ComplaintsforMarbella Apartments

• Initial Complaint

  05/20/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  my boyfriend and I have been living in this complex for almost 2 years and we have a on going issue with our AC unit on paper its been 3 months but we have been verbally communicating about it for a year now and the manager kept throwing it off and offering temporary suggestions like a portable AC unit which I have denied a couple times but recently accepted it. I am currently pregnant and I can't be stressing about this issue the manager is very rude and not approachable it would be 80+ degrees in this apartment with the Ac going it gets unbearably hot in here it is a upstairs unit an above garages and I'm not sure if there's insolation between the garage and my apartment. The ac duct has let out hot air as hot as 102 degrees with the AC setting on. it will also be 80+ degrees in here with all the windows open and it is 60 degrees outside and breezy I also have 3 fans going. I have not gotten any sleep because of how hot it gets in the room its hotter then the living room at times. I have all the emails and pictures of the thermostat.. Also there is another resident in this complex who I spoke with that's off topic and I don't think it's my place to say but it should be made aware of he had a heart attack and it took the paramedics 20 mins to find his apartment and had to revive him twice because there is no directory. She's also cut down on parking and making it harder for residents to find parking. thank you for your time.

  Business response

  06/10/2022

  The issue with the AC was brought to my attention for the first time in a work order on 2/5/22. We called Valley Air Conditioning & Repair, as well as PR Plumbing, Heating, & Air; both vendors informed us that it was too cold to properly diagnose any issues with the AC at that time and to call back. I let both you and Andrew know and you were okay with this. The next work order came in 4/5/22 and we immediately called PR Plumbing, Heating, & Air, and got you on the schedule to have the AC diagnosed. Once we could agree on a date and time the vendor came out and found the metering device to be bad and began looking for the parts to replace it for you. Once parts were located, we informed you, and had to wait for the parts to arrive (4-6 weeks). We then offered to have you use our portable AC unit to get air flow in the apartment and you refused. Once the parts arrived, we tried to get the AC fixed for you the next day, but it didn't work with your schedule. After some back and forth we were able to lock in a date, then the vendor had to cancel due to being short staffed on 5/19/22. I apologized and immediately got you put back on the schedule for the next available day that worked best for you and the vendor, which was 5/27/22. At this time, you also agreed on using that portable AC, and we had maintenance go in and install it for you in the living room. On 5/27/22 the vendor came out and replaced the metering device, added Freon, and tested the AC and believed it to be in working order. 

  Business response

  06/15/2022

  

   

   

   

   

  June 15, 2022

  ******** *****

  **** ******* Ave. #***

  Clovis, CA *****

   

  Dear ********,

  We are in receipt of your rejection response letter regarding your air conditioning unit with the Better Business Bureau.

  I do apologize that you experienced the issues with your AC and that the parts needed to fix the problem were so delayed. I have attached our email correspondence and work orders that were generated to support our initial response, that shows this issue was being addressed prior to your BBB complaint. In regards to compensation we are asking that you provide us with your PG&E bills from April, May & June, so that we can review the potential changes that may have occurred.

   

  Sincerely,

  ******** *******

  Community Manager

  Customer response

  06/19/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  

  Dear ********, 

   

  This is in response to your response to the air conditioning unit issue and the Better Business Bureau. 

   

  The issue with the AC was brought to your attention verbally no less than 3 times, once in July 2021, again in September 2021, the third time in January 2022 shortly before the 2/5/22 work order. A verbal commitment to “look into it” was made in July 2021, then again in September 2021 a verbal commitment to “revisit the issue” was made. The third verbal commitment in January was made to “revisit the issue when it gets hotter”. At this point I was under the impression that I was being lied to, so I then contacted your superior Jodi and made a workorder on 2/5/2022 to ensure a paper trail was present. The Fact is multiple conversations were had, and multiple verbal commitments were not met, and all communication was one sided. My boyfriend and I had to contact you multiple times and beg you to “revisit the issue” and to “look into it” your words not mine. It was never a priority for you, because apparently it was only hearsay and not documented with written proof, however verbal commitments are still expected to be met, and followed up on. The former manager Kacey and I spoke verbally about multiple issues, and they were promptly followed up on, and verbal commitments were met. 

  We were never ok with the untimely maintenance of the AC, and in fact my boyfriend Andrew told you on multiple occasions he expected the issue to be observed and perhaps even resolved before it got excessively hot. He also asked for the actual work orders and paperwork with times and dates for the AC repairs, none of which were ever given, or uploaded onto our Marbella portal. You called him rude for demanding proper documentation, and work orders with times and dates. All he and I wanted is to decern the truth for ourselves, due to your untimely and inconsistent verbal and written commitments. Communication was also made in person on 2 occasions, once while I was walking my dog, and once when Andrew was on the way into the office to talk about the issue. We were called rude for both occasions as well via email which is liable.  We were kept in the dark about our AC request and when Andrew talked to you as you were getting into your car you told him” I will get to it next week” meaning no AC maintenance was ordered, and it was clearly not a priority. He told you “He didn’t understand why this issue was being take so lightly” you then told him “this sounds like a conversation I need to be paid for lets go back into the office and I will clock back in”. That is when he stopped the conversation, apologized for wasting your time, and told you he will be entering another work order request on the Marbella portal. He then did just that within 20 minutes of saying he would, that was the second request online, which has a time and date. No emails or phone calls were placed to make us aware of the ongoing issues before randomly bumping into you in public places. All communication was one sided, we had to communicate to you, you never tried to communicate to us without us asking you to do so.

  When I was walking my dog by the office, and you engaged me in a conversation and pet my dog. I took that as an opportunity to ask about our ongoing issue with the AC, only then did you inform us verbally that parts were going to take 4-6 weeks. This happened almost 2 weeks after Andrew put in the second maintenance request, and at that time no portable AC unite was offered. The first offer to give us a portable AC unite was offered via email, which can be verified. We denied the potable AC unite, because at that point we felt that if we had the maintenance come to install a portable AC, that our actual AC unit repair would be further delayed and unprioritized and a temporary solution would be made permanent. Then our apartment became unbearably hot and uncomfortable, so we reached out to you to have maintenance install the portable AC. Maintenance staff did so promptly, and I thanked them for doing so. This was the first time we had a glimmer of hope for a pleasant and cool apartment in the heat, and even though the portable AC did not work perfect, at least our apartment was in the 80s not in the 90-degree range. 

  When the AC part came you scheduled an appointment the next day without first consulting me, and I informed you both of were unavailable that day on account of work, and such short notice. Proper protocol for scheduling an appointment would have required you to first contact us for our availability, and then schedule an appointment. There was some back and forth and you didn’t understand why we were uncomfortable with a vender and or maintenance staff being in our apartment alone. After discussing the next available appointment for both our convenience and the convenience of the vender the date of 5/19/22 was made. I would like to add that this whole time I informed you Saturdays were always available, you told me without a question of doubt that “venders do not come on Saturdays”. On 5/19/22 I had to give up a shift and lose out on a day of work, and the vender did not show up on a scheduled appointment, at this point I was clearly frustrated and voiced my opinion. You apologized for the inconvenience and immediately got back to schedule an appointment which worked best for the vendor and I on 5/27/22. 

  The vendor came and did his job on 5/27/22, it took over 3 hours and we thought it would be fixed and this ordeal was over. Shortly after the Marbella maintenance crew saw the AC was blowing out cold air, it once again blew out hot air, 120 degrees to be exact. I told the maintenance crew of this, and they didn’t believe me, and I also told you via email, and you didn’t believe me. In your defense it makes no sense that an AC repair would take 3 hours, and shortly after continuing to not work properly. I told you and your staff the AC was not working still, I asked the staff member to come back into the apartment to see for himself that the AC was not working, he refused. That is when we got into a back-and-forth email argument were you clearly didn’t believe me that our AC wasn’t working and were not going to give you back the portable AC unite until the issue was fully resolved. I am assuming you got fed up with emails and told me that you were physically going to come over and see for yourself, and if there was cold air coming out of the vent that you were taking the portable AC unite back. This entire back-and-forth can be verified on an email conversation, and I can’t believe that you wouldn’t trust me after all this ridiculous and untimely ordeal. I also am taken back that every time we asked you to come into our apartment throughout his whole issue in order to see the problem for yourself, you declined to do so for no reason. I am convinced that the only reason you came into my apartment was to get your portable AC unite back and prove me incorrect. Your emails support this in writing. After you saw with your own two eyes that 118-degree heat was coming out of our AC vent, after it was supposedly being fixed, you apologize. You did not apologize specifically for the time it took to get repaired and completed, because at that point the AC was still not working properly. 

  Your written statement: “On Friday 5/27/22; I apologized for the time it took to get this repair completed for you. At this time, it has been taken care of and is now working properly” makes no logical sense and is incorrect. As you quoted 2 sentences before saying” The second vendor, Nagare’s Quality Air Conditioning & Service was able to come out Saturday 5/28/22 and fix the AC by resetting the thermostat for you”. I don’t understand how you could have apologized for the AC being repaired on 5/27/22 when it was in fact not repaired until 5/28/22 the following day. You did not apologize for the time it took to get repaired, and I am assuming the unspecific apology made on 5/27/22 was regarding you not believing me that the issue was still ongoing. I also do not understand how you made it overly clear that “vendors do not come out on Saturday” yet 5/28/22 was in fact a Saturday, and the vendor was already coming here for “another apartments emergency”. The vendor that was here scheduled on Saturday 5/28/22, for another apartment, had a man to spare and he came over and finally fixed the issue. It seems that vendors do come out on Saturday, and you lied. Also, my suspicions of you being deceptive, inconsistent, and untimely are proven correct by this unprofessional ordeal. I knew something was wrong about this whole situation, when you conveniently forgot about all verbal communication made prior to 2/5/22. You claimed no communication ever took place verbally, despite real conversations that did in fact happen. It is because of these lies, that I am now assuming there were other inconsistences and lies being made about the work orders and time frames given to me.  I do not trust your word, that you did your job in an honest, timely, and professional manor. The facts prove otherwise, and without me being given proper documentation and work orders with actual times and dates, I am just going to assume the full truth of this inefficient event will never be brought to light. I think it is pretty sad you would lie about an apologizing; it shows just how much sincerity you have about this incident. I am hoping in the future something positive can be taken out of this unfortunate interaction, in order to more efficiently solve future problems. Honesty is the best policy. 

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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