Upon moving in, everything was initially great. Price, parking, living conditions, etc. were all great. It seems that it was all just to get me in the door. From that point on, things just got progressively worse. Maintenance has been an ongoing issue. One month after moving in, upon returning home from a trip and I decided to flip on the dining room light, and a shower of sparks shot from the ceiling. This was immediately reported to the office staff and Mr. Handyman finally decided to arrive about 6 hours later. His response: "Put a piece of tape over the switch so you don't accidentally turn it on. I'll go get a new fixture and replace it so that this doesn't happen again." Kind of half-assed in my opinion, but fair enough. 2 days after this magical piece of tape is installed, he returns with the most beat-up, filthy light fixture I have ever seen. It takes him 2 more hours to clean it up (In my kitchen sink, mind you. Leaving wet, dirty towels in and around the kitchen) and install it. It works fine, there's only one problem: it hangs right below eye-level in the middle of the dining room. After about three days of bumping my head on it, I decided to go buy my own light fixture and install it myself because I knew it would be another ordeal to get this fixed and wanted to save myself the headache. Fast forward a couple months and the entry door to the apartment has been vandalised. The deadbolt and knob were both beat to hell, just barely hanging on. Maintenance promptly comes to change the locks 5 hours and 3 phone calls later. Well, it's Mr. Handyman again and instead of changing the door hardware out, he scurries off to the rubbish bin again and returns with another used exterior housing for the deadbolt cylinder that actually looks in worse condition than the one I'm asking him to replace. Needless to say, I again end up purchasing a new set for the door and install it myself. All in all, I've personally fixed the light fixture, entry door hardware, exterior storage door hardware, bedroom door hardware and the ENTIRE bathroom door when it split in half because it sticks to the door frame due to excessive painting. All because I know Mr. Handyman is incapable of doing even a sub-par job on the simplest of tasks, albeit in a timely manner. On one positive note, the other maintenance man, Ronnie, is great. That is, when he's available. He was fast and courteous when he had to replace the patio light fixture after SOMEONE STOLE IT. I don't even want to think about this aspect of this community anymore so I'll move along.
We've got a derelict apartment complex right across the parking lot from my building that loves to come into our community to use the pool, just wander around aimlessly, and be loud as all hell whenever they feel the urge. There have also been numerous break-ins to the apartments themselves and the vehicles in the parking lot. I'm not pointing any fingers but we all know where it is coming from. After numerous attempts to get the management to address this situation, they finally send out a letter to residents informing them to lock their doors and report any unusual persons to the police department, etc. The sad thing is that I had to learn of this from my neighbor, and also the only person in the entire building of 15 units to receive one. So I can only assume that they only made about 20 copies and put one in each building and hoped the tenants would spread the word.
The management is a joke at best. This month is the first in I can't remember how many that I've actually received a statement for my rent. Only problem is, it only says I owe $16 for water/sewer/trash. This has been the case from about month number 2 onward. So we are required to call the office, verify our rent amount and add it up with the costs above. And in most cases the office staff can't figure out what they're looking for, or how to do it, so this process takes up to 20 minutes on the phone and even then we usually end up with some random number that is not even close to what the amount should be. And to make matters worse, today (which is incidentally the reason I'm writing this because I'm about fed up and willing to pay the penalty to break my lease) I open the door to discover a bright red letter attached to it. Now I evidentially owe another $105.22. This peaks my interest and I stop the staff member who is distributing these letters to inquire. She turns her nose up and says in her most raspy, gravelly voice "You'll have to call the company and find out". Wonderful, thanks for all your help and I'm sorry for putting you out with a simple question. Turns out that this fine or penalty is for late payment of rent. I have NEVER been late paying rent because I know a stupid situation like this will undoubtedly unfold. So I have to go prove to them with receipts that I did, indeed pay them on time. Turns out, they didn't decide to cash the check until the 7th of the month, which for some strange reason, deems my payment late. This issue is not yet resolved. About a dozen other people have the same situation. So at least I'm not alone, and we all have to deal with the incompetence of the staff as a team. The billing system is the worst I've ever seen, in any situation, ever. Thats really the only way to get the point across. One month you'll owe $12, and the next you'll owe $1200. But as with everything else in this community, it is unstable.
The landscaping and groundskeeping on the other hand, is top notch. I could not ask for a better company to come and maintain the outside. They are here at least once a week, sometimes 2 or 3 times. The are quick, quiet and careful in everything I've seen them do. The same with pest control. There is a Terminix guy here once a week, and does his job very well. Probably because they are contracted out from the company that owns the complex. So maybe if we could get the management and maintenance contracted out as well, it would be a great place to live.
All of my neighbors have been nothing but pleasant. No one is excessively loud or discourteous. And most of us share the same feelings that I have expressed in this review.
So all in all, if you enjoy poor service, erratic billing, vandalism, lack of clean and/or usable amenities, lack of security and general annoyances, this is the place for you. You can even have my apartment just as quickly as I can get out of here.

EDIT : 7/12/2008 -
Hey, me again. Just thought I'd let you guys know that our car got broken into tonite at about 11pm. Right outside the patio door. With the lights in the parking lot, patio, and interior of the apartment all on with the french doors open. This is instance number 5 for us personally (2 involving a vehicle, 3 involving the entry/patio doors), with multiple more to the many neighbors in our building. I chased him all the way over to River Chase apartments (where he lives) while my girlfriend called and notified the police. Wonderful place to live, let me tell you.

Oh, on another note, now the refridgerator is spewing water all over the kitchen floor from the ice maker connection. Guess thats what happens when you use the same appliances for 30 years straight with minimal maintenance/upkeep/remodeling.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/23/2008
Reading this made me laugh..you are so right. January I paid my rent for 3 months. In February I received a late notice and a bill that said I owed $750.00. The manager said don't worry about it that they were getting rid of this "stupid" billing system. In March I received an eviction notice on my door...the manager said don't worry about it ..it doesn't mean anything they are charging people wrong. I asked for a copy but their printer didn't work. To kill time I looked out at the pool that has never been open by the clubhouse. I would love to swim at the other one but you can't see the bottom...Oh if you want to find the staff ....just look behind the office by they are all outside smoking....

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