Sallie Mae student loan captures student in call-center rabbit hole

Money College writer Fruzsina Eordogh chronicles her ongoing struggles with the student loan giant Sallie Mae.

The three-month deferment I paid $150 for from Sallie Mae has run out and so I began the dreaded robot call center run-around that is Sallie Mae's customer service. I hung up a couple of times because I got lost, and I became frustrated when every time I called, the automated woman on the answering service would tell me my total amount due, and that I was late, and somehow because I was out of deferment I owed two months' worth of payments.

Pressing "0" repeatedly does not help until you get to a certain menu (and I can't even tell you which one that is) and the option to speak to an agent is conveniently the last one given. I heard it the third time around, and I pressed "0" with such happiness you'd think my loans were being forgiven.