I've lived at Timbercreek Apartments for just over 2 years now, and I cannot wait for my lease to end on May 31st. Don't get me wrong, the price and location are perfect. Only $895 for a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment within walking distance of Town Lake and Downtown' Hell, even a cab ride is $5 from the bars.

The reason I cannot wait to get out of my lease is because of the management at this property. It takes, literally, weeks for the maintenance staff to get work done. I had an issue that I brought to the attention of the management a few months ago about a leak in the apartment ceiling and a light fixture that needed to be fixed. I called this issue in, and the management said that they put in a ticket for the issue and said it would be "a few days." A week later, nobody had come by to check the leak (there was a large green stain on our ceiling with water occasionally dripping through) and the light fixture was untouched. I placed another call to the office. They told me that maintenance requests were backed up, and they apologized saying that my request was a priority and to expect someone within the next day. I waited another week, and I called back bringing to their attention that it had been two weeks since I put in the original request, and they said my ticket was a "priority." They apologized and told me that there was no ticket for my maintenance request, but they would file a new one (which I thought was very nice of them to do). They (again) said someone would be out to fix it within a day. Another week passed, and I made my final phone call. I told them that it had been one MONTH since the original call, and there was still a large green stain on my ceiling and the light fixture still did not work. They said that they would send someone out immediately. Once nobody came out that day, I made an appearance in the main office saying that it was ridiculous that they couldn't find a single maintenance person to go out and look at a stain (since I would probably be at fault and have to pay for it if it went untreated) and fix a light in a one-month span after repeated requests. They sent someone over to the apartment by the end of the day that day... a full month from the original request. I place the blame about 90% on the management that lost my ticket once and required several reminders to follow through with their end of the bargain, and I place about 10% of the blame on the maintenance staff because even after they fixed the light and managed to stop the leak, there is still a green streak on the ceiling of my living room (which I will probably end up paying for).

When I pay someone a monthly rent, they need to live up to their side of the bargain. My side of the bargain should not entail holding the hands of the management and maintenance staff reminding them that they need to do their jobs. This apartment complex has NO policy for performing maintenance requests in a timely manner. If you want someone to pay attention to you, the management requires numerous requests and plenty of face time. This is not the only instance where my ticket has been lost or the maintenance team has taken over a week to get a simple job done. I've had a toilet that wasn't working go un-fixed for a week. Other light fixtures that went out also remained broken for more than their "day or two" that they claim it will take to get someone out there to fix things. There is a door on my balcony that has been "under construction" (aka off the hinges and broken) since last summer when the complex renovated the balconies of all of the apartments.

If you don't mind waiting around and having your monthly rent basically keeping a roof over your head and paying for your water bill, this is the place for you. If you would like someone to actually use the money you pay them on a monthly basis to hire competent staff that can relay information and fix your problems (the very basic "pros" of renting instead of owning), look elsewhere.

This review would not have been written without hitting the breaking point yesterday when I dropped of my final rent check. I was asked why I chose to move away from Timbercreek Apartments. I chose to stay mum on the subject because they had someone signing a lease in the room with me when she asked this. The woman in the office asked me for my serious opinion and wanted me to be honest with my criticism, so I told her straight up that it was poor management and a lackluster maintenance staff that caused me to move. That is really my only reason for moving. Rent is cheap and location is great. There's no reason to move other than the management and maintenance staff. I explained the poor turnaround times mentioned above, and I was informed that my opinion was incorrect, and that the problem was 100% based on the maintenance staff. I then explained that if the maintenance staff wasn't doing their job, my things would still be broken, and it was a management issue because the maintenance staff was never sent to my apartment in the first place. She huffed and asked me if there was any other reason for me to move away, and I said that poor management and maintenance were my only reasons. If they would simply correct these staff issues, this would be a great apartment complex. Otherwise, stay the hell away if you want to live in a complex where your money is being used to improve your personal lifestyle.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 05/02/2008
I don't know...I've been at Timbercreek 2.5 years and have never had that kind of problem with management or maintenance. It's true that Timbercreek is not the most professionally run place. There seems to be a laissez-faire about a lot of things and the management can be lackadaisical at times. There are plenty of newer, better managed complexes in Austin, but Timbercreek is still a pretty good deal considering the relatively inexpensive cost and the incredible location.
From: mattjeast	Date: 05/15/2008
I find this posting suspiciously close to the date that I posted my review and even MORE suspiciously close to the date that I walked out of the office stating my above points considering the last posting about this property came approximately nine months ago. Also, "lackadaisical" and "laissez-faire" are not adjectives you would want to use in describing the management of a business. You do realize those are synonyms for laziness and a lack of regulation, correct? I pay these people a monthly fee to do their jobs. Hypothetically, if you employed someone and gave them a salary, and you gave them an assignment that was due within the next week, would you want them to take a lackadaisical attitude about it? No, you'd expect them to follow through with the assignment, or you wouldn't be paying them for long. Yes, for the location, this is an outrageous deal. But as someone who expects services in return for money, this is not a bargain. UPDATE (5/15/08) -- I am posting this review to prove a point. Last night, a hail storm came through the Austin area. As a result, there is a hole in my bedroom window. I just got off the phone with Timbercreek staff (at 8:45 AM on Thursday, May 15) letting them know that I had a broken window in my apartment, and that they urgently needed to fix this problem. In my opinion, this is an emergency because there is rain expected, and water will come in through that window. I am curious how big of an emergency Timbercreek management and maintenance think this is. I asked for an estimate on the time frame in which the window will be fixed, and they said that they couldn't possibly give me an estimate. Well, Timbercreek, you're on the clock. The timer started 8 minutes ago. Good luck proving my reviews wrong! UPDATE (5/15/08 -- later that day) -- Congrats, Timbercreek. You are still mostly terrible, but you did come through by fixing the window at 3:30 PM on the same day I reported it. I guess a hole in the wall constitutes a real problem... unlike a leaking cealing, a broken toilet, a broken light, etc etc. If only you would've come through on so many other occasions, I could change my review completely!
From: ratm9m	Date: 11/22/2008
I have had similar problems with my maintenance at Timber Creek. To get anything fixed it takes multiple visits and you get the same -------- responses each time about how they're gonna get to it in the next week, and you have to go in complaining time and time again to actually get something accomplished. The management is very unresponsive and of little help.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/24/2008
I lived there for 2 years (June 2006 - May 2008) and always found everyone on staff very helpful. That's not to say they were always timely, but I usually didn't let things go a week or two before I followed up on them. Usually I could get things looked into either a day or two from when I first placed a report. That being said, I absolutely loved my time spent living at Timbercreek. If I could go back, I would. Unfortunately, I'm living about 5,000 miles from Austin now. I miss it terribly, so all you Austinites, please enjoy the city extra for me!

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