Wayne County Community College: A Great College Ruined by Incompetent Staff

I will be forever grateful for Wayne County Community College (WCCC) in Detroit, Michigan because if it wasn't for this wonderful college, I wouldn't have my associates degree in mental health. The professors at WCCC were great, but unfortunately the office staff weren't quite so great. I had several problems with this college's office staff that I will never forget.

I graduated 14 years ago and I can still remember very clearly how frustrating it was to deal with the office staff. I hate to bad mouth the school that I used to attend, but they really need to change how they operate. It seems like something was always lost, such as financial aid applications or other important documents, the college was always claiming certain fees weren't paid. I realize that 14 years was a long time ago, but I must say that the school hasn't changed one bit. My younger sister took a class there a few semesters ago, and she experienced the same type of frustrations with the college. They prevented her from transferring her class to the university she was attending, claiming that she owed the college money when she knows for a fact that she didn't owe them a thing. She had to show them proof several times before it was properly resolved. A friend in one of her classes had a similar experience last year as well.

I recently had to contact WCCC because I have decided to further my education and my current school needed my official transcript in order to transfer my classes. WCCC has a hold on my account, preventing my records from being released. According to their records, I owe $112, which I'm not contesting because it's been so many years that I don't know if I might actually owe it or not, but the problem is I can't get into contact with the appropriate person in order to get this paid so the hold will be released. I'm afraid to simply mail a check because it may not get to the appropriate person. After being instructed to contact Student Services, I contacted them, but did not get the issue resolved. The person who answered the phone in Student Services appeared to be new or either a work study student who didn't know their job well. The person informed me that I needed to speak with the cashier, so she transferred me. After being on hold for a half hour, I hung up and called back. A different person in Student Services who was just as incompetent as the first one told me that I needed to speak with someone in Accounts Receivable, and I was transferred, this time holding for over an hour before hanging up. There was no voicemail for me to leave a message, and every time I call back, I get transferred to a different department to someone who can't help me. And if I don't get a live person, I have to hold for astronomically long amounts of time. I even spoke with one person who supposedly took a message for someone to call me back, yet no one ever did. I live in North Carolina currently, so it's not like I can just go down to the campus and demand to have the issue resolved like I did many times when I was a student there. I would not recommend that anyone attend this college unless they don't mind incompetence, confusion and frustration.