Nice new apartments, poor management company, increasing prices, few amenities
From:
-Anonymous-
Date posted:
1/5/2004
Years at this apartment:
2003
-
2003
It was a nice new place, with a washer and dryer, but there were severe problems. We stayed only a short while, mainly because we bought a home, but it was a relief to move out. In terms of location, it was really nice because it was right next to the hills and really pretty. The lighting in the immediate vicinity of our complex was really good, but if you went on the street side of the complex (there was a paved path for walking among the apartments and up the street), there was virtually no lighting at all. It may have improved (we moved out a few months back) since then, but I didn't want to walk there at night because of snakes and other animals. However, it really did feel safe in terms of violence or break ins. There was an abundance of crickets and other creepy crawlies, but so it goes with living in the country. It takes about 10 minutes of driving through fields to get to the freeway, so be warned that it is quite inconvenient with no grocery stores closer than 15 minutes away.
The construction was good. Cheap carpet of course, but that's how it goes with apartments. Nice big fridge. Nice cabinets. Tall ceilings.
OK, enough of the positives. If you noticed, I said that I would not recommend living in University Glen. While it is a nice place, they are becoming more and more overpriced. Sure, prices are high in Camarillo, but they just keep on raising the prices without offering a lot. They make you pay a pet deposit, then they charge you extra rent each month for it. The pool they advertised never got built when I was there. There was no fitness center. The one bedroom place that was $1128 when we lived there is now about $1260. Too darned much for a one bedroom place (that has virtually no storage space by the way).
But the real problem was not as much the price as it was the awful management team. They had so many different people go through that management team it was amazing. New manager after new manager. It is run by Alliance Residential, who claims to be a great management company that puts the resident first. Sorry, nope. They were truly bad to work with. The problem was not the local managers (though there were some bad ones mixed in with the nice ones), it is the fact that the managers have NO AUTHORITY to do anything. When we had a problem, they had to check with their boss who was conveniently always traveling and would not answer the phone. I had to call the manager's boss's boss to get anything done. I eventually emailed the university (who owns the property) and the president of Alliance Residential to get our problem solved. The manager's boss got all upset because I went over her head and made her look bad, but she was doing nothing at all.
I know I sound like I am ranting and raving, but really, the management team was very bad. Getting a new manager will do nothing because no matter what the local manager does, the problem is the boss. I feel for the local manager who has no power or authority, because their hands are truly tied. Of course, the manager I dealt with was also truly bad at returning phone calls, much like her boss was and likely still is. Some people just don't feel the need to return phone calls, which I find extremely unprofessional. What they need to do is get a whole new management company. Ditch Alliance Residential and it could be a nice place to live, once they stop raising the prices and quit gouging the residents. Sure, they can get away with charging those prices, but that doesn't make it right.
Oh yeah, don't expect them to know anything about when things like the parking lots will be done, the streets will be paved, the concrete under the stairs will be poured or the pool will be done. Communication is not their strong suit.
Once our problems were finally ironed out (months after they arose), I did my best to never have anything to do with the management team. Nice, helpful people seem to not last long on their staff.
Good luck living there.
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