Review History for anonymous

Willard Towers


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anonymous

Resident 2011 - 2012

8/15/2012

4701 Willard (ex Irene) is a very old buildling and it shows. The windows let in more air shut than open. The heating and a/c can be switched on only centrally at season's end (quite unpleasant on freezing October days or torrid April ones). There are no washers in the apartments, only three per floor and at 1.85 dollars a wash, it can get quite pricey. The elevators are surprisingly small for such a large buildling. Be prepared, at peak hours, to "wait for the next one". The gym is a windowless glorified broom closet. The previous management more than made up for this with a wonderful service that created a great sense of community. There was an army of doormen and bell-boys; the all-inclusive rent was fairly reasonable and services like the swimming pool were doled out generously. Small things like fresh coffee and the way they were presented went a long way. Then, in what could be the premise for a Hollywood blockbuster starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Equity Residential bought the building and started to suck the place dry. Rent went up pre-emptively by 5% (propably a condition on purchase). About three quarters of the staff that had spent their entire working life at the Irene were laid off. The maintenance staff does not live in the building anymore which means that if you have a problem at night or on week ends you need to wait. Some tenants have even heard that they are going to start charging for storage. Packages are kept only two days and then returned to sender (which rather defeats one of the reasons for living in an apartment). Pool time has gone down by more than half. And, yes, in the symbolically meanest of all moves, the coffee is gone. And this is probably only the beginning ... Before it was a warm and charming rickety old building, now it is just a rickety old budling.
    Manager

    8/20/2012

    4701 Willard
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts about your experience. Resident feedback is very important to me, and I want to ensure that your concerns are addressed. Our building has central AC and heat, and can only run one at a time. We are mindful of the temps at night as well as during the day before switching from one to the other. This year we switched the 1st week in May, which is common for the area and our type of building. Regarding our laundry facilities: there will be upgrades made to the laundry rooms located on each floor in the early part of 2013. This includes front loading machines, built in tables and clothes racks. Also, the gym is expected to be renovated as part of our common area improvements in early 2013. There has been no discussion among management regarding storage charges. Our storage rooms remain free for all residents to use. We do have an Express Service Commitment, which states that requests will be filled within two business days. If this has not been your experience, please let us know so that we can address the problem. You can read more about the Express Service Commitment here: http://www.equityapartments.com/content/resident-commitments.aspx. Additionally, emergency maintenance can be contact 24/7 by dialing our main line 301.652.7600. If it is after hours, the call will roll over to our voice mail service. Choose 1 for current resident ,and then 3 for emergency maintenance. As for your concern about pricing, we do adjust rates to best reflect the current market value for the types of apartments available. These rates can fluctuate daily, and we do our best to communicate rate changes to residents during the renewal process. Finally, packages are first delivered to your apartment by the delivery company (excluding USPS - they only drop off at the front desk, and leave a note in your mailbox). If you are not home, the package is left at the front desk where the concierge will contact you first by email, and then by phone. There is no fee for package acceptance. We will attempt to contact residents several times regarding their delivery before returning a package. If you have any questions about this process, please let me know. Your satisfaction as a resident is important to me. If you have any other concerns or questions, don't hesitate to contact me at ecianci-gorder1@eqr.com or at (301) 652-7600.

    Review 63 out of 147

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