The Fields at Merrifield

The lady said we she can show us the place after an hour and we came back to see the apartment. She said its raining no show. And it wasn’t raining, it stopped raining. Not coming here at all will not recommend this place for anyone.

The location of the property is great, but I have my reserves with management. The move in conditions weren’t what I expected (the cabinets and the titled bathroom walls were filthy.) The faucets in the property were in poor condition and one of them was rusted so bad it had a hole in the front of the fixture. Thankfully, they replaced the faucets. Although, I feel as though that should have been taken care of before I moved in.
I did a walk through with the manager to go over the condition of the unit after I moved in and she made notes of the items they will fix and the items that won’t. I understand from a business stand point why they wouldn’t resurface the counters, but what took me a back was her introduction before explaining why certain items would not be fix/​replaced. She stated that it’s not because this is a Fields property (meaning it’s a tax credit property.) I found that to be offsetting because that reason it never crossed my mind. It just seemed weird for her to say.
I moved from a Fields property in Lorton to the Merrifield complex because of the location and I had a good experience the 5 years I was at the Fields of Lorton. When I moved in, everything was thoroughly cleaned for a new tenant, I mean thoroughly (Lorton’s). As well, I referred some military friends to the Lorton complex and their move in conditions were great as well. (All of the move ins were under the management of Nick who has been promoted to Springfield Crossings.)
I don’t have the time to go into all the issues I’ve experienced thus far. I understand that some of them are due to my expectations compared to my last Kettler community, such as the counter tops being resurfaced. The property manager explained that she has seen worst conditions than the stains and chips I complained about, the property was built in 1997 I was told. So, I get that it isn’t cost effective for them and I should have seen the property before agreeing to move in (although I did send emails to see the place but they weren’t addressed. I thought it was because the tenant was still in the unit.)
My biggest grievances is the fact that after I signed my lease and was handed the keys, I questioned about the gym key. I was told I have to wait until someone else in the community moves out because the company they used to do the key cards isn’t available and the gentleman that moved out of my apartment lost his. Now, they’ve known I was going to move in 2 months in advance and this isn’t a new issue they’re having with the key cards. Most recently, I was told I’ll «hopefully» have one by the end of the month. WTH?
Another grievance I have is that I tried to use the dishwasher for the first time and it was broken. I sent out an email that night to notify the manager and leasing office. Today is the 9^th day and it’s still not fixed nor have I been given a date that it will. Although someone did come by to check that it was broken on the 4^th day, she used ¼ of my roll of paper towels to wipe up a spillage or something (I wasn’t home) and left the soiled paper towels she used it in my kitchen sink instead of just trash. My skin almost boiled, but I moved on.
I have other issues that I’ve fixed or dealt with on my own. Maybe I have extremely high standards and I’m expecting too much out of the place I call home. Or, maybe, they need to step their game up and increase the reputation of this apartment complex (referring to ratings on
.) People should not have to lower their standards of professionalism or expectations for their home because it is a «tax credit community.» Although, I looked at this property 5 years ago when I first moved down here and it was a lot worse. I always check out where I’m going to live at different times of the day and week to get a feel for the tenants when management is there and when they are not. Let me state that there are much better tenants moving in. Where I’m located is pretty much quiet. Mind you, it’s fall, so God only knows what the spring and summer will bring.