University students who have been left without funds because their student loans failed to arrive for this academic year have told BuzzFeed News how they've been unable to get answers from the Student Loans Company because of its shambolic system for handling inquiries.
Students say they've been told by advisers for the company that they are unable to make outgoing calls, that there is no email address for queries, and that sending multiple direct messages on Twitter can affect their place in the inquiries queue — after follow-up messages have been sent.
People trying to call about their applications have experienced systems being down, long hold times, and being hung up on, while those who use social media to contact the company have experienced long delays in responses to direct messages.
The complaints have been focused on Student Finance England, the section of the Student Loans Company that deals with students in England on behalf of the government.
@LisaMCP34212978 Hi Lisa, when did you send it? Sending another message can change your place in the queue and delay your response. Warm regards, Tégan
Olivia Williams, 23, a third-year student in primary science education at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, told BuzzFeed News she was frustrated with a "lack of professionalism" when she called to query a delay in her payment over the phone.
"They answered the phone after a long wait and all I could hear were people chatting loudly and laughing in the background. [I'm] not even sure if the lady I spoke to could hear me," she said.
She said she was put on hold twice and, after 25 minutes, was told the systems were down. She had wanted to discuss a delay to her payment because of a change in her father's address, after she was asked to resubmit evidence for her application. The delay meant she had no money to pay her rent, she said.
"The phone call literally just made me angry and annoyed that Student Finance have such difficulty in communication with students and the lack of professionalism on the phone."
@primaryolivia @SF_England Exactly the same happened to me and then I was given all the wrong information! What a joke
Aimee King, 21, a law student in her third year at the University of Liverpool, said she was hung up on twice by the SLC when she called to discuss a delay in her loan payment.
"They stated they had simply been ‘disconnected’," she said, adding that the experience left her disappointed in the service. When she sent a Twitter direct message to the SLC asking for someone to ring her, she was told that they were not able to make outgoing calls.
"It angers me to know that a government-run scheme still gives you no help, so who else do you turn to? There is no one," she said.
@SF_England in a queue for 13 minutes only to be hung up on!!!!!!? Are you joking!!!? Where is my money!!!!!!!!!
Antonia-Marie Smith, 21, who is studying cultural theory at the University of Leeds, said she received responses such as "call back after lunch", "call back tomorrow", and "I haven't worked here long" when she called to ask why her application had been cancelled.
She told BuzzFeed News that she received three separate requests for her birth certificate after it was reinstated, even though she had already sent it twice, causing further delays. She was told on the phone that it was because staff had not logged her information properly, and has now been given a date of Oct. 15 for her payment to be processed.
"I am disappointed more than anything else. I applied in advance, in June. My place is at risk — even after getting the required grades," she said.
@SF_England I have had this response since June. I don't want to lose my place at uni.
BuzzFeed News put the problems outlined in each case to the SLC. A spokesperson said that it was investigating issues with phone calls.
"We take great pride in dealing with the overwhelming majority of our customers accurately and promptly and are sorry to hear when any customer has received a service which does not match their expectations," they said.
"Last week alone our contact centres answered over 162,000 calls from
customers. Over 54,000 customers were able to use our self-service system
to resolve their query on the phone.
"We are experiencing intermittent issues with a very small number of calls,
which we are investigating and will resolve as quickly as we can," the spokesperson added.
"We regularly monitor all customer communication, including calls, social
media, customer letters and complaints as well as the training given to our
customer advisers."
The company deals with around 8 million customers every year and received almost 15,500 messages on its Student Finance England social media accounts in just two weeks.
It claims it is one of the first agencies to use direct messaging on Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers, and noted that it has quadrupled staffing since last year to meet customer demand.
However, students complained that their direct messages were being ignored.
Mason McGlynn, 18, told BuzzFeed News that he and around 20 others on his filmmaking course in Manchester have had problems since accidentally selecting the wrong course code on the website. His university said it should take two days to fix, but a lack of contact from the SLC has left him in "limbo" for almost a month.
He said he was also hung up on when he called, and he has experienced long waits for responses to his direct messages.
Student Finance England tweeted on Sept. 14 that it was "receiving a high number of DM's at the moment" and "doing our very best to respond".
"I just think it's really poor, the way that they actually communicate with the students," McGlynn said, noting that advisers are "brief" on the phone.
@SF_England Have told me I essentially won't recieve my payment until the month of november, meaning i'm likely going to have to leave my student accomodation if nothing can be sorted. What an awful service is there any higher bodies I can complain to.
McGlynn is among the students who have complained that they were not informed of issues with their payment until they contacted the SLC.
"It causes a lot of stress, because you're just sat there waiting for money to come into your account... There's no communication. They don't message you — you have to contact them," he said.
Fredrika Martin, 29, who is on a teacher training course attached to Derby University, was asked to confirm in writing that she wanted to remove a childcare grant from her application. She was sent a letter from the SLC stating that this had been received — but when she rang them a few weeks later, she was told that the company had no evidence of the letter.
"None of these things are known unless you ring up and hound them," she told BuzzFeed News. "The thing is when you ring up, you speak to someone different every time, so there's no consistency.
"I don't think I ended one phone call with Student Finance last week where I wasn't in tears. It's so frustrating."
Still waiting for @SF_England to actually communicate properly with each other and sort my application out. It's like we don't have bills to pay or food to buy! This is rediculous now. Most stressful year of my life and it's seems acceptable to add extra stress. Cheers
One student said he had received an abrupt email notifying him that his application had been cancelled. Architecture student Russell Moreland, 28, is originally from Northern Ireland but told BuzzFeed News he was advised by the SLC contact centre to apply for his postgraduate loan through SFE.
He said he endured "countless" phone calls about a system error that had meant his application was put on hold. It was eventually approved a fortnight before he returned to university, but after his first week, he was told it had been cancelled with immediate effect, and that he should apply through Student Finance Northern Ireland.
"I've spent the last week trying to speak to someone with any authority to try and get some answers as to why this was not picked up sooner," he told BuzzFeed News. "How can they approve somebody for finance and then without notice, after a student has begun their studies, expect them to be able to afford to survive with the loss of income?"
Moreland can't contact Student Finance England on Twitter because he doesn't have an account. When his partner tweeted on his behalf, she was told that Student Finance England does not have an email address for queries and asked whether Moreland could contact advisers on Facebook.
"My partner tweeted SFE this week as a last resort. They messaged her asking for my details and encouraged me to get in touch but after she promptly responded they failed to reply or contact me. Three messages later and they have ignored my case," he said.
@EleanorOD HI Eleanor, we don't have an email address for queries. Does he have a Facebook account? Thanks - Stuart
"When I contacted them to complain I was given an email address and no explanation whatsoever as to how this was allowed to happen," he said. "I am now left in a period of financial uncertainty with no one to hold accountable."
When asked about Moreland's case, the SLC said that because postgraduate architecture is counted as the second part of one course, the loan should have been processed through the same body that awarded his initial support — Student Finance Northern Ireland. It did not comment on why Moreland was initially advised to apply through Student Finance England.
Other students complained that they were given conflicting advice. Sarah Burlurmi, 36, studying for a counselling degree at Sussex Downs College in Lewes, said she contacted the SLC six times in one week last month to question a delay in her loan payment, each time being told different information by a different adviser.
One told her that the loan she had applied for did not exist, then a few days later she was told it was being processed. She told BuzzFeed News that trying to get an explanation was "driving her mad".
"I've also had conversations with them on Twitter and every time I speak to them it's completely inconsistent," she said. "A direct message takes at least a week for them to reply to. It's just massively frustrating. It's a loan, you know? They're not just giving me money."
Shakira Martin, president of the National Union of Students, told BuzzFeed News that while mistakes are likely to occur with such high demand, the SLC needs to commit more resources to cope with increased pressure.
"Students rely on their loans to pay for essential costs right from the get-go. In any system that processes so many applicants, mistakes will always occur. It is important that any errors are addressed swiftly and with as much transparency as possible," she said.
"It’s a positive move for SLC to use different methods, such as social media, to engage with students. However, it also appears that greater resource needs to also be applied to cope with the demand.”
Martin added that students experiencing issues should speak to a financial adviser at their university and may be able to access temporary support.