I called two weeks before my move-in date to make sure everything was good to go. This was important because negotiating with the relocation company was a one-shot deal. I was assured that everything would be fine, and that the apartment was ready. One week before the move-in date, someone from the rental office calls me to inform me that the apartment isn't ready yet, that there has been a problem and wouldn't get into the details.

He offered a similar unit on the other side of the building in a less desirable location (closer to the overflowing dumpster and the busy main stretch through the apartment complex). I insisted that I wanted the original apartment because of its location and was willing to wait for it. They pushed my move-in date back two weeks.

I was very suspicious about this situation so I stopped by mid-week during lunch to peer through the window to see everything pulled away from the walls and all of the cupboard doors and closet doors open. Routine extermination'

NO. Try, roach INFESTATION. This wasn't confirmed until I had keys in hand which conveniently enough for the rental office, I hadn't picked up until 5 minutes before closing. I was excited to set foot in my very first apartment ever, and brought in my dry cleaning to hang in the spacious walk in closet from my car. Setting the hangers on the rail apparently SCARED the roach who was hiding behind it. That sucker ran right out and up the wall. I call the leasing office immediately (they hadn't closed yet) and the woman working there basically said, "Well, what do you want me to do about it' We won't be able to get an exterminator in there until at best, Monday." (It was Friday night.)

Upon further inspection, I notice imperfections in the freshly painted apartment that I had to pay a $250 "redecorating fee" for. These "imperfections" were dead bug (roach) parts that were PAINTED onto the wall. I found a dead roach leg on the inner fascia of the microwave. It was like the place was completely infested, and the cleaning company used the same sponge to pick up the dead roaches and they did to wipe down the walls before they painted them. The company they contract to clean the apartments did a horrible job, and also left dead bugs in places that should've been vacuumed (ex. the track that the sliding glass door sits in), and left FOOD particles (lettuce, watermelon seeds) in the dishwasher drain too.

I made a list of all of the problems, took digital photos and trapped the three live roaches I caught in my apartment. Went back to the hotel I was staying at. There was NO WAY I was staying at this place overnight.

First thing next morning before the moving truck came to unload all of my things, I was first in line at the rental office. Spoke with some flaky lady who jotted down my itemized list of complaints and she pressed the "Archstone Guarantee" which basically means that if for any reason you're not happy, you can move out without taking the penalty for breaking the lease. She said that extermination really did work, but if I felt uncomfortable, they'd give me a 4th floor apartment that was becoming available in two months. She was avoidant and never answered my question of WHO was paying for my things to be moved from the first to the fourth floor should I decide to exercise this option.

The exterminator came on Monday and sprayed. They didn't do anything to clean the apartment so I took it upon myself to scratch out all of the dead painted bug parts. Nasty. Apparently there's this side effect of extermination in that it makes the critters more visible because the poison bait draws them out. So imagine coming home after work, combing the place and picking up dead roaches to be disposed of before your friends come over. Welcome to my first three months of living at Archstone!

And the most embarrassing moment was when my friend came to visit, and while we were chatting in the living room, a roach came out of nowhere and crawled from one end to the other in the center of the room.

With a few calls to the rental office asking for an exterminator visit, after three treatments, the problem has been eradicated. Now I have the occasional reddish-brown spider, centipede and cricket that get in somehow.

There have been other problems too. Like the time my toilet overflowed one weekend in my ONE bathroom apartment and they couldn't find anyone to come fix it (overflowing toilet in a ONE bathroom unit is considered an emergency) until the workweek began. And once the guy did come fix it, I came home to a filthy bathroom with footprints all over the tiles and some nasty debris in the bathtub. At least the toilet was flushing properly though!

Oh yes, and the three months it took them to finally replace my smoke detector. It was defective to begin with, going off all the time, even with a brand new battery.

And the time where the freon pump on the fridge gave out, and I had to toss 4 garbage bags worth of food. They sent someone to fix it, but didn't offer any kind of compensation for the loss. For godsake, even a $50 gift certificate to Giant would be a nice band-aid for that.

So, relatively speaking I guess since everything that could possibly go wrong HAS gone wrong, things seem pretty OK now.

PROS
1. Ample parking. No assigned spaces, visitors passes, visitors parking or any of that nonsense.

2. Spacious apartments. Big closets to hide stuff in.

3. Large bathroom. "Wow, your bathroom is HUGE!" is the most common thing I hear when someone sets foot in it for the first time.

4. Location. You can't get any closer to the toll road.

CONS
1. Dumpsters are always overflowing on the weekend. I guess that's because everyone chooses to clean/take out the trash then'

2. Clusters of roving 12 year olds who use the gym to "work out". Parents, watch your children!

3. Thin walls. You can't hear everything, but some things definately come through more than others. I can hear the phone ringing upstairs, and sometimes even the phone conversation through the walls. On the ground floor, if someone is walking past your closed window talking, it sounds like they are in the bedroom with you.

4. Poor insulation. My heating bill in the winter for my 915 square foot apartment came out to $165 one month for comfortable heating. That's how much it is to heat a small three bedroom house, in general. So, if you're planning on being stingy, be prepared for a damp apartment. You might want to invest in an electric blanket.

5. $20/month additional water/sewage fee. This isn't advertised, so tack that onto the rent price you see listed.

I'm not going to tell you to NOT move here because there are so many better places out there. For the price, this is a pretty good deal for this area. Unless you want to go across the road to Oakwood and pay up to $300 more for the same thing with nicer kitchen cabinets and a granite counter top. Minus the rough start, I'd say Archstone is OK, but I'd have a difficult time recommending it to a friend. Especially after what I've put up with.
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