We moved in to the Parc Dulles in July 2013, and were impressed by the amenities described to us. We were unable to do a walk through of our apartment because it was still under rent and instead taken through a handicap unit in order to get a general feel of the apt. End of June, I contacted the complex to ask if I could see our future apartment because of several differences between the handicap unit and "ours".. I was told no.. 1st not their policy to do tours when the apartment isn't ready, &
...2nd the apartment wouldn't be ready till the day of our lease signing. We signed our lease, given a form to complete about the condition of the apartment, and sent on our way to our new home. Broken shower head, broken toilet handle, broken blinds, trash and broken glass in dishwasher, broken shelf and drawer in the fridge, visible evidence of water damage in nearly every cabinet and big water stain on carpet #was never disclosed to us#, gas stove leaking when trying to light it #not your normal gas ignition#, dent/scrape in paint large enough to be seen in an entirely different room, stained carpets which appeared to have just been vacuumed before we walked up as they printed our keys #which were wrong the first time#, and missing and un-working smoke detectors. This was all on Day 1. And then..in to our third day our fridge began to leak, and we submitted yet another maintenance request. We had just gone grocery shopping for a couple items the day before and left a note stating we had over-stocked the freezer and blocked the vent in the back. Next day it leaked even more than before. Another service request.. came to fix it but still broken.. another service request and complaint to the head of maintenance.. came to fix it but still broken.. finally we have to demand a “new” fridge. Ongoing issues that have never been resolved.. 1st# the random and unexplained beeping of our smoke detector #which is awesome at 3 and 4 am# although it has been "fixed" by the maintenance staff at least 5 different times.. 2# the pool cues are always broken, missing keyboards in the business room, the theater is taken over nightly by a gang of teenagers and a simple single piece of paper, and the cords are barely work - I'm not helpless and it took me over an hour to untangle and sort out all the working and shredded cords for the t.v. and sound system.. I'd like my amenity fee back. In August/September they installed these high voltage bulbs, reportedly due to complaints by some tenets that it was too dark in parts of the complex while they are walking their dogs.. two of the street lamps are directly outside and at eye level of our apartment windows.. particularly the bedroom. I think you can see where I am going with this. Two points: 1) why would you install it directly outside of someone's window #BTW, their blinds did nothing to block the light, and there was no way for us to hang curtains to block it out#; 2) before installing super bright white lights, how about fixing the previously broken ones and replacing the burnt out bulbs all over the complex. In October a new property manager was put in place.. I'm assuming it due to various complaints by tenets. I also had a slip when it came to our rent.. family emergency, were out of town and then I remembered "I forgot the rent?!?!" I go to the office with apologizes and explanation. Each person, including the new manager, asked me "Have you ever been late before?". "No, never", and am told too bad you need to pay us an additional $300. There's nothing that can be done? "Only the corporate office can waive the penalty fee." Well can we call them? "Sorry we can't help you." So I call Lerner Corporation, finally speak with the director for Parc Dulles who has no knowledge of the issue and apologizes profusely for the mis-handling by her staff.. "of course, we offer a one-time forgiveness”. When I go to pay my rent, one of the ‘very helpful’ agents tries to take credit for resolving the issue with the corporate office on my behalf. To which I end with one last piece.. I reviewed our lease to see that we need to give notice that we plan to vacate by June 1st #60 days#. This is not uncommon to me or my fiancé as we have both lived in various apartment complexes throughout the Sterling, Herndon, and Reston areas. Both of our experiences as well include getting an "offer letter" from the complex about one month prior to your decision needing to be submitted. So I go to the office to ask about the status of the letter as I drop off my rent check.. I'm told the letters are ready and should be sent this week..nothing.. I go back again, and treated as if I'm in the wrong for even asking. I'm told it is unreasonable to expect that I would receive an offer letter with in the first two weeks of the month in order to fully assess my decision to stay. I'm told it really doesn't matter what happened before the month of October because she #the property manager# wasn't there then..I'm challenged to recall the name of the individual I spoke with concerning fixing our fan during "her watch", but still no apology for it not being handled in the first place...I'm told about her 20 plus years of property management experience, to which customer service and building relationships with your tenets I believe should be some as she herself has not followed through on one thing she told me she would do..
2 Pets Max.