pissed off"However, if you have an outstanding balance with the University, we cannot release your diploma or official transcripts until your account has been paid in full. If you have any questions in regards to any balance owed to the University, please contact Student Accounts at..."
The email reminded me that I had a pending loan towards mid-July they hadn't processed yet, still leaving me with a balance just over a thousand dollars. As I logged into my student account online, I looked in horror as it still said it was pending, and that I still had an outstanding balance.
Throughout the next two hours, I spoke with no less than three financial aid and registrar office idiots that all said they didn't see on their systems why I hadn't received the aid disbursement, and that everything looked in order. They were all too happy to take any form of payment also.
When I finally got to someone who knew what he was talking about, the true horror story was revealed. Apparently, they received a disbursement in December 2005 that they sent back in June of this year for whatever reason (he had no clue why). It took two calls to Citibank and three calls to this guy to discern this, as he had originally thought they never received the money (rather than having just sent it back arbitrarily). Citibank refused to resend it without speaking to my school, and my school refused to speak with Citibank due to federal regulations having a 120 day cap on loan disputes. Originally this posed a problem (seeing as it was 12/05)...but now that we knew it was sent back by some airhead at my school in June, a window was open for him to "consult" with his superior.
Long story short (I know, too late), Citibank sent a $1300 disbursement to my school in December 2005. My school processed and credited it to my account. In June 2006 my school charged this back and sent it back to Citibank in full, citing no reason. They charged this back on my next to last statement, which I hadn't noticed until it was too late. When I received my last disbursement at the end of June for my final semester and expenses, I came up about a grand short of having all expenses covered. They say I owe them, and there's nothing they can do since I am no longer enrolled (duh, I'm trying to graduate). They can't initiate a new loan since I am not enrolled any longer, and can't just say "oh, we messed up, here's how we're going to fix it." Citibank threw their hands up in the air when I spoke to them and said to talk to my school since they were the ones that rejected the payment (which was reasonable enough). So now it all rests with my school, and the one financial aid person that has any clue what's going on. bah!
(cross posted to my LJ)