I guess that says it all ...

I got really mad at my apartment complex front office today. I was absolutely boiling over with rage. I was livid. I was shaking with anger. ... I left their building before I started screaming.
I wrote a letter to the complex's corporate owners. ... ... Hmmm, I'd love to copy and paste it, but it's more than 800 words, and that would take over the entire page here.
Let me figure something out.

I got it; I think I can create a jump here on the blog page. I'll post the letter after the jump.
As it is now, I feel really good about writing to the corporate offices, and according to their web site, I should hear from someone in the next two days.
In a perfect world, I'll be offered a 50 percent discount on my October rent. Or they'll reimburse me for my September rent. Since this is not a perfect world, I'll expect that they just forward this letter to the front office, where those people will become increasingly less likely to fill my upcoming maintenance requests, and will do something sneaky like cut off my Internet connection.
No kidding, I can't wait to get out of here. I HATE giving them money for this place!

Letter I wrote to my apartment complex's corporate owners:

I am a current resident at [apartment complex's name]. As I have been pushed to my breaking point with the front office staff there, I shall now spew a bit of my frustration at corporate. I've been living in my loft apartment since April of this year. I'd been somewhat happy with the experience, until it came time to renew my lease, as well as my living conditions since then.

My monthly rent rose from approximately $1,300 per month to $1,700 per month for my current three-month renewal. I was told that this kind of rate increase is "corporate" and was demanded from those above my own property's manager. I didn't believe this, but as I was not given any way to talk to anyone else about the increase, and as I didn't want to move all my stuff, I chose to stay in the apartment.

Then came the $327 power bill. A problem, but when I talked with maintenance, I was told that it was typical, and that I should make better use of my fans, and try better to save power throughout the day via my thermostat. All things I'd already been doing, by the way. I requested a look at my air conditioner, but was told that every a/c gets inspected before anyone moves in, so it was in good working order. The next month, my power bill was $321. I thought, okay, maybe this is typical, but this power bill IN ADDITION to the $1,700 rent, was making this a very expensive apartment, and frankly, not worth the cost.

My husband requested a look at the a/c last month, and while maintenance did come by, they said there were no problems. The a/c, at this point, wasn't blowing very well, and was clearly laboring in its efforts. Last week, our air conditioner died. You in Irvine probably wouldn't understand the implications of that, but here in Phoenix, it means that the place gets really hot, really fast. The a/c died at about 11 p.m. My kid was asleep, and we had nowhere to go, so we were stuck in our 95-degree home for the night. Maintenance repaired the a/c the next day, replacing the capacitor, the fuse and the thermostat.

And, now, to the whipped cream on my apartment sundae, my upstairs toilet cracked yesterday afternoon, causing a flood through my bathroom, into the downstairs, and into my downstairs neighbor's place. Yes, maintenance was quick to respond, and the carpet guys were here last night with a fan and to rip up the wet padding.

I visited the Lofts front office this morning to discuss the state of the apartment, and to ask for what I considered to be fair, an inconvenience compensation. Just something. The front office girls were nice, and listened to my woes. Your manager, Grant, and the other senior office member, Beth, chose to talk to me through one of the front office girls, as they were TOO BUSY with budgets to even step out of the closed office.

First, came the assertion that the air conditioner was working fine, and that these power bills were typical. Then, they (through the girl again) explained that had my husband and I left the filter and cover on, the a/c would have continued to function properly. This is a flat-out lie. My husband left the cover down on the day that maintenance was due, so they could inspect the unit. The maintenance man closed the unit when he was done. As for filters, I've changed them consistently every month, and they have never been off.

That Grant and Beth would take that moment to try to BLAME ME for the a/c put me in such a spin, I honestly had to leave the building before I said something too rude.

So, here I am, paying $1,700 for an apartment with a just-now functioning air conditioner unit; a broken toilet that still hasn't been replaced 18 hours after the initial complaint was called in; wet, musty carpet smell everywhere; and the UNRELENTING FEAR THAT SOMETHING EVEN WORSE WILL HAPPEN NEXT WEEK.

This apartment is not worth the price I'm paying for it, financially, emotionally or psychologically. Since the girls in the front office can't "go to corporate above Grant's head," I see that it is up to ME to go to corporate above Grant's head. This kind of treatment is absolutely unacceptable. I'll be a happy person the day I move out of here, and I'll be a vocal dissident on the rental and opinion web sites about your property. You may thank Grant and Beth for that.

All I wanted was a calm, reasonable resolution to an incredible rent increase, and what I considered to be a fair complaint: an apartment that seems to be falling apart around me. Perhaps you can do something about it?