I was in a hurry to move into an apartment last year and Archstone was the only place that satisified all my roommate's various requirements, so we settled on it even though I read the horrible reviews. I knew they had changed management at that point and so I hoped for the best. I have to say though that for the first three months or so, I was blissfully happy and complaint free. The staff seemed really responsive, things got fixed quickly and everything worked. I didn't even mind the construction since most of it happened during the day.

But I'm nearing the end of my lease now and I would NEVER move back into this building. Management and staff are horrible. The garage door constantly breaks and since everything is key card access, once the computer goes down, you have absolutely nowhere to park or any way to get into the apartment. I got home at 11pm one night only to find that I was locked out. The next day, as I was returning from work, I found that I was locked out again. I went to the leasing office to complain but there was already a long line ahead of me. I tried to explain the situation to one of the staff but she never apologized, only told me that they had put up fliers explaining the problem. I never saw a flier. No one I talked to had seen it either.

We had to ask them to repair our door 4 times since the key jammed. Every time they repaired the door, it only got worse. It literally took four attempts to correctly fix it and it still occasionally jams.

I left my key card at a friend's who lived out of town and while I was waiting for it to be mailed to me, I asked for a spare. I know they allow you to borrow a spare if you leave identification and I offered to show ID so that they could verify I was on the lease. They refused to give me a spare but told me I could buy one for $25. They then sold me a key card without checking my ID. It seems that they would rather earn some money than take the time to make sure they are giving the right person access to the building.

There are so many bad reviews of this place and it's all well deserved. There are a lot of places to live in Emeryville and especially after the new renovations, rent will be increasing drastically. Please do yourself a favor and look somewhere else.

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