Woodland Park Apartments

Current Resident 183542

Resident • 2004

Customer service is terrible

WE called all morning to get directions, no one answered the phone. We even called the corperate office in SC and they could not reach them either. Once we found the place we waited 25 minutes before being acknowleged. When we were we were told that there was a phase one and phase two and by the time we left We both had a headache. I don't even want to see the place and will never go back.

Current Resident 915175

Resident • 2003 - 2004

NOT recommended at all!!!!

I can't really think of anything positive to say... <br> <br>1. The security gate was broken when we moved in...still not fixed!! <br> <br>2. Parking will be your worst nightmare! There is not enough parking to start...then everyone seems to use their gargage as storage, marking parking even worse!! <br> <br>3. The rental office and maintenance staff are LESS than helpful! The don't respond to emails, maintenance doesn't come to fix problems until you call a dozen times! <br> <br>4. Our alarm system was broken when we moved in...took 9 months and another dozen phone calls to get it fixed!! <br> <br>5. Trash!! There is one trash compacter for the entire HUGE complex (which has doubled in size since we moved in July 2003)! <br> <br>6. Internet and cable are awful...no wonder it's included, it's not worth having! <br> <br>7. One last thing, rent it too high...even for NOVA!! <br> <br>I highly recommend you NOT consider living at this complex!!!!

Current Resident 712745

Resident • 2002 - 2003

Absolutely Terrible

Pet Community, yet no tolerance of animals, no enforecement of rules (DOG MESS EVERYWHERE)at all. <br> <br>Management is not responsive, maintenance not completed in a timely manner. <br> <br>garage under my townhouse rented to someone else for storage, no place for me to park, car towed several times at my expense. <br> <br>Advertised as gated community, gates never worked. NO SECURITY

JRome_massey

Resident • 2004

The structure is nice everything else is the worst.

I moved into the apartment around the beginning of Feb. The actual apartment is structurally nice and I can barely hear my neighbors. Other than that I can not think about anything else positive to say. Lets start with one of the most important feature for me when living in an apartment, internet. The ?free? internet access along with the ?free? cable TV is handled by MDU Communications. This company is one of the worst companies I have ever dealt with in the area of customer service. I have to be honest I can not remember a time that I was out of service on the cable TV, but the ?high? speed internet is so bad that if I can?t find another broadband provider I?m moving at the end of my lease. I work for a major ISP right now as an engineer so I?m a little picker than most, but this internet is bad enough that it will upset and annoy even the most casual user. I have had Cable and DSL before, so I have a good understanding of what you can expect from an Internet Service Provider. The network is very slow and there is constant traffic on the circuit sending out attacks and port scans (port scans are designed to look for vulnerabilities on your system for the purpose of malicious activities). This is just one of my problems with this apartment complex. I?ll log in later and post more of my bad experiences, trust me I have plenty. Oh if forgot to mention, MDU Communications customer support / technical support is only open Mon ? Fri I thin 8AM- 8 or 9 PM. All other times outside of that time frame they outsource to the equivalent of an answering service, trust me these people are a waste of MDU?s money they have no ability to assist in 90% of the issues you will run into with your Internet ?access? when using the service that is provided with your apartment at Woodland Park. Stay Away

Current Resident 629603

Resident • 2004

Need Your Advice

<br>I am thinking to sign a 1 yr lease with Van Metre, so I would really like to hear advice from any current resident(s) on site. <br> <br>Slow T1 internet, parking/towing, no heat, and, bad staff..... Are any of these problems still happening now? <br> <br>Appreciate your inputs <br>

user121

Resident • 2003 - 2004

not too good for the price...

Living there is ok, but it needs a lot of improvements for what they charge. One thing is parking. Its a nightmare to find parking in a place that you will not be towed away (and they come in the midle of the night to tow cars, God forbid you have a guest coming in and there is no more guest parking) they expect you to park across the street on a very busy main road (sunrise valley) when you come home after 7 pm because by then all parking spaces are gone. They are very, very slow to answer for maintanence problem, and it has to be a major problem for them to act on it. I lived there for 1 year and i had a problem with my foset sink since month 1 called every month, always a diferent excuse, i moved out and they never came to fix it. Their internet access is most of the time down for "viruses" reasons. And the staff members try to be nice and helpful but if you ask them for ´too much´ (IE maintenance problem all year long), they give you the cold shoulder. Safety wise, a gate that never works so anyone can come in and steal for your patio/valcony. And they sent me the worng amount back from my security deposit, i asked for the right amount and its being 40 days into and i still have not received it yet. Its a nice living place but for $1,800 Utilities, you better off elsewhere or buy your own house...

Current Resident 494815

Resident • 2003 - 2004

I don´t understand the comments - I love this place!

I can´t believe some of the comments that people have written about this place. I currently live here and have for a year and have not had any problems. Maint. is prompt and the office staff has been friendly. No one ever can say nice things - it´s always bad. That´s why I felt compelled to write this.

Crazyeights

Resident • 2004

2 bedroom towhnouse

I just moved into this apartment, and I must say that for a new apartment. I feel like I am living inside a brand new house. Everything is wonderful!

Jane12

Resident • 2004

My apartment

I just want to say that I love my apartment. It´s so great. I just move up here from NC and this place is great! It´s close to my work and my apartment has everything that I wanted.

Current Resident 351161

Resident • 2003 - 2004

Don´t live here

First of all, the company has no security. Security gate that is never used. This has caused theft problems, like lost bicycles, even off of chains. Since there is no security, theives have ample time to cut chains off of bikes, and ride right off property. <br> <br>This is their idea of security. Routinely, in the dead of night towing cars away that have no parking sticker. So if you have a temporary car/rental, or you can not find an available guest parking space (very limited), then you are out of luck. Second, henry´s towing is allowed on property to routinely/nightly tow cars away. <br> <br>This is a real problem, if you are a corporate customer with a rental. The towing company charges 90/95 to get your car back. <br> <br>The folks in the office have the nastiest attitudes in the business. The place sucks. I would not recommend my worst enemy. Also, maintenance sucks. They never fix problems, only patch, and the turnaround is awful.

Current Resident 892921

Resident • 2003 - 2004

just moved out

I only recommend this place because my only concern in renting an apartment is safety for my kids. I lived there for a year and I found it to be very quiet and never worried about my safety. BUT, if you have toddlers then let me give you a warning. The front doors open too easily, doesn't matter if it's locked or unlocked, all your child has to do is pull the handle and they're out the door. That nightmare happened to me one morning just one week after I moved in. My 2 year old was found wandering around and I had no idea because I was in bed asleep. From what I hear, this is not an isolated incident and has happened before. What's sad is that they refuse to modify the doors. They just told me to buy a lock, which I did but then was told they couldn't install it because it would mess up the door frame. Told me to buy another one but I said screw it and would just block my door with heavy items.<br><br>With the exception of David, the office staff is so disorganized. I bought a storage closet and we were ready to pay for it when we picked up the keys and when they didn't ask for payment, we assumed it would be added to our rent. Not so. We got a notice taped on our door saying we had a delinquent payment and needed to pay by sunday, 2 days later. I called the bookkeeper because at the time, the storage closet didnt cross my mind and the notice didnt mention what the payment was for, but she left early and I had no one to talk to until Tuesday...meaning I had to pay before I was even told what I was paying for. A few days later, I called the office and that same bookkeeper intercepted my call (they have caller ID) saying she was looking at my account and was starting to repremand me when she realized she had the wrong person. She barely gave me an apology before transferring my call. When I was ready to move out, I was sending emails to another lady in the office and I let her know I was moving out. I asked her if that email was sufficient notice and she said that was fine. A week before I moved, I emailed her to get my final rent amount and she claimed I never sent notice. She even sent me my old emails claiming those were the last ones she ever recieved from me. Since I KNEW this would happen, I saved our emails as well and was able to prove to her that I DID give notice. Thank God I did because I dont even wanna think of all the fines they would've made me pay. <br><br>The internet hardly works. I spent more time using my AOL than MDU. I dont even wanna talk about all the problems I had with the internet...<br><br>One thing that really annoyed me was the gate. It's not even that the gate never worked, its that the gate doesn't go around the entire complex! Just a few months ago, they extended the gate and I took my kids outside to play assuming they were safe from wandering onto sunrise valley since the gate was there. WRONG. Just a few feet down, the gate ended. Now, what's the purpose of puting up a gate if it's not going to cover the entire property??? <br><br>I've never had a problem with my neighbors, very rarely heard noise from them so that's a plus.<br><br>Parking has been talked about so I won't go on about that.<br><br>Oh, I'm annoyed that we were told we couldn't keep a BBQ pit on our patio. We had to get rid of our pit before we moved in, yet I've seen several pits on other people's patio's...they were even BBQing! Which we were told was strictly prohibited.<br><br>Maintainance was usually prompt but for some reason, they always came in groups. One of them was once asking me about things on my desk which was uncomfortable and the last time they came, one of them kept giving strange looks at my shirt. It's an old shirt with Mickey Mouse on it, SO WHAT??<br><br>Overall, the place is nice and safe as I said but it's pricy for what you get. I'm now renting a 4bed 2000sf townhome only 5 miles away from this place, and it's cheaper than the Hawthorne model! Look around guys, you can find a great bargain.

Current Resident 920726

Resident • 2003 - 2004

No Freaking way

After this snow storm, I know that this place does not care. Ice everywhere, no salt for 3 days, and they have still not shoveled My sidewalk. But the sidewalk in front of the leasing office is clean! Dog poop everywhere! I have a dog and a bag! I am leaving and never looking back. Like some people on this site state, this is unbiased, there is really no need to lie about this. Roads at times were very icy!!!! All it takes is one lawsuit and this place is finished! Recommended??? No Way!

woodyp7

Resident • 2002 - 2004

Some Problems But Still Not a Bad Place to Live

We have lived at Woodland Park for more than a year. We are renting a two-bedroom (plus den) apartment on the top floor of our building. The apartment was brand new when we moved in. This is a new property and there are still some buildings under construction. I imagine the construction will be finished around May. <br> <br>We have experienced some of the problems mentioned in this site: <br>- the gate has been inoperable for months <br>- limited parking, especially guest parking <br>- some cold showers for a week <br>- minor construction noise. Since we live away from the construction site, it has not been a major factor <br>- driving to the dumpster. (Actually, I don’t mind driving to the dumpster. I rather drive to the dumpster than having trash all around the complex.) <br> <br>However, it hasn’t been as bad as some of the people have posted here. The property is always immaculate; the office staff is professional and courteous. Maintenance staff has always fixed any problems in a reasonable time; although it took them a while to figure out the water heater situation. The parking situation has improved. <br> <br>Rent is competitive with comparable properties in the area. It includes Internet access, 50 Satellite/local TV channels (including five HBO channels), two swimming pools (one heated), two tennis courts, nice club house with workout facilities and a business center with concierge service. <br> <br>I just visited a friend who lives at Dulles Greene, a similar complex. Believe me, grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. <br> <br>Do we recommend this place? Overall, yes. We opted to stay for another year. <br>

Current Resident 861888

Resident • 2003 - 2004

DON´T RENT HERE!

I lived at Van Metre Woodland Park and I would NOT/NOT recommend this apartment complex to anyone. I had a terrible experience. First off, there are policies in place that are simply unreasonable, in particular the parking policies. This complex is not in DC and those who live at Van Metre have had excessive problems with towing or having their friends towed. If your apartment is far from the leasing office, you better warn your guests they will have to hike it to your apartment. Management did not communicate how unreasonable the parking policies are. <br><br> <br><br>BEWARE OF ALL THE FEES AS THEY ADD UP!!! <br><br> <br><br>Then, you´ll quickly find out how inconvenient it is to have to drive your trash to the only trash bin in the entire complex. For the amount of money paid to live at Van Metre, one would think they would at least have 2 dumpsters. <br><br> <br><br>The internet experience was horrible. It was never consistent and I spent hours upon hours trying to fix the problems that stemmed from very poor connections from within the building! <br><br> <br><br>Maintenance takes numerous times to fix things. I had a problem with my washer and it took 4 different times for the maintenance folks to fix the problem. And what about that gated community? Just so you know, you´ll be paying for an ungated community even though they advertise it as gated. <br><br> <br><br>Lastly, management is facetious and unethical. They will not bother to make their parking policies clear or that they may change terms of leases without notifying a resident. Beware and read ALL the fine print before you sign the dotted line.

Current Resident 857889

Resident • 2004

Update, 3 months in

As promised, here is another update from an actual resident. <br> <br>Staff: I have interacted with them numerous times and with the exception of a single incident from an apparently busy agent have been treated very nicely. I find them to be courteous, professional and more than willing to assist in anything you need. <br> <br>Cable: Perfectly fine. <br> <br>Internet: A couple of incidents where the internet was not working. This was resolved in about 6 minutes. No issues since. It is a community line so the download times do vary. <br> <br>Parking: It is explained in detail when you move in. At times, you will have to park by the street or further away from your apartment than you would like but I do not feel that walking an extra 11 feet or so is an issue. Towing is definitely enforced. <br> <br>Maintenance: Had one minor mechanical issue with apartment and this was quickly resolved after hours on the weekend. No issues since. <br> <br>Heat / Hot water: The heat works perfectly and the hot water issue is non-existent from my experience. <br> <br>Trash: The dumpster/compactor is fine. Trash tends to accumulate at times on the weekend but the staff immediately cleans it up. The issue here is residents throwing their trash on the ground. <br> <br>Grounds: Well maintained. Ice was a small issue but water does tend to freeze when its cold. Watch where you walk, people do not always follow the rules and pick up after their dogs. Probably the same ones who throw trash by the dumpster and leave. <br>

Current Resident 762192

Resident • 2003 - 2004

Staff is more interested in new rentals than taking care of current customers

This place is quite overpriced for the value received. Seems most of the money went into the clubhouse, not necessarily the apartments. I am in a 1BR and the appliances are quite cheap as is the cabinetry. <br> <br>Positives: <br> <br>Microwave and large washer and dryer in each unit <br> <br>clean no bugs <br> <br>good for dogwalking around buildings if you have a pet, I don´t. <br> <br>Negatives: <br> <br>Shared parking, no assigned spaces unless you buy garage. <br> <br>Gate to parking area has never worked. <br> <br>staff is smiley but not flexible or very responsive. <br> <br>Little or no insulation to outside walls, so apartment and esp closets can be cold. <br> <br>Little insulation between walls make neighbors above quite noisy. <br> <br>

Current Resident 524081

Resident • 2003

NO WAY!!!!!! Stay Away from here!

To be brief, staff is clueless most of the time! So many service calls in the past 3 months, and they take their time until you complain and then they are there right away. They just put in a rent drop box, and it didn´t look like a complex project, so why did it take so long? Why in the world would anyone want to drive their trash to the neighborhood dumpster? Parking sucks! Gates don´t work, and now they are not even in use. T-1 is always down! We will move ann never look back!

mootarjim

Resident • 2003

Love My Loft

Well, I just finished reading the most recent posts about this place, all of which seem to be fairly negative. Now, I´ve only lived here for a month or so, but I´m really happy with it so far. I´ve rented in the past, though never in this area, any I come most recently from having owned my last home. My wife and I have a 2Br/2Ba with a loft. It´s a little over 1300 sq ft, which is nearly the size of our house. The place is pretty great. The rooms are a good size, and the bathrooms are big (especially love the ´water closet´ separation of the toilet and shower from the sink area). The kitchen is set up nice, with a ton of cabinet and counter space. The two walk-in closets are plenty big, and there are several other closets, so storage isn´t a problem. And this loft is great; it´s already my favorite room in the place. Cozy and warm, with a dormer window perfect for a sitting bench, plus it overlooks the rest of the apartment. <br> Now about the staff: I have so far not had any problems with them. The leasing agents are all friendly, and seem nothing but smiles when I come down to drop off paperwork or whatever. Yesterday, during a big ol´ rainstorm, I reported a leak that had developed on the top landing in between the apartments. It wasn´t an emergency, but it was nonetheless taken care of within an hour or so. That´s pretty responsive. Also, David the concierge is a very friendly guy and seems really helpful. So the staff is fine by me (keep the fresh-baked cookies in the clubhouse coming, gang). <br> Finally, the community amenities: I can see where parking might get to be a problem. So far, my wife and I have always been able to park our two cars right in front of our building, though. Visitors might be a different story, but we haven´t had any yet, so I don´t know. There is only one trash dumpster, but it´s huge, and it includes an automatic compactor, so I don´t think it´s all that much of a problem. Plus, there are a bunch of smaller dumpsters for recyclables, so there should be less going into the main dumpster in the first place. The security gate has never worked, true. However, the staff tells me they´re going to build a guard shack out front to replace the gate, and that it will be manned by a real, live security guard. I´d rather have that, anyway. As it is, I feel perfectly safe here. <br> Kudos to you if you´re still reading this, but I wanted to be thorough. I´ve lived in a couple dumpy apartment complexes, but this is NOT one of them. I think this place is great, and probably in the upper half of what you´d find this this area for the money. I hope this shines some light on things as a dissenting opinion.

Current Resident 404359

Resident • 2002 - 2003

DON´T RENT HERE

This apartment complex is the absolute worst place I´ve ever lived. Major issues with parking. If you return to your apartment after 7pm at night, good luck finding a parking space. The towing in this complex is out of hand. Tow trucks are constantly roaming the complex looking to make some business. VERY limited guest parking. Don´t expect anyone to come visit you if you live in this complex. <br> <br>One dumpster in whole complex. You can hear everthing that goes on in the apartment above you. Staff can be extremely friendly at times or they just blow you off. <br> <br>I´m warning you now! Go find another apartment complex to rent from.

Current Resident 264022

Resident • 2001 - 2003

What a JOKE

This apartment complex is terrible. <br> <br>1. the hot water is cold. <br>2. fireplace never works right,smells of gas permeate the room. <br>3. things are always breaking <br>4. electricty always goes out <br>5. staff is rude and ill tempered they will be the first to tell you that you are late even when you are not and they are the last to respond to any of your needs. <br>6. parking SUCKS! <br>7. apartments are small for the rent charged <br>8. T1 line always down <br>9. one trash compactor for the whole of the HUGE complex <br>10. gate NEVER works <br> <br>All together this place is terrible I would rather live at home where I would have to follow the rules of my parents which is more tollerable than the rules and regulations here! <br>

Current Resident 219227

Resident • 2003

poor

overall poor. parking is a big problem with a hugely over-aggressive tow company that randomly roams through the complex looking for cars to tow; problem especially since guest parking is extremely limited. <br><br> <br><br>Staff assistance levels vary from "not my problem", literally, to very helpful.. very inconsistent. <br><br> <br><br>Literally ONE trash compactor for the entire complex; you basically need to load your trash in your car and drive it over if you´re on the opposite end - just ridiculous, especially if you don´t have a car to drive it over. <br><br> <br><br>small though nice 24 hour gym, business space with 3 computers, printer, fax, copier.

Current Resident 217088

Resident • 2001 - 2003

Run from this place!!!!

SOMETHING IS ALWAYS BROKEN! <br> <br>The maintenance crew does poorly at routine work orders. IF THEY EVER SHOW UP TO FIX YOUR APT.!! <br> <br>The leasing staff is the sort that one they have your money and lease agreement, you´ll never hear from them! <br> <br>Run from this place!

Current Resident 73434

Resident • 2001 - 2003

Not recommended

In the close to 2 years of occupancy we have had 3 water incidents. (1 major and 2 minor) Some of the staff is friendly and willing to try and help, but most others just don´t care and give you attitude. A very common response on inquiries is "I don´t know" and "Thats not my job" and I´ll look into that and you always need to keep after them. VERY limited visitor parking and your friends that come to visit may end up with a $100.00 towing fee. For the price you pay you would expect a little more TLC. Especially when their motto is "Luxury Living" The front gates never work.

Etien

Resident • 2003

No

Van Metre Woodland Park apartments are nice looking apartments. However, it is a good example when you judge a book by its cover. <br> <br>I have read the comments posted by other people. I can say that most of the negative things mentioned are true. As a former tenant, I had similar experiences. It is very surprising that all those who posted positive things did not have too much good things to say about Woodland Park. Parking was something obvious that they did not think about before building the community. There was not enough parking for all the tenants. They tried to resolve the situation by telling tenants to park in the street. That did not sound like a good solution. It did not sound like a SIGNATURE community either. The gate is there as a sign that you have security but I could still count the times it was actually closed. The construction on the buildings is very poor. I moved and noticed my unit was not completely finished. I was wondering why they did not provide a home improvement guidebook when I signed my lease. I could go on with a list of things I saw wrong in my unit. I made many attempts to contact Management to send a repair personnel to my unit. I had an electrical problem that took many months and calls to get maintenance to come fix it. The times I went to the office, the leasing personnel looked at me as if I was not welcome there. The person I signed the lease with was professional. However, I can´t say the same thing about the rest of the management. They act more like car sales personnel. After the deal is done, they did not want to hear from you. Therefore, I would not recommend WP to anyone I know. <br>

Current Resident 910963

Resident • 2001 - 2003

Not recommended

The parking here is horrific <br> <br>The office staff is terrible. Not helpful, they act as if you are bothering them, even when you show up with a check in your hand to pay your rent! <br> <br>Additionally, it is very noisy here and the walls are paper-thin. You can hear everything your neighbor is doing. Finally, the maintenance is sub-par. It´s difficult to get anything fixed and basic utilities don´t function sometimes (toilet, AC, etc). <br> <br>Stay away