They Could Have At Least Kissed Us First

I'm really not one to complain about much, gentle readers, and it takes a lot to get my proverbial knickers in a twist. Nonetheless, they are quite twisted. So, I will share my complaint.

In July, we moved to a new apartment here in Lewisville. We had spent over four years at our former residence, the Marquis at Vista Ridge, and our days there were happy ones. The apartment was anything but unique in terms of layout, but it worked for us, and it had many nice touches. Jeff and I had two cats when we moved in, and when Leah joined us in October, 2005, she had her cat with her. The original plan was to have all three cats (which is against the rules, we know) living harmoniously together. Well, the original plan didn't work out. Leah's cat, as it happens, was much more comfortable being the sole kitty in the house instead of having to share the territory with our cats. There was a huge clash of temperaments, and Leah's cat was unfortunately limited to her bedroom. He was unhappy, and when he was unhappy, he peed everywhere. This made Leah unhappy, since her bedroom smelled like Houston in August, and had to move her cat to another home. By all accounts, he's in a very happy home where he's the sole kitty and has full run of the place.

However, we knew we would have to deal with charges for a pet treatment when we moved out. For not only did Leah's cat have his share of whoopsies, our other cat became more than a bit incontinent as he was nearing the end of his life, so we had several stinky places in the carpet. We knew that a pet treatment was in our future. However, we were not expecting to have to pay for carpet replacement as well, since the carpet was not new when we moved in, so it was at least five years old and would likely have been replaced anyway. But no, they charged us for carpet replacement and a pet treatment. What makes it even stranger is that they didn't charge us for full replacement -- just the areas that were damaged.

We tried to reason with them. We tried to get them to return our calls. Leah, with her experience in apartment management, knew some of the inside tricks and really tried to get the apartment complex and the management company to be reasonable. Most of the time, they stonewalled us. They refused to return phone calls or emails and effectively refused any form of communication with us. Finally, we went over there this week and settled the account by paying what they said we owed them. We didn't want to risk having anything go to collections and create black marks on our rental history. Fortunately, we didn't owe much; they just took all of our deposit money. We were screwed out of about $150-200.

So, it's a real shame that a good relationship with an apartment complex had to end in such a crappy way. We were good tenants. We had no noise complaints against us. Our rent was always on time. When we moved out, Jeff and I spent all day working on the apartment, getting it clean. Jeff filled in all the nail holes so it would be easier for them to repaint.

If you're reading this blog and considering moving to the Marquis at Vista Ridge -- don't! The manager there (Jo) will get you upon moving out, and you won't have any way to dispute the charges.