I leased a 1 bedroom here a few months back because harbor cove is one of the relatively cheaper places in foster city. But I have learnt that under the cover of lower rent, they have abysmal management, dilapilated facilities and unresponsive maintenance offices.

Vanessa, the office clerk in the leasing office, is one of the rudest people I have ever met. She talks like a cop speaking to an inmate. I wonder why the Property owners are still employing her; when she must be a significant factor in
1. A non-trivial number of residents moving out at lease end.
2. Some people might have avoided signing a first time lease.

The Gym is in a very dismal condition. The treadmills stop working abruptly in the middle of my running. I have almost fallen down a few times when running on it. This is because the safety switch on them is loose and comes off in the vibration of running. The strings in many other weight machines are broken and it takes a month for maintenance to repair it; and then it breaks again in 2 weeks. You wont notice these things in the 1 min tour of the gym that you see before signing the lease.

The rent difference between Harbor cove and some better places like Avalon foster city , or Beach cove is only some $50 to $75. But I have friends living there and they have good opinion of those apt complexes. So this $50/$75 is certainly not worth it to consider moving into Harbor Cove.

I have many other instances to list here. For people looking to sign a new lease, my advise is : DONT. YOU WILL REGRET IT. Pay 50 bucks extra and go somewhere else.

User Responses
From: vanessa75	Date: 05/11/2008
Hi my name is Vanessa and I am one of the leasing consultants for Harbor Cove. In response to this comment , I try on a daily basis to make sure every resident is comfortable and very happy with their stay here at Harbor Cove.I want to say I'm sorry that you feel that way about me as a person, but I can 100% tell you that there are alot of residents here at Harbor Cove that would disagree with your comments but you are entitled to your opinion and that's why we have this web site so we can improve our service to our residents and grow as a company.I am one of the top leasing consultants for the company and here is why: I give 100% of my attention to each resident. I actually do care about any issues that a resident might have. I will stay overtime just to make a resident feel comfortable and happy with Harbor Cove and there apartment. I will go above and beyond to make sure you are happy. There is so much more that I do for Harbor Cove but once again I am sorry that you feel this way.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/17/2008
I'm an ex-tenant, and I occasionally look at this website to see if anything has changed at Harbor Cove, and unfortunately it has not. I don't know Vanessa or the original poster, but if she really meant what she said about giving 100% of her attention to each resident, then instead of giving a defensive response to the tenant's complaints and bragging about being a top leasing consultant, she should have instead directly addressed the tenant's issue with the gym. A specific complaint was made, and a specific solution and plan of resolution should have been provided. But Vanessa completely and utterly ignored the tenant's complaint and did not even discuss it at all. How exactly that constitutes giving 100% of her attention is beyond me.... I only respond, because I am very sad that Harbor Cove, which happens to have one of the most beautiful locations in Foster City, has a management whose primary focus is to attract new residents, not keep the existing ones satisfied. After ownership was changed at Harbor Cove several years ago, nothing has been the same. Vanessa mentions that she is one of the top leasing consultants for the company. How is that measured Vanessa? Is it measured perhaps by the number of NEW residents that sign a contract with your company? If so, of course, you are one of the leading leasing consultants, because of the high level of turnaround in your complex!!! It doesn't take a scientist to figure that out!! Does it take into account the satisfaction rate of the existing tenants, or even the turnover of the existing residents? Which one? As evidenced by this website (which you seem to appreciate in your reply) Harbor Cove has one of the lowest satisfaction rates in the City of Foster City!! Of course in a website like this, you will get more rants than raves, but how do you explain being consistently at the BOTTOM of the ratings? If you are the manager, and you are considered one of the best, how embarassing that your complex's ratings do not reflect that!! If you mean what you say Vanessa, then the treadmills and weight machines should be repaired as soon as possible, because if anyone gets hurt, this website will be proof of neglect, and you will have a huge liability on your hands.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/26/2008
ask the prop mgr about the fire alarm system, doesn't seem to be "on" and they have known about this for quite a while.... I hope there are no fires and no one dies or gets hurt. we will be moving as soon as possible, no way am I putting my family at risk because they are too cheap to fix something that is required by law!
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/04/2008
I've lived in Harbor Cove for a few years now. I wasn't exactly impressed when we moved in, and it is getting worse. The rent grows by leaps and bounds, the office staff is impossible to talk to( yes, Vanessa, you are the WORST one), the pool is never heated in the summer ( way too cold to swim), the walkway lights are broken or not working, the gym is a joke, the halls are cleaned once every other week, the elevators break down regularly and are past inspection dates, and I've been told on more than one occaision that they don't like children here. When we moved in all they could talk about was what a great family place this is.HA! As soon as I can find a place that keeps my child in the same school, I am so out of here!
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/17/2008
I appreciate people posting their comments, because during this rough economy anyone is looking for a place to stay.. and the cheap price for this location would draw any renter.. but thanks to you all, people think otherwise.. like the first post mentioned.. pay a little more and get better service.. i guess its true what they say.. "what you pay is what you get"... bad maintance and a bad apartment manager.. I just don't understand how hard it is to pick up the phone and just call for a repair.. I'm sure thats one of the duties you get paid for. Vanessa I don't know you, but there are so many people loosing their jobs and I'm sure there ar plenty who would like to take your position.. so on that note.. keep up the bad work..
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/07/2009
For the lady who responded on the last review. Get a life and judge someone when you know them !! Yes you do pay for what you get so that means you are cheap!! Champagne taste on beer budget idiot!! No one cares about your negative comments!! Get a life!!
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/21/2009
I am pretty sure that the last response here was from Vanessa. She was a rude individual and thankfully is no longer at Harbor Cove. Unfortunately, her replacements are equally rude. They also lie constantly- they will tell you that maintenance and upgrading work will start and then there is no sign of that even 6 months later. They will tell you that a certain paid-parking spot is unavailable and then will give it to someone else. Parking is awful- you only get one free parking spot in Harbor Cove and there are no guest parkings.

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