Columns at Wakefield

Scott Matschat

Gate almost never works, management would not honor the smallest requests. Had a work order in for a faulty dryer which wasn’t resolved before I had to leave town for a few days. I contacted management directly and let them know we wanted the work to be held off until we were back as we have a cat that is likely to run out an open door. We came back home to find that they had completed this work regardless of confirming our request to hold off. Was told I would be put on a list of units that would make any workers needing to enter the unit have to call me first. This never happened. They will give you a few days to a one weeks notice that they will have people entering your unit for some inspection or some other reason but they can’t give any sort of heads up further out because “they’re at the mercy of the vendors” as if these inspections don’t happen annually and they can’t figure out a way to let residents know earlier. You are business to graystar, not living breathing people with jobs and lives. Wouldn’t ever recommend to a friend.

des P

It was great until Greystar took over. When it was under Fogleman management I already had an agreement in place for terminating my lease early due to buying a house. Shortly after Greystar took over I contacted the office to ensure the previous agreement would be honored. At first, I was told no—being it was done under the previous management. After going back and forth and having to prove I had a paper copy signed from Fogleman they finally agreed to honor it. We were told the website wouldn’t be up yet for November’s rent to be paid online, to pay with check or cashiers check. Already having a negative experience I decided to do a cashiers check. I handed it directly to their employee, had her sign it and make a copy. A couple of days later I come home to a letter on my door stating I had 30 days to pay November’s rent or “my right of procession of my apartment would terminate”. I had to send the copy of my check with their employees signature showing it was paid and then told “they lost it”, conveniently it was found. Read the reviews, look them up, this company has had many lawsuits against them. When I was called to verify/discuss the last amount due after move out I was asked to give a good review “because they’ve been blasted on their google reviews since they took over” - the lady’s exact words. Absolutely not will I leave a positive review for such a shady company. Be careful, get everything in writing from Greystar. Many times I called the office asking for one person to be told they were off that day and then called later and that person answered the phone. Thankful I bought a house and do not have to deal with these people anymore.

Shaun Ramsey

This place really was an awesome place to live until Graystar took over the community a couple of months ago. They are about as money-hungry and unethical as they get. The whole office staff with the exception of Abby, is patronizing and condescending. My wife and I recently moved out and they are trying to charge us for damages we did not cause to the apartment. Our carpet was filthy when we moved in, and when we asked to have it cleaned they told us that it was cleaned but "not all of the stains came out." I said OK, but we are not paying for damages when we move out. This was a conversation I had with the previous manager, Stacy. I never had any of this in writing because I always had such a good relationship with the staff here, I didn't think my wife and I would ever have to pursue legal action. A few days ago we received an itemized bill in the mail from Graystar outlining the charges to the carpet. When I called Graystar the first time I was told that we weren't being charged for damages to the carpet, but instead, we were being charged for our "use of the carpet." I told the guy I talked to on the phone that this was absolutely ridiculous and I would not pay it. He told me that I didn't have to accept these charges, but they would send this to collections. My wife called today, and the new property manager, Michael patronized and interrupted her the whole time. He proceeded to tell her that we were in fact being charged for damages to the carpet, not the use of the carpet. So we get one story from the corporate office/receivables office and one story from the property manager. Michael then proceeded to give my wife a BS story about how the carpet was stained with pet urine, even though we have a cat and the carpet at our previous apartment was NEVER stained with pet urine, so why would our cat do it in this unit? When she asked if there could be DNA sampling to show what animal it was exactly he said, "we don't do that here." He then tried to haggle with her like he was selling a car, giving us the option to "meet in the middle," and he would let us pay for the carpet at a reduced rate than what was originally requested. We had no choice but to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which by the way Graystar has a D- for a grade right now; which means that they don't respond to complaints. For those of you who have been out of school for a while, a D- is just a hair above an F. Do your self a favor and go rent somewhere else that is NOT run by Graystar.

______

Management is remarkably unprofessional. I personally experienced discriminatory acts and unfair equal opportunity treatment while encountering this place of residence. I was told to submit specific documentation regarding my situation, then later told the documentation specified from management to submit was no longer being accepted. I would not recommend. In addition, valet trash was not picked up as scheduled, secured gates to be granted access into the community were almost NEVER secured, and appliances are outdated. This apartment community is a bit overpriced however, the scenery of the lake is a good compliment.