” width=”550″ height=”365″>Perhaps Sallie Mae or a company associated with it handles your student loans. It currently has about $17.3 billion in outstanding loans — just a portion of the $1.48 trillion in overall student loan debt.
Sallie Mae offer other financial products including money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs).
How to Talk to a Live Person at Sallie Mae
If you need help with any of the aforementioned types of financial products, you may need to speak to someone at the company, and your best bet is typically a phone call to Sallie Mae.
To get through to an actual human at the other end of the phone, here’s how to navigate the automated menu
For student loans, dial 800-472-5543 (800-4-SALLIE) to begin the call. When the prompt asks you to press one for new applications or press two (or hold on the line) for all other calls, don’t press anything.
Keep Holding
Next, your call is routed through the system as though you are an existing customer. You’ll then be asked to enter your Social Security number or customer identification number. Again, don’t press anything.
You’ll hear that prompt twice. When a new set of prompts plays, asking you to “select from the following options,” just stay on the line and don’t select any options. Again, this will play twice.
After waiting through the prompts, your call is routed to an agent, as long as it is during business hours. Sallie Mae representatives are available between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Thursday, 8:00 am to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
Other Types of Accounts
If you need to speak with a live person at Sallie Mae for something other than a student loan — including CDs, high yield savings, or money market accounts — dial 877-346-2756
Once the automated system starts, listen to the first set of options and don’t press anything. When the second set of prompts begin, you’ll get the opportunity to press zero to speak with customer care. Select zero and your call goes to an agent.
For Upromise GoalSaver accounts, dial 877-978-1710 and follow the same process of not selecting any options until you can route to a representative. For Upromise by Sallie Mae, call 888-279-2828 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. to reach a person.
It’s Actually Easy
Ultimately, getting a chance to talk to a live person at Sallie Mae is fairly easy. While you may need to ignore prompts multiple times, you’ll usually be routed to a queue for a representative in about one minute.
However, once you reach that point, wait times can vary. You may end up holding for 20 minutes or more if they are particularly busy, so make sure you have time to wait for a representative.
Additionally, it is wise to have information about your account available. For example, your Social Security number or customer ID is a requirement to look up your details in the system.
Getting those details ready in advance can make your call go smoothly, so take a moment to prepare before picking up the phone.
Readers, what has been your experience with trying to get a hold of a live person at Sallie Mae? While we’re at it, tell us about your experiences with phone-based customer service at other companies: Which ones have been the best or the worst?
Read More
Looking for more great articles? Here are a few to get you started.
- How Do You Get a Hold of a Live Person at the IRS?
- Best Banks for Student Loan Refinance
- Politely Say “No” to Cosigning Your Kid’s Student Loans
- How to Pay Off Your Student Loans in Less Than 10 Years
- 1 in 5 Student Loans Are Delinquent
- Will Student Loan Debt Keep You from Buying a Home?
- Forgive Student Loan Defaults, Add $1.5 Billion to Economy
- 1 in 5 Students Put Financial Aid Proceeds in Cryptocurrencies Like Bitcoin
- How To Pay Off Your Student Loans in Less Than 10 Years
- How to Use Online Resources to Save on Your Student Loans
- Who is Betsy DeVos and What Does She Want to Do to Your Student Loan Debt?
- Do These Things Before Repaying Your Student Loans
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Tamila McDonald is a U.S. Army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial advisor. After retiring from the Army, she spent eight years as an AFCPE-certified personal financial advisor for wounded warriors and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits programs for numerous financial websites.
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