Complaint Review: The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons - Charlotte North Carolina

*UPDATE 09/14/13*

Today I filed complaints with the BBB as well as Toyota Customer Care against Scott Clark Toyota City. Toyota Customer Care said they believed I had been mistreated and would file a report with the dealer.  To paraphrase my complaints:

1. I was lied to about the cost of the vehicle including warranties and led to believe a certain amount would be financed when in reality the amount was much higher than agreed upon.

2. The dealer is essentially trying to get double the profit from me on the same car.  They sold me one car with false claims, kept the truth from me for as long as possible, then when I brought these concerns to the dealer they not only admitted wrongdoing but then tried to convince me to buy another car as their attempt to "make the situation right".  I was told by a salesman that the car I purchased was a piece of garbage and went so far as to say it was dangerous for me to drive.  Keep in mind this is THE SAME CAR THEY SOLD ME LESS THAN 30 DAYS EARLIER.  The catch was, of course, that they would only take that car in on trade for less than half of what I paid for it, leaving me ridiculously upside down on my loan.  When I refused they called me unreasonable, further berated me for purchasing the car they recommended less than 30 days earlier and then would only remove the warranties they fraudulently financed in my name.  

3. The dealer refuses to give me an amount I owe on the car after they remove the warranties and insurance they financed without my permission. I asked for a printout of the adjusted finance amount for my records and I was yelled at, told "I could sit around all night and waste my time", and then given a speech by the store manager about how trustworthy his guys are and how wrong I was to insinuate any dishonesty by wanting something in writing.  

The bottom line is the employees at Scott Clark Toyota from the managers, all the way down to the sales associates are thieves and in my experience they behaved like criminals.  I would go so far as to say I feared for my safety as the events in #3 took place. It was after the location had closed with no more customers left in the building and at one point I was cornered in a back room with three people shouting at me.  It was intimidation plain and simple, and I plan to do everything in my power to spread the word about my experience there.    

There is a rather simple method to prevent this type of issue.  There are two parts to it.  First note every detail you can on the check-in list, minor scratches, minor paint blemishes, anything.  It might seem asinine, tedious and unneeded at the time but if goes a long way to keep any charges from being added when you are ready to leave.  Second, take pictures of when you move in and file them away, photograph any damages you see and note on your check-in list and take pictures of all of the rooms.  Do the same thing when you move out, again taking pictures of anything that was noted before on your check-in list as well as the broader pictures of the rooms in general. 

What this does is allows you to show pictures to dispute any claims the property manager makes if you feel that a)it was like that when you moved in or b) its normal wear and tear.

*Update 03/12/2012*

The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons has responded to my rebuttal to the Better Business Bureau. 
I will post their response below then pick out the areas that are less than truthful afterwards like I did in the last update.

Here is what The Preserve had to say:

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03/09/2012  WEB  BBB RECEIVED BUSINESS' REBUTTAL RESPONSE :
On October 13, 2011, Brian was offered a copy of the inspection form he
completed at move in and the pictures of the damaged stove top. Brian stated
that the pictures were not proof that he damaged the appliance and refused to
pay the replacement. He also mentioned it was impossible to not scratch or burn
the stove top during use over a period of time. At this time the Assistant
Manager offered to walk through an apartment with Brian that had the same stove
as the one in his previous apartment and had not been damaged since being
installed in June 2007.  Brian turned down the offer stating his stove was in the same condition when he moved out as when he moved in.
----

So as you can see The Preserve is again trying to cover up their mistakes by lying to the BBB, only now they are lying to cover up lies.  Keep in mind this is over a relatively small amount of money so at this point I'd have to think Ashly or Tiffany got into some sort of trouble with management and are trying to cover up the less than professional handling of my account but who knows?

The first problem is that they are maintaining that they offered me pictures of the stovetop.  I have yet to see photos of the alleged damage and if you read the previous updates you'd see how I was unsuccessful in obtaining anything like that.  I am disappointed that they would continue to fabricate a story in which I not only had pictures but said they did not prove anything.  I plan to consult legal counsel on whether or not this constitutes a defamation of character lawsuit.

I did state that it is impossible to not scratch the surface of the stovetop.  The stovetop is glass and you put metal pots and pans on it.  Every glass stove top has minor scratches on it.  The one in my apartment did when I moved in and it had the same ones when I moved out.  I concluded that this would constitute normal wear and tear and as it looked like any other glass stovetop I've ever seen I did not feel it necessary to report as damaged upon move in.  I'm wondering how many people they rip off at move out now with the same scam.

The assistant property manager(Ashley Yates) never offered to walk through an apartment with me to show me what one of those stovetops are "supposed" to look like.  Tiffany Tuning offered to show me a new one but told me that since they were all new she had nothing that was used for the life of a lease to show me.  Let me give you some background here.  They are outright lying by saying that they had a glass stovetop in an apartment since 2007.  The glass stovetops when into 5 units in between the 2009-2010 period. 

All other apartments had a more traditional raised coil stovetop.  My stovetop was used by tenants before I moved in who in fact moved into a unit across the hall from me(the originally were going to move, then had an issue and had to stay but their unit was already rented to me by that point).  I'm not going to tell you that we talked in great detail about the stovetop because that would be silly and as I said I never noticed anything out of the ordinary but they did give me some special cleaning pads they bought since they no longer needed them in the normal unit with the raised coil stove top.    It wasn't until 2011 that The Preserve started renovating all their apartments as tenants moved out with the newer glass stovetops.  I was given the pitch when I signed my lease with them in 2010 that I had one of but a handful of apartments that had been renovated which I was told took place recently within the last year.    If you ask to see when the units were renovated you would be able to see that there were no glass stove tops in use in 2007.

Again, to date the check I sent to settle the account has still not been cashed and there is nothing that can make me believe that it takes what is now nearly a month and a half to cash a check. 
I can't stress enough that you should avoid CWS apartment homes but especially The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons nor should anyone conduct any business of any kind with Ashley Yates or Tiffany Tuning.  As I've shown here both are willing to lie to corporate management, a collection agency and the Better Business Bureau and to me cannot be trusted in any capacity.

I will continue to provide updates until I show the check I sent in for settlement has been cashed.  In the meantime I have no other avenue to file a complaint against these individuals except for in a court of law.  The Better Business Bureau should have this dispute reported as unresolved on their website for reference.

Here is the response The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons gave to the BBB in regards to my complaint:

Brian moved out of The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons on 10/1/2011.  At the
time of move-out, he was unavailable to complete the final walk with our
maintenance team.  The inspection was completed the apartment was in good condition with the exception of the burned and scratched glass stovetop.  The stovetop was replaced and Brian was billed $260.97 for the stovetop and final water utilities on his final account statement. 
The statement was emailed and mailed to Brian's last known address on 10/11/2011. 

Brian responded to the email with disagreement and wanted to discuss his concerns
with Tiffany, the Property Manager.  On October 13, 2011, Tiffany contacted Brian to discuss his concerns regarding the final account statement.  During that conversation Brian stated the condition of the stovetop had not changed from his initial move-in.  He further stated that he did not notate the burn marks and scratches on the Move-In Condition Checklist because he thought it was normal. 
Tiffany explained that the condition of the stovetop at move-out would not have passed the maintenance pre move-in inspection.  It simply was not the quality of the company's standards.

Brian was offered a copy of the inspection form he completed at move-in and the
pictures of the damaged stovetop.  Brian stated that the pictures were not proof that he damaged the appliance and refused to pay for the replacement.  He further stated that he did not want his credit negatively impacted by his decision not to reimburse the community for the stovetop.

Brian was offered 30 days to settle the final account and was informed that his
account would be forwarded to a collection agency if payment was not
received.  On or about October 14, 2011, Brian left a message for Tiffany to return his
call.  Tiffany left a message for Brian the same day.  There was no communication
until November 8, 2011, when Tiffany attempted to contact Brian for the purpose
of collecting the outstanding debt. Brian did not answer, a voice message was left.

On December 6, 2011, Brian was e-mailed written notice that if his final account
was not paid within 10 days, the account would be sent to collections. There
was no further communication from the office staff or Brian.  On December 16, 2011, the account was sent to Sure Deposit, a collection agency. 

Mid January 2012, The Preserve office team received communication from Gina;
Assistant Director of Operations for CWS Apartment Homes, that Brian
communicated his concerns about the treatment he had received from the on-site
team.  Gina and Brian exchanged several e-mails until Gina settled on half of the cost of the stovetop.  Brian agreed to the settled amount and inquired about the impact the collection had on his credit.  After learning that the on-site team could not change the filing status of the collection, it was explained that Brian would need to contact the various credit agencies to discuss his credit questions.

The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons accepted Brian's payment for the settled amount
and contacted Sure Deposit and National Credit Systems to make them aware of
the settlement.  Both agencies were informed that Brian's account was PAID IN FULL and requested to immediately cease and desist all collection efforts on this account. 

So lets pick the lies out of this response, shall we?

1.  The statement that I was not unavailable to complete the final walk with the maintenance team at the time of move out is an outright lie.  Tiffany Tuning was supposed to perform the final walk through with me and she was not there at the time we agreed upon.  I was told that someone named Zeke wouldn't be available for several hours to do this in her place.  I believe this was planned ahead of time as they knew I'd be renting a U-haul to move and would have to have it back at a certain time.

2.  I spoke with Ashley Yates before Tiffany as she informed me she'd be handling everything and didn't want to involve Tiffany.  It was only after much aggravation that I could get Tiffany to call me. 

3.  The statement that I was offered pictures of the damaged stovetop and my response being that those pictures were not proof I damaged the stovetop is again an outright lie.  Ashley Yates and Tiffany Tuning are lying to the BBB to cover up their mistakes.  Ashley Yates specifically told me she would not show me pictures of the stovetop with the reasoning being that she "didn't have to".  Tiffany Tuning said she had no idea if pictures even existed. 

4.  I did not call on October 14 requesting to speak with Tiffany.  I spoke with Tiffany prior to this when Ashley begrudgingly had her call me.  That was the only time I spoke with her and due to her ignorance in the matter altogether(this is when she asked me if I use cheap pots) I saw no reason to speak with her again and instead went to the corporate office.  Tiffany left one additional message for me in late October but she did not attempt to call again and left no further voicemails or emails.

This proves how shady, unethical and immature the staff at The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons really is.  Its one thing for them to lie to their managers at the corporate level about what happened but it's another thing altogether to lie to the BBB. 

Also to update I spoke with Vincent at National Credit Systems on 03/06 and he is putting my account in a protected status as he was finally contacted by Gina.  He did however say that it was the first contact he's had with anybody so any reports that they've been in regular contact previously are false.   To date my check still has yet to be cashed.

Today I received an email from Gina Roberts of CWS apartment homes corporate office.  Tiffany Tuning was copied on this email but she hasn't chimed in with any useful information because if you read my report you'd know that she probably has no idea what is going on. 

The email states that the fine people at The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons have received and will accept my payment and that the account will be closed as it is paid in full.  It goes on to say that National Credit Systems(the collection agency) has been notified and should cease all collection activities.

Sounds great, right?  Well several hours after receiving this email Vincent Fowler of National Credit systems called me to let me know that if I didn't pay him the full original amount by close of business today he would be reporting a negative mark to my credit.  I explained what Gina had emailed me not several hours earlier and he said he had received no correspondence from Gina or The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons.  He made sure to let me know he didn't care about such things and assured me they would continue to pursue collection activities as well as report negative activity to my credit. 

I faxed a copy of the email anyway.

I checked my bank account and the check I sent to The Preserve has still not been drafted so that could have something to do with all of this.  No matter how this goes down now I am assured I will have to work with National Credit Systems to remove the negative mark and more than likely with the credit bureaus as well.

To me this is not resolved.  To me The Preserve at Ballantyne Commons still houses the most unprofessional, unorganized and incompetent leasing office I've ever set foot in. 

Again, I cannot recommend anybody does business with them or CWS Apartment Homes.  I wouldn't even buy a pack of chewing gum from a convenience store if Tiffany Tuning or Ashley Yates were working there.  I will continue to update everything as it goes.