Windham Professionals review: Rude and seems like a scam 103

First, I would like to say that I do indeed owe a debt for a student loan and would love, love, love to get it rehabilitated and on track and paid off.in fact, I have (for years) been paying a small amount on the loan from month to month ($300 - $650); whatever I could at the time. I was working with a nice company and things went smoothly. then out of the blue, I received a vm from jessica robinson at windam wanting a return call. I don't run from these. I am trying to clear all my debt. I returned her call and it started a relationship with windham filled with turmoil. I can't remember every word of the conversation but basically, she told me her company had the loan and that the payment was due in full (over $30, 000). I advised her I did not have $30, 000 to pay. this seemed to frustrate her (I guess she was expecting me to just write a check for the amount) and she reminded me over and over that I owe the debt. (yes, thank you jessica, I know this.) I tried to advise jessica that I would love to work with them to pay this loan but the only other payment jessica was willing to accept was a "down payment" on the loan to show I was sincere in paying. she advised me the "down payment" would be 1/3 of the total amount (a little over $12, 000).

Basically, after three weeks and several phone calls, she finally understood that I do not have that type of money nor do I have a way to get (although I am trying - talking to some cu's about a loan, etc.). this morning, she informed me b/c I couldn't pay that amount, I would have to speak to her supervisor, jason. it was the same story. at first he was pleasant but as soon as he figured out I could not give $12, 000, he became terse, aggressive and demanding (this is putting it midly but I am trying to remain a little professional and adult myself). I did offer to pay him, immediately, $400 which he refused, saying my payment was due in full. I want to be clear on this point - they have only been in contact with me for about a month and they are demanding $12, 000, the full amount, or nothing. then jason said he could accept the $400 and that it would put the account "on hold" until wednesday (three days) when I would once again be asked for the down payment of 1/3 of the loan. now my husband and I were at the end of our rope. giving the $400 would tap us financially until our next paycheck (our air conditioner blew up about 2 months ago and ate our savings). jason said that without the $400 now and the downpayment in three days, he would be forced to "just push one button and send you to litigation". at this point, jason was threatening and did not seem to want to work with us at all. my husband got concerned that if we gave over the $400 and then tried to obtain a loan that we would not have enough in our accounts to qualify. as we were trying to work out what to do, jason hung up on us (without saying anything). I called him right back and he admitted he hung up on us b/c it took too long. then after a few more questions, he got very loud and angry and told my husband that if we didn't want to pay this loan that he would send us on (to litigation i'm assuming) and then sarcastically said "good luck".

Once again this morning (after this call), I visited my cu and tried to see what I could get in terms of a loan. now here is the absolute amazing part: I was asked by the credit union to obtain something that showed it was a "student" loan or money I had for college to help get me some sort of loan. I called back to jason, got his vm, then called jessica. jessica stated that neither she nor jason could provide me with any documentation that stated the loan amount or that said I owed the money b/c my account was under "review". the cu is now skeptical of even working with this without documentation.

Again, i'm not saying I don't owe the money. i'm not even saying I do not and cannot make some payment to it but i've never even been giving the slightest hope of making any type of arrangement for monthly payments (no matter the size of the payment). i've only been given three options: $12, 000 down, the full amount or nothing. I would love to get in contact with someone like gloria talked to or even you, dlow (and I agree with you... the script at the p. s. was hilarious... I actually did laugh out loud at windham girl for that).

At this point, I guess the only thing I can do is file my complaint on the company for what I feel like is slight harrasment, call my student loan company to let them know (in case they care) and hire a lawyer (sigh!). I feel like this company is very rude, aggressive, berating, harrassing and moody. I believe they push the ticket on every point of the fair credit act and that they are not interested in working with me to any reasonable extent. one positive note: I did (in my research of them) find a link to an advocate at the company. I think I will send an email to him/her to see if they have any words of wisdom but am not holding my breath.

Look why avoid a debt, it is just going to make uor life harder in the long run, so you can listen to people who tell you "tricks" to avoid collectors, i'll even give you a few, but in the long run that attitude is why you have collectors calling you. As for the person stating that windham added 50k to their 4k loan, that is patently untrue, all fees are added by windhams client(state departments of education) so i would suspect you just owe more than you think, seriously that would be illegal adding that kind of fees, all state have laws stating that collections fees must be reasonable, and i don't think anyone can think 1, 000% is reasonable, so maybe calling windham or their client will shed some light on that

These are some of the most hilarious comments I have read in a long time! The agency sounds like a bunch of people that are sad to have their job--or people obsessed with Italian mobsters! There is never a reason to be rude. People don't pay loans back for several reasons, but anger will never make people pay more or faster. Anyone who suggests putting a cat down to save money has obviously not a clue about compassion --which is what the world needs more of! I only looked on here to see what comments were posted because my girlfriend received a very rude call regarding a student loan she had forgotten about...from years ago. I am glad I read these before she had to call back and be harassed...she will be taking a different avenue. Good luck all.

I got a letter from this agency yesterday for a debt owed to my university that I've been paying off in installments.
On the $4100 principal amount, Windham has added $55, 300 in interest and $16, 700 in collections. So you can imagine my reaction when I received a letter from them stating that I owed them $76, 000+.
Needless to say, I won't be dealing with this company, and have taken it up with the university directly. I wonder if they know what kind of company they have representing them?

Why on earth would anyone take a job in collections? I guess the people who do have hardships or can't find an easier, less stressful occupation. In the past, I treated bill collectors as a challenge - someone who has engaged me in a battle of will and wits and to whom I was hell-bent to "out irritate". It was almost like a game of telephone chicken to see who would hang-up first.

When the collector called, there was never any chance that I would pay on the spot and no amount of threats or intimidation could change that and this is still true today. If a rude or arrogant collector calls, the possibility of any meaningful dialogue evaporates instantaneously and it quickly devolves into a battle royale.

Technology has now given the consumer an increased advantage over the collector to some extent in the form of caller-id and online databases like this. From these, you can now get a sense that you are not alone and can gage an idea of how a company is going to deploy its strategy in attempting to collect the debt. Sort of makes you feel that you're not the only victim of these silly tactics and a forum like this gives you a voice to let these people know you are not going to take it.

Another advantage of the technology age is that you can have more than one phone number and that number may or may not listed in your name i.e. a spouse or relative with a different surname, a company name, skype... When you sign-up for a purchase or a loan, think about the possibility that you may become delinquent at some point. Think about saving yourself the aggravation of having a dopey collector bothering you by letting him/her call a number you use exclusively for sales or "junk" calls and rings somewhere far from earshot (or not at all like a voicemail only number). Never give a cell phone number or work number. As an aside, set up a second or third email account and list that one on sales or loan forms as well. In other words, the collector may EVENTUALLY find you but why make it easy.

Talking to these people also requires a little forethought. They are not your friend and will use tactics to find out more about you - other phone numbers, addresses, email, aliases or anything else of use in order to collect the debt. Give them NOTHING!

Don't let these people scare or bully you. They can't get you demoted at work or have you put in jail or anything else they claim they can do. In the cases I've read about them taking pictures or intimidating you, call the cops!, let these fools explain to them about what exactly they are doing.

If you're like me, you most likely DO OWE the debt they are attempting to collect. You know it and they know it. In my case, nine times out of ten I had simply put the bill on a pile of papers somewhere and forgot about it. I make a good income and have no reason not to pay it. The only reason its not paid is disorganization and lack of momentum. This is where I have my NEW philosophy on bill collectors.

When they call (unless they're rude or nasty) I now thank them for making me aware of the delinquent bill and thank them for their time. They almost always want me to take care of it that moment and I always decline and say I will contact the company to whom I owe the money and pay them directly. I usually get several responses to that: "Your credit rating will be affected..." or "we will continue to call even though you said it will be taken care of..." Both probably true but I still decline and usually hang-up. There may be a commission for them if they get the actual payment and since they have irritated me, "no commission for you!" Then, I really do pay the bill. Usually online or by mail directly to the company. eventually, the calls stop and that's that.

If some bill collector is going to tell me I should clean-up my act and pay bills on time especially since I am fortunate enough to have the ability to do so, I would say look at your own lives and put your own house in order first. Quit giving me a holier-than-thou lecture. You're basically just a voice on the phone who has no power or control over me whatsoever so, shut the hell up and go away!

These people are ###. Received a voice mail this morning from one of their reps telling me I NEEDED TO CALL HIM back in a very rude way. For some odd reason I thought it was a recruiter calling me. Come to find out this place is a SCAM job and they were looking for the wrong person. Not sure how they got my cell phone information so I asked them and they asked me for my number and disconnected me. This place is a "Boiler Room" except for the Vin Diesel. Stay away from these crooks! They need to be shut down immediatly as they have sensitive information on people. I'm reporting them to every govt agency I can file a complaint to.

This company is ridiculous. I recently quit Windham due to extremely pathetic conditions and shady dealings between management.
There is a lot of favoritism and sneaky tricks going on in the Hendersonville Office and the would be wigga manager (no not Matt) the fat redneck with purple hair, is the most corrupt and has the worst poker face of all. The H'ville office can't keep an employee.
Ever since I started there has been a constant turn over. People are leaving Windham to work ANYWHERE else they can.
Pathetic.

I had a defaulted student loan that was sent to Windham Professionals for collection. I don't remember how many times I tried to rehabilitate my loan through the TX Dept of Education but they wanted a huge down payment before I could be eligible to make monthly payments. A year later I decided to give it a try one more time. I called TX Dept of Education again and they told me my account was already in collections. So after they gave me the phone number for the Collection company (Windham) I prepared myself for the worst but I was decided to do whatever it took to rehabilitate my loan. I was unemployed and recently divorced at that time. I called Windham and to my surprise, they were the nicest, more courteous and professional collectors I have ever had the pleasure to talk to. I didn't have to give them any money down. They set me on payments of $130.00 a month. I gave them my checking account and they started withdrawing payments every month, the same day. 1 year later, I'm back in school. My loan rehabilitated and I am the one that always calls them to make sure everything is ok because they NEVER call me, why? Because they don't have any problems collecting the money that I OWE. Thanks to them I'm back in college and I am still paying my debt. They are real, they are not scam, they are just doing their job and they are VERY Professional.

ALTOUGH th fdcpa script was f***in' hilarious

You know I know that regular folks say some bad stuff about bill collectors, but I don't think insulting people is helping, come on act like adults, why would you say someone is a drunk it is none of your business, not to mention you are giving our company a bad name, not that is wasn't bad enough, you know you can be firm without being mean, honestly, would you talk to your mother like that, how about your grandmother, your preacher, or god (who is supposedly always watching) you are a travesty to our business and are no better than the bottom feeders that people say we are, I am ashamed to say I work with people like you, why don't you go be a l. a. cop if you wanna be mean, you might make bigger bonuses if you could talk to people

I think it's amazing that these people who allegedly can't pay their bills, find time (and money) to have internet access, and spend their time posting on these sites that have no relevence.

I almost laughed out loud, while at my work, windham professionals, when someone stated that we sent people out to spy on their property. I mean come on, are you that desperate? the first thought that came to my mind, if you're guilty right there. you're probably breaking the law, and thus investigators, law enforcement, was sent after you.
It's a shame people are this ignorant as to think we actually have the ability to send out "investigators".
Bill collectors know the law.
Apparently you don't. and as one other person said, in essence not paying defaulted loans is stealing from the government, thus you are not only ignorant of the law, you are breaking it.
Have a great day!
P. s. this is a communication from a debt collector, and an attempt to collect a debt. any information obtained will be used for that purpose, this text may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance.

I have a Perkins loan that I defaulted on and it is only $250. I had overlooked it, I suppose. But, nonetheless, it has been placed for collections through Windham Unprofessionals. I received a call earlier today and the caller (who did not identify himself, only that he was calling from Windham) told me that I must be a drunk and that is why I was unable to make the payment. He then later told me to go screw myself. When I called back to complain, Windham had no record of any calls being placed to my number. Unbelievable.

even though i hope this is not true, i have to agree, if you are threatened by any 3rd party bill collector get a lawyer, and fight it, but know that there is a fine line between aggressively informing and threatening, it is only a threat if they CANNOT follow through, e.g. they can garnish, but could not report someone to their C.O. in the military, feel free to msg me with your examples and i will tell you what i think

They threatened to take my husband's army rank away by reporting him to his co and he's deployed right now too! this is a federal offense! please, people... report them to the attorney general of nh and the fcc and your local da... what they are doing is highly illegal if they threaten you in any way, shape or form... you can do the fcc report online.

Just so everyone knows cease and desist letters will only delay these types of debt, and in most cases the lender will just hire a new collecton agency, and add more collections fees (student loan prommissory notes state the borrower will pay collections)... and for the record unpaid student loans are backed by the federal government... my tax money and yours, so I personally want them to get this money back, as far as i'm concerned it is stolen money and they should prosecute, don't misunderstand me I have money problems like anyone, but I make arrangements and pay my bills as well as I can, and when I find out I have a bill I didn't know about, I don't cus the person telling me and insult their entire profession, I just look for a way to protect my credit and my childrens well being, you see more and more jobs are not hiring people with bad credit, because that is a temptation to steal (to pay there bills) and untrustworthiness (the didn't do as promised/ kept money they were supposed to pay back)... has anyone thought if bill collectors could get the money without acting like this than maybe they wouldn't... it usually is nescessary because people try to get out of paying, by lying about their income, or anything they can... seriously if everyone was nice and and honest there would be less scare tactics and more friendly bill collectors

Hello Everyone!
When one of these people call you...laugh at them. Tell them to give you their address so you can send a cease and desist letter. Tell them you only deal with the people you owe the money to, not these vultures.
Collection agencies are parasites, they create nothing, they live off others misery. Tell them if it wasn't for you, they wouldn't have a job, and most of them can't get one elsewhere.
Remember...laugh at them.

First of all slypup, when you type in all caps it means you are yelling. secondly, if you work for this company, and anyone else for that matter who works for a collection agency: try being nice. I know its a crazy thought, right?! people who know they are drownding in debt, dont always get there on purpose. having someone harrassing you isnt really going to want them to pay you. if you are calling for your money, other companies probably are too. have some respect for the human race and treat people the way you would like to be treated if you happened to fall on unlucky times.

This company has an employee name Ken Houle who has given me absolute hell! He called the office I work for to collect a debt that the company owes. I told him that I would get back to him once I find out an arrangement. I called him the next day and had to left a message, the following day I had to take some time off of work due to a family emergency. I finally got back to work today and while I was at work they sent someone to my house, taking pictures of my house, looking in my spouses car and asking my neighbors about me. Mind you this debt that they are collecting is NOT against me it is against the company I work for. The lady then served my spouse with papers on this debt. This is totally unacceptable. I have talked to a lawyer and what they did was completely illegal. Aren't debt collectors supposed to know the law?

I have yet to speak to anyone at this agency, but they've been calling me for a week now & leaving me a message for my husband on my cell phone. They say it concerns a "business matter, " which made me curious. I called the number back & got the agency name, & discovered that they were an educational loan collections agency. Funny thing, though-- my husband has never taken out educational loans! So, I freaked out and immediately went online to the govt. loan site to see which one of MY loans - if any - were in default. I've been paying off my student loans for a year now - even while in school - & found no evidence of default. What's going on? Why are they harassing me? What can I do?

Today I got a call from Windham Professionals. I told them that all of my student loans were consolidated with Sallie Mae and that I was paying them $300 a month. I am also unemployed and can not afford to add another payment to the monthly rotation. He went through my list of expenses with me and suggested I try to reduce the amount we pay monthly for our medical costs and to put our cat down. Our cat has asthma and we have to by a monthly inhailer and medication for him. Are you kidding me?! At that I said I'm really sorry that we don't see eye to eye. Not paying you at this time is not going to result in your death. It could in my cats. He said well once you are finally working again I will need to garnish your paychecks. I said Sound Great! Have a nice day ###. I am so angry.

I on the other hand am being billed incorrectly and contacted a number which then this company transfered me to these so called professionals. I spoke to a woman by the name of Crystal and explained to her that these charges are incorrect and she tells me why am I calling her? That's what their records show and then she started talking loud which was not called for. I was in total shock at this point. They have no right talking to people in that manner. I was under the impression they didn't feel like working. I just think that if they answer the phones in that manner it makes it obvious they hate their job. I feel sorry for them.

I am a collection agent for a competitor of their's and i have to say that most of the things i am reading are standard practice. If they or my company recieve your loan it has usually been in default for SEVERAL years, and been garunteed out by a state or federal department of education. While i don't know about their specific payment arangements, my company only accepts secured payments for the first payment. Let's be honest most people will promise the moon and stars to get a bill collector off of the phone. Maybe we are just expecting to be treated like customers, not like people who owe thousands of dollars. most education accounts at this level are large, and the info they have is old. it is very frustrating to have to hunt someone down to get them to pay their bill, and state departments of education can garnish, usually without a court order, so many collectors have a very no nonesense attitude. We have collectively heard every sob story out there, so a new one doesn't phase us...The moral of the story, just because we don't like what they have to say, doesn't mean they are a scam. A defaulted loan is due in FULL any other arrangement is a courtesy.

I totally agree they are a scam. I just got off the phone with them and the only way they will set up payment arrangements is if I give them a bank account number. They don't accept money orders or cash at the office. They are insisting on a bank account number, which I refuse to give to anyone! I'm going to look up the better business bureau number and call them tomorrow. I'll update here with what I find out.