Allston Place Apartments

Update 2: About 1.5yrs after moving out, I find out that they have sic'd a debt collection agency on me in retaliation. I of course have every statement that show that every statement was paid in full. After sending stern written notices, they retracted this, but to do this "in error" is extremely serious and not OK. Update 1: On move-out they slapped me with multiple charges totaling hundreds of dollars, when I asked them about what these charges were, they said they were multiple damages to the apartment. I asked them to verify and they insisted these damages existed. I had taken photos of the apartment right after move out showing it was spotless. After sending them these photos they removed the charges. Predatory business practices. Be sure to document everything! --- Do not get mislead by the way they market this apartment. This is the shoddiest most carelessly maintained place I have ever stayed in. This is not a luxury apartment or modern construction, and so you can get a same or better quality apartment in Berkeley for a third the price if you look away from these major apartment complexes. - My unit's window was cracked. Management said this would take over a year to fix and so it was never done. - Windows are old and thereby do not seal. Lots of bugs and dirt came easily into the apartment. - West-facing apartments will face directly into an alleyway with garbage bins directly underneath and two homeless drug addicts roam and shout there every night. Not good for light sleepers. Garbage truck also comes by at 6AM directly underneath west-facing windows. - Maintenance team seems pretty clueless. The hinge on one of the bathroom cabinets was off. Maintenance team kept blindly drilling holes until they got a hole in the correct spot. As a result the cabinet now just literally has a bunch of random holes in it and because they never used a level, the cabinet door is not level. - Paint splatters and difficult to remove stains on the floor. - Occasionally I'd come home to a homeless person sleeping in front of the elevator in the lobby. - Refrigerator broke twice in my 9mo stay spoiling all my food. - Microwave broke during my stay. - Window shades are not opaque. There is a floodlight pointing directly into the west-facing apartments meaning your apartment will be lit up like a firework at night, even with the shades closed. - Furniture provided is extremely low quality and NOT the same as what is advertised on the website/in showroom units. I measured the cushion on the sofa provided and with a person sitting on it, it flexed about 1mm. I ended up getting my own furniture. - My heater broke twice during my stay. They are inadequate to heat the entire apartment due to low-quality insulation. - The stairs are not usable by residents. There was a fire alarm and neither the firefighters or building management could unlock the door to access the stairs. - My unit was delivered uncleaned. There were food stains and massive fly swarms when I moved in. It took 4 weeks of fly killing equipment for the infestation to be resolved. - Laundry room only accepts quarters. Laundry machine frequently broke and would start smoking, damaging the clothes of whichever poor soul tried to use it.

Not only do you get what you pay for in terms of maintenance responses of varying abilities, they nickle and dime you to death with fees for EVERY little THING.