[Note: This is an actual letter we delivered to "Unpleasant Springs" management while we still lived there.]

Why Pleasant Springs Apartments Suck

We have lived here for a while now. We have more or less hated it the whole time more than any apartment we've ever lived in, even cheaper and theoretically worse ones. We can't wait to leave. In short order, these are some of the reasons why. We provide these comments not to be spiteful but because we believe businesses of all kinds rarely receive the candid feedback they need from their customers before they just blow up and leave. If you're wise, especially in a crappy economy like this, you'll pay some attention.

* Rent is a rip off for what one is paying for. The base cost is almost twice what we paid for the equivalent amount of space at our last apartment, and that was in Salt Lake Valley not little old Pleasant Grove, Utah.

* To add insult to injury, upon signing up we were not adequately informed of the hidden cost of the water/sewer/trash bill. Cha-ching! Rack up another $77 or so per month. Every other apartment we ve ever lived in, both inside and outside of Utah, has not charged this type of a fee. We told our old landlord about it, and he couldn't believe you get away with it.

* As if that weren't bad enough, the electricity and gas bills are routinely completely out of whack compared to what we have paid in previous apartments of the same general size. In particular, the gas bill can be three times the average paid at our last apartment, which was about the same size and was even older and supposedly energy non-efficient. For comparison, during one year at our old apartment, we spent about $850 on electricity and gas combined. During 2008 at Pleasant Sprints, it has been almost $1,500.

* One of the reasons for the high gas bill is perhaps the ill-conceived decision to place the water heaters outside in the dead of winter, whereby all the heat is siphoned off into the cold air at our cost. The hot water lasts noticeably less time during the winter than during the summer. Nothing is more annoying than trying to hurry up and finish showering as the water begins to get cold.

* Speaking of high gas bills, the apartments are so poorly insulated that they are absolutely freezing each winter unless the heater is jacked up to crazy highs, further exacerbating the problem with the gas bill costs.

* When we signed up, we were not adequately informed that our apartment was going to be around the so-called pets and smoking area. While the smoking is manageable, the dogs have been a significant problem many nights.

* Speaking of pets, dog crap is always all over the lawn, despite rules to the contrary.

* Not being able to opt out of cable or landline phone service is just one more thing that inflates the price of the apartments. We use cell phones exclusively and have hardly ever used the landline phone line. National surveys show that an increasing number of people only have mobile phones, and Pleasant Springs does not handle this situation well at all. We also wouldn't purchase cable service if not for the fact that we have no choice.

* Until recently, the Internet connection was so slow and unusable that it felt like a complete rip off even paying $15 for it. The Internet is very important nowadays for doing everything from paying bills to planning a vacation. Even after the upgrade, it still feels significantly slower than cable modems and DSL and often still bogs down at night to the point that web pages load mind-numbingly slow. The Internet at Pleasant Springs is a joke, but it's basically a monopoly.

* Again unlike any other apartment we have ever rented, one of the requirements to live at Pleasant Springs is renter's insurance. This is yet another cost (about $120/year) and time/effort burden to plop onto the already existing pile.

* You have to do math just to pay your rent at Pleasant Springs. Unlike any other apartment we've ever lived in, we can't just write our rent check out for a fixed amount each month. Instead, we have to manually add in the (irritating) water/sewer/trash bill myself to the base rent before paying. Simple, we know, but this is just one more annoyance to deal with.

* Pleasant Springs can't even accept US Postal Service mail packages that don't fit in the standard slots for the mailboxes. After having to pick up two packages on two different days, we were told by the Pleasant Grove post office that Pleasant Springs doesn't adequately control package pick up, so they decided to stop dropping of packages. This is a total inconvenience and could be remedied if the office staff actually verified when packages are picked up (which is how it's supposed to work based on what we remember being told when we first moved in).

* The overall quality or lack thereof of materials used in the apartments seems comparatively poor based on other apartments we've been in. The toilets are positively awful and can't flush down even the smallest of loads. The blinds are cheap as heck and are always having problems. The paint on the walls chips off in huge chunks if bumped/dented only slightly. The list goes on.

* Last, but certainly not least, the lease rules for Pleasant Springs are ludicrous and draconian. Every other apartment we've ever lived in, including large metropolitan cities, goes month to month at no extra cost on the rent after the contract ends (typically after a year). Pleasant Springs charges a crazy extra fee for each month's rent to go month to month after a contract ends. The other option is to sign up for another lease for an extended period. If a contract is broken, an insane penalty is charged. This makes it extremely difficult and/or annoying to plan one s life around leaving Pleasant Springs. Sometimes unexpected events occur that prompt a move, and Pleasant Springs is horrible for handling such situations. What is this' New York City' No, it's freaking Pleasant Grove, Utah out in the middle of nowhere, figuratively speaking. Puh-leeze.

Monthly Cost Comparison to Old Apartment of Same Size (All Costs Averaged Out Over a Year)

Pleasant Springs / Old Apartment
Rent (base): $1,000* / $649*
Cable/phone: $65 (required) / $0 (not required or desired)
Internet: $15 (poor quality) / $45 (good quality)
Water/sewer/trash: $77 (required) / $0 (included)
Electricity/gas: $125 (unreasonable) / $71 (reasonable)
Renter's insurance: $10 (required) / $0 (not required or desired)
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Total: $1,292 / $765
Yearly Total: $15,504 / $9,180

* Approximate amounts used to mask exact rent. However, difference between two accurately represented.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/03/2009
Yeah that is a rip off. You could of rented a nice house or condo cheaper than the price you payed at Pleasant Springs. The size of your water heater also plays a part on the duration of hot water you get. Just out of curiosty, what was the name of your old complex? Alot of apt communities are switching to low flow toilets to save water. Switching to 1ply toilet paper usually solves the issue of plugging. I would place a small space heater in a bedroom while turning off the heater at night That usually saves a few hundred dollars a month on the heat bill. Adding thermal insulating curtains to all the windows, CFLs, insulating gasgets for the wall oulets, also saves quite a bit. Hope you at least got lighted covered parking, washer/dryer hookups, year round hot tub, and storage closet at that price sheesh.

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