Let me just start by saying that i have lived in several other apartment complexes and have never had the problems that I am having here. I moved into the Wood Gardens Apartments in Hoover Alabama in late February of this year. From the beginning i have had nothing but trouble. For the first 3 days the air did not work so as you can imagine moving in was a b#$%h! Then we started hearing something in the wall and the ceiling. My neighbor and I reported it and were told it was a squirrel and would be taken care of. They came out 2 times before it finally left and honestly that was no squirrel, I think it was more like a raccoon. Then my refrigerator started acting up and thawing out my food. The first time it took them 2 days to get here to check it out. The repair guy messed with something and it worked fine for a week. Then it went out all together and it took them 4 calls and almost 2 days to come out and tell us we needed a new fridge. It was another week before we got our new fridge, which by the way didn't work either and had to be fixed. So now that's 3 sets of groceries that had to be thrown out, one of which was my boyfriends Birthday dinner( We had to go to Red Lobster). When I spoke with the apartment manager about trying to get reimbursed for our groceries i was told that they had done everything in a timely manner and that they were not responsible, that i should be happy that i had a new refrigerator. So now, I work a lot and don't get much time off but when I do I like to read by the pool. That is one of my main factors when searching for an apartment is a nice pool. My boyfriend and I decided on our last day of vacation to spend the day at the pool. After being out there for maybe an hour with 2 other groups of people a maintenance man came out and rudely told us we all had to leave because the pool was being cleaned...in the middle of the day.'. Now almost a week later, on my only day off this week, I go to the pool to relax and again I can't get in! For some reason it is again locked! The lady informs me that again or still the pool is being cleaned. Who do I call' Who can I talk to' This is ridiculous. I pay my rent on time every month and for what' If I could afford to get out of my lease I would now because I can't even imagine what other mishaps and problems are to come from this place. So I say to you, if looking for an apartment, skip over the Wood Gardens Apartments in Hoover Alabama. They are absolutely terrible!!!

User Responses
From: Ihatewoodgardens	Date: 06/28/2008
I feel you. That place sucks. I had 2 encounters with the pool being locked. I also had a leak coming from the bathroom of the upstairs apt. The guy came and said he fixed it. NOPE. Still leaked. I called several times with no answer. I finally moved out with 2 months left on my lease. When I came to move, the entire bathroom ceiling had fallen in due to them not coming and fixing the leak. They tried to get the better of me and charge me for it, AND charge me for not giving them adequate notice that I was leaving, but when I showed them photos of the damage that had been done to my furniture because of the leak they "fixed", they let it go. Definitely avoid this place. It's HORRIBLE. Once you sign that paper...you're screwed. They operate that way. They get you in there, take your money, then you're stuck and miserable for the duration.
From: Glad2BGoneFromWoodGardens	Date: 06/28/2008
It probably WAS a raccoon. I had an entire FAMILY living in the crawl space above my bedroom for at least a year, and informed management as soon as I realized what it was. In fact, I actually HEARD the mama raccoon when she first moved in -- she literally tore a hole right through the siding, on the outside of the gable end of the building. One of the little buggers even got into my chimney, and if not for the fact that I kept the damper closed, it would have gotten into the apartment -- and I'd have a nice, custom-made coonskin cap if it had. I feel your pain about the horrible maintenance. My refrigerator died completely one day and it took a week for it to be replaced - with a lower quality unit. What is truly discouraging about all the negatives -- Wood Gardens was once one of the BEST apartment complexes in Hoover -- I lived there for NINE YEARS, and always looked forward to renewing my lease -- until DEL Management took over sometime last year. I moved out in March and have never regretted the decision. There are also several oh-so-obvious illegal aliens living there, even though management denies this.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/29/2008
DEL Developement has owned them for many years, and they are out of Atlanta. Lisa is the regional manager but she lives on the other side of the country so go figure. Be extra careful and take lots of pictures when you move out as that is how they make a lot of money from fraudulent charges upon move out! The mangement company is super cheap and uses unqualified staff to do things a professional should be called out and contracted to do. Your "new" refrigerator came out of a vacant apartment that looked new, that's why it stopped working a week later.
From: photomaniac	Date: 05/14/2009
i am moving to that area and are there any apartment comlex that you would recomend? i have looked several places and all the reviews speak badly. I live out of state so online is all i have until i visit at the end of the summer. thank you.

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