I am posting the letter that Haverhill sent out to its student-employees. As students passed coursework, they were to be hired full-time. The evidence is piling up showing that Haverhill's business model was set up as a scam from the start.
Many qualified students were deemed "ineligible" by Haverhill for a variety of bogus reasons, which prevented them from being hired. Now, it seems, even the students that were hired had a short lived run with the company as far as any return on their investment in tuition to Haverhill.
October 2009
Dear Haverhill Home Stager,
We are writing to provide an update on Haverhill’s business strategy and, in particular, its retail staging business.
As you may be aware, Haverhill was purchased by a group of private investors in July. At the time of the transaction, it was anticipated that additional funding would be provided as the business required more working capital to develop a robust coast-to-coast retail staging presence. Given the current market environment, this additional round of funding has not yet been secured.
Despite the difficult economic climate, we continue to have discussions from various sources relating to obtaining financing. While we are making every effort to rectify this situation, at this time we cannot provide a firm date as to when we will be able to satisfy any obligations which may be owed.
Our recent cash flow issues have required us to restructure the business so that we can be in a position to fulfill on our obligations. We have changed our current offering to provide new students with a “business-in-a-box” offering – providing the Haverhill award-winning course together with a personalized website, domain name and one-year web hosting. Haverhill will continue to honor the previously contracted terms for existing students.
In lieu of making the outstanding payment, we are prepared to offer you a personalized 5-page website, your choice of available domain name and one-year of web hosting. Please let us know whether you wish to accept this offer as a final settlement of our obligations.
In addition, as we wait to see whether outside funding will be obtained, we intend on passing along all leads for staging work we generate. Each stager may contract directly with the agent or homeowner for the staging work and to collect and retain the full amount.
We will continue to keep you informed of our situation, and appreciate your understanding during this challenging period.
Sincerely,
Haverhill Home Staging Services, Inc.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Big Scam
Haverhill is a joke. It is NOT in any way, shape, or form an educational opportunity. I was even told by a haverhill employee that “it is not set up to walk you through the course, we want to see what you can do.” Really? then why take my $997?
Through the “course” any questions of mine had to be posted on an FAQ site, where I would have to then check back to see if someone responded. When I did get a response it was vague. Then, when it was time for grading, points were deducted from assignments that were completed based on those vague answers.
To top it all off, I apparently “timed out” of the test even though I completed it in the allotted timeframe. When I posted my complaint about it on the FAQ site, my comment went ignored because I “did not post the proper wording.” You’ve got to be kidding right? I asked if robots were reading the questions since it seemed that any human reading the post would understand this: “The test site said that I timed out of the test, and I did not. Please contact me immediately at XXX-XXXX.”
No, robots are not reading the posts. Apparently just a bunch of scammers who are looking to rob you. I WILL be disputing this with my CC company, as well as posting warnings anywhere I can. A libelous lawsuit? BRING IT ON HAVERHILL
I took the Haverhill course, I was hired shortly after I finished. I am currently staging and Haverhill showcases all my work and the work of other Haverhill stagers on HGTV and DIY.
I was glad to see at least one positive comment about Haverhill. I have taken the course and now have my own business. I feel I have learned a lot. Even though I considered myself very good at paying attention to detail I was amazed at how much I didn’t know even about making a home spotless. It was an eye-opener. I was not hired but got my money back so I feel the experience has stood me in good stead.
There are a lot of satisfied graduates of Haverhill and I am one of them. Not employed full time yet but an independant contracter. In one year my life has changed for the better. The course is very demanding u have to be up to it. I wouldn’t advise a casual attitude everything has to be just so. Make sure you’re really serious about it. I’m a perfectionsist and so should u be. I wish u all well.
Haverhill has helped me to become a home stager in a relatively short time. Even thought they did not hire me I am still finding work and my Haverhill accreditation is getting me customers. It’s important to accentuate the positive I think. I returned all the materials and got a refund so I have no complaints.
Some good information on the Haverhill home staging course. Thanks for informing the readers os The Work at Home Family Carnival.
I would just like to post another scam and warn consumers about ordering products from companies in the UK. I recently searched the web trying to buy a towel warmer and found a company by the name of HudsonReed. They had the best prices so I called placed an order and sent them a check. They recieved my check, cashed it and never processed an order in my name. After calling them for months and speaking with their operations mgr Steven Darwood who promised that he would refund me. One year has passed and I have still not recieved my order or my money. Please do not, I repeat do not order from companies in the Uk after doing some research I’ve found that there are alot of scams coming out of the UK targeted towards consumers in the US. consider yourself warned.
I found this site while researching Haverhill home for staging opportunities. Upon reading the reviews I noticed the post from Laverne. I would like to tell you about my experience with Hudson Reed. We used this company for certain parts while remodeling our master bath. Their prices were much better than any US company that we could find. Several months after the remodel our shower started to leak. We pulled out the copper fitting which is part of the piping to the sh0wer head and noticed a hairline crack. We called Hudson Reed. They asked us to email them a picture and we did. Right away they sent us a completely new shower head and copper piping. We couldn’t have been happier. This is a legitimate company. Laverne, please call them again. I am sure it must be a huge mistake. Hope this helps
Here was my experience with the test:
You are told you have two hours to take the test, you are not told how many questions there will be. I think it ranges from 50 – 55 questions, but throughout the test, there is not a timer nor any indication of how many questions you have left. Of course you have your own clock to use, but it’s just a little added stress/confusion trying to pace yourself without the black and white information laid out by the test. That’s the annoying part of it.
The really bad part of it is that the test is literally a compilation of word for word sentences taken out of all the materials you are given. The sentences have missing words that you are left to fill in. This means that it is not enough to have the knowledge of the concept, but you must find that particular sentence in the book and fill in the missing word. This may not sound bad, but when you are taking the test and you clearly know the answer but not the exact word used, it’s very frustrating to have to waste time scanning through ALL of the material trying to find where you read that sentence. It really becomes less about what knowledge and skill you have about home staging, and more about playing the game of “Memory.”
In my case, I was very close to the two hour mark however I completed all of the 55 questions that were given to me. Then, after I completed the test, I got a pop-up window telling me that I had timed out of the test. At what point (according to their test module) I don’t know… my clock still had me within the two-hour time frame. So, immediately before the test was even submitted for grading… I failed because of “time-out.” I submitted my message protesting this through the FAQ’s (another ridiculous part of this course). After a week had passed and I had heard nothing, I called the school and the person who took the call basically said that if their test module said I timed out, I timed out and I would have to request to take it again. Mind you, at this point my required completion date had passed and I was told that regardless of my results of the test I would not be eligible for employment.
This experience on top of the rest of my experience with the “school” really just left a very bad taste in my mouth. There were other issues throughout having to do with the school’s lack of communication throughout the course, which caused many problems with the grading of some of my assignments. It just really seems like they try to “get you” with the administrative hoops that they make you jump through, and really aren’t concerned with any talent that you may have.
If you are expecting to take this course and get a job, don’t. If you want to take the course to learn and become more knowledgeable so you can go out and do your own thing… don’t waste your money here, take another course.
I agree with everything Michelle said about the test above. The same thing happened to me and it timed out on the 54th question. I failed by 2 points but ironically still passed the course. I got a pathetic little certificate that is not worth the paper it is written on.
I want everyone to know something that I found out. Haverhill is going bankrupt any day now. I received this information from a very reliable source. Employees are getting there last pays and that is the end of it. They are bust, no money for you to get back. Sorry you all had a bad experience.
I talked to a relative (Attorney) and he said that there is no question based on the questions (I wrote some of them down) and the Internet method of testing that the test is designed for students to fail. If the test was changed, this is further evidence that the prior tests were rigged. He said that they are possibly guilty of (1) Deceptive Trade Practices (triple damages) (2) Outrageous Conduct (3) Breach of Contract. Even if they were to claim Bankruptcy, FRAUD is NOT discharable and can still be pursued in federal court for deceptive trade practices. The fact that the owner already was investigated by the FTC further lends credibility to our claims. We need 50 – 100 people to make a class action suit worthwhile and need to find an Attorney that would possibly work on a contingency basis.
Thought I posted my response to Kathy already, but I see it is not here… I took my test in June of this year. I never heard anything from the school about “fixing the problem” which would have been nice since they consequently failed me on the test!!
Also, Monica, I would be willing to move forward with a lawsuit. Anyone else?
I will repeat this again. They are going bankrupt. Not due to scams, they just are bust. I have heard that they are finished this week, office closed. It is done. I have to say that I passed my test with no problems, so I dont understand why so many failed. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know so they can tell others not to sign up. Sorry it didnt work out for you.
Thanks for repeating. However, if you read carefully Monica said that the lawyer stated bankruptcy or not, fraud is not dischargeable.
Also, you passed the test with no problems… were you hired? I “failed” the test but passed the course and received my “certificate.” I was still deemed “ineligible” for employment. Are you seeing a theme here? Pass the test, but not eligible; fail the test, pass the course… however they want to slice or dice it just to be sure they don’t have to hire.
People were scammed here. You really don’t know why they are going bankrupt (if they are). Could have been the plan all along. Does it really matter though? They deceived people and should be called out for it. Don’t assume we are looking for a pay out. Congrats on passing your test.
Michelle, I just sent an e-mail to the individuals that listed their e-mail addresses on the original blog page to see if there is any interest. I didn’t have your e-mail address. Please send and I will forward the e-mail that I sent to them. Although there were a ton of comments, everyone didn’t leave their e-mail address.
Thanks!
I’m also a Haverhill graduate. Spoke to someone recently in my area (Chicago) and she was hired and making very good money working for Haverhill. I was just recently hired. I do think the company is going bankrupt.
I am interested in a class action suit as well. Totally scammed by Haverhill…same stories as all of the above, plus before I had even started the course, they had posted a message that the materials were to be sent to Canada and not Oregon. All of my course materials said to send to Oregon. I sent 2 day air so I could track and see that they arrived. Sent 2 week early. 3 weeks later get a later that they didn’t get my materials and I was disqualified. I had the tracking info, and was told they were sitting in Oregon. I asked them why they weren’t forwarded, and was told they were waiting to send one large box of courses. So I then said, “I’m not the only one that was unaware then…” and was told I was correct, but would have to pay $100 to be reinstated since they didn’t have them in CANADA by the deadline. I paid it because I had put alot of work into the project, and received extremely high scores…all 10’s and 9’s. Took the test, and like everyone else says, you had to find the EXACT sentence for the EXACT wording, even if you knew the concept and answer. Then of course timed out, and last two essay questions worth 10 apiece. Got the certificate and $15 because it came unframed. I didn’t even bother to take the test a second time. This was such a total joke. I didn’t find the blogs til it was too late!
Michele
Glad to see more of us are finding each other. Peyton, didn’t realize I was entitled to $15 because my certificate came unframed as well…. I will have to contact the school about that! LOL! ugh! what a joke!!
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