3 years ago
When I signed a lease and moved into Ashton Brook ...
When I signed a lease and moved into Ashton Brook Apartments in Franklin Tennessee, my children and I were very excited about our new fresh start. Unfortunately, I have to say that this is the absolute worst experience I have ever had renting. I endured living at Ashton Brook Apartments for three years, because I was stuck and felt I had no options. I could not find a less expensive apartment. When I moved into Ashton Brook in September of 2013 I was optimistic and very pleased. Management was amazing and repairs were completed promptly and the jobs were done the right way the first time. That is, until Connor Group took over in that first year. After that, the water bills changed from me getting to pay for the water I used, to me having no choice but to pay community water. My water bill went from $40 a month at the highest, to a consistent $160 a month! Because I lived in a three bedroom (yet only had my children half of the month) I had to divide the water usage up by square feet in my building as well as contribute to the pool maintenance water as well as pay a garbage fee. I still had to take my own trash to the dumpster, yet was paying a fee anyway.
Every year, my air went out at least twice when summer began, and each winter, my heat went out at least twice. It became a joke with my children. The first winter it went out was January 2014 and I had no heat for 3 days. These were hard freeze evenings and my apartment was 45 degrees inside. Management refused to put me up in a hotel while they tried to fix the heat. So not only did I pay rent those three days, I also had no where to stay and had a hotel bill for three days.
When I finally was able to move, Management forced me to stay until July 7 because they apparently had reached their maximum move outs in June and forced me to stay. Well in May thru the first week in June, my air conditioning quit working 5 times! Five times I had no air in the heat of the season. The 4th time my air went out, I called the office on my way to the airport to travel letting them know my air was out and that I would be back in town in four days. I gave her my name and apartment number and upon returning, 4 days later, my air was still not working. It was a Sunday evening and I had my children and because it was weekend, they would not get anyone out to fix it. While the property maintenance manager lived in the complex, she would not come, and they forced a man who lived 30 minutes away to come out, and give me one window unit for my three bedroom apartment. We had to sleep on the couch and in sleeping bags on the floor because the management messed up and did not fix my air. Then next day it was fixed, yet a few days later, it went out again. 6 times in five weeks, I calculated that I was without air conditioning for 11 days! For 11 days I had to pay for electricity bill running my air that did not work. 7 of those days, I had to find a place to stay because I couldn't sleep in 85 degree heat.
Near tears, I resolved to move my moving date sooner and I moved out June 15. I have not been in my apartment since and I will not pay another dime for the 7 days in July they FORCED me to sign up for. Take it out of the days I had to relocate because they would not resolve my air unit the first time. Frankly, It was as if they were just putting "glitter on poop" and never truly fixing any problem.
I had dish washer issues constantly. My garbage disposal broke many times, and I also had many electrical outlets that did not work.
There were months I was out of town more than I was in town and never used water, yet still had a consistent $160 water bill.
Shelli Tripp Norvell
Franklin, TN