When we first moved to Pecan Grove, it wasn't a bad place to live. During the three years we lived there, it went steadily downhill to the point of being absolutely terrible.
First, there were multiple office staff changes, which led to constant changes in how things were done. Communication from the office staff was terrible. One time, they waited until after 5pm the day before to notify everyone that pest control was being done at 9am the next day, and that all people and pets needed to be out of the apartment, giving people virtually no chance to make arrangements. During the first months of COVID, the office shut down, and they stopped accepting packages for residents. Once the office opened back up, they never bothered to tell delivery people that they were open and accepting packages again. This went on for over a week.
So far, this may not sound too terrible, but it gets way worse.
Our downstairs neighbor was a hoarder. It was very obvious to anyone who walked past her apartment. This situation persisted for quite some time, which resulted in a roach infestation that spilled over to our apartment. It started with a few, then it got worse. It got to the point where we were probably averaging seeing about 5 roaches a day in our apartment. We complained multiple times. Management would send pest control out, but it did no good since the hoard was still there. We spent our own money buying products to help control the roaches, but it didn't do any good. We lived for about 6 months in a roach infested apartment before our lease was up and we moved out. In that time, we were stressed out, we lost sleep, and we had to throw away meals due to the roaches. We kept plates and utensils in ziplock bags to keep the roaches out of them. Management was fully aware of our situation, and they did not offer one concession of any kind to compensate us for our trouble. A couple of months before our lease was up, the hoarder got evicted (I saw the notice on her door). The manager told me that she was going to get a "crew" to come in and clean out the apartment, but that "crew" wound up being the maintenance staff, who had to do it once they got caught up with their other work. It took weeks afterward for the hoard to finally get cleared out.
After we moved out, I kept waiting for the final move out statement. I honestly thought we would get some of our deposit back. We didn't leave the apartment in pristine condition, but I would say that the way we left it was reasonable given the fact that we lived there for 3 years. Also, given what we went through, it seemed like the least they could do. After a while of hearing nothing, I emailed Pecan Grove. The response I got back was that WE OWED THEM $162, they had sent us a move out statement, and our account had been referred to a COLLECTION AGENCY! The move out statement was attached to the email. I checked the statement, and the address listed for us was incorrect.
I can't prove that the incorrect address was their mistake. It's my word against theirs, but I will say this. When I went to the office for the final time to turn in the keys and give our forwarding address, I distinctly remember there being confusion on the part of the office worker as to our post office box number. I told her that it was post office box 260. She replied with, "box 160?" I said, "no, 260." The address listed on the move out statement was box 160. That's my side of the story.
I made an observation in the time we lived at Pecan Grove. Whenever I had an opportunity to speak to any staff members and they happened to mention where they live, none of them stated that they lived on the property. Several of them mentioned that they lived at the sister property, Rosewood. Draw your own conclusion about that. Mine is that even the people that work there don't want to live there.
In conclusion, if you're looking for an apartment in Alexandria, please take my story into consideration. Do yourself a favor and skip Pecan Grove. read more
