July 2008 Update

My husband and I are counting down the days and hours until we move out next week! Unfortunatley nothing much has changed here other than an increase in the previous problems. 2 new things to report, fire alarms going off in buildings at all hours of the night, somtimes multiple times, for at least 30-45 minutes before someone shows up to shut them down. And 2, the nice roaches that have moved within the property! That's right, since they have refused to maintain the common areas, including the pet areas, big roaches have moved in. We've found dozens of them near our apartment walking down the halls like renters. We've also found several in our apartment and although the pest people come to spray once a month, it doesn't really seem to phase them. The pet areas between the apartments are filled with exrements that not only wlll the dog owners not pick-up but neither will the maintenance crew. This has gotten so bad with the summer heat that the smell is almost unbearable! Dogs willl use the restroom and step all in other dog feces and track it up and down the halls! You actualy have to be careful leaving your apartment so you don't step in a pet mess. There are flies and magot galour thanks to some very rude tenants.

If you have a choice, be sure that you opt not to move here! I can't tell you enough how great this place is on the outside and how great th staff is when you're signing a lease, thenit al stops. You realiz how bad the management is, how bad the grounds are kept and the list just keps growing! Save you money and put it towards a better complex.


My fiancee and I moved into the Gables back in Aug. 2007 and we absolute hate it. Not only did we end up with an apartment which was smaller than they showed us they did nothing to compensate us at all.

Safety: Since we've been here we've received countless mailings in our door from the property management warning us that there have been break-ins into people's cars, apartments and evens ome women are being hasseled at night by non-residence on the property. They have advised women to not be out on the property grounds at night alone unless absolutely necessary.

Dog Areas: I also have a dog and live near one of the dog areas. They do provide potty bags but no ones uses them. We watch resident after resident watch their dog potty and walk away without cleaning it up. We have made several requests to the complex with no success on that one. It's so nasty back there that we can't open our windows and when we walk our dog 9 times out of 10 your going to step in something. They also have a dog park that leads out to the wooded areas. They tell you that it is a fenced in private area to take your dog off leash for a bit. Just a point of reference, the area is only fenced in on 3 sides, which means if you have a nosy dog they will end up in a ravine area about 50 yards behind the dog park.

Maintenance: We have also had maintence issues with the facility as well. The first thing is that none of the maintenance workers speak english, which is fine unless you can't express what's wrong with your apartment. We had a leak that came from the top floor apartment (we live ont he ground floor)and it took them almost a week to fix the problem. We live in phase 2 and the dishwasher, refridgerator, garbage disposal have serious issues. When you try to get maintenance to look at them they look at you and tell you it's working, when it's clearly not.

Security Systems: The security system in our apartment was not the security system that the building allows in apartments (previous owner apparently went outside the box) and they tried to charge us $300 for new equipment. Like it was our problem they didn't catch the previous tenenant putting different equipment.

Gates: The access gates are horrible. They are broken all of the time and have issues just opening. They refuse to leave the gates open during rush hour commute time which is always a pain when they are not working. There was a day when I sat outside the complex for 35 minutes trying to get into the complex after hours when their main office was closed and couldn't access the gates.

Packages and mail: If you plan on getting packages make sure you allocate someone to pick them up on your behalf. 9 times out of 10 the complex will sign for oyur package, never notify you they have the package and then within 3 business days if you haven't picked up your package they return the package to the carrier who delivered it. You will always receive mail that belongs in other people's mailboxes so you better assume that they have yours too.

Facility: The apartments to have horrible insulation and tend to be cold and drafty which is surprising for a newer complex. You can also hear everything going on in other apartments. I know when my neighbor above me is fighting with her husband and when she wakes up at 3 in the morning to pee. You hear dogs barking from apartments across the hall, people getting to their apartments down the main hallways that have tile so it echos everywhere. The tile, let me tell you about the tile. They put ceramic tile throughout the complex hallways to make the apartment hallways appear to be like hotels. So, when it rains tread lightly or you will fall on your butt. You hear women in high heels clicking down the hallway at all hours of the night. And the tiles break constantly, which they don't replace, so if you're wearing heels your bound to break your leg.

Pet Fees: Be ware that you will pay a hefty fee to have a pet here. We moved in in Aug. and didn't get our new dog until Feb. yet we had to pay a full pet deposit that is non-refundable of almost $1,000. That's right, I have to pay $1,000 for my pet to live there for 6 months.

Parking: Is a nightmare! You have no designated or reserved spots so you are battling to even park on the same floor as your apartment. They will tell you that they have stairs and elevators, which they do, but keep in mind that they are highly inconvenient to most apartments.

Grounds: the grounds are actually very pretty when they don't involve pets. There are sidewalks, trails, gardens, pools, and fountains. Very pretty if you have access to them as none of them are viewable from the street. They are situated within garden areas surrounded by buildings.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/15/2008
I live here and I agree that the grounds are the best I have ever had as a home. My last place had assigned parking and let me tell you... I would rather battle for a space than have someone park in mine, or even be unfortunate enough to have a bad space. Why was your pet fee so high? Did they catch you with him? or did you tell them upfront? I agree the high heels are loud. I wear them and I know you can hear me coming, however I rarely hear others. I think it just sounds loud on the outside. Packages can be a pain I agree. The mail is a seperate issue. That's our beautiful tax dollars at work and has nothing to do with the office. I had to complain to the post office about some issues I had with mail. Gates...is this the only place that you have lived? ALL GATES ARE A NIGHTMARE! Maybe we should petition for the rush hour thing. Maybe that would help... I agree it can be frustrating. Mainentance is always friendly. They are fast to respond and I have had zero issues. Security? Read any rental agreement in GA. That is not their job. You live in ATLANTA! I would suggest to not leave stuff in you car worth taking! I think the letters are very generic. I think it is a big duh not to go outside alone (no matter where you live) for unnecessary reasons. I mean watch the evening news. I don;t think we are in Kansas anymore... Dog areas. Glad I am a responsible pet owner. They cannot make people if they don't catch them in the act. This is my opinion and I do not work for the property. Thank God cause most of the people on here would make me mental!
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/15/2008
you totally work for the property. i lived there for a year and everything said in the original posting is true. that place is the best looking but the worst employees. not to mention, they'll rent to anyone. drivers license and a pulse, you're in there.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/15/2008
I agree with this posting...the first response sounds like someone who works here.....
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/19/2008
I also agree with the posting. I live here and the first posting is on the money. Who ever wrote the first response is blind or lying and a part of management.
From: Anonymous	Date: 02/22/2008
"Security? Read any rental agreement in GA. That is not their job. You live in ATLANTA! " Actually we live in unincorporated Dunwoody - NOT city of Atlanta. And they are joint liable for making reasonable efforts to keep the property safe, anyone who tells you different is misinformed (part of Landlord Tenant LAW). And not going outside - that's probably one of the silliest comments I've heard on this site. So pretty much I must work from home otherwise I will get robbed at gun or knife point (which has happened here if you call Dekalb Cty and get a crime report for Madison Dr 30346). Then why do I pay such high rent for an unsafe property - wouldn't that dictate the rent would need to be lower due to a non-desirable area? Sorry first poster your argument is flawed. And in general the Dekalb Cty police will tell u its a trend happening primarily at Gables - no where else really esp bc the north precinct is less than mile down the road!!
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/13/2008
Look at some of the people that they are letting rent at Gables. Ive been down to the clubhouse to workout or even to play pool with friends a number of times, and there were people in there sleeping in the theater room, playing pool and throwing pool balls around, and blaring the tvs with hip hop channels. I asked one guy once that I saw there a number of times if he had his access card cause he grabbed the door behind me to get in. I said hey, do you have your access card? He looked at me like access card was a foreign word, and then he was like, what do ya mean? I knew right there he didnt belong there. That right there shows even with a drive around security guard and cameras that never work, people seem to do whatever they want, and for residents who have respect for their other neighbors and want a nice neighborhood to come home to after a hard days work basically get taken advantage of when they put in a request for a repair, or complaints, nothing is ever done! They take your money and once you signed the contract they are no longer interested in providing any service to you, even if you've been a long time resident, which to me seems like they would be the ones the Gables should reward and give top service to. Oh well, just my thoughts on the whole idea, guess in reality all apartment living can have its ups and downs, but for the location, and as many Gables properties as there are, you would thing they would want to give superior service to keep residents living there. My thought is to stop building all these apartments and instead make them condos or build townhouse or village like communities.
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/12/2008
So true about the tiled hallways.....had a male friend (normal, rubber soled guy shoes) wipe out on them one rainy day - can't image how many women have fallen in any height heel. When I lived there back in 2005, we lived on the ground floor facing a courtyard. The first Sunday morning we were there, we sat on our couch in front of the window and watched 3 people let their dogs roam over to our corner and not clean up afterwards. Those 3 took their "business" elsewhere after we reported them that day. At that time, first offense was a $200 fine. By third offense, dogs were to be removed from apartment. And before you think we were animal haters, we had 2 large dogs (and our whole supply of Mutt Mitts) that we responsibly cleaned up after. We also had the upstairs neighbor with the home theater system and a penchant for doing laundry at 3am. That issue took several trips down to the leasing office to resolve (but not before the neighbor tried to blame "the downstairs neighbor" for the washing machine noise - at least the office didn't throw us to the wolves when they confronted him about the noise complaint). We were only there short term (7 months) when the place was still fairly new. And at that time, our only option was for Gables crappy "apartment cable" service - no Comcast. All in all, we'd lived in worse (we travel extensively for work and are the king and queen of short-term apartment living), but it sounds like the place has gone downhill in the last 3 years.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/25/2008
This is what happens when one encourages people that are immature and irresponsible to move out of the ghetto, frat houses, clubs, etc and don't ask them to leave this ridiculous hedonistic disrepectful lifestyle behind. Thats a pretty strong statement... I am aware of that... however, its true. And the sad thing is that it does not apply to only those that are black. What ails me about this property are the abundances of college youthful tenants residing here, who had to sign several agreements that are "supposedly" enforcable by the Gable Property Manager". Yet nothing is ever done.... Imagine if you will having a party with preppy college kids that are white, stereotypical ------ that are for whatever reason trying so desperately to be "thug life" when in reality they are simply retarded and immature, and mix that in with several whorish females who appear to be decent women, and criminals that are using the apartments as their "hide out spots" (and be sure that all enjoy doing drugs). and VOILA.... you have the Gables Metropolitan complex. This is entirely the fault of leasing office as they should perform an actual background check on the tenants they approve for the leases. (Instead of being greedy and trying to fill the all the units with tenants who will pay.) But its ok, afterall with the economy being in a shamble as it is currently, the Gables Coporation is likely to drop the Metropolitan complex from its arsenal of properties it manages very soon. And when it does, I can assure you that this property will diminish in value (and we all know that the Dunwoody Council is not having any parts of this). So they will use politcal force to either tear down the building or convert them into condos that are so expensive these only wealthy people will relocate to the area. When will these iditos learn that no one wants to live around this type of crap and thats the reason people MOVE TO NICE AREAS TO GET AWAY FROM THIS TYPE OF INSANITY!
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/08/2008
wow! you all make gables sound horrible. I have lived here 3 years in two different apartments and until I read this thought I lived in a very nice place. Yes the pet owners not picking up after their pets is very bad, and I hate the smell that comes with it in the summer. but really you think pet owners everywhere else are? I do not have pets and would love to live were they were not aloud, but it seems Atlanta apartments love the extra money. Anyway to every thing else, what are you going on about. I use the gym no problems and I walk around at all hours with out worry. The roaches, well yes I have seen a few more this year then any other but A lot less the I see any were else, that is one of the things I have always like about Gables. Lost the key to my apartment and within one hour they had replaced my lock. In fact do not belive I have ever waited more then a day to get anything fixed. The staff are great, I have been to them with many things, some a bit silly and they have always been nice and tried to help were they could. I am now going to leave my lovely insulated and not at all cold and drafty apartment and take a walk though the grounds and to the mall to do some shopping. I find it very funny that if anyone likes were they live that the first thing you say is they must work for gables. Just face it some of us like were we live. Gables is a lovely place to live and I will be staying here for many years to come.
From: leozpride	Date: 08/08/2008
If you've had a better experience, well, you are very lucky. I only posted my personal experience as a warning to others. They can take it for what it's worth. I do agree that some of the issues would happen somewhere else, but as far as I'm concerned, this is where I chose to live so I shouldn't have to deal with that, especially for the amount of mone I pay. We are very happy with where we are now and feel so much better about the place we chose. We don't have any of the problems outlined above that we had with the Gables. I'll conceed that it is a smaller complex than the Gables but owners pick-up after their pets, management has a true sense of urgency with problems, they have groundskeepers that do clean up after other people's pets, I've never seen 1 roach and the property doesn't smell. That says a lot considering they are remodeling the facility. I hope that your stay continues to be pleasant and I hope people that do choose to live there have the kind of experience that you had. Unfortuantely, that wasn't my experience or the experience that a lot of other people have had. I wish you all the best!
From: ugatina05	Date: 08/12/2008
Like seriously, this community is full of wiggers, wannabe gangsters, sketchy looking people wondering around, and people sleeping in the locker rooms. I saw one guy wonder in with groceries behind me while getting back from a run and he slipped in behind me, no access card. SO I attempted to walk a bit more, and what do ya know, he went straight for the clubhouse, probably to drop a lil one off at the pool if you know what I mean, lol, and then sleep in the locker room. Has anyone noticed the people sleeping in the woods right next to phase III complex? THere is a bike, a box, and random clothes laying back there, talk about creepy, being a single female, that is the last time I went for a walk over in that grassy area that is suppose to be a gathering area for pet owners and neighbors. Hope with the new City Of Dunwoody they will tear the phase one down or turn them into condos to rid the area of disgusting, trashy, gheto people. Oh, one other thing, get rid of the walmart, its a major eye sore, and causes way too much traffic back up on our way out of the community.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/21/2008
Anonymous from Aug 8 definitely works at Gables...because seriously, who lives in an apartment for 3 years and claims they will be living there for many more to come?! Who would live in an apartment that long?! Besides, just look at all of the negative reviews on this site...they are right...dog poo, hoodlums, maintenance requests not being taken care of, cars being broken into, fire alarms blaring at all hours (especially during the middle of the night), unfriendly and unhelpful staff, the list goes on and on...........
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/01/2008
This morning I was walking past the leasing office and saw a "Crime Scene Cleanup" truck parked outside. Need I say more?

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