To whom it may concern,

Due to the general unsafe atmosphere and completely lethargic and unhelpful office staff, we will not be renewing our lease at Tanglewood Apartments in Manassas Virginia. I was considering staying here four to five years in order to buy a house, but because of the repeated vandalism to my vehicle, loud neighbors and the fact that last night at midnight I had to chase off a kid who was barking his tires over and over in the parking lot, we will be moving to a more affluent area where I can park my car without worrying about individuals taking their anger out on it.

A more detailed list of compliants would be:

1. Residents here use the front lawn and hedges as garbage cans.
2. Apparently the front office will take issue with someone having three small pets, but not five loud obnoxious children in a two bedroom apartment.
3. Despite the fact that I have never paid my rent late, I still will receive a flyer and invoice in the mail with a helpful $50 utility billing fee and a reminder that rent is late after the 1st day, weekends be damned.
4. In regards to #3, the billing fee and invoice was a result of the staff not informing us to switch the electric.
5. There is no “courtesy officer” or whatever management wants to pass off as ’security’ for the apartment complex. It’s not unusual to have people screaming, peeling out in cars, or just hanging out in the parking lot at all hours of the night.
6. The pool is unusable due to the kids running, cursing at each other, and the fact that the residents use the pool as a babysitter. The lifeguards are much to busy hitting on each other to do anything about it.
7. After I bought my BMW last year, in 12 hours I was ticketed for not having proper registration. Next to my car was a Chevy truck with tags that expired in 2005 and four flat tires. It took us four months of complaining to have it towed away.
8. I’ve had my BMW for ten months, and it has been hit by a car door in the parking lot 12 times. Eight of those were hard enough to leave a dent in the side panels. I’m seriously considering billing Equity or Tanglewood for the repairs needed, or to at least have an equal credit applied to my rent.
9. We had severe electrical problems in the apartment that went unfixed for weeks, even after logging multiple requests.
10. One Friday the hot water heater went out, and no one bothered to show up to fix it until the following Tuesday.
11. The patching and paint job in our apartment is shoddy and unsightly.
12. For an apartment of near equal size in Lynchburg, our electricity bill was $40-$45 per month. At Tanglewood it’s anywhere from $95 to $145 per month.
13. I’ve called management and the police in regards to our downstairs neighbors screaming and fighting with each other and their horde of children. No one seems to care, and since the guy owns a gun, I’m not going down to tell him to knock it off.
14. The sidewalks are rarely salted in the winter, and have been pretty dangerous the past few winter storms.
15. During the parking lot re-tar fiasco, we were away on vacation in Catalina and just happened to come back a day before they started towing everyone’s car to random spots in the complex. I’ve told the front office that I have security measures in place to keep my car from being towed without my approval but they seem to think it’s BS. It’ll be quite funny the first time they attempt to tow my car without my permission, and Equity will definitely be getting the bill for that.

I think I’ve wasted enough of my time, and life, living here and also writing out this email. We won’t be renewing, and I’ve already posted several reviews to apartment rating websites. I’m confident that I have been labeled a complainer and ‘high maintenance’ by the front office, and I’m also confident that this email will be passed over and laughed about without action. I am the CEO of a successful NOVA software company, and very well respected in the IT community. My personal site alone, which will be displaying my annoyance with Tanglewood, generates tens of thousands of hits per month, 86% in the local demographic.

I value customer service and a positive return on investment in both my business dealings and my personal dealings. Tanglewood, and Equity as an extension, have failed to meet either of my expectations. I understand how annoying and easy to dismiss the squeaky wheel types can be, but unfortunately this squeaky wheel has an audience.

–
Adam Kinder
CEO - E29 Incorporated
http://e29inc.com