Review History for anonymous

Unfair fees and broken gates

Hello everyone, <br><br> <br>I am writing this to warn you so this doesn´t happen to anyone else. If you are planning to move into an apartment or know anyone who is planning to move into an apartment in the Houston area, tell them of my experience with "The Lodge on the Parkway" on Eldridge Parkway, just a mile or so south of Memorial. This is where I live and they just screwed me out of $170.00. <br><br> <br>Here´s what happened: <br><br> <br>April 2002: I COMPLETELY forget to pay rent! I have never forgotten to pay rent in my entire life, but due to the poor economic conditions, I was laid off in October 2001 and when I finally found another job, got a substantial drop in salary. As a result, I’ve had to take a second job, freelancing, in order to pay their rent increase, as well as other bills. I was out of town, on business, during the end of March, and consequently, forgot to pay my rent. It happens to the best of us. Okay, stupid and irresponsible on my part, but I had a million things going on at that time, not to mention tax time, so it JUST slipped my mind. It slipped my mind to such a degree that I´m not even aware that I didn´t pay rent for April until May 11th when the office FINALLY decides to notify me that they still haven´t received payment. (They usually notify you about 2-3 days after the 3rd of the month if you´re late on rent) So they didn´t notify me for 32 business days! Which means that $110.00 of late fees have conveniently (for their sake) accrued. But wait, it gets better! It´s now May 11th, right? So I´ve paid May´s rent already. I actually paid it on April 29th, on time as usual. And they still conveniently didn´t notify me that I was late paying April´s rent for another 11 business days. And when they did? My rent check for May was returned to me (uncashed) and a late fee of $60... FOR MAY... was applied!!! When I paid May´s rent ON TIME!!! Had I been notified a month prior to this, I would not have had to pay $60 for May, since I paid ON TIME! And when I asked why I wasn´t notified? They simply said, "Well, we have a new girl in the office." IS THAT MY FAULT??? <br><br> <br>I can understand having to pay late fees for April, but I SHOULD NOT have been charged late fees for May since I paid ON TIME! I talked to everyone in every office possible and no one would budge. They´re a bunch of despicable money-grubbers. It has NOTHING to do with their policies or treating every tenant equally. It has to do with an some incompentent new girl and I´m out over $100 because of it. So unless you want to be unfairly charged for late fees for months of rent when you paid ON TIME, DO NOT MOVE INTO THE LODGE ON THE PARKWAY! <br><br> <br>Here´s the address: <br><br> <br>1415 Eldridge Parkway <br>Houston, TX 77077 <br> <br>P.S. - Here are some more goodies that I just love about this wonderful apartment that I live in! <br> <br>Below are some of the things that I, and as several other residents here at the Lodge on the Parkway have stated, continually notice: <br> <br>-The gates are often broken and/or are just sitting open <br>-I had a small "stalker" situation where this guy found out where I lived, got in the complex (gee, wonder how?) and left a note on my car <br>-my car got broken into <br> <br>-No trash pick-up at your door <br>-Trash bags are often seen outside of residents’ doors anyway, even though this is against lease policy. It’s supposed to be $50 per bag bif you are caught leaving trash outside your door. This is not enforced. <br> <br>-Trash bins often seen overflowing; is inadequate for the number of units and residents living in this apartment community <br> <br>-Clothes donation bin also seen overflowing - not picked up often enough <br> <br>-Flood water engrosses the common area in front of my door every time it rains, which is a safety hazard because I could slip coming in and out of my apartment <br> <br>-Loud music penalties are not enforced - I had to call the police on my neighbor 5 or 6 times after calling the office 7 or 8 times <br> <br>-Office refuses to hold packages so purpose of ordering things from the Internet is often completely defeated because I have to go to the post office and pick up my package (even though I pay for it to be shipped to my APARTMENT) - I´ve recently had to get a Post Office box across the street from me that cost $60 just so I can get my packages <br> <br>-Several lightbulbs in outdoor hallways are always out/going out - so they constantly flicker <br> <br>-Cars are ALWAYS illegally parked in firelanes and “no parking” areas, which makes it difficult to maneuver in the parking lot and could easily cause accidents – parking laws are not enforced <br> <br>-Complex outdoors often smells bad <br> <br>And they charge "market rent" (very high) for these apartments...