Apartment Review for Gainsborough Court - Fairfax, VA

From the very beginning, even before moving in the staff was difficult to work with. They kept adding on extra fees and requirements along the way. When the day finally came to move-in, we were told that our file had been lost and to come back in a few hours when they hoped to find it. They finally found it and we began moving in as the sun was going down. It seems every time I go to the office to get something they ve lost the paperwork and I m treated as the one being unreasonable to expect them to have the things they say they do. As another post said, you can tell that they couldn t care less about their residents (and if you’re younger, they’ll try to take advantage of your lack of experience). Don t get too used to them, though, as it seems like every month they have a whole new team of people. When I first had the complex shown to me, I was told that a fitness center would be opening up within the next two months. Here I am a year later and it’s just opened up. It’s nothing impressive; just some equipment in a renovated apartment. As many others have described, the buildings are very run down with faulty appliances. In their defense, they are currently doing A LOT of renovations. However, this is hectic on the tenants. During the day the grounds are filled with random kitchen fixtures and linings. Oh, and how can I forget about the day they decided they needed to repaint everyone s doors and I came home to find my door (and everyone else s) wide open to let the paint dry during the day? It would have been nice if they d made arrangements to do it while someone could have been home instead of leaving all the doors open unattended. Parking is okay. I ve never had a problem getting a spot within a short distance of the room. My problem is with the parking decals you have to put in your car. They are of very poor quality. The sun dries them out and causes them to crinkle and fall off the window. And without the parking decal in the window, your car gets towed off and you have to go out of your way to get it back. Of course the staff wouldn t do anything about the faulty sticker saying that it wasn t their fault it fell off. Maintenance is also a joke. You call in the order and if you’re lucky they get back to you in a week. And none of the maintenance workers are able to communicate very well with the residents. I had to go though the trash to find things that I clearly said I didn t want thrown away. I wouldn t recommend this apartment to anyone. The rent may seem low, but that s because you get so little (and what you re given is sub par to begin with). I can t wait until my lease expires so I can get out of here. It’s always one problem after another with Gainsborough Court. Edit 6/16: I would also like to mention the swimming facility. Aside from going through a huge hassle at the office to get passes for the summer (surprise, they had misfiled information!), of the three times I ve tried to go to the pool, it s only been open one of those days. It s noteworthy that the weather of all these days was clear and it was during normal swimming hours. This complex likes to leave paper fliers in the hallways on information regarding renovations and general happenings of the apartment. Besides being wasteful (I feel an e-mail would be both more efficient and more direct), these memos usually are printed and placed with very short notice. Just today, upon arriving home, I found such a memo alerting me that I would need to move my car tomorrow morning as they will be repainting the parking lot. Failure to do so would result in a steep fine. I was given barely half a day of notice. Fortunately this was not a week I had chosen to go on vacation as I would undoubtedly have returned to find my car towed in addition to a nice fee; all because the management has such little regard for common courtesy.