Apartment Review for Archstone Monument Park - Fairfax, VA

We moved into Archstone Monument Park in June 2005. From what I have recently found out, that is shortly after a change in management. The front gates of the "Gated Community" only worked 30-45 days of our two years living there. This opened the complex up to solicitors and vehicle issues. There is no security patrol and the buildings are slowly falling apart. My wife and I are both government employees that chose this place because of the dog friendly atmosphere. That part was always great. The bad part was the pet deposit (non-refundable $500 per year) and the monthly pet fee ($45) that seemed to pay for nothing when we moved out. They charged us over $300 to clean two stains the size of a nickle. No answer from them on what the pet deposit covers... As others have stated... the walls are paper thin. We heard every fight in the apartment above us. The fire alarms went off randomly for 2 years... no real confidence there! The Manager (Warren) spends most of his time at other properties. Getting a response from them is worse then pulling teeth. Voice mail ALWAYS picks up when calling, and they NEVER return your calls. Call the number if you don't believe me... it goes directly into voice mail 24 hours a day. The Assistant Manager (Jessica) is just as bad. Customer service is horrible and she cannot make any decisions without Warren... Good luck finding him! Our apartment was cracking around us. They finally ended up coming to look at the cracks... and ended ip just filling the cracks with caulk. That's a good fix? :( We left due to being deployed to another location. 30 days after leaving, we had to get the Coorperate office involved just to pay the final bill and be done with that place. We received the final bill 43 days after they promised us... It's always nice to get taken for money as we are deployed overseas for our country! In all honesty, I have never written a review on an apartment.. but I couldn't let this one go. I have had landlords overseas with better communication, and they didn't even speak english! Don't run away from Archstone... don't bother going in the first place. There are plenty more places that are nicer and less expensive. Thanks for reading, and good luck in your search... PS, this crew also manages the other Archstone locations (ie. Archstone Ellipse)in Fairfax... so stay clear. I'm currently talking with the managers of Smith leasing...