going to have to call back the "VA education benefits department "and have them send you written proof that you owed them nothing.When dealing with the VA always get it in writing.

My OP was getting lengthy so I cut out a bit where when discussing it with the collection agency lady she did offer to send me an audit of the debt, (I accepted), and that it would be here in a mere six weeks. I am just passing six weeks since I spoke to her but so far nothing yet. If I see nothing in another week I will do as you suggest.

waiting, if there is VFW or American legion post near you, it would probably be a good idea for you to contact them and explain your situation. Lotsa luck.

Where you can't get a straight answer, federal agencies and departments are very responsive to members of Congress. You want them to verify the alleged debt and give a full accounting of the overpayments and the reasons for them.

Good luck!

I'll wait another week to see if a requested audit of the debt actually arrives. If it doesn't I may need to do something as drastic as you suggest. I've requested aid from my Congressman for far less than this and Congressman Norm Dicks (now retired) got quick n happy results for me too!

The best way to deal with this is to go over ALL their heads.

Write a very polite letter to your senior senator, and make the subject of the letter something like REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE WITH A VETERAN'S ADMINISTRATION ISSUE--as the VA has been in the news, your business will go to the top of the pile.

Explain everything you've explained here, make it as clear and as brief as possible, and provide, in addition to your address, your phone number(s) where you can be reached. Then provide, as enclosures, copies of all the documentation you can get your hands on. If you have the names of the people you spoke with on the phone, be sure to NAME NAMES. If it's too difficult to put all that in the letter, try writing out your recollections of the conversation(s) and make that an enclosure to your letter. Make sure your letter is typed, try to keep the main points on one page, if possible, and fill in the details with the enclosures. Sign it Very Respectfully -- they always love that military bearing.


Here is what will happen to your letter--it will be SHOT over to the OLA (Office of Legislative Affairs), put on a tickler, and someone from OLA will RIDE the VA until they resolve these issues. Then, your senior senator will write you a letter back when it's all settled.

Understand that everything you write will be xeroxed by your Senator's office and sent to OLA, and xeroxed by OLA and sent over to the VA. Someone at VA HQ will be calling the people with whom you spoke and they'll be riding them like a tired hoss.

Now, will you win? Not sure--I seem to remember getting a D kind of knocked you off the rails--if you got more than one D, that could have impacted an entire semester or more, but I just don't remember so I can't really tell you. The larger point here, though, is that you are getting two sets of guidelines and one says "YOU OWE" and the other says "YOU DON'T OWE" and that needs to be resolved.

Please come back and let us know how you make out with this.

That damned statistics class! I majored in Anthropology because of my math phobia. No, I never flunked any other classes, got more 'A' s than 'B's. I got called on the carpet for getting a 'D' in that class TWICE! I got through it the third time with the aid of a very patient tutor-that poor first year teacher likely remembers this ordeal too. This all relates to my GI Bill because we got paid per credit hour. I was enrolled and was paid for a full load of classes. Had I instead enrolled for five less credits for any particular semester my pay would have expected a decrease. This is the ONLY thing in my memory that may have incurred that debt. That was back in 1982 or '83 so I could not say today if that $2000 debt was equal to six months of part time status at the rates they had back then. Even so, I attended every one of those classes and if by chance this is what they are docking me for then maybe they have a case. I don't know.

I noted in an above response that I had made a request for audit during my second conversation with the VA's collection Agency. She said it would take six weeks and we are just passing the sixth week mark now. If possible, I want to see that audit first before I start writing letters to my Congressman. That said, that audit might not come either and if it does not appear shortly I may indeed call on my Congressman. Everything I said in the OP is accurate btw and if I do call/write him I will review your advice.

thanks again MADem