Unexpected Customer Service

Apartment hunting is a big deal. The rental industry knows this and tries to hire the people with the best skills to put them in front of people, but sometimes it falls apart.

Megan and I went apartment hunting this weekend and we encountered the full spectrum of customer service people.

Happy we were there
Annoyed we were there
You’re early, go away until later*

On Friday I called into two apartment complexes that were run by the same management company. The experience with both of the people answering the phones was pleasant and efficient. I even ended up having a conversation with the second woman for another 10 minutes on the art of introducing cats together in a new place. I got one showing setup for Saturday and another for Sunday.

During my research into both places I looked up the location on Google Maps. However, for whatever reason the site showed me the wrong location for the first apartment and put me at another apartment building which looked really nice from the satellite view (I could see a pool).

Happy We Were There: Part I

Saturday we headed out and it looked like we were going to be about 30 minutes early to our showing so I decided we should drive to the location that Google Maps had shown me. It was literally on the other side of the highway so it wasn’t that long to get to.

We were impressed immediately with the look of the place. So we figured we should stop in and get some information on the apartments. The manager was very gracious to us. Also, even though we were walk-ins he took 5 minutes to describe to us the different floor-plans and amenities of the apartments they had to offer. He couldn’t give us a showing at that moment since “my noon is late and my 1pm wants to come early, otherwise I’d show you around”. Fair enough.

Annoyed We Were There

Our first showing was scheduled for 1pm. We showed up at the complex around 12:50. I’m fine with waiting until the ‘actual’ time, but really, it’s only 10 minutes. The manager continued to make the statement “You’re early” two times. Once when we first got there, and then again about 5 minutes later while she was filling out the information sheet.

I should also mention that the information sheet proved challenging to the manager since she simply failed to pay attention during things like “Spell your last name for me”. Obviously it’s spelled Dessonville, but since I’m used to people asking, I don’t mind spelling it out. However, she came up with “Dessanviell” AFTER LISTENING TO ME SPELL IT. She also had a terrible time with the ‘@’ symbol in email addresses replacing it with “Justin”. She also messed up while she was taking Megan’s information.

The showing didn’t get better from there. What had been advertised as “Snappy, Retro Apartments” turned into 40 noticeable coats of paint, cracks in the concrete walls. Also, the newly renovated apartments were just old cabinets put up in a different configuration with new countertops. It was noticeable that they were the old cabinets because of the indent in the paint. The manager huffed at us when we tried to see the party room, and wondered out loud why we wanted to see the laundry and fitness facilities (to which she didn’t have a key). Also, she gave us a hard time about wanting to see the parking garage (which isn’t free to use)

You’re Early, Go Away Until Later

*To her credit, we were an hour early. However, I screwed it up in my own head and honestly thought my appointment was at 1. She didn’t handle it very well basically saying “want to reschedule” and not offering us any pamphlets for us to look over while we were eating (we told her we’d go grab some food and come back for our actual scheduled time). She wasn’t very friendly at all during this time period. Yes, I understand that I made a mistake, and I’m really sorry about that, but that’s no excuse to be rude. We ended up going back after lunch and going through the showing. She was pleasant and friendly at this point and the apartments were very nice. We’ve actually put them second on our list of possible places.

Happy We Were There: Part II

After we had driven around Saint Louis Park for an hour or so looking at other apartment buildings and making lists (and finding an AWESOME furniture store: Sofas and Chairs) we decided to call the random place we had stopped at earlier. The manager answered the phone and we found out that he had time for a showing. We got there about 30 minutes later and had a good time. I was never under the impression that getting shown apartments could be ‘fun’ or a ‘good time’. This showing was. The manager was obviously knowledgeable about the property, listened to what we needed in an apartment, and gave us the options we needed to fulfill those needs. We didn’t blink an eye filling out an application and would have given a deposit that day if he could have taken it (June 1 move in date, and he doesn’t have any units listed for that day yet.

I guess the most important part for us finding an apartment was how the manager represented their property. It’s a very big deal to me that maintenance is available to fix something and the easiest way to figure out if that is possible is to gauge it off the manager’s attitude towards possible new tenants. So for that, thank you Nathan of Cityscape in Saint Louis Park. I hope it works out that Megan and I rent an apartment from you.

I’m looking forward to living in a place that includes a car-wash spot in the garage (just hoses, but still more than others).

–dez