INITIAL CONTACT I hadn't heard of this company until 1 hour ago, when I received an automated message informing me of an opportunity to lower my loan payments in line with new legislation. I pressed "1" to speak with a customer service rep, and after being screened with a few basic questions by a "Rochelle" (am I current student, disabled, veteran, public service, amount of debt), I was forwarded to Katie B, a councilor at StuDebt. DUBIOUS CONTEXT My first question to her was to ask what organization she was with--because at this point I had no context to who had called me. That was when she explained she was with StuDebt, then proceeded to ask a few questions to help me determine what level of aid I might receive (I agreed to move forward to see what this was about). RED FLAG The red flag raised for me when in the course of verifying my account, she asked for my Social Security number. I asked her why this was necessary, as the SS# isn't something I'd ever give out over the phone--much less in a situation where I wasn't 100% sure of who I was speaking with. Though her explanation was reasonable and makes sense (using it to distinguish between people with the same name and birth date), at this point I wasn't comfortable providing it or any further info without doing my own research online. I asked for contact information and provided an email. DOING OWN RESEARCH Then I turned to Google to find out what this company was about, leading me to both these Yelp reviews as well as to this article written by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) about being aware that certain "student loan debt relief companies may cost you thousands of dollars and drive you further into debt" (http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/consumer-advisory-student-loan-debt-relief-companies-may-cost-you-thousands-of-dollars-and-drive-you-further-into-debt/). My takeaway from the reviews and CFPB article is to educate myself on what options I have available for student debt relief before turning to any third parties, helpful though they may be. RESULT I have no problem with the representatives calling me -- they're just doing their jobs -- but I figured I should write a review so others with student debt can do due diligence before committing any further time or money. Any time you're making decisions around your debts, finances or future, it's definitely worth taking some time to learn for yourself. read more

It was too good to be true. I paid for this service to fill out the I form every year for my loans. They promised I would have either low or no loan payments for 10 years. Unfortunately, that was not the case the never refilled out nor reached out or answered my phone calls regarding the loan. Therefore, the loan consolidation called told me many of those companies scam for money help out once and never seen again. It was a tough lesson to learn but please do not pay for this service. You can fill out the forms yourself for free and if you go to the site from your loans they will walk you through it. Studebt was a poor solution and unfortunately takes advantage of those in tight money situations read more

Don't do it. I gave them my debit card number thankfully not my checking. Realized the next day something seemed fishy. I cancelled my card, so nothing was taken out. I made all the appropriate phone calls that took forever. Make sure you call your student loan place, and set up a password for when you call. They caused me a lot of calling and waiting. read more

Umm excuse me Salar T. When were these emails sent? And where were these numerous emails sent to since I did NOT provide my email address to anyone at Studebt? If you had payed more attention to my previous post you would have read that I did NOT provide any personal information with Studebt due to the fact of the bad vibes I got from your company. Especially, when I was continued to get vague answers to all of my questions, all the run arounds. But that's besides the point I stated all of my issues in my previous post. I just want to thank you for proving me right that this place is indeed a scam, lying and stating I was sent numerous emails when 1) I did not provide an email. 2) I have 0 yelp messages as well. 3) You, yourself contradicted your own lie by saying you don't even have a "record" of me in your system. Well Gee.......... Have a great day and thanks again! read more

Worst company... you can do everything that are claiming to do for free... just contact department of education. This whole company will rip u off. They will charge you about $500 to "consolidate" your loans and "process" your loans. They will have you sign a power of attorney so that can call the lender and the d.o.e. and act as if they are you. Be very careful.... any questions just ask and I will reply Oh and the address is wrong also. . It's 3435 wilshire Blvd #1770 read more

Do NOT use this company! I went through Studebt to have my student loans consolidated. They lied to me to get me to sign up, charged me $500 and completely screwed me over. Here's what they did: 1. Studebt said my principle balance would go down by $1525.32 -- My balance did not go down at all. It is exactly the same as when I signed up. 2. Studebt said I would no longer accrue interest. -- I am now accruing interest of $138.66/mo. 3. Studebt said I would have a standard repayment term of 10 years. -- I am now enrolled in a 20-year repayment plan, which doubles the total amount I thought I would be paying in student loans. 4. Studebt processed my paperwork wrong. -- They put the wrong physical address and the wrong email address on all the federal paperwork, making it impossible for the Federal Student Loan association to get a hold of me and fix the problems. 5. Three months after everything was done with Studebt, they randomly started charging my credit card $39.00 without asking or getting any authorization. 6. I have tried calling, leaving messages and emailing Studebt to remedy these problems and they never answer their phone and no one is returning my calls. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! They will lie to you and take advantage of you just to get your money. read more

This company is not a "credit counseling service" they are predatory salesmen taking advantage of stressed out deeply indebted college graduates. I'm not a lawyer so I can't really comment on if their business processes are legal, but they are mostly certainly ambiguous and unethical. Sadly, I was relived by the information the original "counselor" provided me and fell for this scam. Firstly, I would point out that this company contacted me on the basis that they were helping facilitate student loan forgiveness based on the legislation put forth by President Obama passing. Secondly, everything is completed in a single phone call and this is how they are able to pull off this swindling. They gather all of your information, log in to some system that provides your loan information immediately, get a payment method and schedule set up, and send you legal documents to "review" (I was advised to skim them) and esign while you're still on the line with the "counselor". My understanding after my initial "counseling session" was that I would be making a payment of $39.00 monthly for a period of 300 months and a great portion of my student loans would be forgiven after I had made those payments. I asked specially about early repayment penalties when my ability to pay more changed and was never advised that this payment amount 1) wasn't even being applied to my loan (its some insurance coverage they lump in to their services) and 2) my payment amount would change each year based upon my income. It was clear that the "counselors" are prompted to illicit a positive reaction from the client: "Does that $39.00 payment sound better than the original $600".. The next contact I had was after the loan was "processed" and I was advised that I was set up on the $0 repayment based on my income. Wait..why am I pay $39.00 monthly - their insurance. I expressed my displeasure and was sent over to someone in the accounting department for a refund. I had a conversation that fully explained that based on my personal situation it is most probable that I will be repaying my entire loan amount over the life of the loan and I asked at that point to be removed from the program and was advised that this was still the best program for me. I was removed from the insurance program, but no refund was offered. 6 days later, after I had calmed myself and processed all of the information about the process I contacted the same accounting person requesting the information for their legal or grievance department. He advised that he would be most capable of handling that and I sent a mail detailing my complaints. I received a response email advising that "my feedback was important" and they extend apologies if the counselor "didn't deliver everything involved in this repayment plan". I specifically asked to be removed from the program and requested a refund and was advised that none would be forthcoming. I was specifically advised by the accounting agent " At this time I cannot justify issuing a refund on a file we've successfully graduated onto the repayment plan they were quoted." I was quoted a $39.00 life long payment with a lofty loan forgiveness amount, those things were not provided. I have once again requested to be put in contact with their legal department and have not yet received a response to that request. Please do not fall for this scam and inform all of your colleagues, friends, family, and acquaintance to deal directly with the department of education and not this company (or any other third party before extensive research) read more

I just finished school about six months ago. My loan holder expected me to pay about $560 per month!!! I just started working in my field how did they expect me to afford that. They got my payment down to less than $100... If it wasn't for them I would of never known about the programs available. Thanks StuDebt keep up the good work read more

I spent many hours researching this company, and the loan savings they were offering me, and I am pretty sure this is a scam. I wanted to write a review to help others and save other people the time because there aren't any reviews other than five star reviews - and are those real? Studebt said they could help me take advantage of a newly passed Obama bill for student loans. After a lengthy conversation where they asked for my PIN number for my loans and my social security number, and many claims of being able to save me a ton of money, they sent me a contract that would have opted me into a $39/month unemployment insurance program - not mentioned on the call and buried in the contract - plus the fee they would charge to "help me" get into the Obama program. They told me not to talk to my loan service provider because the loan service provider would talk me out of it. But when I talked to the US Dept of Ed and my loan service provider, they both said to be careful, because if Studebt was making valid claims, they would have been able to offer me the exact same federal programs that an outside company would. And they couldn't. Yes the programs Studebt would have put me in would lower my monthly payment - but it would also extend the term of my loan - which meant I would actually be paying far more in interest over time than I would have been before Studebt. So they actually would have lost me thousands on thousands of dollars in the long run by "saving" me money on my monthly payments. It was all too good to be true. Edit: The day I posted this review, StuDebt called me trying to change my mind, but only convinced me even more that this is a scam. Carolina M. - you will notice that her review just showed up on the same day as mine, 2/3/2015, trying to say the opposite of everything that I said. This company is not legit, and is faking reviews. read more

Changed my mind. The expectations that were set were incorrect. They were understanding of my frustrations and refunded my money.

This is an entirely fraudulent company offering fraudulent services. I am utterly embarrassed to admit that I fell for the scam and gave these people my social security number and bank account information. I told the caller about how I had just been laid off and she commiserated with me, before, essentially, stealing $500. See the one star reviews below. read more

Received a cold automated call from them about my student loans which I do not have. Left a message to be called because I wanted them to remove me. A woman called back and told me who she was and what they did (all in one breath) Then says would you like to see if you qualify. I then told her I want to be removed from the call list. She says well why would you even let me explain it, I will take you off and hangs up. Rude! If I had debt I wouldnt use them. They seem to hire unprofessional nasty people. read more

I used these guys about 4 months ago to help consolidate my student loans and I was pretty happy with their work. It did take them about 90 days to get it done but thats what they said from the beginning. They were quick and responsive. Ya it costs $599 to get it done but it was worth it for me. I first tried to do it myself through the DOE- WHO ARE EXTREMELY SLOW!- but accidentally enrolled in the wrong program. I got a call from one of their reps who said I inquired- dont really remember inquiring, but at the end I was happy they called- and he pretty much gave me the run through of what program and payment I was qualified for and how much it would cost. I was pretty hesitant at first but gave in and now Im saving about $194 a month thanks to them. So as long as you are willing to pay their fee- THEY ARE DEFINITELY WORTH IT! Keep up the good work guys! read more

VERY poor customer service. I've called three times and left the message like the automated voice tells you to. I've even emailed them. No response and they're in control of my student loans. I think I should be able to have good communication with a company that is servicing my loans and also PROMISED great personal customer service. read more

Don't even waste your time with this "business". They claim to be able to pay off partial or your entire loan. They don't even handle the payments. They only fell out the paper work and send it off to another company. They make you pay $600 for them to complete the application which is online for free! Don't fall to this scam like I did. I am an idiot for believing they could pay off parts of my student debt. Oh, and Brandon E. , Byron and Maurice. You should feel ashamed for scamming people like this day in and day out. If I could give negative stars I would. read more

I highly recommend this company due to the fact they answered my questions honestly and got my loan forgiven 48k!!! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!! read more

I sadly have been the most recently scammed person, and I must say I feel really shitty if that's even a word! I'm sad for the most part because they have my identity but at least they did consolidate my loans. The red flag sadly wasn't the 39.00 monthly but it was when they took 499.00 out of my account did I really start to investigate this situation only to now read all of your comments which is a bit too late because i've now made all the mistakes that others have made and then some. so if I can help any one I hope this reaches you . Lesson learned do your research first!!!!! read more

For me, this turned out to not be the right choice. I was told by a StuDebt employee that if I consolidated my student loans with them, I wouldn't have to pay interest as part of a government student loan forgiveness plan; instead, I would pay a fixed rate each month for 10 years and then my debt would be forgiven. This wasn't true. After several months with minimal contact, I eventually was able to receive some login credentials to check my account status. It turns out I was still accruing interest on my loans. Management at StuDebt claimed that a rogue employee had lied to me and that the particular employee was no longer working at StuDebt. If I wanted to simply consolidate my debt, there are ways I could have done that for free (studentloans.gov). However, StuDebt claims they have cleaned up their act. They gave me my $600 back. In short, I think StuDebt might have options for someone in a more desperate financial situation (but somehow has $600 laying around???), but it was not right for me and unfortunately I was fooled into thinking it was. read more

They are not a scam but they are thieves that target people struggling with student loans in the name of "helping " them. The initial sales rep had me believe and put on a show that with managers "approval " they can reduce my student loan payments to 39.00 a month. For the service of reducing my payment they charge you 500.00 which can be made in 3 payments. Now, after 6 months of waiting I get a call asking for credit card to pay the 39.00 payment, and I was upset because I never received any approval letter or anything. They then apologize and tell me I will get a call, which I got the following day. So because now I didn't trust them I requested something from the my federal loans that proved that I was no longer in default status. That's when I realized that they used my personal information to open an account with the government and for whatever reason I could not access my account. Frustrated I asked exactly how much of the 39.00 was going towards my student loans and the reply was $0.00. Basically because of my low income situation I qualified to pay zero amt a month. But why am I paying 39.00 plus the 500.00 that I already paid??? The renewal is once a year, why am I paying for a continued service when they do nothing??? I was then told that the 39.00 is optional..... Whaat!!! The rep tried to convince me that the renewal is a very complex work and nearly impossible to do on my own. Thieves!!!!!! I had to report my credit card stolen to stop the automatic payment and it took me over a month to get control over my account with myfed loan.org the crooks input wrong info, their own email, filled in the blanks with gibberish. Renewing was easy, and if you are confused, customer service will help you renew. Anyone can do it. For FREE!!!!!!!! The only time Studebt should be used is if you are in severe default status with multiple loans and it's been far too long and you don't know what to do, then pay the initial fee and have them organize and get you approved for whatever you can qualify. After you get confirmation drop Studebt and their over priced service because you will be good for 1 year. DO NOT Give them your banking info for the 39.00 service fees. Just renew yourself. Studebt is a dishonest company preying on people who qualify for student debt relief. The people who qualify for this relief need help that's why they qualify. Studebt needs to stop pretending that they are there to help you but just flat out be honest and say that they are trying bank on what you qualify for. read more

BEWARE!! I got scammed by this company! They were dishonest and deceiving to get me signed up with them! Totally got screwed over. They will automatically charge $39.00 monthly without going over it with you. They guaranteed full forgiveness of my interest but it turned out they did not do this at all after the 30-day guarantee was up so I couldn't get my money back. This company will just consolidate your loans and you will likely end up spending even more on interest. When I called them I spoke to a man who was helpful and offered me a refund if I wrote them a letter. So I did. A couple weeks later I contacted them because I did not receive the refund for $495, and they denied it. I spoke with a lady who was very rude and told me the man whom I spoke with who offered me the refund was no longer working there. She told me they would go over previous recordings of my phone calls and review them to know what was told to me, but that never happened. They are extremely rude and unhelpful. They are NOT TO BE TRUSTED!! Please, I do not want anyone to support this company! You can even msg me directly and I will tell you in detail what they did if you are having doubts. Please please do not support this business. Their business practices are very dishonest. read more

I do not think they are scams - I do they are legit but they are not doing it to help me - but rather to help themselves. I will not be using this service. First - they wanted to take financial information with out providing written documents for me to review first. Second - the term they were offering - the math does not add up. I owe 211 payments and they said they would lower my payment and after 240 payments - forgive the balance. But the 240 payments at their rate was the same as the 211 payments I already owe. The difference is if I use their plan - I would have paid them a fee (3 installments of $399). Which I don't mind paying someone a fee - but I don't need to do so if they are only going to scramble what I owe, and basically keep it all just the same but under a new debt management system - them. No thanks. I will pass. Read the reviews and ask for written documentation before you give them personal information or financial information. BUYER BEWARE they are selling their services, not helping you out of the goodness of their heart. Can you afford their service? read more

I am very unhappy, as I found out after speaking with my loan provider that the claims that were made to me by this company were inaccurate, and that I have paid money for services that I could have received through my provider for FREE. I was told by my original "counselor" with the company that my new loan payment would be $39 a month, but I have now found out that those payments are going straight to their company and not towards paying off my loans. The $39 a month is paying for services through Studebt that I am not using, and I wish to no longer be a part of this scamming program. I have contacted my bank regarding this matter, and they are aware of this situation and that any further charges from this company are unauthorized and not to release the funds. I will also be reporting them to the Better Business Bureau and to the Federal Trade Commission, as well as anyone else who can assist me in filing a report against this company and getting the $499 I was tricked into paying to consolidate my loans when this could have been done for free, as well as the $39 I have been charged each month since March. I am writing this review not to whine or complain, as I realize that it is my own fault for trusting them and not doing further research before agreeing to their terms. I hope this review helps someone else who has been contacted by this company so that they can make a better decision than I did. Yes, they did help me to consolidate my loans and to get signed up with the new income based repayment plan, but this could have been done for free, which is what makes this a scam. They are getting away with not telling people this is a service they could get for free from the actual provider. After finally getting in touch with someone, they have agreed to refund me a $39 payment, but are refusing to refund me for the $499 they charged me to consolidate my loans and enroll in a program that can be done for FREE!!! If this company or any other 3rd party company contacts you and claims that they can reduce what you owe for school loans, hang up immediately and contact your actual loan provider immediately. Unfortunately, I am going to have to report them and form a case against them in order to get my investment back, which will be a hassle I am sure, but it is worth it because they need to know what they are doing to students just out of school who are not even established yet is wrong. I hope someone out there can learn from my mistakes of trusting a company that should never have been trusted, and that my claims against them, along with the others that have already been filed, will help to get this company either shut down or to be more honest and clear about what it is they are doing with our money. read more

Called company back again after no response to my multiple phone messages and emails. Spoke with "Britney" in new applications because it was the only way I could get a live person. She was extremely rude and told me I had an attitude after I explained to her I have been leaving messages and emails for two weeks with no return contact all while money has been take out of my account. Horrible customer services. read more

I got an automated call as well, I left my name for them to call me back out of curiosity. I have never even had a student loan so I wanted to know how they got my name and number. After some fast talking guy called me back, and kept talking over me I finally got through to him I never had a student loan and how did they get my name and number, he was going to transfer me to the marketing dept. but just hung up on me instead....yep scammers! read more

If you are having trouble getting in touch with Studebt to cancel an application or for any other reasons (I had trouble too), call this number: (844) 788-3328. This is their main number that will bring you to a list of three options. Press 1 even if you aren't inquiring about their services or setting up an account. This will actually bring you right to an operator (pressing 2 or 0 may never get you one, as you can read from reviews, they are hard to contact when you are not interested in applying for the program). Once you have someone on the phone, ask them to put you on hold until your assigned representative is done with their current phone call. Then, get things worked out. I feel really bad for everyone who's stuck in this. I hope this helped a bit. I was able to get right through to them by doing this EVERY TIME I called. They of course, sent me to voicemails and whatnot but I was very adamant and got things taken care of in under an hour. Just do this kind of thing through your loan service FOR FREE. They really twist their words to make it sound like you'll only be paying $39 a month for your loans and paying only a couple grand in total FOR YOUR LOANS when really, you're paying all that to them. Sneaky. The lady I talked with even congratulated me a couple times. I'm one of the naive ones who fell for it. Hopefully this dissuades any others from going with this service. read more