Ok, that's a bit of hyperbole, there is something good, plenty of space. Also, I enjoy being near the 7-11 so I can get slurpees quickly. Other than that here are some of the problems. Bear in mind this is not an all-inclusive list. Just what comes to mind at the moment.
1. Parking is horrible. It has taken months longer than originally advertised and they claim it'll be complete in January. I'll believe it when I see it. The construction in the garage is a danger to residents and our cars. They have hanging lights strewn all over the garage but many of them hang too low and some of them have the yellow cage portion open. This means if your vehicle has any height it's in danger of getting scratched. The garage doors are left open for as often as they are closed meaning any yahoo can enter.
2. The fire alarms go off dozens of times in a given month. It's a delight to have my 2 month old daughter woken up by these alarms that often stay on for an hour. Then you can decide whether to take the risk and act as if there is an actual fire or not. Should I get my wife, baby and 2 cats evacuated for something that has been a false alarm a hundred times this year or stay in the apartment and watch the fire trucks come again'
3. The A/C is garbage. It's winter now and that gives management several more months in which to ignore the issue before we start pestering them again. But the bottom line is it doesn't work. Throughout the hottest part of this summer we kept it at it's lowest setting, 50, but the thermostat never went below the low 70's. While that temperature may be tolerable, you should only have to set the A/C to 72, plus or minus a few degrees, to get 72. Plus, you only really get that temp directly by the vent. The farther away from the vent you get, the higher the temps so that when I'm by the front door it's 80. Let me tell you how much of a pleasure this made my wife's second trimester, it was fan"fing"tastic! Not to mention, with everyone having to blast their A/C s non stop to keep from baking it does wonders for your utility bill.
4. The front desk changed a few months back from a 24/7 operation to what they called a true concierge service". WTF' Translation, they wanted to cut down on the hours they were paying to front desk personnel. The hours they have posted for this new front desk are often wrong. They sometimes leave early and may or may not inform us ahead of time. They also can't keep track of packages. Since the holiday season is soon approaching we have had about 20 packages arrive in the last few weeks. It's a chore finding them and one is still unaccounted for. The only person up there who gives a darn is Jeannie, but it's got to be a lonely job surrounded by incompetent idiots and being the one nice person on staff who will actually listen to residents vent their wrath at problems.
5. Maintenance issues. Stuff takes months to get fixed, if at all. For example, do you like hot water for your shower' If so, don't move here. They've been "working on it" since we moved here with no improvement. We had wallpaper in the hallway outside our apartment that they were removing. They put the new stuff partially on but left it hanging. This stayed like this despite repeated calls whenever we had family coming and they did nothing for about 3 months. Finally they half-a&&ed went and fixed it. They didn t secure it to the wall completely but kind of slightly stuck it on so there were bubbles all over the place.
6. Phone calls never get returned. When we call, the front desk answers and management is never available. Despite being told they will call back it never happens. We have literally called on an issue 20 times. Sometimes no one answers, even though it ll be during their open hours. And you just get the voicemail. What the hell, they already have us on a lease, no need to take care of the customer anymore.
7. Management lies. It s hard to be more blunt than that. Like them telling us we can t grill on the concrete patio because the fire marshal will fine us. That was one of the selling points that got us here, but all of a sudden it s illegal. And, if you ask the fire department they will tell you that s a load of bunk.
8. Riding the elevators are like playing slot machines. Let s see, which one is going to work today and how long will it take to get here'

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/06/2008
regarding parking garages: i had a few thousand dollars worth of of damage to my vehicle entering the garage this year. the management said it was my responsibility to file it under my insurance and pay for it, they are not responsible. i told them the openers are faulty, barely attached to the ceiling, bent, and broken. the aventine told me to call their isurance company and discuss it. i did call and they acted concerned, told me they would look into it, said to file it under my insurance, and if they found the aventine to be at fault they would contact me; nothing. the aventine told me my vehicle was too tall. i drive a small sized suv. i told them the L-brackets holding the opener were bent and hanging lower than the door opening (that is posted) itself. one of my air units never worked properly this summer either. we went through an entire summer living in a room that never got cooler than 76 (it usuallstayed 83-85 degrees in the day and down to 76 at night), and the room faces pm sun. we went back and forth with management and maintenance because everytime i called or they called me or they came to look at it before fixing it (like they didn't kow whatwas wrong already), it was always a different person and none of them knew or remembered what the was going on or waht to do. now that the air is cut off, we'll have to start and go through this again.
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/06/2008
Just because management says that they're "not responsible" for theft or property damage, it does not make it so. They are responsible for damages occasioned by their own negligence. Failing to secure the doors and garages, especially after notice of repeated problems, can (and often does) constitute grounds for a negligence action. I am a landlord-tenant attorney and -- tragically -- a fellow resident of the Aventine. Don't be misled by their bluster and bullsh*t. Make a claim against their insurance. If you don't get satisfaction, consider a lawsuit in the General District Court of the City of Alexandria. It's cheap and relatively easy (many pro se litigants). Hold them to their standard of care -- God knows, they won't police themselves.
From: needtodosomething1	Date: 01/07/2009
Dear Landlord Tenant attorney please contact we have more damage than that court allows. We have claim into Aventine's insurance company and they don't want to pay. Aventine has been damaging all of us for years and I say we should all band together and sue them. We have been living in a hazardous environment for years with black mold asbestos construction with no permits for years so I'm sure there is alot of people who are damaged and seriously injured.

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