So I was logging on to Sallie Mae with my son this morning

[TwixVoy]

He went and took out some student loans against my advice even though I warned him it was a scam.

But I digress... the most FUNNY THING EVER came up on screen when he logged in! (funny in a very sad way, mind you)

A freaking window trying to get him to sign up for a SALLIE MAE CREDIT CARD!

These people make the mafia look like small time amateurs. Here a company is that caters to a LARGELY unemployed/part time employed, young, and financially unstable demographic... and what do they push on them as soon as they log in to their account? A freaking credit card.

Could not believe my eyes... but I don't know why anything these people pull surprises me anymore.

We are pumping out a generation of people who are freaking STARTING ADULT LIFE in massive debt.... and I suspect many of them will be in debt the vast majority of that adult life. Of course that is clearly the intention. Make them a slave to banks as early as possible.

on edit: I should note that I was logging on with him to see where he stands because he is currently 14 days late on his payments. Clearly a credit card offer is just what he needs.

[ejpoeta]

1. they are trying to do it now because they won't be able to after that cc bill takes effect.

that is, assuming he is under 20.

[readmoreoften]

2. Sallie Mae is a nightmare. Citibank is far better.

When Sallie Mae had my records wrong their phone staff (and email staff) repeatedly screamed at me and even "all capped" me in emails. Citibank asked me for proof and corrected my records.

I'll give 'em one thing, I want to pay my bills off with them first not just because they're scam artists who had a backroom deal with my university to circumvent public loans, but because they are so crazy and unpredictable that I want their loony asses out of my financial world. That's one way of doing business.

[KoKo]

3. I was hoping your post was a joke...but sadly it seems all too real..

Obama's advisers are trying to re-inflate the Credit Bubble? On the back of your kid and the rest of our kids? What else are Summers and Geithner doing... (we probably don't want to know for our health)

Thanks for posting.

[msongs]

4. gee maybe he could make his payments on time? otherwise "we are pupmping out a generation....

of people who are freaking.." declining to pay their bills on time.

Msongs

[TwixVoy]

5. Exactly

Many in his generation either can't or WON'T pay their bills. So what happens then? Financial meltdown part 2? Maybe the lenders should stop lending money to people who obviously can't or won't pay.

[More_liberal_than_mo]

6. Sallie Mae sucks!

My son's ex-girlfriend borrowed $1440 from Sallie for Nursing training. My son foolishly co-signed for her as she had a low credit score. She never repaid a cent and they broke up. Two months after the breakup he started getting threatening calls from Sallie Mae every month. Each time he was told he had to pay $10 or multiples of $10. A year after the loan was originated he was told he had to start a regular repayment program of $35 a month which he did. The calls stopped for 5 months then he got a letter from Amex canceling his credit card with a note that it was due to a loan default on his credit report. We found out that Sallie Mae had been cashing my son's checks each month but failing to give him credit. Now they deny receiving the checks even though he called them and sent prove from the bank that they had cashed the checks. Two weeks ago they called again and told him that he hadn't paid anything for the past six months. Again we faxed them proof and again they ignored it. We finally got a statement from them yesterday showing that he now owes $1930 and it fails to show any payments since November.

I'm mad as hell about this. I was listening on his last call to Sallie Mae and they transferred his call to 5 different people before the last one hung up on him because they couldn't find his ss# in their records. He called back and went through the same 6 transfers until the last one said he was a liar. They asked he fax the proof again which we did. Still they have yet to acknowledge receipt of his payments.

Does anyone know: Can he sue them in small claims court?

[armyowalgreens]

7. The reality is that it's almost impossible to go to school without getting in debt.

I'll be getting my undergrad and hopefully will be attending a law school.

Law school isn't cheap. I won't be able to go to school and make enough money to pay for it.

It's unfortunate, But I'll be at least 80K in debt before I'm done. Probably more.

[Lex]

8. I never had a problem with my Sallie Mae loan. I got it; I paid it back

over time. Nothing weird about it.

[exboyfil]

9. I paid my loan off early in the late 1980s

after having issues with Sallie Mae basically falling off the planet (not letting me know where my loan payments were supposed to be sent - not sending me payment coupons etcs). I always wondered whether it was just incompetence or they were running some sort of racket. I was glad to get that loan repaid.