Austin, TX

Last January my best friend started searching for an apartment here in Austin. In mid January we stopped by the office at Chez Moi and gathered some brochures on the apartment layouts. He liked the attached garages so on January 18th we returned and he fell in love with a 1-bedroom unit with wood flooring shown to us by a woman named, Pam. We went back to the main office and Pam looked up the availability of the apartment, gave us a copy of the floor layout and wrote down the apartment number on it. She informed us that the apartment would be available on March 17th. We thought that was a long time for an apartment to be vacant but when we questioned Pam she told us that the apartment needed work and that they would be replacing the linoleum. The time frame fit in well with his schedule so he accepted the date and thought nothing further of it and a couple of days later, on January 23rd, he gave Pam his deposit.

Fast forward to March 17th, his move-in date. Adam’s father came to town to assist his brother and me with the move. We stopped into the office that morning, paid the remaining rent and picked up his keys and garage door opener and headed back to his brothers house to get the truck loaded with his belongings.

When we returned to the complex with the truck, it was immediately apparent that we had the wrong apartment. The wrong garage door opened, there were no hardwood floors and the front door was in the wrong location! We went around the corner and discovered that the correct number for the apartment he’d chosen was not the same number Pam had written down on the layout she’d given us. Not being familiar with the apartments, we had never realized her mistake.

We left the truck loaded outside and went to the office and spoke to Pam about the situation. She said, “Do you want your money back and we’ll tear up the lease”? We looked at her dumbfounded.

We had a truck sitting out front loaded with all his worldly possessions. The utilities were scheduled to be turned on. His new washer and dryer were scheduled for delivery the next day, and the best she could do was to offer his money back? Obviously that was not an option. She then denied that Chez Moi has any apartments with wood floors. We reminded her how surprised she’d been about the hardwood floors at the time she showed it to us. She asked us if we were sure we’d viewed the apartment we were talking about, at Chez Moi. We insisted that she’d shown us 414 and she came back with, “I couldn’t possibly have shown you apartment 414 because the current residents moved in on January 25th” and she claimed that we hadn’t visited Chez Moi until February 8th. I knew that could not be correct so I asked Pam if she had a copy of our visitor card. She showed it to us and we indicated that we had not filled out that card and she said, “No, we fill them out here” which made me wonder how it came to be dated February 8th. Still puzzling over the date, we went out to Adam’s car and found the copy of the layout that Pam had provided on our initial visit. The date on that paper confirmed that we had viewed the apartment on January 18th, not February 8th. Adam’s application and his check, both dated January 23rd corroborated his story and gave lie to her visitor card.

Pam reiterated that Chez Moi has no apartments with hardwood floors and that if we saw something like that it must have been vinyl. Now I don’t know what kind of crack that bimbo was on but I damned well know the difference between wood and vinyl. I might have conceded that it was pergo but never vinyl! Another coworker wandered through the office and Pam asked her if she knew of any apartments in the complex with hardwood floors and the woman promptly said, “414”. Pam even went through the process of calling the tenants in 414 to ask them if they had hardwood floors but they were not home at the time.

Pam went on to inform us that if 414 had been empty she would not have given Adam a move-in date of 3/17 because they are “not allowed” to let an apartment remain uninhabited for more than 12 days. I reminded her that we’d questioned the date and what she’d told us. In fact, Pam could not possibly have shown us this apartment on Jan 18th when we were there, nor could she have shown it to us on Feb 8th as her visitor card claims, because according to the “12 day rule” that particular apartment would not yet have been vacant. Either that, or this apartment was vacant when we were there, rented for less than two months, then suddenly vacant again, all with knowledge beforehand.

At that time we informed her that we felt that this situation was a colossal mistake and that if Adam was going to take the apartment mistakenly assigned to him then he should receive some compensation for their mistake and for having to settle for an apartment he did not choose. I presented two options; one, they could pull up the carpet and install the hardwood floors he should have received, or two; he would receive a full month rent-free.

Pam informed me that she did not have the authority to approve either option. I asked who did have that authority and she said her boss, “Frank Miller”, but that he was out of town. I asked if he carried a cell phone but she stated that he was in Houston and “didn’t want to disturb him”. I strongly suggested she disturb him. She left the room and called Mr. Miller who she stated told her that he didn’t have the authority to make that decision and that he’d have to speak to corporate. Who knows if she actually called him.

At that time we asked for the number to the corporate office and Pam informed me that she was not “allowed” to give out that information. I asked for the CEO’s name and again she refused stating she was not “allowed” to give out that information and that it was “against company policy”.

We left with the intention of contacting the corporate office for a resolution but after calming down and discussing it over the weekend we decided that in order to be fair we would give Pam an opportunity to make things right.

As Adam was working on Monday, I called Pam and let her know that we wanted to give her an opportunity to set things right. Pam stated that she would have Frank Miller call me when he returned from lunch at 1:30-2:00pm. I waited until after 4pm and then called the office. I got no answer. We eventually got Pam who once again said she’d have Frank call. Frank never did call on Monday. Josh finally called Adam. He explained the situation to Josh who mentioned that he and Pam had discussed the hardwood flooring in 414 just a couple of weeks ago. Interesting, since she had denied knowing that Chez Moi had any hardwood floors.

Josh informed Adam that Chez Moi would be unable to do anything about the situation. He let Josh know that his answer was unacceptable and he said he’d go get Frank. He was unable to find Frank and said he’d have Frank call him right back. As I previously stated, Frank never returned his call on Monday.

Around 1pm on 3/20/07 we called Pam and informed her that Frank had not called Adam. She stated that he was busy with corporate officials in town to view the apartments. Frank eventually called Adam at 2pm. Once again he explained the situation and Frank stated that he would need to speak to his superior who would be in town tomorrow (3/21/07).

We gave staff at Chez Moi every opportunity to resolve this situation. The staff showed a continued lack of customer service, integrity, honesty, the lack of apology and the lack of willingness to work with Adam to resolve the situation. In frustration we finally hunted down email addresses for Frank Miller and for Ron Nolan of Nolan Realty who owns Chez Moi. We sent emails detailing the situation to the BBB, Austin Tenants Association, Frank Miller and Ron Nolan. Well that finally got Frank’s attention and he emailed Adam on 3/23/07.

Once again, we apologize that there was miscommunication on your move in. You viewed a unit when leasing that we could not lease to you that far in advance. The prior management company did have three units on the property that have a laminate floor that looks like hardwoods in the entire apartment. This is a very expensive process and not how we do our make readies. Your apartment had new carpet installed and is the same floor plan that you originally leased.

Neither, you or I have any documentation that says we promised to make that apartment like the one that was available when you toured.

In interest only of regaining your confidence, I am willing to have the hardwood tile put in your kitchen and baths but not the entire apartment. I feel we did nothing wrong so I cannot offer any further concessions.

I have to apologize one more time, but because you felt it necessary to contact legal entities, my staff is now unable to speak with you regarding this matter. Any future contact regarding this situation will have to come through me. I have a model to view that has the tile in the kitchen and would be happy to show it to you at your convenience.

I hope that we can work through this as I truly believe that Chez Moi is an excellent place to live.

Thank you!

Frank Miller
Chez Moi
PH (512) 339-1115
Fax (512) 339-1118

What an asshat. What Adam had asked for was for Chez Moi to either replace the carpet with hardwood floors or to compensate Adam with one month free rent which felt was the least that Chez Moi could have done for putting him through such a stressful situation, for embarrassing him in front of his family and for putting him into a position where he was forced to accept an apartment which was not what he had been promised. The situation felt very much like a bait and switch operation. Apparently it wasn’t their first such operation.

Replacing the vinyl in the kitchen and the bathroom was nearly as much area as the living/dining room but they wouldn’t budge and Adam saw no point in having them put laminate in the kitchen and bathroom. Nolan Realty never replied and the BBB and Austin Tenants council did nothing to help. He finally just gave up and let the matter drop. We did notice that Pam was no longer around. We wondered if she got fired over all this mess and frankly we didn’t care if she did.

Adam has now been living at Chez Moi going on 7 months. The office staff still sucks. They don’t show up when they are supposed to for maintenance and bug spraying. People are moving out left and right. They are raising the rents drastically as people renew and Adam has found cockroaches in his apartment several times. I’m not talking about little ones, either. I’m talking about freaking huge cockroaches that look like the should be driving cars. Ewwww!

Needless to say, Adam will not be renewing his contract with Chez Moi and we highly advise you look elsewhere rather than live there. They never shut their security gates and their handbook states they don’t have to shut it. Then they bitch about the fact that people who don’t live there use the pool. Go figure.

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rant, apartments, Austin, Chez Moi, Frank Miller, Nolan Realty, rent, bad, review, avoid, cockroaches