3 Big Suprises When I Refinanced Student Loans With Earnest

Are you still paying 6.7% interest on your federal student loans? I sure hope not! If you are check out Student Loan Refinancing: A Millennial’s Guide to Earnest. If you’ve read that post but still want to know more about how it works read on for 3 things that surprised me when I refinanced with Earnest.

3. It took longer than I expected

I was approved to refinance my loans with Earnest on May 10th 2016 with the expectation that it my take up to 10 days for the payment to go through with my current loan servicer. On May 20th I got an email (and a phonecall) from Earnest’s customer service with an update that they had a backlog in payoffs so it was taking longer than usual. I was instructed to keep making payments until I saw a zero balance.

My loan payoff finally went through June 1st 2016. By that time I had already made two additional payments so the payoff amount sent from Earnest was over by almost $1900. Which brings me to my next surprise.

2. It was difficult to get my overpayment back from Navient

On the same day that Earnest sent the payoff check to Navient I made a payment of $800. I called Navient two days later because the money had cleared my bank account but wasn’t posted to my Navient account as a payment. After about 15 minutes transferring around and being on hold I got in touch with a representative.

I had to upload a PDF of my bank statement showing that the $800 had cleared my checking account and then gave them my bank information so they could transfer the money back. It took almost two weeks before I got a check for $800 in the mail from Navient.

Trying to get Navient to issue a check to Earnest for the remaining $1100 I had overpaid was even worse. I had already talked to the customer service representative during my initial phone call. I emailed Earnest’s customer service June 15th and they said it could take up to 30 days for Navient to issue them a check for the amount overpaid.

By July 18th I had enough, at this point I felt like Navient had stolen my money. I emailed Earnest again and received an incredibly helpful email response. They said they were happy to help me track down the payment, told me what information they needed and even offered to contact Navient for me. I ended up contacting Navient myself and Earnest recieved the payment a full 48 days 😮 after the payoff was sent.

1. Earnest has excellent customer service

As evidenced by the above I can’t rave enough about Earnest’s customer service. Any time I have an issue they respond immediately. They communicate clearly through email but always offer to online chat or call me if that’s what I would prefer.

These are several of my interactions with their customer service that left me pleasantly surprised:

  1. When I was originally applying and couldn’t figure out the degree issue Earnest’s customer service online chatted with me that day and solved the problem.
  2. Earnest’s customer service emailed and called to update me about the payoff taking longer than expected.
  3. Earnest’s customer service excels at communication. It’s not just a phone call and waste 15 minutes of your life on an IVR system and holding for a customer service representative. You choose how you want to communicate.
  4.  Earnest went above and beyond when they offered to help me communicate with my previous loan servicer. Getting the money from Navient was really no concern for them, but they offered to use their resources to help me because it mattered to me.

I’m incredibly impressed with this customer service department and I can’t say enough about it. It’s just the icing on top of my slashed interest rates (formerly 6.7% with Navient now 3.36% with Earnest).

If you’re considering refinancing your student loans check out Earnest using this link and we’ll both get $200 if you decide refinancing is right for you. If you have concerns be sure to contact their incredibly helpful customer service department. You can also head over to the Millennial Maxims Facebook Group and ask any questions you may have, several folks in that group used Earnest to refinance.

I’m curious if you’ve refinanced what surprises did you uncover? If you haven’t refinanced what’s keeping you from refinancing? Comment below or head over to the Millennial Maxims Facebook Group to share!

The 5 Stages of Student Loan Debt Grief

The mixed emotions of student loan debt as described through the 5 stages of grief.

😮 Denial 😮

That number can’t be quite right…. how much interest have my loans earned since I started college?! No way that’s right. The Department of Education is going to call and let me know they made a mistake for sure.

😡 Anger 😡

Wait a minute WTF?! Who built this system, rich old white men?! How dare they take so much of my money?! I spent a ton of time in college and delayed income for 6 years… they can’t do this to me!

😕 Bargaining 😕

Ok well I can defer my payments for a few months, that will take some pressure off at least temporarily so I can breathe. Then maybe I can figure out the income based repayment plan. Maybe I can convince my employer to start a student loan repayment matching program. Maybe I can just miraculously get a post-graduation gift from a super kind stranger. Or ooh maybe somehow the Dept of Ed will zero out my balance…

🙁  Depression 🙁

Well there’s really nothing I can do to pay these off. Either I’m condemned to a life of living in squalor never traveling or having any fun or I’m stuck paying on these for the rest of my life. I’m a broke loser with a stupid degree, I shouldn’t have gone to college. 

😞 Acceptance 😞

Alright this is what it is and there’s not much I can do other than muscle through. My loan amount is definitely correct, yes the cost of education is an under recognized crime against millennials, certainly my debt isn’t disappearing without me paying it all, I’m not a loser and I will find a way to make this work. Now where do I go to find solutions?

 

What stages of grief do you frequent? Have you made it all the way to acceptance? If so you’re gonna love my upcoming book Repayable out January 1st! Share your hilarious thoughts and current stage of student loan debt grief in the comments below or in the Repayable Facebook Group .