As hard as it was I continued to make the payments.
Recently she applied to ACS for the disability forgiveness and they gave it to her immediately and released me from the debt.
So we thought to try Navient again. Filled out the form and sent it in. They said they will forgive the loan for her and will put the loan into the cosigners(me) name. I am now retired on a limited income but they do not care. Is there anything I can do?
If it’s a private loan I dont think so but you should hire a student loan attorney to see.