Recent issues aside, Archstone has offered us a new place to live… albeit not without some stress.
As I wrote prior, our upcoming move was delayed by the existing tenant of our new apartment rescinding their 30 day notice. Although Sophie, General Manager of the South Market facility, said the existing tenants were personally sorry for the trouble they caused; come to find out from our sales rep it was actually a corporate rented apartment! Now, being in the business, I know it’s much easier to shift a business account than a personal account – though Archstone’s policy, regardless of tenant type, is to cater to the current tenant, I can’t help but feel walked over and misdirected.
Reluctantly, I accepted an additional apartment, and came down to their office with Sheryl for the paperwork. Sheryl, concerned about the situation, asked to see the location of the apartment again just in case (they don’t allow access to occupied apartments, which I think is as plus)… what we found out is that the previous rep, Wilson, showed me the wrong location! This apartment was in a ‘basement level’, with street view and minimal light. Distressed, we negotiated for a smaller place with a storage unit (even though that apartment is also corporate occupied), and signed the final paperwork July 19th to get the process moving.
The current tenant leaves July 30th, with our move in set for July 8th. The one we picked is in a higher, sunnier location with new fixtures that I hope will prove worthwhile. In the end, we’re more concerned than ever but our time is running short for options; if it happens a second time, it’ll be the last.
As an interesting side note, our Sales rep commented that 3 other potential tenants also lost their apartment that day (one moving out from Las Vegas). While that did little to calm my emotions, it is telling that many of the reviews I find regarding this location could be spot on, and I maybe walking into a time-bomb. Here’s to hope they just as much time marketing their corporate business, as they do taking care of their public tenants. After the 30th, I’ll be much more excited about my new place.