Citibank sends infuriating piece of spam-want me to lobby for them against my own interest-Kos Diary

[kpete]

Citibank sent me an infuriating piece of spam They want me to lobby for them against my own interest
by Nylawstudent

Mon May 11, 2009 at 10:49:31 AM PDT

About two weeks ago I wrote a diary about student lending that received a mixed reception. Here it is.

Barack Obama, our president, has made student lending one of his top priority and its an issue near and dear to me personally. So I was infuriated when I received the following piece of screed from Citibank, asking me to call congress and oppose the presidents reform efforts and "keep choice in lending." Which apparantly is the new astroturf name for preserving the government subsidization of bank profits, not higher education. Original letter form Citi posted below the foldwith my response.

BTW they sent this letter under the same format, and from the same address as if it was part of my loan process. They are using their customer lists to propagate their crap.

Date: Sat, 9 May 2009 03:39:55 +0000
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Citi: Learn about legislation that impacts you

If you're unable to see the message below, click here.
Add [e-mail] to your address book to ensure delivery.

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May 7, 2009

Dear XXXXX XXXXX,

Thank you for the opportunity to help you obtain the education of your choice. As a student loan provider for the past 50 years, Citi has provided financial aid assistance to millions of students and parents nationwide.

Given the challenging economy and continued increases in the cost of higher education, it is critical that the U.S. student lending system serves the best interests of students and their families. If you believe that competition and choice among student loan providers is valuable, you have an opportunity to make your voice heard.

Why Get Involved?
The government budget outline proposes offering federal student loans solely through the federal government's Direct Lending Program starting July of next year. While this proposal will not impact a borrower's ability to obtain a federal student loan, it will eliminate your ability to choose a student loan provider. It will also substantially increase the national debt since each and every federally-insured student loan will be funded by the Federal Treasury through the issuance of treasury securities. This proposal impacts you as a citizen - both as a taxpayer and as a borrower.

Why Does Competition And Choice Matter?
Without private lender involvement through the Federal Family Education Loan Program, students and their families will not enjoy the benefits that competition has made possible for more than 40 years. This competition has provided not only a choice of lenders, but also innovative products and services, such as:

a variety of borrower benefits that lower your cost of borrowing
financial literacy programs that educate you on how to borrow responsibly
web-based tools and resources to advise you about your financing options
default prevention services to help you pay back your loans
Competition also has driven increased customer satisfaction as a result of the responsiveness, personal attention and on-campus support that student loan lenders have provided to borrowers and schools nationwide.

Make Your Voice Heard
If you value the ability to shop for, evaluate and choose your student loan provider, make your voice heard by contacting your Members of Congress and by signing one of the online petitions that support borrower choice and competition in federal student lending.

Sincerely,

The Student Loan Corporation

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ABOUT THIS MESSAGE:
For account specific inquiries, please do not reply to this e-mail. Log on to studentloan.com for secure account access or call 1-800-967-2400, Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. Eastern Time.

This e-mail has been sent to you from The Student Loan Corporation. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail messages from The Student Loan Corporation, you can click here to change your e-mail options.

Should you wish to contact us in writing, please mail your correspondence to:
The Student Loan Corporation
c/o Citibank (South Dakota), N.A.
P.O. Box 6191
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-6191

Concerned about privacy? See our Privacy Policy. Please note, we cannot process requests or gather information from individuals who are not at least 13 years of age.

©2009 The Student Loan Corporation.
The Student Loan Corporation is a subsidiary of Citibank, N.A.
Citi and Citi with Arc Design are registered service marks of Citigroup Inc.

2009.05_FFELP_Advocacy

more:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/11/704119/-Citibank-sent-me-an-infuriating-piece-of-spam-They-want-me-to-lobby-for-them-against-my-own-interest

[Aloha Spirit]

1. It's impossible for "socialized" "government run" student lending to be worse than SLC,

in my opinion.

It took three weeks for them to "receive" a fax that I sent them recently.
I'd like to see a government run lending service be slower or more inefficient than that.

[xchrom]

2. indeed -- it's hogwash

that entities as big as citibank are 'efficient'.

these are myths we all recycle to keep our lords and masters eating well.

[wroberts189]

3. "default prevention services to help you pay back your loans"

Or in other words someone calls you at dinner time to hassle you for the money when your loan is 3 days late. Threaten to raise your interest and charge you late fees if you do not give them you're checking account number and pay immediatley (this happened to me when my check was sent in on time but directed to the wrong dept.)


"a variety of borrower benefits that lower your cost of borrowing
financial literacy programs that educate you on how to borrow responsibly
web-based tools and resources to advise you about your financing options"

What good is that crap? I get to see my balance online ..big woop. Options? What options? "literacy programs"..?? Dude I can read already.





The whole letter is spin so bad it's a twisted joke .."The Student Loan Corporation" ... give me break and call it what it is... The taxpayer ripoff corporation

knr

[dionysus]

4. yeah, i got the same exact thing and laughed my ass off... greedy bastards

"While this proposal will not impact a borrower's ability to obtain a federal student loan, it will eliminate your ability to choose a student loan provider."

what the admin really needs to do is get rid of that rule that once you consolidate, your interest is locked in forever.

right now, even if i were to go to another bank, i'd have the same rate. big whoop.

[DCKit]

5. If this lame attempt at psy-ops is successful with college edumacated peoples...

then NCLB has done far more damage than I ever thought.