A few months ago I couldn't sleep (a cockroach crawled on my ear) and while staying up for fear of more pests crawling on me, I happened to find this site. Although I have slept better since that night, there are still lots of problems with Autumn Park.

First off regarding this site, after identifying themselves, managers have the ability to respond directly to postings. I think the fact that both a manager and an office worker (the last two people to give "yes" recommendations) failed to notice this is a clear representation of well...I'm not really certain what the right word is, but read on and decide for yourself.

So let's start at the beginning (roughly 7 months ago). The staff was very helpful in finding a place for me (I lived outside the city and needed to find a place without visiting it). As I parked my car and got out for the first time, I realized why Autumn Park was cheaper than most other places: the highway was literally 75 yards from my apartment.

Upon reviewing my check-in form (remember that the last post says "the apartments are in top condition before moved into"), it was way off the mark in a lot of areas. The balcony/patio which was rated as "ok" by the staff was far less than ok. My sliding screen door had come off the hinges and had been propped up against the glass door (did I mention there were two half-dollar size holes in it'). In the privacy screen on my patio, there was a large hole - about the size of a grapefruit. When they last painted the inside, they dripped paint on the countertops, the bathroom mirror, the bedroom carpet, and dining room carpet. Other than that though, the place was alright. I was told that any problems I found (such as a hole in my privacy screen) would be fixed within 2 weeks. It's been close to 36 now, and still no signs of repair (I had to ask multiple times to have my screen door replaced).

Which brings me to another point: even when a maintenance issue is requested to be fixed, it takes at least 2-3 calls to have anything done. For example: when I had a mouse in my apartment (I have the pictures to prove it), I called and left a maintenance request. I was told that someone would come out to set traps, which never happened. One problem I currently have is with my hot water tank - the pilot light won't stay lit. Although I called on Saturday and was told someone would come back to fix it, it is now Tuesday (4 days) and I have still received no call. That's not the only problem I've had with water though, about 3 weeks back my shower drain became clogged to the point there was sitting water in the tub and although I reported this on a Thursday night, it wasn't until Sunday evening it was fixed (which meant I had to shower at the fitness center).

Which brings me to my next point (these are segwaying quite nicely) - the fitness center. In the first week I moved in, I informed the staff that the treadmill wasn't working. I was informed that it would soon be replaced, as the complex was going to refurbish the fitness center. After leaving notes with my first four rent checks informing the staff it was still broken, I lost hope. It wasn't until month #6 that I made a personal visit after putting a note in with my rent check. When I informed the secretary it was broken she said "yeah - somebody put a note in their rent about this - it's the first I've heard of it" (it was my rent the note was in). So, once again, here we are multiple months later with no progress. As a side note, the bikes in the fitness center are decrepit and the padding on the weight machine is torn and/or missing.

Remember those cockroaches I mentioned earlier' When I called the office to report that one had crawled in my ear and that I wanted my apartment sprayed immediately, the office worker said it was my fault for not having alerted them to the problem sooner and that nobody would be able to spray for 5 days. Multiple phone calls later, and 3 sprayings later, I still have cockroaches. They're mostly limited to my kitchen, so I usually only find them around the sink and in my cupboards.

To comment on a few other things you may have read about in other posts, the parking isn't horrible, but would be a lot better if the broken down cars were taken out of the equation (one car has been parked, without tags, in front of our place for 4 months now. Also, there are 3 other cars in the lot with flat tires).

I've yet to mention my laundry room troubles, the dirty pool, or my neighbor who left his alarm clock on for a week while he was out of town (set to 4:15 AM), but I think you get the general impression of how my experience has been at Autumn Park. (I may write a few follow-ups - I still have a few months left on my rent!)

You might be optimistic enough that after reading this post on its own, you are still interested in living here, but having visited many other apartments in the area, I say this to you: don't make the same mistakes I did; do your research and visit the apartments before giving them your money, it could be the longest fighting experience (12 months in my case) you'll ever know.

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Updates! (original post on 2/8/05)
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2/14
Happy Valentines Day! Every car without license plates, 4 inflated tires, or any cars parked across multiple spots (or boats parked on the lawn) got a big orange valentine sticker saying their car will be towed tomorrow if it's not moved - I'll let you know when it's moved.

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2/17
Holy Crap! There's a new treadmill in the weightroom. But, somebody stole the piece of equipment off the weight machine you use to do shoulders.

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2/21
Still taking lukewarm showers. Still no sign of maintenance. Called again tonight. Also mad cause I lost another $1 and an hour to the broken laundry machines. I've only lost $3 and 3 hours of my time this month.

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2/22
Maintenance stopped by tonight and relit the pilot light on my water heater (which I've been doing since my original call on 2/5). They told me to call next time it goes out.

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3/10
The one car that had been parked out in front of the apartment complex for a few months with no tags has moved - was it towed'

Also - there's some new equipment in the fitness room - a gazelle-type running machine and a new 3-station weight machine - it's actually kind of nice. Unfortunately, there were 6 kids under the age of 16 in there when I went today and using it as a jungle gym. We'll see if that changes.

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3/14
All the cars in the parking lot with "you will be towed" stickers have been towed. There's still a couple with multiple flat tires just hanging out.

I also returned from a weekend away to find a note on my door saying I had to give copies of two of my pay stubs to the office by tomorrow. I left a message letting them know I only had one and asked them to call me back so we could figure out what we needed to do. I'm not expecting them to return my call.

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3/17

The roaches are out again. Found 2 big ones in the kitchen today.

Still haven't heard back from the office about the pay stub thing.

Washed 3 loads of clothes today. Out of the 6 washing/drying cycles, only 1 didn't work. Another dollar and another hour lost.

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3/21

Got a note saying I had until tomorrow to bring in my pay stubs. I guess they forgot to return my call.

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3/30

The price of laundry has gone up to $1.25 a load. I did 3 loads today and got ripped off by three of the dryers. Another few bucks down the drain.

I signed a contract with another apartment complex starting at the end of May and Autumn Park won't give a reference unless I give notice I'm leaving (30 days required), so I called at 2pm today and left a message for them to return my call.

User Responses
From: yo123	Date: 02/09/2006
Yeah man, we have felt your pain. Thankfully, it sounds like you're out of there by now. Congratulations.
From: satisfyme	Date: 03/15/2006
We have problems with cockroaches in our apartment too. They're mainly in the kitchen as well. We've found cockroachs also in our bunnies cage and it just disgusts me. It looks like maintenance fixed everything with paint or duct tape. It's just ridiculous. Our Masterbathroom toilet leaks and flows into the masterbedroom. The guest bathroom sink doesn't work either. So we have no fully-functioning bathroom and we're paying for 2. There's a huge hole in the heater closet therefore the heat doesn't get out the vents to ventilate the apartment. The closet doors are off the track because the tracks are caked with paint. It's just unrealistic living conditions. We too have lost lots of money and time with the washer and dryer.

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