We currently rent from Benson Downs, and have been here since March. We've had an enormous problem with our neighbors and their children upstairs, and this isn't counting the unwillingness of the staff to do anything about it. The apartments look glorious from an outsider view, but are subpar once the honeymoon is over.
Our upstairs neighbors suck. They have tons of cars that take up our already crowded parking, and preschool age children that thump around and scream and cry at all hours of the day and night. They do laundry at 3am, and have been known to have screaming toddlers on their balcony at midnight. Their children litter the stairwell with trash (juice containers and wrappers), and the noise is a persistent and definite problem. We've complained to the staff numerous times, but their response is to assure us the problem will be fixed, all the while doing nothing about it but possibly leaving a note on their door (Oh no, a big bad note!).
The staff doesn't keep track of how many vehicles there are per unit, and where these vehicles should and should not be parking. In our contract, it states that non-running vehicles will be towed, but an old, beat up Accord has been parked in the same spot (a valuable spot, at that - right in the warzone for parking between three buildings) for several weeks at a time (very obviously not moving, hence its deflated tire), and this is overlooked. Our covered parking spot is surprisingly far away from our apartment, for there being so many that are closer and seemingly unused. Some of the covered parking does go unused, because THERE ARE CLOSER VISITOR PARKING SPOTS TO TENANTS' APARTMENTS.
The facilities look great, until one starts using them daily. The fitness center is vacant much of the time, but when it's crowded, it's crowded. And who ever heard of a fitness room that wasn't properly ventilated, or even air-conditioned' That room gets much too hot far too quickly (esp. when the sun is out), and there are no windows that one can open. Somehow, they can air condition the rest of the building, but not this room.
Their 'media center' is composed of two dinosaur computers that aren't hooked up to a printer, and a copy machine. There is no fax machine or printer as we were told. Their pool area is nice enough, but gets easily crowded on a hot day, as the pool is on the small side (and shallow).
Maintenance is okay, other than that it's taken them 3 tries to fix the only big burner on our stove. It still won't heat things properly, and they've been here multiple times for the problem. There were at least three other problems we had to have them fix. The master bedroom and livingroom lights didn't work, and the towel rack in the master bedroom wasn't secured properly and so fell off. Our bathroom door is crooked and doesn't shut securely or properly (hinges are off) and they said they can't do anything about that' I'm a college student that knows nothing about carpentry, and [[I]] could probably fix it.
Their office staff sucks. I went into the office the day after we moved in to secure a key for the gate that actually worked (we got trapped outside, waiting for somebody else to come through the night before because the cards they gave us didn't work!), and I was interrogated by Michael as to if I was on the lease and what my age was, and if the friend that happened to be with me was living there too. Jxsus! I just want a way to get into my apartment complex, where I live!
At that, their gate sucks. At first, it was to open sometime in the morning for the day, and close at 6pm sharp for the night. Now, they just leave it open all night. What is the point of my paying more for secured entry when it is an inadequate system to begin with (the gate closes so slowly that another car can easily get in, not to mention that when you nose your car in there, the sensor throws the gate back open for another 10 seconds), and now they're not even using it'! Worthless.
This month, due to a miscommunication, one of our checks didn't go through. Instead of a concerned phone call to any of the three tenants in our apartment, they instead lodged a three-day pay or vacate notice behind the placard bearing our apartment number, and offered no communication otherwise. What would have happened if a gust of wind came down our breezeway and blew that notice away, with how precariously it was placed' Or some jerk from the building (maybe the neighbors that we've been complaining about') had taken it off' They would have thrown us out on the curb, no questions asked.
It's just surprising how little they care about their tenants, and how much it costs to live here while the amenities are simply "okay".
I wouldn't recommend Benson Downs to anybody. This place eats!

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