Artessa

Though I have been meaning to write an update for awhile I am just getting to it now. My sister (an attorney) contacted Artessa and was put in touch with their attorney. He, subsequently informed Artessa that we were correct and they returned my husband’s deposit and rescinded the $ 179.00 «fees.» Though I appreciate the courteousness of Samantha’s response, she was clearly attempting to propagate the predatory business practices of this company. I’m fortunate to have an attorney in the family, but others who do not are probably stuck. It makes me a little queasy. While we were there, the complex was full of young families with small children and I’m sure every dime mattered. There is probably a class action lawsuit here for someone with the time and energy. Just a thought.

Since I’ve moved here, Priscilla provided excellent customer service. The manager picked out an amazing apartment for our move in date in front of the park. The kids that play make me feel at safe and at home in such a family environment. There’s a train that I can hear along with this speaker thing (I have no clue where it comes from) that may be bothersome but otherwise I have had no complaints with noise at all with neighbors at all. I can hear people talk as they walk by, but it’s been so quaint and quiet. It’s sooo peaceful. We also love the natural lighting the rooms provide. The maintenance men, although I’ve called to remind them of the repairs, have been excellent. I always come home from my 12 hr shift of work, incredibly thankful that my roommate and I found this apartment. We absolutely love it here.

these have to be by far the worse apartments ive ever lived in. they try to get you with all kinds of stuff. they told me when i signed all my park work i would only be paying for light an gas but when i went to go pick up my keys they also added on now that i would be paying their sewer fee even though they had me also pay that through the city of riverside. when i moved in they said they were going to do a walk through to show me my apartment which they didnt an they faced me in back of a store loading area where i hear trucks unloading all night long. they refused to move me to a different apartment in the complex without me having to pay them another 500 to do so. the ac was broken from the first day i moved in. it took them 3 days to fix it so i had to suffer in 100 degree weather with no ac. i was about 7 days late on my rent an they added all kinds of fees came out to 300 extra on my rent even though wasnt even 20 days past due an told me they sent me to eviction which they cant do that unless your 30 days pass due. they are by far the worse place you can live they act all nice an offer a lot but in the end they dont care about you they just want your money

First off, this apartment complex has been the most relaxed and comfortable one I have ever lived in. I am able to have my dog and cat happily here. The apartments are on the small side, but you are aware of this when you move in. About the roach and any problems, the complex offers free of charge once a week spraying… So there’s no reason why anyone should have this problem. The staff has always been polite and helpful with whatever I needed. I also love the abundance of parking, more parking than any other complex around. My family and I are happy here, you might be too.

By far, this new management staff in the office has been the most rude I have ever dealt with. The only people they are nice to are the potential future tenants. They go out of their way for you up until you sign your lease agreement. Every time I go into their office they take their time and don’t even acknowledge your presence. They don’t call you to inform you know when you have a package waiting in their office. There’s pet feces in all common areas. If you put in a work order, the staff doesn’t make sure that it gets done in a timely manner by informing maintenance. I understand that there are difficult residents, but the staff hired to work with residents should know how to work under stress and deal with difficult people in a POLITE way. The manager should seriously reconsider who they hire because a team of rude staff in the office will make the ENTIRE place look bad even if the apartment complex is a very nice place to live at. Besides this new staff, I’m very pleased with my apartment overall. I would rate a five star in a heart beat if the staff in the office either got a new attitude or got replaced.

For the « Unilocaler» who «can’t wait for your lease to be up» if Artessa, my home, is so bad, soooo leeeeave already! I know if I was so unhappy with any customer service via the new staff, property, or even a bad restaurant experience, why not leave??? Break your lease and go! Make room for people to make my home a better place to live! Stop whining! Wait! Did I hear you mumble, you dont have the fee to be let out of your lease you say… again if Artessa is soooooo bad, go get a loan, a job, collect cans, whatever it takes to get out!!! Stop it already and thank God you have a place to live, some people don’t have a pot to piss in! Get over it and stop offending Artessa. They at least are improving, which is far more than you have done in the last few months I bet! Qye stupida!
P.S.
I have received those 3-​day notices a couple of times myself. But if you read your lease like I did, you would realize that our rent is due on the 1^st of every month! Artessa kindly gives us a 5 day grace period and if my rent and yours is not paid prior to the 6^th of the month then you, everyone and I deserve a late fee! So yes your rent IS technically late by the 2^nd of every month! Let me guess, do you post reviews on Wal-Mart’s page when your minimum payment is late too! I bet you own many uniformed sport bras and color coordinate for your shopping excursions at Wal-​Mart!

For the person who left a review stating the people who commented are complaining about one negative experience is incorrect. Most people here have stated multiple occasions of poor management and customer service. I am counting down the days until my lease is up or else I would have been gone two months into my lease. Granted, maybe it’s not completely the people in the front office fault for the dissatisfaction amongst tenants but they are the only people we are able to speak with. We have been given late notices when our rent is not late. We go in asking for an explanation and all of a sudden they do have our rent checks. They have also had «issues» with depositing my rent check yet I said I switched the original check and gave them a new one, I actually just returned the original to them. As soon as they got the «new» check my rent was processed. I feel they only did that to charge a late fee. Artessa has been management since I moved in yet, they blame the old management company for the inability to set up our front gate access codes so that we can let company in without having to go open the gates up ourselves. They have been the property management company for nearly 9 + months now, stop blaming others and get to work on fixing what needs to be fixed. I can keep going but I’m not trying to waste anymore time. I work for a property management company so I am quite aware how picky people can be but in my eyes Artessa is just not doing their jobs.

Out of the local apartments in the area, Artessa is relatively nicer and the rent has always been fairly priced. I know they did go through a lot of staff changes with the change from Archstone to Artessa, but they seem to have dialed it in now. Recently they have been really trying to improve on their customer service and I’ve definitely noticed the difference. The man at the front desk is always super nice. The other day I was rushing in to the office to pick up a package before they closed up for the day. I barely made it and as they were closing up the doors I approached and asked if they could help me retrieve my package, generously without any fuss he gladly went back and got my package for me. He could have easily told me the office was closed and continued to lock up thus leaving my day ruined since I was eagerly waiting for this package for weeks. It’s small acts of good customer service like this that really make the difference.

So last week I called about red ants inmy place. I asked if they could get some one out ASAP cause my kids and I were getting bit. The front office team was so rude. The new black girl is the worst. They pretty much told me that I have to desk with it till Monday. Oh no one showed up today to spray!
I called the number that was left on my previous Unilocal review no one ever got back to me. This place is a joke. And I will let it be known.

If there were a zero I would have checked that! Do yourself a favor and keep looking! This used to be a decent place. Since Archstone sold it out from under all the tenants with barely a peep, it was life within a nightmare of incompetence, until we moved out! The sloppy so called renovating started before it was sold and continued long after. The big problem is that the new management company, one of many in the first months, so far, do not know how to hire knowledgeable workers, communicate well with anyone, or get anything done. They start one thing and then another, without properly completing the last thing they started. Ridiculous! There is no ‘professional’ anything going on! They fixed up the entrance, that didn’t even need fixing up. They moved the office from the front by the ‘never use it’ pool, to a hauled in mobile trailer that is super ugly, taking up parking spaces right in the front! They turned the office into a fitness room, as if that was a major need for tenants that lived there happily without one. They repeated all the repairs that were just done. They took away additional parking spaces for tenants so their sloppy workers could have more room to throw their remnants around on, nails and all. They’ve taken ‘months’ to paint the outside of the apartments in some really distasteful color schemes. It was embarrassing to go home to all that, and depressing too! Every bad review mentioned here this year is dead on! If there is a good review, it was long ago, or someone was talked into putting out a good review online for them. Stay away and protect your wallet! Go ahead and give them at least a year, then maybe try again. There could be a new owner by then! Miracles do happen!

Strap your seat belts ladies and gentlemen, this is a full list of what makes this place deserve a 1 star.
Aesthetics:
So Artessa start plastering wood, filling up the holes, and removing any rotten wood. Which is good. Until they take months, literal months, to decide new paint colors. The apartment complex looks like shit, all while they paint a single building to decide the new Artessa look. Color, after color, after hideous color combination.
They finally decide on a color combo, after months of waiting, that was selected by colorblind person. Halfway through, they stop. They just stop. It’s been a week and a half, and half the complex is unpainted with patchy exteriors. They painted around our door, but our door still has mist of paint on it.
The gardening has gone downhill. The grass grows tall, until they decide to cut it. There’s areas of dirt, where lively plants once lived. Patches of missing grass, etc.
The Pool:
How many maintenance employees does it take to fix a pool light bulb? I have no idea, but it takes them three weeks to do so. The Riverside Department of Health and Safety came to Artessa, shut down the pool/​hot tub, because of the broken light bulbs. Thus began the wait for them to actually fix it. The deep end light bulb is still broken.
Crime:
Our car has been broken into as well.
We have a drop box pay rent that slips into the leasing office (currently under remodeling). Last month someone broke in and stole a majority of people’s rent. I’m sure they took care of it with their bank.
Management:
There’s an empty apartment, not in lease, that’s been wide open for more than a week. So if you’re looking for a place to squat, look no further. The door is wide open, along with the screen door. Management was foretold, and their reply was «oh, maintenance must have forgotten.» How hard is it to get on your golf cart, drive 15 seconds into the complex, and lock the door.
A resident of the community had e-​mailed them constantly, with not so much of a reply.
All in all, they don’t know how to manage an apartment complex.