Saw Mill Village Apartments,AEC Communities, Associated Estates ripoff rip off fraudulent deceptive crappy low-quality apartments luxury poor maintenance rude slum unprofessional Columbus Ohio

I moved into Saw Mill Village apartments in July 2006 after looking at a model apartment, which looked VERY nice. Everything appeared beautiful about it, and I was very excited to move in. In order to lure me in, I was also given a $165/month discount, lowering my rent from $1065 per month to $900 per month, for a three-bedroom top-floor apartment. Also, my rental application fee was waived. Seemed amazing.

My friend and I moved in together, very excited, only to see on moving day that we were given a wrong key. No problem. These things happen. We swapped keys, got in, and saw stains covering the carpet, bugs in the apartment in crevices and whatnot, a giant smudge on the biggest window in the house, a huge crack in the wall above a doorway, and other various problems I'll get into later.

Once we got in and got our stuff all put away, we wasted no time in calling to have these problems remedied. They included...spots on the kitchen floor, filthy window sills, the giant smudge, sliding doors off their tracks, a rugged floor in the kitchen (which was never fixed), the stove's burner-plate things didn't fit into the stovetop, the dryer was leaving rust on our clothes, the dishwasher smelled horrendous, and the space under the kitchen sink smelled like sewage. This was just the first complaint I called in with. I forgot the most important thing! It was the three hottest days of the summer, and our air conditioning was out.

They were prompt to call back the next morning, but it took FOUR DAYS for my air to be turned on (even though this was considered an EMERGENCY), and a few of the other problems were resolved after a week. I was told "Don't use your dryer, because we SPRAYPAINTED the interior of it." However, days later, I tried it again, and my clothes were now getting stuck in the dryer door area. It had to be replaced. The maintenance man walked in, without knocking, without calling, and tracked mud through our apartment. I had them come clean it immediately. The bug problem mentioned above was never resolved. We had silverfish, ants, flies, and other creepy crawlies from the moment we moved in to the moment we left.

We also called in to ask that management CALL before they come over, so we can make sure someone's here (because I had a problem with maintenance men stealing from me in another apartment community), and management only told me "Here's how it works." VERY rudely. I was SO pi**ed. Even after I made this phone call, my roommate was in the shower when a knock at the door came. She obviously didn't hear it. When she came out of the bathroom, drying herself off, naked, she found herself in front of a strange man from management, fixing something in our apartment, without notice. This infuriated me further. You better believe I made a phone call.

Later that month, my car was towed. I had to pay over $100 to get it back, and was never reimbursed. They have on record in their office exactly what car I drive and where I park. Why was it towed? Because I wasn't given a parking sticker. Ridiculous.

After most of my demands were finally met, several months later, I came home one day to find a note on my door. The note stated that they were made aware that I had a dog. I did not have a dog. I called right away to settle the matter, and they said someone would be there to check it out, and no one ever came.

I eventually sent a complaint email to the company, bypassing the community management, only to receive a phone call from the community management, asking why I would send that email. I was infuriated, because I was not contacted by the company. It was ridiculous.

The amenities we were promised were not provided, either. The community has one indoor and one outdoor hot tub, as well as one indoor and one outdoor pool. However, the entire time I lived there, only one hot tub was available, then after I'd been there for two months, neither was available.

After several months of dealing with all of the crap, I finally left. I could no longer take it, and I found a house for MUCH cheaper rent, in a much better location, and hello, it's a whole house. I was told I would have to pay all back rent, as well as attorney fees, and I responded to the management, "You'll never see a penny. You should be in a database like your leaseholders are to keep you from renting out anymore." That was the last time I heard from them.

One of my friends said they were moving there, and I told him my story, which he's relayed to others, keeping them from falling into this slum. I hope others who are reading this will see this BEFORE they screw themselves over. STAY AWAY FROM SAW MILL VILLAGE!!!

Mark
Columbus, Ohio
U.S.A.