Review History for AvoidAmli

Stay away from this complex; horrible cust svce, and all about the money!

I've just finished a two year stay at Amli at Oakhurst. In a nutshell, I'd describe the facility as a money pit. Paying that amount of money for an apartment that small is absurd, which is compounded by a doubling of the water bill during the last year, the complex adding a fee to use the pool, computer room, and workout room, which has all culminated in them keeping my $400 deposit, and requesting that I pay an additional $93.00 after moving out. The final bill really didn't surprise me as the two year stay seemed to be more about gouging the tenants as much as possible. Let me provide some of the highlights of my stay at the complex: 1) Very slow (if any) response to maintenance problems. This started with the apt. hot water heater needing replacement during the first week of my stay. I initially called the problem in around 7:00 am; the crackerjack maintenance staff arrived around 3:30 pm, only to tell me that there was nothing that could be done until the following day. After promising to return by 8:00 am the following morning, aforementioned maintenance persons finally appeared around noon to replace the hot water heater. Of course, there is never any follow-up by the office staff, because the only concern of theirs is that the rent check is paid on the first. 2) The very small patios have traditional doors (i.e. no sliding glass doors). However, if the tenant wishes to purchase a screen door, the A-1 maintenance staff will install the door free of charge. After purchasing a door, I completed a work order to have the new screen door installed. Ten days after submitting this work order, maintenance still had not arrived to install the door. Finally, after calling the office staff to complain about the delay, someone from maintenance finally did appear...did he ever. Upon his arrival at my apt, his behavior was appalling...nothing but cursing, swearing, and complaining about having to perform this extra work. 3) Around 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning, I was awaken by a brown liquid (later to discover that this was liquid feces) flowing through the vent in the master bedroom onto my sheets. I immediately called the emergency maintenance number. The response was "What would you like me to do about it?". I kid you not. I complained to Amli management about this response, but apparently it was swept under the carpet. Again, this falls under the category of "if it's not about money owed to Amli, then it's not important". 4) Around 7:15 AM on a Tuesday morning, I received a knock on the door from my upstairs neighbor, warning me that a pipe had broken in her apartment, and that the water was FLOODING her place (and in all likelihood was headed downstairs). We both contacted the AMLI emergency phone number. Neither of us EVER received a response. After spending the entire morning moving computers, furniture, and anything that could be damaged into the few dry places left in the apartment, ----- ----- (the incompetant complex manager) showed up at approximately 11:15 AM. ----- never apologized for her people not responding, but matter of factly stated "You should rent one of my (overpriced) garages", after noticing my belongings in such disarray (after the flood). (FYI: Read the first paragraph about this place being a money pit). 5) This luxury apartment was in constant need of repair. Placing a call to maintenance always required waiting at least 3/4 of a day, and sometimes overnight for them to respond. I always found this odd, as there usually seemed to be someone patrolling the complex to pick up dog feces. Apparently dog feces takes precedence over customer satisfaction. 6) The apartments are some of the most poorly constructed buildings that you'll ever encounter. Electric and gas bills will be skewed higher due to the lack of quality construction and insulation. Heat/air conditioning just flows right through the porous walls. On windy fall and winter days, the cold wind just blows right through the holes in the walls that contain the electrical outlets. 7) The office staff at the complex usually don't answer the phone, and NEVER EVER follow up on any issues (either issues reported to the office, or maintenance issues about the apartment). There also is this wonderful policy about parcels that are delivered to the office instead of to your apartment. It happened to me numerous times; USPS, UPS, DHL, or other delivery service just being too lazy to deliver to your door, and dropping the parcel off at the office, with no notice to the recipient. Of course, the office staff is too busy counting money to notify their tenants of the waiting parcels. Quite often, it was over two weeks of waiting for a delivery before realizing that it probably was another shipment to that black hole in the Amli office, and in every occasion, my parcel was sitting in that black hole collecting dust. 8) There are no dumpsters at this complex, but rather the largest trash compactor that you'll ever witness. Quite often, this compactor will just overflow with trash, to the extent that it fills the surrounding yards and streets. It's just a breeding ground for disease and rats. Again, after the very high water/sewer/trash fee that is tacked onto the monthly rent, I never understood why there was such a huge problem with trash collection. 9) During the first 16 months of my stay at this complex, the monthly water/sewer/trash fee ran approximately $28 to $29 each month. During the 17th month of my stay, the billing of these incidentals was apparently turned over to a third party. This bill increased to almost $55.00/month. I approached ----- -----, the teflon manager several times about the increases; her response was "the first 16 months were incorrect; just pay the bill". 10)There is not adequate parking at the complex. Paying that amount for rent, and having to park hundreds of yards away is just absurd. 11) When you see the first significant snow, you won't be happy with the snow removal. Last year (winter of 2006), they did a horrible job of snow and ice removal. It was not uncommon to see 3 to 4 inches of snow in the unplowed driveway, that ultimately froze over to create a very hazardous situation for both tenants and cars. That's just uncalled for, given the amount of rent that the tenants pay. 12) I just received the final bill from Ms. -----...the "coup de gras". In addition to keeping my $400 in deposits, she's attempting to bilk me out of an additional $93.00. FYI: I do have a video of the empty apartment, in very clean, excellent condition, and I'm more than willing to take Amli and Ms. ----- to court over this. BTW...look for this video to be airing on You Tube within the next few days. To prospective renters: When you read this, you always think that this will never happen to me. I felt this way upon moving into this complex. Do yourself a HUGE favor, and look at other non-Amli complexes, if you have to live in that area of DuPage county. There are a number of other apartment complexes in that general area, and further west (St. Charles, Geneva, Yorkville). Realize that you won't be happy in this complex; the tenants do talk to one another, and to a person, we all feel the same about the complex, the price gouging, the poor upkeep, the horrible office staff and the untrained, unmotivated and rude maintenance staff. ----- ----- has apparently molded the office staff in her imcompetant image, in that, the only positive customer service skills that one will ever see will be in coercing prospective tenants to sign that very high-priced lease. From that point on, expect to be virtually ignored (that is, unless your rent check is a day late or there is other money due to Amli). FYI: My rent was always paid on time, but I did see eviction notices posted on neighbors doors if the rent was even 1 day late. It's amazing that the Amli staff would move that fast when money was involved, yet move so slow when the tenants called with an issue. And for those of you reading this, if you'd like to read something comical, read the posting on this website by the "Amli at Oakhurst manager", Ms. ----- herself. She blames the horrible apartment reviews on staff from other apartment complexes placing bogus ratings on this site about Amli at Oakhurst. Take some responsibility, Ms. -----. The reviews on this complex are a direct result of your management, or lack thereof. It would be interesting to know how many "long term" tenants (i.e. over 2 years) are living in Amli at Oakhurst. My money says that there are very few. The bottom line...DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, AND STAY AWAY FROM ALL AMLI COMPLEXES, and SPECIFICALLY AMLI AT OAKHURST!