Access Group also sent me a letter in Dec 2011 and tried to get 4.5 yrs' worth of 1% interest from me. Just like the other stories here, it was THEIR fault. Of course, I challenged them, and one month later they called to tell me it was fixed. It took me a couple days before I realized they weren't going to tell me that in writing, so I called back and, after some more waiting, they finally sent me an email saying my interest reduction was fixed.

Sure, they repented of their wiley deed, but it caused me a lot of stress for over a month. Plus, how many people did NOT challenge them? I suspect they might be making a lot of money off this scheme. How do we get a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT filed against Access Group?

I went to my Access Group page to check my old statements and this notice was on their homepage:

A Change in Servicer
Some of your loans have been transferred to ACS for servicing. Access Group maintains ownership of these loans and no loans have been sold at this time. ACS has serviced student loans for over 40 years. ACS will handle all payment processing, payment plans, deferments and forbearances affecting your loans and will handle all your questions.

The interest rate notated on the notification of transfer from ACS is the standard federal loan interest rate and does not include interest rate discounts you may be receiving. This loan servicing function transfer does not impact the interest rate reductions of loans. Interest rates advertised at the time of loan issuance will continue, as long as borrowers remain qualified for the benefit.

ACS can be reached at 877-805-6780 or via the web www.acs-education.com.

Anonymous wrote:Same story here -- California borrower.

About 6 weeks ago Access Group claimed an audit had found a missed payment from 2006, dq'ing me from my discount. They then simply altered the principal balance upwards by about $1000 with no note or amendment whatsoever. After several weeks of fighting about it I got it reversed.

Now they appear to have moved the loan to ACS, although I have a bill due March 1 from Access Group in the full amount and a bill due to ACS for the full amount March 7, both on the same loan. The ACS loan shows no discount, although the access group cs guy says it will be applied.

These people really need to be sued.

16: 22 what did you say to get your principal readjusted? How many people did you talk to? $1600 was added to mine for a supposedly late payment in 2009. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:FYI accessgroup has a Facebook page. I found a statement regarding this there. Such a bad way for them to handle this!

What does it say? Thanks!

FYI accessgroup has a Facebook page. I found a statement regarding this there. Such a bad way for them to handle this!

I set up an online account with ACS, checked my interest rate online, and found it's the same as what I had with the Access Group. That includes the reductions in the interest for ontime payments, paying online, etc. One less thing to worry about!

OP again. I never received the promised email from ACS giving my temporary access to my loan information so I could check my balances. Even checked the spam folder and it's not there. Figures.

Same story here -- California borrower.

About 6 weeks ago Access Group claimed an audit had found a missed payment from 2006, dq'ing me from my discount. They then simply altered the principal balance upwards by about $1000 with no note or amendment whatsoever. After several weeks of fighting about it I got it reversed.

Now they appear to have moved the loan to ACS, although I have a bill due March 1 from Access Group in the full amount and a bill due to ACS for the full amount March 7, both on the same loan. The ACS loan shows no discount, although the access group cs guy says it will be applied.

These people really need to be sued.

18:04 again; I also got the same info as 20:32 when I called back yesterday and asked to talk to a supervisor in the U.S. (I spoke with Ron, I think). Apparently the disconnect in what I was first told may be because they only realized on Monday that these bills had gone out and they'd really screwed this up. So we should all continue to get the interest rate reduction we were previously getting.

I am still really bothered by the fact that they automatically enrolled me in their payment program and got access to my checking account. I don't know what I signed giving Access Group that permission, but I just cannot see how that permission is transferable. At the very least, ACS should have sent out the welcome letter that 20:32 mentioned as the first communication from them, not a bill with an incorrect interest rate and notice that you've been enrolled in an automatic payment plan. All I can hope for at this point is that some one at the top got fired for being a moron and totally screwing this up.

Same exact thing happened to me--thanks for setting up this thread. I'll be following it and posting any info I find out.

I just got the same letter from ACS which states "please note that although you do not qualify for an interest rate reduction associated with Chekmate II, you will benefit in other ways from this simple and hassle-free way to pay your student loan. Chekmate II saves you time and postage costs and will prevent any delayed and forgotten payments."

My loan was with Access Group and I too was on automatic payments and received the reduced interest rate.

I called ACS and the rep I talked to "Jordan" (rep # 3395) told me that yes I will get the same reduced rate I had with Access Group and to ignore the letter, that a new letter will go out in March once they have "fully loaded" my account information into their systems!

I asked him why I was being billed an amount due now that is different than my usual monthly payment is $239.00 and he said it was because I had already paid Access Group and then I just needed to pay this pro rated amount to ACS and then next month it will be my usual total monthly payment again. When I asked specifically what time period this pro rated amount was supposed to cover (so I can confirm I'm not payinc twice) he again said, the account info hasn't fully loaded and to call again after March 1, 2012. I was pissed off and told him I will be getting everyone else together to rally a lawsuit against them! He offered to send me an account statement via email immediately....I think I just got the email. Anyway, I will expect the letter promised which will confirm that I will continue to get the rate reduction for the automatice timely payments...I will try to come back and post again once I get the letter and call them back to confirm.

PP, that's exactly what happened to me, except that I DID have the paperwork. It turned out that the "late payment" was the very first payment on my loan, and was their fault. I signed up for automatic payment (just before my 6-week honeymoon), and THEY didn't take out the payment on time. When I came back the payment appeared late but I called and raised hell and they fixed it. Then 7 years later the claim I had a late payment. By then I had forgotten all about it, but luckily I had my paperwork, including a letter saying "welcome to automatic payment, your payment will be deducted on [the day they claim I had a late payment]" Grr.

If you call ACS they say that your interest deductions carry over and the letters were wrong. However, I think I got hosed by this transfer because I lost my 1% on time payment deduction. Right before the switch to ACS, Access Group said that they realized I made one late payment in 2006 (who is looking at this 6 years later?) which disqualified me for the 1% interest rate deduction I've had since 2009. They then retoractively increased my rate from 4.75 to 5.75 from 2009 to present and tacked on thousands of dollars of interest for the past 3 years! I don't even have paperwork from 2006 and the info is not on their website (only goes back 4 years). I argued that even if I made a late payment in 2006 (which I can't verify), I've had auto payments on time ever since and so I should have been eligible for the discount 35 months later. They said the discount was only good for the first 36 months I had the loan. This is NOT what I recall my original loan paperwork telling me. But how do you argue about something 6 years later! I also told them that if I had known 3 years ago my rate was higher I may have paid it off sooner or done something to get read of the loan with them. How can they retroactively charge me interest for something that is their mistake (assuming they are right, but I can't verify)? I would expect this behavior with private loans, not government loans. Has this happened to anyone else?

Class action lawsuit. Good god this will make me rich.

Anonymous wrote:Just a follow-up to my post above. I called Access and ACS today. I was told that the 1.25% discount will continue with ACS and that the statements were sent out before the discounts were transferred over from Access. So my assessment is, if that's true, this could be okay. However, poster above make a good point regarding lack of privacy regarding how financial data is shared, and reaching a human CS agent appears to be more difficult with ACS. I waited for 10 mins, and then reached someone in the Philippines. I immediately asked to be transferred to US, as outsourcing CS for personal financial servicing is, to my mind, totally outrageous.

Huh. This is 18:04 again and I was told the complete opposite by the customer service rep I spoke to. All she would tell me was that the interest rate I had with Access Group still applied, but she was stating the non-discounted rate. I admit that I completely lost my temper at her--in part because she just didn't seem to get it, at all, but also because of the privacy/checking account access thing. All she kept offering was to dis-enroll me from automatic payments, but I want an explanation as to how this happened. She transferred me to her supervisor but I accidentally hung up when going to put the phone back on speaker. It also took me a solid 45 minutes to get through to a person shortly after 6pm.

Access Group's privacy policy says that they can share your financial data with their loan servicers, but I do not see how that can extend to automatic access to your bank account(s). I think I'm going to look into filing a complaint with the FTC and with the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.