Can anyone offer suggestions? Very specific problem

Oh...I am so sorry. How awful. I don't know what you can do at this point, I would contact a lawyer, most of them will give you a free phone consultation. I think you may be able to civilly sue them. Good luck, I hope this works out for you.

You borrowed $7500 for the first semester or both??

Legally your guarantor and your lender will not get involved. You completed the 1st semester with no problem. The second semester you may be able to pursue. I hope you have kept any and all emails/correspondance.

Credits not transfering...this is another matter that a lender will not get involved with. It is the students responsiblity to make sure that credit will transfer.

Online education at some schools is risky. From what I hear, degrees from schools like University of Phoenix are not worth the paper the are written on.
It really comes down to "let the buyer beware.

thats the thing--i was able to access my classes just fine for a semester on the same exact computer. and both computers meet all requirements needed to use their system. I did not try a library comp because of my work schedule--I am literally never home when the library is open. as for emails and documentation, there really isnt anything since the school did not even properly document anything--they listed me as dropped from a class due to violation of attendance policy! I do have a plan to get documentation, however.... :twisted:

that amount was for 1 and a half semesters. the remaining money for the second semester was returned.

I know that the credits and such are not the lenders problem, I only mentioned that to show the position this school has put me into. but the semester is not what i contracted with the school for--I contracted with them so they could provide a complete education, and they were totally unwilling or unable to do so.

I agree with soaplady and finsfan. If you don't have documentation, you may not have a leg to stand on so make sure that you find some way to obtain it. The school will say it was your responsibility to find a working computer with which to do your classes. I think it would be worth a free consultation with an attorney to see what could be done.

well, while I can see your point about the school saying that it is my responsibility, there is a problem with that. Actually there are a couple--

1--in my house we have four computers. Take your pick, because none of them allowed me access to ITT classes.

2--the one and only time that tech support ran through everything with me, it was found that the problem was not on my end--it was something with their system that was keeping me from accessing my class work. We checked all of my settings and everything was as it needed to be.

3--while it may be my responsibility to locate a computer to use, I already did that four times over. What about ITT's responsibility to provide timely tech support to its students? This is certainly something the school recruiters go on and on about when trying to get you to enroll. The way I see it, each party had responsibilities that we agreed to...my responsibility was to attend classes and complete the assignments when they were due. I lived up to that as much as they would allow me to. Their responsibility was to provide the support they promised to ensure that I could be successful in my education. They failed here.

I went to naca.net and emailed an attorney but have gotten no response yet. I will keep everyone updated.

I've got my fingers crossed for you..I hope you can be compensated, what a waste!! Good luck, please let us know, I'm very interested to see how this turns out for you.

Have you tried emailing the corporate office of ITT?? Working your way up the chain of command? A consultation with an attorney would be a good thing but also try working thru the school as well. File a complaint with the BBB and maybe even your States AG as well.

yeah, I filed with the BBB this past week, and I was just notified yesterday by mail that my complaint was sent to ITT for their review/response.

I have also been speaking with people at ITT, spoke to the VP of academics this past week among other people. At this point, everyone I speak to tells me that they are sorry for the errors, they have been admitting fault. But I am not foolish enough to think that such admissions will stay the same if this goes to court.

My first time here, some very valuable information and articles here concerning our everyday problems...I'm sure I'm going to need some advice from someone, sooner than later...
I have a friend in the same situation, but couldn't help her at that time, and we all know the last thing we want to do is have trouble, but I agree, if all else fails to solve the problem, contact a lawyer, they are on your side...and NO ONE likes to hear the words..."i'll have my lawyer contact you". And not everyone can afford a lawyer...
Maybe some of you have or not have heard of "prepaidlegal" .... its worth checking it out and having it for your peace of mind.....when you have a dispute with anyone...you can contact me for the website, at fiskgj at the yello smiley.
Good luck and I hope you win !

I dont know if you have done any googling, but I googled ITT and complaints. Check out this guys experience. petervanpelt.com/ There are several links with other complaints about ITT.

Skydivr: your experience is similar to mine. Four years ago I enrolled in a Masters program with the internet American Intercontintal University (AIU). The way their scam works is: you take 2 classes - back to back per semester. Each class is divided into 6 seperate blocks.

Well, I completed the first entire class with no problems. For the 2nd class, the school didnt send me the course materials I needed! Needless to say, without the materials I couldn't submit a lot of the coursework for the 1st block, and I was given a failing grade. I called one of their "counselors" which were basically telemarketing punks. I demanded a minimum passing grade for the block or the option of starting it over. I was denied.

Long story short...I quit. I paid them for the class I completed but refused to pay for the 2nd one. They claim I signed a promissory note to pay for both classes. They harassed me for a while then stopped. Several months later I received a letter from a collection agency. I sent them a cease communication leteer and never heard back. A couple of weeks ago I started getting calls from General Revenue Corp demanding payment. No letter first, just calls. I sent them a cease communication letter as well. I'll have to wait and see how it goes.

My question for anyone here is: What sort of "proof" should I demand from a collection agency to verify that they are working directly for the loan guarantor or university? Also, if this "loan" has been sold from one collection agency to another, does the current holder of the loan still have the same legal rights as the original guarantor of a student loan?

Torchkit....first please be aware that I too am dealing with General Revenue....who in fact when traced back through phone contacts is also Pioneer...who collects for Sallie Mae. Now I just wanted to let you know that.

Now Skydvr....the naca is a huge group of attorneys scattered all across America. Do not wait for a response from an email. They do in fact have a data base on their site where you can locate an Attorney near you and recieve 1 free consultation.

I searched in my state and found an Attorney that specailized in student loans and had an appt. within a week's time. This man gave me well over an hour of his time absolutely free. And, during this consultation I did recieve some very valuable information. As a matter of fact I now have the 3 documents that I need to hopefully get my issue resolved. Now I did not know that the option he informed me of even existed. So please don't wait for an email response. here is the direct link to their database http://www.naca.net/find-consumer-protection-attorneys/ please follow that link and do your search and seek out an Attorney. Good Luck and please keep us informed.

ok, here's a small update for everyone.

I contacted the BBB in Indianapolis, where the school's HQ is. I filed a complaint. The school at first tried to tell the BBB that this complaint was resolved between myself and ITT. It was not. So, I was offered a rebuttal. I just received their response, and it is a flat-out joke. Initially, in March when the tech problem began, I emailed my instructors, and then called tech support. I spoke to a guy named Andre Givens. This took place on 22 March. This is a key piece of information, because the school maintains that this report was never made. They claim that since there is no record of tech support getting a call from me, that it never took place. Because of this, they have decided that they will not honor my demand that they cover the cost of their mistakes.

This is where it gets really good. I now have them by the stones. On 22 March, when I spoke to Andre, I mentioned an error message that I kept getting. He told me that he had never seen it before, and asked me to EMAIL HIM A SCREEN SHOT. I still have that email in my sent folder.....a copy of which was just forwarded to the woman at the Indy BBB office. The school claims that I never reported the problem, except to an instructor. Since I brought up Andre's name specifically in my complaint, he has made a statement that he never spoke to me....he claims that he only left me one voicemail message and that was it. because of his statement, the school dismissed my claim as a lie. Now they will have to face facts. I also mentioned to them that telephone company records are going to be forthcoming, which show the telephone calls being made(I actually called Andre twice that same evening on this matter).

My next move is to take this whole mess to an attorney and see what they can do with it.

Well WTG....if you need a little more info. to help you...please check this thread concerning whether it is legal and/or how to record legally any conversations. Then if your state allows such recorded conversations...just contact the school again and record all of their responses. here's the link to some databases to find the laws in your state on if and how to do this. Good Luck...keep up the good fight!

http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/settlement/phonecall-laws.html

thanks moondanzer, I really appreciate it.

My state is a one-party state when it comes to recording phone calls, so I can easily do that without breaking the law. And I know exactly who I need to call, too....I had a conversation with one guy at ITT that lasted nearly an hour, and that guy turned around in his "official" statement and claimed that I told him I left school for personal and financial reasons....when the only reason I left is because they refused to help me.

I have one more piece of evidence--telephone records. Most of the calls took place on my cell phone. So, at this point, I am up to my neck in the phone bills for the last three months, singling out each and every telephone call made to or received from anyone up there at ITT. This is really going to make them look stupid--they claim that I only notified one instructor, and then she kept trying to find me with no response. So, when I show them the phone calls that I made--more than one a week--to that instructor to keep her updated, that's one. Then, I will show them the multiple calls made from their "academic support office" phone numbers. Again, more than one per week. The phone bill will also show the length of the call, so it will be plainly obvious to anyone that I spoke to many people many times about this problem. Man....I saw their "official" response, and I got so pissed off. And from that came all the energy to tear into all the records and old emails.

There is a lesson for all of us in this one--be sure to NEVER GET RID OF ANY EMAILS or other communications in such situations--you never know when an old email will save your bacon!!

To be continued...thanks to all of you for your input!!

Another update...

I spent a half hour on the phone last night with a guy from ITT. They have officially refused to give me what I want, which is a full refund of all tuition. That's right, I want it all refunded, because ITT agreed to provide me an education, not just one semester that I cannot use anywhere else. They refused to even provide a refund of the second semester, which they kept 50% of the tuition for. Get this--I was told that they refused to refund any money because I MADE THE CHOICE TO DROP THE PROGRAM.....

Am I off base here? Isnt there supposed to be some sort of protection in place so that a business cannot fail to deliver on its promises and keep peoples money like this? I dropped from the program because they had already begun dropping me from classes for no attendance, and if I stayed, they would only have taken more money and made my debt go up! Am I wrong in thinking that a "reasonable person" would assume that withdrawal was the only option at that point? The guy actually told me that it might be different if I didnt drop out of it myself--he actually said that I would have a case if I stayed enrolled and let them continue taking money out of my pocket for nothing!

Anyhoo, I finally have a day off today, calling an attorney to discuss this matter. Ever since I informed ITT that I have proof of my original conversation and other attempts to get this fixed, their excuse has been "well, you voluntarily left the program, that is not our fault".

One other thing--the guy actually had the nerve to ask me why I didnt demand to speak to other people in tech support. It apparently doesnt matter to them that I spoke to two tech support people, two instructors, four academic support counselors, the head of the academic support team, and had the dean of students and the online program chairperson all involved--he actually told me that "it must not have been very important to you if you didnt push to speak to more people in tech support....". He said to me, "suppose you were ITT, and I was a student. Suppose I had a technical problem. Does it make sense for me to speak to the guy that cleans the toilets, or should I instead speak to tech support?"

So apparently, for all of you out there, if you ever attend this school, dont expect that anyone there would actually be responsible for customer service--even though it is the job of everyone I spoke with, that clearly doesnt matter. More to come...

ok, all--this is the end of this one.

I filed a complaint with the Indianapolis BBB some time back. ITT sent the BBB their response....basically, the VP of online operations issued a statement that ITT denied that I ever reported the technical problem, and since none of their employees had any knowledge of the report that I claimed I filed in March, they refused to do anything about the issue.

That was it...until....

I produced an email that I had sent to the tech support guy back in March, giving him a screen shot of the error message I kept getting when trying to log into their system. The specific tech support guy, his name is Andre, he was contacted by one of the deans some months ago, and emailed her a reply that he had never had that contact with me in March, and he said that had he known I had a problem he would have done more to help me. SO....when all of a sudden I forward onto the VP of the school this email to Andre, I asked him three questions:

1--how did I know this person even existed within ITT Tech unless I spoke to him or someone else that knew him?

2--How would I know Andre's email address to be able to send him this email if no contact took place?

3--I used terminology in my reports to the school and support staff that is specific to ITT Tech....how would I know that specific terminology unless someone there had said it to me?

I then asked him a fourth question when I got no reply to all that---

4--Why is your employee lying to cover his butt, and damaging my reputation in the process?

Out of the blue, last week, I got an email from the Indy BBB office....with ITT Tech's final response on this complaint. They refunded ALL of the money for the entire time I was enrolled, including the first semester which was successfully completed. It turns out that their credits are non-transferrable to most schools, and so that semester was useless to me unless I went back to school at ITT. I told them that since they wasted that money by default with their refusal to fix their technical problem, that I wanted it all refunded. They initially refused, and then when I emailed the VP that copy of the March email, I informed him that I was speaking to my congressional representatives for my state, and that I would pursue legal action if need be. SO THEY REFUNDED ALL THE MONEY!!

I checked with Sallie Mae and the balance is down to nothing.....WOW...what a little persistence can do for you!!

Too bad there's no refund for wasted time.

ok...so I thought this one was over...apparently it isnt

I have been gettting calls all over the place from Sallie Mae, claiming that I am past due on this loan. When I look at the statements they send me, and on their website, I see the following information for account history:

Original principal balance--$2,767.00

Disbursement made--03/08/2007

Payment made: $1429.42 on 05/07/2007
Payment made: $1337.58 on 08/02/2007

When you add these two numbers up, they come to exactly the principal amount.

So, interest was added to the balance in October, after the prinicpal was already paid off. They added $171.06 on 10/11/2007 in capitalized interest.

I am now being told that I owe a total of $466.56. Up until the other day, not one single person I spoke with at SLM had any idea where this amount came from. Each person that looked over my account told me that the numbers didnt make sense. I was passed around from one person to another, until finally I was told by one guy that there is a disbursement fee of over $250.00 on this loan. Well, I have had three identical loans through SLM, this being the third, and there was never any such fee. Even on their website, their own information states that the type of loan I have carries no such fee. Yet here they are, after the fact, trying to get me to pay it.

This is turning out to be the single biggest pain in the back side ever....