We've been trying to move to a bigger place for a long time now. We were hoping to get something new in January this year when our lease was about to expire; however, the prices of bigger places almost doubled and with that went out our chances.
So, right before leaving for Tahoe, when we found out there was a bigger apartment available fro the price we're paying right now, we didn't think twice and signed the papers to start the moving process. At that time my parents were to stay with us for another 2 weeks, so we were hoping to move before they leave, so that they could help out with K.
Little did we know, our leasing management here at our apartment complex had other plans for us. Those plans were called RULES. One of them was that we would not be able to to move this month because of the 30-day notice rule. Since we signed the papers on August 2nd, we could change the apartments no earlier than September 2nd. It was disappointing, and a bit discouraging because without my parents being here, I couldn't imagine moving in one day (we'd be charged for 2 places for such long time as we take moving), so we were hoping to do it within 24 hours) and taking care of K at the same time. Secretly I kept thinking that if we talked to someone in the management and explained our situation, they'd understand and let us move in earlier (I am blond for a reason!). We never talked to the management face to face, it seems impossible to do so since they hired someone new there. Each time we spoke with our leasing agent, she'd say: "I've just spoken with my manager...", or "I was just on the phone with my boss's manager, and she basically said NO." She added that if they let us move in earlier, they'd have to do it for everyone else.
Anyway, after a couple of attempts to change their minds, moving in before September was out of the question. The leasing agent said NO, her boss said NO, and the boss's boss supposedly said NO. We decided to proceed with moving in September anyway since it really was a good deal. I even emailed the travel agency in Poland trying to find out if we could postpone my parents' departure for a month. They said they'd work on it.
This all was happening on the day before we left for our vacation in Tahoe. On Sunday right before we left, we got a word from our agent saying that there is a chance we could move earlier but she wouldn't know until that afternoon. She'd call us. She never did, so on Tuesday, I decided to check in what was going on. She claimed she had left a message but we never got it. Supposedly her message was that we could NOT move before September 2. However if we still wanted the new apartment, we were asked to come to the office right after Tahoe to sign more papers and claim the "special" since as of that day the prices went up $200 extra a month.
On Friday right after Tahoe, we signed some more papers. We again were told our move wouldn't be possible until next month. On Saturday on the other hand we received better news - we COULD move in the following day in the morning (my parents were leaving in 4 days - they could still help out!) Also, we were able to sign the lease for 12 months instead of 9, which just a week before was a big NO NO.
On Sunday, the following day, we got up early and started packing so that by the time the office opened half of our apartment was in boxes. When we went to pick up our key, we were told our new home was not finished yet, but would be in 2 hours. We waited - there were no more empty boxes left thus we couldn't continue packing.
2 hours later we were asked to come back at 5pm since they were short of maintenance people and our apartment was still not ready. Our sitting on boxes continued. We were all disappointed because getting the keys at 5 pm would give us only a few hours or work before the night came and Len was going to work the following day which would leave me and my dad only and I'm not too good at moving heavy furniture.
Well, the leasing management had more surprises for us. At 5 pm they told us to come and pick up the keys the following morning. And, that was a bummer because we had to organize the boxes so that we could make our apartment livable for the night - just extra unnecessary work.
On Monday, they did exactly the same thing as all day on Sunday - "come back in 10 minutes", "2 more hours", "5pm for sure." We finally got the keys at 5.30 pm on Monday. My parents left on Wednesday morning and we were moving until Wednesday afternoon.
We absolutely love our new home but had we known what we'd be put through, we wouldn't have moved. It was not fair to put my parents through this chaos right before their departure, although they were very happy to help. We're still partially in boxes but we have 2 weeks before I start school again. Hopefully this well be enough time to get settled here.
PS. The reason why they had us wait for so long for the keys was, as our leasing agent said, because they wanted us to move in to a perfectly clean and with no problems apartment. It sounds like a good reason. When we moved in (after having us live on boxes for 2 days)
- the fridge and freezer didn't work; had to be replaced
- shower didn't work
- front door still needs a repair
- the mailbox keys don't match our mailbox (we've been here for 8 days now and still don't have the right key)
- the balcony screen doens't close all the way
This is the view from our new place:
No comments:
Post a Comment