I lived at River Oaks for two years and I have some good and bad reviews of the place.

Pluses:

- I had maintenance issues twice in my two years there. The first time, the A/C broke during the hottest week of the year and they fixed it within 48 hours. It was one really horrible night, but it wasn't a big deal to me. The next time, I was just settled in after the Giants opening score during Super Bowl XLII when I hear a splash from the kitchen. The garbage disposal had split in half and the opening neck part, and the dishwashed was dumping its wastewater into the cabinet under the sink. I called the emergency maintenance guy and he fixed it promptly. No complaints.

- The grounds are gorgeous. Better than any other standard apartment complex you'll find in SE Michigan.

Minuses:

- They have one trash compactor area and taking my garbage there was a pain. I was actually in one of the closer buildings too.

- The appliances are old. My laundry loads typically took 2 spins through the drier.

- The place is horrendous during the winter. It had lots of hills and cars can't get to their spots. To top it, they send out threatening emails saying that everybody needs to park in their own spot during storms or they'll get towed to make room for the snow removal. I was trying to help an older gentlemen get his car up the hill once and I had to actually convince him to park where he was and walk, but he was too afraid of getting towed.

- Another winter issue: When the snow melts, the water runoff freezes and makes things very icy. I parked in my covered spot one night and when I came out in the morning, my car had actually slid out from the covered spot. Luckily I had an end spot and didn't damage my car or anyone elses cars.

- The fitness room is pretty pathetic, but this is true of most apartment complexes.

- I received two noise complaints during my time at River Oaks. This is the only time in my 5 years of renting that anyone neighbor has ever had an issue me. After the first complaint, I called and left a message with the front office and they didn't bother to call me back. It was the week before thanksgiving and I completely forgot about it and didn't follow up. Then in January I went skiing in Colorado for a week. When I returned I got a letter (dated the day I returned to Michigan) saying that my loud bass in recent days had been disturbing my neighbors. I tried to talk to the office about it in person, but they refused to discuss it with me, and they cited my first noise violation as proof that I was the problem.

I don't think River Oaks is a bad place. My real reason for leaving wasn't the complex or the management, but just that I wanted something a little less cookie-cutter and suburban.

However I do think that they are terrible at dealing with real tenant issues. I tried to talk to them about their threatening "winter parking" emails once and I was basically blown off. When I talked to them about the noise complaints I wasn't given any information and basically told to stop doing it. (For the record, the walls are paper thin and I could regularly hear my neighbors TVs and stereos, but it didn't bother me). I was always civil with them, but their concept of tenant relations comes down to sending threatening letters and ignoring any requests to actually discuss the issue.

Also, for the record, I received my full security deposit back from River Oaks, so this isn't a bitter attempt to get back at them. aLKeoXpj3s4OSgrp1trb

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 04/10/2008
My husband and I live at River Oaks and we too received our first ever noise violation in our renting history (which is over three years). We're very quiet people and were completely shocked when it was left hanging on our door knob (public humiliation - another great plus). We felt It was completely unfair and I'm not just saying that on the defensive. My husband called right away to contest the complaint and was told that it would be noted in our file that it was disputed. I'm not sure what that will mean in the long run and how it will effect us and our once pristine renting record. In agreement, the walls are paper thin and we have overheard a lot - from general noise (bass, music, water running) to actual conversations. We now feel as if we have to walk on eggshells so as not to disturb - but even that probably crunches too much :-)

Your thoughts? Post a response to this review. Display my response: with my username anonymously Responses appear below reviews and one response per user is permitted.

   Free estimates on moving trucks      Find apartment share/roommates