Open Letter To Greystar Property Management
Aug 23 '00
Dear Sir/Madam:
I would like to share with you my experience with one of your properties. The apartment complex under consideration is a recent acquisition of yours: the Riverchase Apartments in Florissant, Missouri.
My family and I moved in to the townhome located at 2239 Keeven Lane one year ago, and our lease is now up for renewal at the end of the month. Although we like the location, we have encountered several frustrating problems while attempting to communicate with the managers of your property.
The very first time it rained, we noticed water leaking through the walls and through the insulation around our windows. Of course we called and mentioned this to the manager, but it took over 2 months of repeated complaints for them to send someone to "fix" the windows. What their handyman did was simply drill holes into the outside runners of the windowpane, so that the leaking water would drain outward instead of inward.
Although this was not quite the solution we had hoped for, it did keep most of the rain out of the house. However, the front lower window and upper front window of the townhome still leaked when it rained. After repeated discussions with the manager of the housing complex (Melissa Dickerson), we finally were granted the concession that our windows did indeed create an unlivable environment, and that they would be replaced as soon as possible.
Eventually (a month-and-a-half ago) a workman finally came and replaced the front window. Unfortunately, this didn't fix the problem. In fact, the shoddy work actually made the window leak worse, and now the water has rotted through the wall above the front window.
We are still waiting for our upstairs window to be fixed, although neither my wife nor I expect it to actually fix the leak - if and when it does get replaced.
Which brings me to my point... Today we received a notification in the mail that we needed to sign our lease and that our rent was going to be increased $10.00. This seemed curious, especially in light of the fact that we had a verbal agreement with Ms. Dickerson that we would not be required to sign a lease or be subject to a rent increase until the windows were fixed to our satisfaction.
I called to the office. And it was then that I was told the news; Ms. Dickerson no longer managed the apartments. I then spoke with a woman named Tammy, who said that she was the assistant manager, and that until a new manager was hired, she would be handling any problems that the manager would normally have handled.
I had a very interesting conversation with Tammy. She informed me that since Ms. Dickerson never put her agreement with us in writing, that she couldn't help us. In addition the rent increase was simply a small one to bring us closer to market value, at the urging of their parent company - namely you. I protested that it was completely unfair to demand a rent increase on an apartment that we had been trying to get watertight for months now. She said that there was nothing to be done about it. When I asked about getting the window replaced, she baldly stated that there were apartments with bad windows all over the complex, and that if they replaced one they would have to replace them all. Therefore they would not replace ours. End of discussion.
Wow.
I asked for the name of someone at Greystar who I could talk to, and she said, "Oh, there's someone in the office right now. Let me get her for you." I waited on hold for several minutes, and when Tammy returned, she told me that the Greystar lady would have to call me back. I gave her my number, but with limited enthusiasm, as the last time we had asked to be called back by a Greystar employee, it had never happened. I asked Tammy for the Greystar employee's name, and she told me Kelly, but assured me that she had no idea what Kelly's last name was. And didn't want to ask her either. I have my doubts.
So there you have it. We don't want to move; we like where we are, except for that fact that the rain drains into our apartment. All we want is for our windows not to leak onto our furniture and the carpet. It's not a lot to ask. Heck, we pay you $605.00 a month for the privilege of staying in your apartment and doing our best to maintain it.
But where is the justice in refusing to give a family with small children a livable environment? What satisfaction can be gleaned from the knowledge that by making a family use their entire stock of towels to avert soaked carpet pads every time it rains, you have saved a few pennies? I honestly feel that if this is Greystar's attitude toward it's properties and their tenants, then you should feel ashamed of yourselves. And if this isn't representative of of your company's policies, then you should be alerted to the damage perpetrated in your name by the managers at this complex.
I hope that you have read this far, and I hope that this letter has struck some chord within you; that you may help us to resolve this intolerable situation. I mean, even if we move out, all the other people are still there, with their windows leaking into their apartments.
I want to hear from you; I want to be able to say that your company came through with flying colors and made us - your lowest level of consumers - happy again. To that end, I am taking the liberty of posting this message on both my personal website and to other consumer affairs and opinions websites, and to submit these pages to all the major search engines. I plan to update these pages frequently with your responses to the situation. Or lack thereof, as the case may turn out to be. I'll be glad to furnish you with a list of URLs if you desire.
In this age of viral marketing and the importance of word-of-mouth to build your markets and brand, imagine what a human interest story this could make. I'd be glad to promote your successes - solely on the strength of your desire to help us and your actions in this matter.
So help us out... Please.
Eagerly awaiting your response,
Jay Turley
2239 Keeven Lane
Florissant, MO 63031
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Member: Jay Turley
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