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Windham Professionals

Windham Professionals review: Rude and seems like a scam 103

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Author of the review
11:18 am EST
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This company has been calling me non stop for a few yrs now, claiming that I had a student loan that was in collections that I never paid. I was young, stupid, and just got out of college and I didnt know any better. So, I started making small payments here and there regarding it. The only statement theyve ever sent me is one that is from their letterhead. I thought I consolidated all my loans with Chase Student Loans Services but they insist on me having these loans from the MA Board of student loans. One guy from there who has called me claims to be Billy Vasil or Milly Basil. He slurs his words and when I told him I was making monthly payments of $50 and thats how it was gonna be to stop calling me, he got very rude and was somewhat insulting. I dont put up with anyone talking to me like that, nevermind some guy from a collection agency. So i decided to do some research since he keeps calling and leaving harrasing messages. I was just curious what my rights were, how can I find out if this is a scam, and what can I do? How can I make the calls stop?

Thanks You

Frank Rubino

103 comments
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serrasalmus0
US
Feb 23, 2012 2:57 am EST

These idiots kept calling my number asking for a person that isn't there. When I asked them to stop, they kept calling back. When I called to request that they stop calling, they hung up on my while I was in mid sentence. I reported them to both the Massachusetts and New Hampshire's Attorney General, the FTC, and the BBB. I went to the police, and they said that there was nothing that they could do. I suggest sending them numerous faxes to all of their numbers, and calling the CEO Directly. Her name is Erin Zaldastani. You can email her at ezaldastani@windhamprofessionals.com . You can fax them (send more than one, that gets the message across!) at their main fax which is at [protected], their commercial collections fax at [protected], or their education collection fax at [protected]. If you want to reach the CEO directly by phone, just call their main number at [protected], press 1, and spell out zald on your keypad, and press #. You will be transferred to her direct line.

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excollector
Middletown, US
Apr 04, 2012 11:35 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

if you are in college your loans go in to deferment no one should be collecting on them

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Patricia Howard
Madison, US
May 04, 2012 2:08 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I was recently contacted by them and told that my laon was placed in default and that they would be taking my income tax check. Never mind that I had my student loan payment coming out of my bank account for the past two years and suddenly they just stopped taking it out for a couple of months I believe in order to place me in default status. So I was then told that I had to set up new arrangements with them and that I could not file my taxes for four months which placed me after the tax deadline of April 17 to file my taxes. However, I do not have anything in writing from them and had to give them my bank information over the phone so that they would not attach my payroll. I do not believe this is legal and have contact the student loan people at Sallie Mae and have not heard anything from them. Can someone please help me with this. It is my every intention to pay back my student loan, but I just don't believe these people are acting legally and fairly.

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tryingtogetittogether
Austin, US
Jun 03, 2012 7:08 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I am currently dealing with them and I have had mixed experiences. Some really nice ones and then some terrible ones from management. My only real issue is that I pay $300 a month and whenever I get my statements the money deducted from the collection costs and the money deducted from my interest does not add up to $300.
Absolutely no money is being deducted from my principal.
This just seems shady.
Where is my money going?.

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theyllgetitwhenihaveit
tempe, US
Jun 11, 2012 12:11 pm EDT

this thread has spell check you can enter before submitting your comment. i'm just saying, many of you (especially the ones who work for the company) should use it. it'll make your argument look much more credible, less defensive, and more professional. just my humble opinion. happy monday!

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Jennifer - haha
W. Lebanon, US
Jun 18, 2012 4:16 pm EDT

Windham Professionals called my office and asked for a former employee who has not worked for us in over five years. I notified the caller of such. He kept insisting that I must know where the employee was and how to get in touch with them. I emphasized they were calling a doctor's office and not a private home. I repeated I had no information and asked them to take me off the call list. I asked where he was caling from. He caller slammed the phone down. He never identified himself or the company he was calling from. I just happened to quickly hit *69 which re-dialed the phone. The operator answering the phone identified the company. I asked for a supervisor and was told "you have one". I related the experience and that I thought the staff was rude. The supervisor said he was trying to backtrack who made the call and to remove our number from the list. He kept saying "is this Jennifer?" I kept answering "your caller never asked my name; no I am not Jennifer." He then started asking if I was at different locations (I now know where the employee has moved to and a lot of personal information that I did not ask for) Finally, Matthew the supervisor got the hint and said he would take our name and business off the call list - we will see.

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Windham Collector
Orange County, US
Aug 25, 2012 6:45 pm EDT

I am a windham professionals employee. per federal law I have to advise you this is an attempt to collect a debt, and any information I obtain will be used for that purpose, and this email may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance! :} :} :}

I've read a vast majority of these and its the typical debtor attitude, nothing more. the bottom line is this folks, you willingly and knowingly borrowed (key word folks) thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of dollars from the united states government and we the people (because its our tax payer dollars!) in order to obtain an education to better your futures & families. the year was 2002, and 4 years later (2006) you either obtain a degree or you didnt. however, you still took the dismemberments from your student loan regardless of graduating or now. here it is now in mid 2012 and you are making pathetic excuses & making up your own laws in an effort to persuade yourself & others why you shouldn't pay back your loan?

Let me make a few things clear first before we continue. debt collectors know the law inside and out. we have to because debtors like you exist that are looking for any way out of paying their responsibility to the tax payers. yes we can call your job, and believe me we will! yes we can call your family members in an effort to locate you, and locate you we will. you can re-locate to an island with an out house & a hammock and we will still find you, send someone to hand you a sat phone, and ask you how you wish to handle your bill. yes we can set you up to have your wages and your taxes garnished and applied to the loan! if you think we can't then by all means contact us at windham, give your account details, give us a simple rtp (refusal to pay), and tell us where you work. watch magically as the hr dept from your job hands you a notice for awg (admin wage garnishment), then call us back and get on a rhb program so you dont have to hear it from your wife that we're taking 25% of your paycheck each pay period!

Things we cannot and will not do...
We will not make threats! not only is that unlawful, but we dont have to! we have plenty of tools at our disposal to make you see the light. i've discovered that I get more done with sugar than vinegar.in other words, im there to help you, not to make you feel like a pile of dog # for picking up the phone.

This is a federal debt, which means it will not go away until you handle it. theres folks in their 70's that we are still contacting about their federal loans. we will pursue you until the day you die until you pay or get on a program! its immune to statute of limitations, and it will not be discharged by bankruptcy!

Now we understand that not everyone is bill gates and has $1, 000-$250, 000 just laying around to pay a debt from 10 years ago. we offer you a rehab program that does the following for you:
- suspends (or stops pending ones) wage garnishments from happening
- allows you to safely file your federal tax returns and keep your money
- completely removes the defaulted loan from your credit report. like the debt never happened!
- restores your title iv benefits
- suspends the penalties & fees from accruing on your debt

Your monthly payments are based on your principles and interested reflected today and in most cases we can enroll folks on this program for a mere $50 a month! for 9 months, once you make 9 consecutive and timely monthly payments, a new lender assumes control of your loan, pays it off 100%, gets you out of default, and expunges the debt from your credit report!

Ask yourself if its really worth the hassle continuing to dodge your responsibility, or if you are ready to grow up and be a responsible member of society and make an effort to repay your loan!

[protected] < — we are here to help you see a light at the end of the tunnel! you can run, but you cannot hide.

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windhamprosnh
Salem, US
Oct 09, 2012 3:56 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Just so you all know, when you, the borrower, signed the contract for your loan, it binded you in a promise that you would repay the amount borrowed plus whatever fees incurred. I work for windham pros & can reassure you all that we are not a scam. we are sub-contracted out by sallie mae to collect debt from previous borrowers. the fact that you took out the loan in the 90's does not matter. the simple fact is if its in default & we're contacting you about it that's your problem, regardless if you were young & dumb or even if you didn't get the degree you sought after. it's technically up to you to keep your loan in good standing with your lender so the fact that we call to collect the debt that's owed even years later does not give you people the right to say we're a scam. sure there might be a few rude collectors but after being hung up on, cussed out, threatened with lawsuit, etc. some tend to get alittle hot-headed, not that it makes it ok. this economy sucks. we really are trying to help you. being rude will get you nowhere fast except for more calls, more interest/collection charges, derogatory comments on your credit report &/or garnishment. alittle hint.. ask about the rehab program we offer or unless you are really in dire straits, ask about the william d. ford program.

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Gil Hooley
IE
Nov 07, 2012 8:22 am EST

"tools" you are a tool! the gripe here is not about the debt owed but the collection practices as a whole. I find it funny that windham employees actually are responding to messages in this board in a defensive manner. yeah, real professional! maybe you should spend your time using your "tools" and tracking down debtors instead of defending your sleazeball company and tactics. incicdently, my father didn't default on his student loan, I did. so do me a favour and quit hassling my 80 year old father!

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arizonagal516
US
Mar 21, 2013 6:52 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

these people are rude, obnoxious, and nosy...i told them i was working with the dept of ed to pay my loans and they wanted to know what my arrangements with them are...none of your business, lady...secondly, i told them to stop calling my in laws because this is not their issue...now they are calling me all the time but not talking when i answer the phone...i can hear voices in the background and typing, but no one answers...they are very unprofessional...in this economy, i would think they would take whatever people can pay...yes, it is wrong to default...but if you are working to get it taken care of, that should be applauded---you should not be degraded and humiliated...

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awareofbs
Miami Gardens, US
Oct 12, 2013 2:36 am EDT

Stop pretending to work for the government when they are closed for business. I can't even talk to the Irs now due to shut down so take your lies elsewhere and stop harrassing me! Department of edu. Had no such record of me owing a loan that you are trying to collect idiots!

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awareofbs
Miami Gardens, US
Oct 12, 2013 2:45 am EDT

Be aware that they are trying to override the govt while on shut down. If they were govt entity they would be closed like everyone else including the department of education who is currently closed. My employer will not sign ### for you or give permission to garnish my wages so try this ### when the govt reopens and see how far you get!

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fckem
US
Aug 14, 2014 6:12 pm EDT

How to stop and take down debt collection call centers with just your iphone

The problem – you receive multiple calls over and over from the same call center.
The solution – call them all back, only this time we are going to call them back all at once!
We are going to tie up 4-12 call center employees at a time, for as long as you like.  
This will certainly be noticed by the debt collection company management.  
After we hold their expensive call center hostage with just your cell phone, we will demand they lose the number.
If we are threatened with legal action, we will remind them that they called us, and that we are just calling them back
(just all at once :>  ).
1. answer a phone call from a collections call center, and demand that they stop calling you, then hang up.
This puts the # in your recents list on your iphone.
2. dial the # back. (it is important not to mute the line, just don’t say anything)
3. when the call gets answered, hit the ‘add call‘ button on your iphone
4. click on ‘recents‘, and dial back the same # in step 2.
5. when that call answers, hit ‘merge calls‘ on your iphone
6. now repeat steps 2-5 until you have several calls conferenced together.
I like to get about 5 or 6 agents on the phone, screaming at each other.  
Some will hang up, I just keep calling back and adding more conference calls to the same number.  
At some point the agents will figure out that something fishy is going on.  
Try very hard not to bust out laughing.
After about 10-15 minutes of tying up their employees, I usually chime in and say something like
“tell your supervisor I will tie up all of his employees for as long as I wish, and will do so every time you call me.  tell your supervisor to stop calling this phone number.  its not cost effective anymore!”
And then hang up, and try not to die laughing….

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educated during the recession
Austin, US
Nov 05, 2014 1:33 am EST

I find it pretty funny that a bunch of people who work in a call center are complaining about people who decided to go to school, better themselves and just so happened to graduate during a recession. Don't you telemarketers worry though, the economy will pick up, we'll hopefully get better jobs, pay more taxes, so we can pay for more social programs that many take advantage of.

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e.m.b
Kingman, US
Dec 05, 2014 1:43 pm EST

Windham professional continually calls work and threatened to have me fired. Rarely ID's themselves and always threatens me.

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KT73
Whitehall, US
Apr 03, 2015 1:02 pm EDT

I must say that my experience with Windham has been just the opposite. I avoided them like the plague when they first began calling because I thought 1) I wouldn't be able to afford the payback right now and 2) Dealing with them would be a headache. I was wrong about both. When I finally decided to call them back I worked with Darryl C. and later Connie T.. Neither were at all demanding, but rather professional and understanding of my situation. We worked out a payment plan that I could afford and the transaction was seamless. I even missed a payment due to my own oversight and they worked with me to get back on track without any negativity. They've made rehabilitating my defaulted student loans easy and uncomplicated.

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catlover33
Culver City, US
Jun 17, 2015 8:28 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Hi, I have no defaulted student loans and no unpaid bills and these people are calling me. I have perfect credit and all my bills are on autopay. I'm reluctant to call these people back because they dont' have my home phone number and somehow just have my work number. I tend to agree with those saying they are a scam.

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Marcince81
US
Jan 17, 2016 8:31 pm EST

I have been receiving on average two calls a week from "John Hurley" from Windham. This has been going on for months now. I ignored the messages, because I was already paying Windham through automatic withdrawal, and I felt overwhelmed. I couldn't understand why I was being harassed, even receiving these calls at work. One day I sat down with my Windham paperwork and called the number on the letter. I spoke with a polite woman who said I was caught up on my payments and that there was no record of anyone calling me. I continue to receive calls from this guy. It's stressful. My only guess is that it's a scam, under Windham's name. I wish someone would get to the bottom of this.

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Dinky Doo
US
Apr 28, 2017 7:32 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

If they are calling you, you or someone you know owes the us dept of ed for a federally funded student loan. man up and take the call. if the person they're calling for isn't you, say it isn't you and stop calling your number. if it is you, and they verify it's you by verifying your first/last name and last 4 of your ss# or dob, listen to the spiel they have to give by law and see what's up. if you have no loan, don't hang up, tell them so or the calls won't stop. if you tell them you have no loans, they'll send you promissory notes to your current address. once you have those and review the signatures on them, if it still isn't you, fill out the papers in the time frame that you have... there is a deadline on that paperwork or collections will begin again... if it is you, the is a federal loan... it doesn't go away through bankruptcy or by any other means unless you're 100% disabled. if you are, tell them so. that way they can obtain your paperwork and ed will discontinue collections once you've proved that fact. they can and will offset your refunds from federal and state, they can and will garnish your wages. they can and will offset your ssa/ssi or any social security checks you receive. they can do this without court orders because this is a federal loan. better to pay voluntary payments than to wait until they are involuntary because... surprise! you're more broke than if you had worked with them and they give you months of them calling and calling and calling for you to man up and face your responsibilities. if you took out the loan, you need to pay it back. if you didn't finish school, you still took out the loan. if the school closed, fill out the paperwork with ed to possibly have it discharged... keep your address updated or don't cry that you've never received notice of garnishment or set offs. that's your responsibility. don't whine that you were never told this was going to happen if you do not keep a current address on file. you took out the loan. be an adult and take control of the debt before it is controlled by you.

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AlexD123
US
Jun 18, 2018 2:16 pm EDT

Debt collector did not process the proper amount owed on my account (which was double the original amount since I had NEVER been contacted about it in the first place) resulting in a default of $2 keeping me from getting financial aid for college. I paid the account in full last November and they refused to send out proof of payment. Now, as I'm down to the wire applying for financial aid to further my education, I found out that a mere "$2 in default status" they were supposed to take care of in the $1006.13 they were supposed to pay to the school will keep me from getting financial aid and delay my education even further. When I explained this issue man I spoke to was rude, unsympathetic (chuckled at my issue), and insisted that even though he admitted it was an employee's mistake, I had to pay $7 to have the account truly paid in full. I did it, in desperation but I know it was fruitless.

SUMMARY: Thanks to Windham Professionals, my education will be put on hold over TWO DOLLARS.

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Brian Trepaney
US
Mar 30, 2019 8:58 am EDT

Commercial Mananger Ken Houle. Makes you laugh. TN closed. Lost a 400 million dollar student loan contract with the federal government and my best decision ever was packing my box. Too many people believe they are great inside the walls of 380 Main. Be humble. Admit your faults and give it your best. Once you do you realize that this guy and a few of his friends got a little karma issue. Please paste below link in your browser and read about admitted child molester Ken Houle. Have a day!

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/news/local-news/2019/01/23/goffstown-man-allegedly-molested-nashua-girl/

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alexander roshinko
US
Aug 20, 2019 4:33 pm EDT

1.

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Charles MjR
US
Nov 06, 2019 5:29 am EST

These people called me and told me that they could have me arrested if I didn't pay the Balance on my Student loans. I told the guy he was full of crap! He then said hold on a minute, so he got someone else who was supposed to be his supervisor and he said that he could have the FBI at my front door in 30 minutes or less! I had at that time just started getting my SSI for my disability and it was only $380.00 per month. I told the guy that I had just started getting my SSI and I told him how much I get. So he said well guess what? I asked what? He said we are going to garnish your SSI for the next three years at $389.00 a month. I laughed and said [censored], I just told you I only get $380.00. He said yes I know and you are going to send us and extra 9.00 a month. I said I tell you what, I am going to speak with my attorney about this and I'll get back to you and I started to hang up on him. He said wait, then he told the other guy sitting there to call the FBI now! This guy had me scared, so I gave in and for the next three years I paid them $389.00 a month. This happened during Obama days. I had to borrow the extra $9.00 plus the money for the money order and stamp to send them all the money. This company should have their business license revoked by the BBB in all states! I asked the guy if I could send a check and he said NO, I had to send a Money order. After the three years was over, I was contacted by another company who wanted to know when I was going to take care of this Student loan. I told them that I had just paid Windham Collections and it was supposed to have been paid off now. These people said there was no record of paying anything on these loans. That was 7 years ago, and recently I got a call from Spartan Documents company pretending to be 100% legitimate. I thought they were so I set everything up with them to take the money right out of my Direct Express card at $189.00 a month for 5 months and then $59.00 a month for three years, something about that 3 years thing? Then after I hung up and I thought everything was good and kosher I called the guy back at the number I had for him and low and behold, the number you have dialed is no longer in service, or has been changed, etc. you know the drill! I had been had again. So as of today, they did try to take the money from my Direct Express Debit card and the payment was refused to be paid out! Thank God! I know because they sent me an email stating that the payment had been turned down and gave me a new number to call. So I called it, talked to them after I had time to check out that company on the Internet and found that they don't exist! So I had a good time with the guy telling him that the reason they didn't get the money is because LIFELOCK and Direct Express work together to keep me safe from thieves like you. He got irate with me then he threatened to have me locked up and said you know what bud do what ever floats your boat, then I hung up. I waited ten minutes, called the number back and guess what, the number you have dialed is no longer in service or has been changed, etc.! Does anyone know who the makers of the Magic Jack are? I want to sue them on a personal basis for allowing these people to use that device to commit these crimes with and force the makers of Magic Jack to make a KILL CODE to that we can punch into our phone when we suspect we are being scammed and we can shut the down, destroy not only their computers and magic jacks but their entire network!

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