I moved in here at the WRONG time (Easter, 2008) and since then, not only have I personally experienced, but have met countless people in the one bedrooms that have leaks due to poor AC and water routing in the buildings. I'm not talking once a week or something, I mean every other day, water pouring out of the vents non-stop for sometimes up to 45 minutes. Over the counters, in the living room, dining room, bedroom -> leaks. The management WILL NOT DO ANYTHING. They come check out your place and then make excuses as to why they can't "figure out what the problem is." I've had them out here SEVEN times within a 4 month period. (PICTURES ATTACHED)

When I was signing my lease, the woman that was setting me up even said, "and let us know about leaks right away, we take them very seriously." I should have heeded that as a warning sign right away, but disregarded it because I figured any issue I had would be resolved. Less than 3 months later, she was gone and sadly, she was the only honest and sincere person left. And you guessed it, they DON'T take the leaks seriously.

I know 6 people in 1 bedrooms that have moved out this year alone and I am next. It leaks in the living room, out of all the vents and they do a terrible job of "covering up" the awful mold in the bathrooms. Every room in every apartment I've been in, including my own, always has a musty smell.

Now the garbage. Oh man, garbage. Everywhere. They began curbside pickup and it's terrible; people put it out at the wrong time so it gets left on the curb for days sometimes, and the dumpsters are literally overflowing 3 days out of any given week. However, I must express gratitude for the fact that I am not on the side that only has one area to drop trash (the compactor side) of which I've only heard of the horror stories from people trying to use that compactor and tote their trash hundreds of yards.

The management literally puts you off and you can tell that they are being fake-nice which is such BS in my opinion. Get another job if you can't handle managing this property. If Colonial Village Properties won't address it, then be honest and sincere about it rather than talking to people as if a BS line will make us go, "oh, ok, no problem then."

On top of it all, the complex (along with all Colonial Village Properties) is contracted with the cable company, so you can't even get another internet or tv provider (like AT&T u-verse which is WAY better).

The place looks great at first glance, the apartments do too, but after a few days, it's obvious that it's nothing but a great make-up job. Compared to other places in the same price level, this place isn't too bad, but if you're looking for somewhere to call home for a while, look elsewhere because you will not be comfortable here.

The maintenance guys are good men, but it's the office staff sitting in their great remodeled kingdom called the leasing office that makes you want to picket this place. They have the perfect 9-5 job in the perfect castle while the serious upkeep and maintenance situations occurring in every building are overlooked!

People from the surrounding areas come use our pools all day and all night and when there's even a tiny storm, the power ALWAYS go out of the entire complex. I haven't been here 8 months and it's already gone out more times than I can count, seriously. Since when did paying HIGHER prices give you the same crap as the places charging 2/3 the prices here'

The gates are open 24/7 unless it happens to be the 2 months out of the year when they fix them. Half the outlets within an apartment don't work (so if you have more than a cell phone charger, tv and lamp, might as well buy a power strip). There is next to no cabinet space. Oh, and did I mention that they completely covered up all the mold in my bathroom with caulking and not even a month into living here, it's all come off and the brown all over my bathtub is disgusting and looks like it has never been properly removed.

I can't say anything bad about the parking, there is plenty for visitors and I personally have a garage which works and I have no complaints. Wow...good parking and nice make-up job...gee, almost makes it sound worth it to be paying higher prices...oh yeah, NO IT DOESN'T! So I have a better suggestion, move into the property next door, save a couple hundred bucks a month and just come across the street to use the pool like everyone else.

We are paying higher prices for:
- gates that never work
- high ceilings and garden tubs for the trade-off of leaks and moldy smells
- a fantastic fitness center that people OUTSIDE of the complex use
- pools that people OUTSIDE of the complex use
- a quiet community (that is now slowly filling up with people that want to trash it)
- a caring office staff (wait a minute...that's an oxy-moron, sorry)

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/11/2008
I am glad you like your garage, unless a tree is growing on top of it, and hurricane Ike damages it. Please encourage your neighbors to write on this site, and feel free to contact Colonial Properties Corporate Offices at: Colonial Properties Trust 2101 Sixth Avenue North Suite 750 Birmingham, AL 35202 United States - Map Phone: 205-250-8700 Fax: 205-250-8890 Web Site: http://www.colonialprop.com Overall, this was a nice community, but it takes constant maintenance to keep it that way. The monies were put into the leasing office, turnover of tenants if becoming rediculous, and we are losing our nice homes to people that do not care. Their attitude is if you do not like it, we will accomodate you and let you break your lease, and they spend resources getting new tenants, instead of taking care of the ones that have been living here. Many of the seniors living here, liked it because of the care and concern, now it is becoming cigarette butts, dog poop, broken gates, overgrown trees, and garbage all over.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/11/2008
Preach it, brutha! There is NOTHING at all off-base in anything you're saying. 100% truth! I also had mold and when I asked about it, one of the office ladies commented they'd been having a lot of calls on that. They won't do crap when people walk in the ever-open gates to abuse the pools and gym. The office staff is more concerned with gossip, rumors and spreading lies about residents that expect them to do their job. Anybody interested in renting here should wait to see if we get any strong winds from Hurricane Ike. If you still sign a lease, rest assured that any storm damage will still be here long after you move in. lol! I can say that the maintenance guys are top notch - well, except for the one that was lounging in a leasing agent's car in a resident's reserved spot on Tues the 11th on the back side of the property at about 10:30am.
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/12/2008
You could talk to Colonial Prop. Trust, but they too don't give a rats... They will just forward your message to Shoal Creek, and Shoal Creek will call you reguarding your concerns. Then a lovely letter will come out stating everything that they are going to fix, and a couple complaints about taking down the foil that keeps the one room in everyones apartment from getting hotter then hell thanks to the crap air conditioning. I am not signing a new lease that is coming up quite soon...especially since they want to raise the price $15 on my covered parking space. What is the point of that they didn't do anything to make it better then it was before?! Everyones money is just a waste here at Shoal Creek... Can't wait to move out!!
From: LynchFan	Date: 09/15/2008
QUOTE:"They come check out your place and then make excuses as to why they can't figure out what the problem is." Boy, does that sound familiar.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/06/2008
You can get any television service you like. But you still pay for the mandatory cable that looks and sounds poor. Don't ask for them to get TWC out, or be ready for multiple visits by the wrong type of tech. And when you get a satellite service, the office try to make it so hard to have the dish that it's not worth the headache. I wish they'd worry more about the dog poop on the ground and not the dish on my patio.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/24/2008
Even when the gates work they aren't effective. Now that the close, the little door next to our gate wasn't even done right when they put a new knob on it. People from across the street were still coming on over for the pool. How about making them fix the door right? They can send nasty notes about trash and threaten to turn in residents to the city for littering. Why don't they turn in all these people for tresspassing? Or turn in the dog owners for littering when they don't curb their mutts?

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