This website is a testimony to the problems Canadian Student Loan borrowers experienced from approximately 1996 to 2008 and until their loans were paid off.

The privatization of the Student Loans system by the Chretien and Martin Liberal governments broke the system and defaulted thousands of borrowers who were trying to pay their loans. There were even stories of suicide due to the harassment of borrowers.

Read the report that I prepared back in 2007 here. Canada Student Loans-The Need for Change Fortunately the new Conservative government at the time revamped the program and fixed the system for new borrowers, but borrowers under the previous program were left with ruined credit and continued harassment from debt collectors.

I call on the Canadian Government to apologize to the borrowers affected by this fiasco and make amends.

Unfortunately the Liberal government is again clobbering the Education system with their upcoming changes to International Student Visas. Yes, there's a problem, but instead of a well thought out plan, they have pulled the emergency brake on the train causing a derailment. This has introduced unprecedented instability for both private and public education institutions who serve both international and local students.

Universities can't plan. I've heard of courses being cut because the government has no process in place for universities to send the newly required acceptance letters to the government.

This means that students who have been accepted can not attend courses that start in the summer 2024 semester. With cut sections, current Canadian students will have trouble getting courses, and may have to switch to part-time which changes their enrollment status and might trigger repayment of their loans or ineligibility for funding. I've seen this before. It wreaks havoc on the student loan borrowers.

Again, the Liberal government has messed up the education environment. Will the new system needed in a rush for the acceptance letters be the new Arrivecan scandal?

I call on the government to implement a slower phased in approach and delay the requirement of the acceptance letters until a process is in place to submit these letters.


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    Posted: 28/June/2004 at 6:36am

I was literally on my way out the door Saturday morning to do a little grocery shopping with my mom. The phone rang; I answered it.

It was CIBC. Though she called MY apartment at 10 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I had to verify all of my address information, plus my birth date and telephone number.

The operator asked for my work phone number, which I disregarded (they don't have it on file). When she realized I'd never given her a work number, she asked for it again. I refused to give it to her. (I'm not willing to be harassed at work).

"But we like to have a second number on file for you," she said. "What about a cell phone? Or can I get your work number?"

That was her third request for it. I told her, "I work at an in-bound call centre. I cannot take personal calls. And I do not have a cellphone."

Mostly true. I don't have a cellphone, and I work as an Inside Sales Rep. I certainly don't want my boss or coworkers answering the phone for CIBC.

"Well, what about the name of the company?"

Right. 'Cause I don't know that you can just look up the company name on the internet and get the phone number, right?

She got all bent out of shape because I was totally unwilling to give her the information she was asking for.

Then she got to the point of the call. "Well, we've noticed that your payments have been about a month behind..."

Yeah, you've been getting money every month for the past three months, thank you very much. Yes, I had been a payment behind, but you're getting paid. I told her that I'd made a double payment on Friday morning AT THE BRANCH.

"Oh, you did? It doesn't show on my files." Well, honey, I've got my receipts, and your cashier took my cheques. It's not my fault if you don't update your systems regularly enough.

It makes me wonder about the competence of the people that they hire, and the systems that they have in place to handle loans.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SolveStudentDebt Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28/June/2004 at 9:31am

 

 if you received a phone callon Saturday morning, it wasn;t from a member of the CIBC. This would have been a colelctor at a collection agency. C.I.B.C. reps don't work on Saturday. Collectionagencies usually require that their staff work on Saturday as much as possible to bring commission earnings up. The last saturday of any given month is their mandatory work saturday.

 I gather this is the first time you have heard from sucha  person? If so, it would be a new assignment to an agency from the CIBC. It may be an account in the "early-out" program which is outsorcing to collect past due payments only.. or "Cure program" which is an outsourcing system that agencies have to collect the risk amount owing.

Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting.

solvestudentdebt.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blue. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28/June/2004 at 10:09am

Now that's interesting, Johnny. Now I'm doubly glad I didn't pass any additional information along. She did say that she was calling from CIBC.

When she asked why my payments were running late, I simply told her that my husband had been unemployed for three months (December 19 - mid-March) and that we were catching up. She backed right off when she heard that my future payments should be made on time. That might also explain why she didn't know about the payments I'd made on Friday.

I'll be very careful what I say to who on the phone in the future.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 1stepforward2bk Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28/June/2004 at 10:35am
The CIBC National Student Centre is open and calls on Saturdays- I go through the same spiel all the time.  It is an automatic dialer and the rep doesn't even know why they are calling you until you give them your name, SIN, DOB, address and phone #.  One time I was on the phone with one rep and got beeped in by another rep.  They start calling me when I am even a day late.  The last time they called I was 4 days late in making my payment and I said I would be paying on payday.  Then she asked me when I would be able to make the next payment as it was also due.  I told her that I was up to date and she argued with me for 15 minutes until she actually READ my file and saw that my payment date was not at the end of the month like she thought.  Not even an apology.....I really don't know where they get these people.  They don't seem to know their ass from their elbow - you can call and ask a question to 10 different reps and get 10 different answers.  Make sure you note the names, dates and times of everybody you talk to so WHEN (not if) their incompetence turns your life upside down, at least you will have someone to blame.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Blue. Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28/June/2004 at 10:55am

Someone to blame....Yeah. I write down every name, now.

When I called CIBC back in April to find out exactly what my outstanding amounts were and to advise them I would be making a small payment on each of my loans (Fed/Prov), Gary Singh was incredibly rude. Only reason I remember his name. He told me that my payments were not good enough and that without full payment of my past-due amounts, he (yes, HE) was going to make sure that my loans went to collections. I told him my husband had been unemployed for three months and that his EI had been screwed up, and I could only afford to put small amounts towards my loans until we got ourselves together again.

Gary threatened me with a collection agency again. I said that was fine, I didn't have the money to pay them, either. Gary said he didn't care, it wasn't his problem. I have a ton of patience, but he was grating on my last nerve. I told him politely that I hadn't called to argue with him, just to advise him that I was making a payment and could he record it on my file. He argued with me again about the size of my payment, the fact that I had to pay at least the interest, and did I know what was happening to my credit rating?

I said "thank you, Gary." Then I hung up on him.

I called back and got a polite lady. Told her I was making a payment, what the payment would be, and when I would be making it. She accepted it all with good grace and made the notes in my file.

There is no reason why I should have to deal with the Gary Singhs of the world...I didn't borrow his money. And he's more a typical example of the people I've dealt with at CIBC than the polite lady I got second time around.

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