We signed a 19 month lease with Harrison Grande and are leaving as we just purchsed a house. I appreciated being able to sign a lease of any length - that was a change from the standard 6mo, 12mo, etc. The townhouse we rented was much nicer than any other apt I've lived in. There were issues with millipedes during our lease, and some type of insect recently bored a hole in our interior stairwell (yikes) but maintenance came right over and caulked the hole. We had water damage to our basement and stairwell after heavy rains last year. The office staff is courteous but only to a point. Maintenance is awesome - I wish they ran the office! The staff make noise about their rules and guidelines, but seem very uninterested in enforcing those same rules.
PETS:
When another resident constantly allowed his dog to run loose (we have a toddler so this very much concerned us), after three calls to the office and two trips in-person, I called Cary Animal Control to have them cite the resident. Kelly in the office finally told me they just "can't control things like that." Huh' Can't control your residents' behavior' Can't control lease violations' Then why bother even saying that pets must be leashed' I'm just glad our son was never bitten.
PACKAGES:
Packages are delivered directly to the office whether or not the resident is home, and the office flat out refuses to take any responsibilty for them, doesn't secure them, often won't even look up to see who is walking into the package room! They'll sign for them (which is proof of delivery as far as most companies are concerned) whether you want them to or not, but say it's not their fault if someone steals them. I had two packages dissapear, and when I suggested their system could use improving, I was told there had never been a problem before. As if I had some nerve having my packages taken and then being upset about it.
LISTENING AND COMPREHENSION:
If, for a completely hypothetical example, you call and say, "Hi, this is Jane Smith in apartment number 2846, and my water heater is leaking all over the floor, will you please send maintenance over'" Their response is 99% likely to be "Oh, okaaaay.... what was your name again'" "JANE. SMITH." "And what apartment is it'" "I'm in apartment 2846." "Uh huh, and you said your air conditioner isn't working'" "Noooo, I said the water heater is leaking." "OH! Do you want someone to come look at it'" "Um. Yes. That would be nice." "What apartment are you in'" "Apartment. number. 2.8.4.6." click.
PARKING LOT SAFETY:
The complex is very kid-friendly with the playground, baby pool, periodic ice cream parties and Santas and Easter bunnies, etc. But they fail miserably when it comes to parking lot safety and speeding vehicles. There are no speedbumps and cars drive through the complex upwards of 35-40 mph. Children are constantly playing outside and I've seen cars swerve, tires squeal, and many near-misses. Office staff were completely uninterested in addressing the problem of speeding residents or installing speedbumps. As though ignoring a problem would make it go away.


IMO, as long as you never have a problem or a complaint, you'll do fine with the somewhat artifical personalites in the office. But if you raise questions about safety, security, or any other concerns, you can bet that you'll start to see the real side of the office staff.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/09/2007
Why on earth are kids in the parking lot?! What are the parents doing? It seems obvious that the parents that are letting their kids walk/run/play in a parking lot are the problem. May as well let them play in the street. Absurd complaint IMO.

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