I would rate Mariner s Wharf as just ok could be a lot better, but could also be worse. My husband and I had a lot of problems from the very beginning. One week before we were scheduled to move in (from out of state), we were called and informed that the apartment we had signed a lease on was no longer available due to the fact that the currant tenant decided to stay another month. Needless to say, I was more than a little surprised. Not once in the hour I was there touring apartments and doing paperwork was the even mentioned as a possibility. When I told the office staff that, all they said was that if I was a resident I would have that same option. What made it worse is I had already made arrangements for movers, having services turned off at my old house (8 hours away) and made appointments to have phone, cable, etc. turned on at the agreed upon apartment. After speaking with three people in the office, including the manager, all they offered me was the option to move into a smaller apartment. Not once was I offered an apology. I had no choice but to take the smaller apartment, which meant selling furniture and changing many appointments around. I was expecting some sort of compensation (rent discount, anything!) but of course was not offered anything. One member of the office staff even had the nerve to say that they had not inconvenienced me. Well, it far exceeded inconvenient. When I informed them of everything I had to do to move into the smaller apartment, she suggested that I just live in the smaller one for a month and just move again when the larger one came open. Whatever! It is no small feat to move an entire household of furniture, plus the added expense of a moving truck and supplies. Of course they did not offer to pay for that, just suggested that I didn t need a truck to move. Of course! I can easily fit my sofa in the truck of my car to move it to the other side of the apartment!

Unfortunately, the problems did not stop there. Upon entering the apartment we discovered that the A/C did not work AT ALL. The vents were all dirty, the appliances were all dirty, the baseboards were all filthy, the bathrooms were dirty (there were black hairs all over the master bathroom even stuck to the door!), under the kitchen sink there was an obvious leak that had molded and rotted the wood, the screen on the porch was nasty and had holes in several places, there were stains on the carpet, thumbtacks all over the walls (some had been painted over so who knows how long they had been there) in general, the place was just not clean AT ALL. I called the office to complain and was told nothing could be done about the A/C that night. I was offered the option to have someone from the cleaning service come in a clean the apartment, which I accepted, but never heard anything else about it. After waiting several days and hearing nothing, I finally just cleaned everything myself. In my opinion, the office should have contacted me to make sure everything was taken care of, and they did not. That is just poor customer service. There are also problems with some of the conman areas not being maintained. The trash at the mail box area is usually overflowing and there are often food boxes, beer cans, and other trash littered around the stairwells. When I mentioned this to the office staff, I was told that someone picks up trash on the grounds once a week. If this is true, than they do not come to my building because I saw the same trash for over a month.

On a positive note, the landscaping is nice and from what I can tell the pool is maintained well (I have never used it). The gym area is always clean, as is the laundry area. The maintenance staff is AWESOME. They always fix problems promptly. I have found that the issues are not with them, but with office staff contacting them or perhaps following up to make sure things are done. The day after I moved in, all of the issues I had (mold, wood rot, A/C, dirty vents) were corrected. I still think it was pretty crappy that I was given an apartment with those obvious issues in the first place though. Many times when I have called, someone is at my door within the hour and goes above and beyond to fix the problem. It seems that when there is an issue, it is a BIG issue. From what I can see, one side of the complex is maintained better than the other. Another positive is that they are very pet friendly and don t seem to have strict restrictions on size or breed. I know that in the lease agreement it lists a few breeds that are not allowed, but I have seen dogs of those breeds on site, which I have no problem with. The office does stay open later a few days a week which is great for picking up packages after work, and I have never had a problem getting things from the office. The breezeways are nice they seem to keep the temperature down and are great when it is raining no standing in the rain trying to unlock your door! I wish there were better locks on the doors, but I suppose it is just one of those things that come with living in an apartment. There is a lot of storage inside the apartment as well as a large storage room which is really nice. I never have a problem with parking no matter what time of day it is. The office manager is really nice and is always helpful. I can say that the issues I had in the beginning are not as common now. I think a few bad staff members were weeded out so hopefully no one else will have the move in issues with not getting the apartment promised as I did. They do offer no deposit for military (which my family is) which is also nice. The pet fee is reasonable, $300 for the first pet and $100 for the second. The location is great and is close to everything. I pay $40-$50 monthly for water and trash, which to me seems a little high. The trash fee is never the same, which is odd considering we take it to the dumpster ourselves.

All in all, like I said before, it is just ok. I don t hate it here but would not live here long term.

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