This afternoon I  found 9 comments waiting to be posted on my blog, all for the post Buying a job with Haverhill Home Staging? Questionable.

All 9 comments were done this morning over a period of about three hours, and all were from the same IP address. All praised Haverhill, and suggested that only those willing to work hard would succeed in the Haverhill course.

So was it an overzealous Haverhill student standing up for the “school”??? No. It was someone posting from IP address 207.236.52.58, which traces back to a company called Magnolia Stone Productions. It just so happens that Magnolia is producing “Stagers Studio” for Haverhill, which is essentially advertising disguised as vignettes, to be played during HGTV home selling shows.

And incidentally, Darren Morgenstern is the owner of Haverhill and the executive producer at Magnolia. So it would appear the two companies are intertwined and the poster who left these nine comments was doing so on behalf of Haverhill.

Here are the comments left by the Haverhill operative:

carol stahl
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 11:10am

I read a lot of blogs about Haverhill and some of the mix-ups that occur seem to me to be entirely that just mix-ups. I don’t think that the entire institute is a scam. I was always treated very fairly and have no complaints. I found the course reps to be pleasant and helpful. I really sailed thru this course without any hang-ups or frustrations. I’m not saying there could never be any problems for anyone taking the course but the personnel I spoke with were all right there for me. I’m actually a home stager now and it feels wonderful to have this success. My advice is to stick with what u started and see it thru. Happy staging to u all.
I read a lot of blogs about Haverhill and some of the mix-ups that occur seem to me to be entirely that just mix-ups. I don’t think that the entire institute is a scam. I was always treated very fairly and have no complaints. I found the course reps to be pleasant and helpful. I really sailed thru this course without any hang-ups or frustrations. I’m not saying there could never be any problems for anyone taking the course but the personnel I spoke with were all right there for me. I’m actually a home stager now and it feels wonderful to have this success. My advice is to stick with what u started and see it thru. Happy staging to u all.

—-

denise stewart
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 10:42am

Nice to hear some positive feedback about Haverhill. I can’t believe that Haverhill would be the success that it is without ANY satisfied customers. Home staging is becoming a very big business and with my Haverhill accreditation i’m doing very well in Toronto. It’s very well thought of here. I love my work and that keeps me buoyant all the time now. It’s never redundant like a lot of jobs. I have had a lot of jobs in my life but I think i’m going to stick with this. Thanks to Haverhill I have a good name in the business (also due to giving good service if I do say so myself).
Nice to hear some positive feedback about Haverhill. I can’t believe that Haverhill would be the success that it is without ANY satisfied customers. Home staging is becoming a very big business and with my Haverhill accreditation i’m doing very well in Toronto. It’s very well thought of here. I love my work and that keeps me buoyant all the time now. It’s never redundant like a lot of jobs. I have had a lot of jobs in my life but I think i’m going to stick with this. Thanks to Haverhill I have a good name in the business (also due to giving good service if I do say so myself).

celia cameron
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 10:00am

I’m glad that some of the other Haverhill students have spoken up. It’s not a scam but a very professional organization. Always stressing professionalism Haverhill brought out the best in me. I’ve always been efficient methodical (friends call me obsessive), now I have a career where paying attention to detail is a must. Haverhill accentuates that requirement…just my cup of tea. My sales experience comes in handy too so my business is doing well u really have to be able to sell yourself in this business. I was also treated very fairly by the Institute. I got a refund and accreditation so i’m well on my way and keeping busy. Good luck to all of u. Keep on staging.
I’m glad that some of the other Haverhill students have spoken up. It’s not a scam but a very professional organization. Always stressing professionalism Haverhill brought out the best in me. I’ve always been efficient methodical (friends call me obsessive), now I have a career where paying attention to detail is a must. Haverhill accentuates that requirement…just my cup of tea. My sales experience comes in handy too so my business is doing well u really have to be able to sell yourself in this business. I was also treated very fairly by the Institute. I got a refund and accreditation so i’m well on my way and keeping busy. Good luck to all of u. Keep on staging.

rosa rogers
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 9:33am

Haverhill offers a comprehensive course on home staging I’m right now just starting to get clients for my home staging business and they have all heard of Haverhill. Realtors too. I have read many of the blogs about Haverhill being a scam but I was treated very fairly and so I don’t know where these blogs are coming from I just think it’s a good course and I even got my money back.
Haverhill offers a comprehensive course on home staging I’m right now just starting to get clients for my home staging business and they have all heard of Haverhill. Realtors too. I have read many of the blogs about Haverhill being a scam but I was treated very fairly and so I don’t know where these blogs are coming from I just think it’s a good course and I even got my money back.

linda downs
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 9:09am

I have always been a creative person and my Haverhill accreditation helps me to get clients in Toronto and the surrounding areas. Many realtors in Toronto prefer Haverhill grads for their clients. It’s a booming industry these days and now that the recession is turning around it should even get better. Here’s to the future and I wish u all well.
I have always been a creative person and my Haverhill accreditation helps me to get clients in Toronto and the surrounding areas. Many realtors in Toronto prefer Haverhill grads for their clients. It’s a booming industry these days and now that the recession is turning around it should even get better. Here’s to the future and I wish u all well.

sydney tanner
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 9:01am

Haverhill is a good course for someone who can work independently while juggling a full time job and kids. I completed the course in the allotted 6 months and passed with flying colors. Haverhill refunded my tuition when I returned all the course materials. I’m now working in home staging part time and really enjoying it. The whole idea really appealed to me b/c I like being my own person. I’m very efficient and I have boundless energy and that is definitely required.
Haverhill is a good course for someone who can work independently while juggling a full time job and kids. I completed the course in the allotted 6 months and passed with flying colors. Haverhill refunded my tuition when I returned all the course materials. I’m now working in home staging part time and really enjoying it. The whole idea really appealed to me b/c I like being my own person. I’m very efficient and I have boundless energy and that is definitely required.

lesly nagy
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 8:50am

The Haverhill course is not for quitters but If u are focused it’s a good learning experience and has hands on projects too. There is a tendency to neglect one’s studies when there is a lot on one’s plate but they give u plenty of time to complete the course so it’s all a matter of pacing yourself. I was never planning to hire on at Havergill but my accreditation is a good recommendation to clients and realtors alike. I was very pleased to get a refund even though I felt I got my money’s worth. All very high class.
The Haverhill course is not for quitters but If u are focused it’s a good learning experience and has hands on projects too. There is a tendency to neglect one’s studies when there is a lot on one’s plate but they give u plenty of time to complete the course so it’s all a matter of pacing yourself. I was never planning to hire on at Havergill but my accreditation is a good recommendation to clients and realtors alike. I was very pleased to get a refund even though I felt I got my money’s worth. All very high class.

sandra shaw
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 8:30am

Kudos to the people who successfully completed their career changes with Haverhill. Personally it has opened up a whole new world for me. I feel very necessary and the renumeration is great. I’m a people person and I love being in charge. Haverhill is a demanding course but the rewards are worth all the hard work. I don’t quail at hard work. Don’t even bother trying the course unless u are prepared to really apply yourself. If u have high energy then this is a very lucrative way to channel it. I don’t think anyone can do this but if u are really serious then go for it. U get a refund if u are not hired.
Kudos to the people who successfully completed their career changes with Haverhill. Personally it has opened up a whole new world for me. I feel very necessary and the renumeration is great. I’m a people person and I love being in charge. Haverhill is a demanding course but the rewards are worth all the hard work. I don’t quail at hard work. Don’t even bother trying the course unless u are prepared to really apply yourself. If u have high energy then this is a very lucrative way to channel it. I don’t think anyone can do this but if u are really serious then go for it. U get a refund if u are not hired.

leslie nagy
haverhillstaging.com
[email protected]
207.236.52.58
Submitted on 2009/08/11 at 8:16am

Taking the Haverhill course was a good decision on my part. I have a very strong drive and that is definitely required. I kept my objectives clearly in place and passed with a good mark. Now I have everything going for me lots of work and good contacts. Everyone I spoke to was very helpful and It was a good learning experience for me. Having this career has meant so much to me. It seems like just e yesterday I was toiling away at a job I hated, now I’m in charge of myself and others and it feels great. If home staging is for u then I would highly recommennd the Haverhill course.
Taking the Haverhill course was a good decision on my part. I have a very strong drive and that is definitely required. I kept my objectives clearly in place and passed with a good mark. Now I have everything going for me lots of work and good contacts. Everyone I spoke to was very helpful and It was a good learning experience for me. Having this career has meant so much to me. It seems like just e yesterday I was toiling away at a job I hated, now I’m in charge of myself and others and it feels great. If home staging is for u then I would highly recommennd the Haverhill course.

19 Comments

  1. Michael 08/11/2009 at 2:12 pm - Reply

    Nice find, Tracy! You’d think they’d at least try to use a proxy to change IPs …

  2. michael webster 08/11/2009 at 2:24 pm - Reply

    Tracy, here is the link to one of the Google ads that appeared on this entry:

    http://www.stagingdiva.com/homestagingchecklist.html

    Hmm, yet another company to look at.

    Thanks for the heads up about the ip number, although your link doesn’t work.

    I had a couple of comments on my site from that IP number also.

  3. wendy 08/12/2009 at 1:13 pm - Reply

    Awesome catch. Im currently taking the course and am very very angry as I am experiencing many of the same things most students blog about. Hopefully there will be a class action suit soon. They have since sold the company but surely something can and should be done.

  4. Darwin's Finance 08/13/2009 at 7:04 am - Reply

    Wow; you read my mind! The comments pouring in over past few days at my posts on Darwin’s Finance and Everyday Finance (since EDF on blogger, it doesn’t track IP on comments though) and I had gone back to check IPs. At a glance I did see at least one redundancy and was about to investigate further and post. Some of the comments are cut/paste as well.

    I’ll post with my findings in the next day or so, but I suspect it will be more of the same.

    Verdict: That is sooooooo lame to go out and fake post positive reviews and try to marginalize people that said they had a poor experience.

  5. Diana 08/13/2009 at 10:25 pm - Reply

    It’s completely obvious, reading those comments you’ve posted in your blog today, that they’re written by the same person. Their style of writing and level of writing is exactly the same. And it’s rather odd that everyone who rebutted your post, have a curious habit of tossing a “u” instead of “you” into their comments.

  6. Jennie Norris 08/23/2009 at 12:59 pm - Reply

    I am amazed to the low standards this group will stoop to try to give themselves credibility. They have poor standards for education, are not doing right by the people that sign up to be “trained” by them, make false promises of fake employment, and now try to override the negative press by posting fake testimonials! Amazing.

    Thank you for being on top of this – I, and any true professional Stager, are grateful that the truth of who Haverhill is and what their real agenda is about are being revealed.

    I just hope any person that wants to get educated as a Stager does NOT get fooled by the false promises of Haverhill. They are a sham and should be shut down in my opinion.

  7. jmt27 09/18/2009 at 2:08 pm - Reply

    I just wanted to say thanks as well for both researching and posting this about Haverhill. I am one of the dissatisfied students of their course. I have posted my story on EDF. I hope someone seriously looks into the wrong doings of this company. I imagine and hope many law suits are currently underway. I will gladly add my name and my story to their list if anyone is looking for the support to bring this company down. I am so angry…

  8. MM BNR 09/29/2009 at 8:32 am - Reply

    I was scammed by this company and feel badly for all of those folks that are currently and will be. They do make it impossible to “pass” their courses. My marriage and life was almost ruined by this experience. I too will add my name and story to the list…

  9. Kareem 09/30/2009 at 9:20 pm - Reply

    Wow, I cannot thank you enough. When I seen the commercial I was so excited and then as I explained it to people, they looked at me weird especially because of the guaranteed employment part. What a pity. I also hope there is a lawsuit and some kind of recovery for the victims of this fabricated learning institute. I’m so glad I checked around before I invested. As a new yorker, it has to be a second nature. Does anyone have information on the QC Quality of course? they are also an online course but have been accredited by the Better Business Bureau.

    thanks again!!!

  10. Sharon 10/13/2009 at 1:39 pm - Reply

    I’m also a somewhat dissatisfieds student. Below is the letter that I sent to them………of course I received no response:

    I’d like to say by way of background information that I was a member of the National Honor Society and was on the National Dean’s list for every year that I was in college. I have never failed a test and can only offer suggestions to you so future students don’t fall victim to the same testing methods you are using now.
    But let me start with your course curriculum. Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach the courses step by step? By that I mean:
    1. Perform your Home Evaluation, take pictures, write your evaluation and recommendations and submit. I was completely confused by the “After” requirements. What was I supposed to do? Stage an entire home for my very first assignment having ONLY learned how to evaluate thus far???? This was very disheartening and defeating RIGHT at the beginning of my training.
    2. De-cluttering would have made more sense if I hadn’t just completed a home in it’s entirety in Lesson one.
    3. I would think the final assignment should be the totally stage home AFTER performing Lessons 1-4.

    Any final exam I have ever taken has been categorized by chapter, that way ambiguous questions have SOME frame of reference. I was very annoyed by the lack of direction on the final exam. Since I foolishly did not memorize the entire book verbatim it was impossible for me to discern just what the questions were referring to. For instance the question:
    “The difference between a _______and a ________ is the lack of __________.”
    What the _________ was that question referring to? Had it been grouped together with other questions from the same chapter I might have been able to figure it out for myself rather than spending most of my 2 hour time limit frantically flipping through the book trying to find context. I could have put “man”, “woman” and “penis” in there and the sentence would technically have been correct. FYI – I later found the Haverhill answer because it was important enough to me to do so. I chose not to re-write the test because I couldn’t see a different outcome as I still had not memorized the book.
    I am sorry that I was deemed ineligible to work for Haverhill because I was very excited about the prospect and liked what I learned about the company. I wish you and all your future graduates much success.

  11. Donna McGuinness 02/19/2010 at 6:30 pm - Reply

    I took the course over a period of 3 months, it took me 1 month to find a house to stage because no one wanted me to do it and the real estate people HATE Haverhill. So I stage a great house and I did a damn good job on it. I also spent over $500 of my own money on top of my over $1000 that we were saving for a rainy day. When I called the customer service to join she said, “you’ve been in Interior Design for over 15 years you’ll have no problem” Yeah I was an Interior Designer for the biggest companies in NYC and I never had a problem. So I do all they want and I get the swine flu in September, they helped but it seemed that they used it against me. So when all was done and I spend another $75 to ship all the material to them. They freaking take their time to grade it and the grading never makes sense. The worst thing is that there is never anyone to talk to, you have to send in your questions, all BS!!

    Then it came down to the test. I failed it so I actually called the President and said “you promised me that because I was sick you would grade my stuff and give me a break” She said I had to get in everything including the test by January 31 of this year, funny it said March, so they lied again. I had to have an 80% in order to get employment..I freaking got a 75%!! So I couldn’t be hired for 75%!! I am a over qualified Interior Designer and this test was the dumbest never made sense test I have ever taken! I got my certificate today, a f****** certificate for over $1500!! ALL TOTAL BS and the problem is, that it is wearing my marriage down because we both don’t work, ya know the crap economy…I put my entire life into this program and they got my money.

    We need to join and get together and make sure no one does this. I hope your friend does well but they don’t hire and they don’t say what they promise, they lie and lie and lie and lie, plus considering I’m 49 years old I’m not a sore looser but this is the worst thing I ever did in my life!

  12. Professor 02/27/2010 at 6:46 pm - Reply

    I am not a stager; however, I hold Ph.Ds in English and Education. The SPECIFIC reports of the pedagogy of this course (see Sharon’s comment above- I have read similar elsewhere) strongly suggests SCAM.

    NO training course of any legitimacy (online or otherwise) would offer such vague questions on an exam. If legitimate (to be charitable here), it is at the very least, very poorly designed.

    Not letting students return to earlier questions in an online testing situation can be legitimate, provided that this instruction is clear from the start so that students can plot their time accordingly. Moreover, test designers have an obligation to carefully craft the wording and organization of their answers in such online testing scenarios.

    Changing the grading criteria and/or rubric after the fact is a clear red flag- if these allegations are true… Caveat emptor! And good luck.

  13. Abigail Kodua 03/16/2010 at 8:14 am - Reply

    Hi

    I was just about to register for Haverhill and decided to google more info on them then came up with this. I will not be registering with them anymore thanks to this info you provided on this site. I am wondering however, which staging school should I go to? Any recommendations on reputable staging courses??

    What about this one?

    http://www.csptraining.com/

  14. Amy 03/23/2010 at 7:43 pm - Reply

    I too am a victom of the 80% job promise.The final exam could have been on rocket sicence and would have made more sense to me! The tela conference never implied you should memorize the
    entire manual since we are going to throw random questions at you! I will join in any law suit that I can to try to retrieve some of my lost money and hope!

  15. Cheryl Lee 03/24/2010 at 1:24 pm - Reply

    I, too, signed up for Haverhill Staging course, after being continually called by their recruiter, whom I shall not name. The last call before I finally signed up went like this–“You will be hired part-time if you pass the course with a 55% or above”–so I fell for it. I worked very hard at it and received a final grade of better than 55%. It was costly to even send my coursework back and then I had to pay for the FBI report as well. In return, I got an agreement that stated I could be an independent stager and use their name and marketing materials. I would not be paid for any marketing activities, had to provide my own insurance and agree to not compete as long as they kept me under their agreement–they can drop you at any time. So congratulations to me–I was rewarded with absolutely nothing. Shame on me for thinking they were on the up and up, and shame on them for their conniving opportunistic methods of getting trusting people to turn over their hard-earned cash to them.

  16. Adam 04/12/2010 at 2:54 pm - Reply

    My wife took this course and passed it no problems, however, they said they would only offer her staging jobs in the area we lived in. Population 18000 people, now how many jobs are there going to be in a small town. We live 50 minutes from the city and they wont even think about calling her to work there. What a waste of money.

  17. Beth 04/20/2010 at 4:51 pm - Reply

    I have had the same experience with haverhill. It was a waste of money. Look into the better business bureau.
    I will check with an attorney to see about a class action. I know there are plenty of people who got scammed.

  18. peter 05/12/2010 at 7:22 pm - Reply

    I am stunned. After paying all that money, submitting all my coursework twice and passing with great grades, as well as my test, I just had a class about becoming and independent stager through them that I was told by HH fullfills the agreement of ‘Hire Garantee’. The class was vague sort of goodbye you are own your own now kind of class. And then it hit me. I have been scamed!! And there fore I started seaching for HH and the word scam together in my search engine. And here you are! so there is quite a few complaints in different websites out there. It was weird already that nobody is there to answer questions, noone is there to send you your cousework was that was suppose to be your portfolio… I would like to know if there has been or if there is any class action suit on the works for this. Please advise. Thank you.

  19. chalpisaimirm 01/22/2011 at 2:48 pm - Reply

    WOW guys, its finally here! Ripoffgu….sorry, “freeadguru” Stephan Ducharme – you know the scammer, he’s the man with just about the worst reputation on the internet – has his new “amazing” site up and running – uvioo.com right from the get-go its scam scam scam as he promises free cash to refer people on his youtube clone like website. Can you say Madoff? And this time, he’s teaming up with another young soon-to-be scammer just like him, Michael Menard.

    Basically, his uvioo website works by asking its visitor 39$ per year to make 7$ per referral. As you may already know, this practice is called a pyramid since he uses other people’s money to pay his member’s commission. And it all goes back to the same old pyramid scheme we all saw people lose money into.

    I’ve bought stuff from this guy before, when I didn’t know he was a scammer. His e-book “how to get 1 million visitors to your site” has had tons of reviews saying it is over-hyped trash with nothing new in it. His “my affiliate finder” software spams newsgroups and never gets you any hits on your site anyway.

    And to cap it all, they don’t do refunds. There are posts everywhere on the net about refund requests being ignored (I got mine direct from click bank though!).

    They also phone you shortly after you order something and put on a very hard sell which results in you handing over credit card info and $1000’s in some cases. I somehow got tricked into giving them $1005. When I realized it was all a big con I rang them and for a week they dragged out giving me a refund without actually saying no, so I gave up and got Mastercard on to it. Thankfully a month later they got me a refund of the full amount. But obviously others won’t have been so fortunate.

    So, DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT get involved with this new site he has. But do look at it for your own amusement as its just the same old BS promising the moon on a stick. :rolleyes:

    Stephan Ducharme:

    http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/8338/debout.jpg

    Michael Menard

    http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8837/n71521231619892706738.jpg

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