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Review content:
We moved into a Barkley property in the middle of July. On the second day we were here, our AC broke in the evening. Naturally, I called our new landlords to inform them that our AC was out and that something had to be done. His response? ""I don't know what you want me to do about it."" Two days into our lease. It is nearly 100 degrees in the apartment. I'm seriously worried about the health of my pets, and John Barkley can only say ""I don't know what you want me to do about it."" I don't know. Maybe you should fix it, considering that it is your job to provide a livable space for my girlfriend and me.
I should have run away. I should have contacted Better Business Bureau. I should have tried to haggle my way out of the lease and lived in a cave. But I didn't. I told myself that maybe it was a fluke and moved on.
Obviously, it wasn't a fluke. The entire place is in a state of cheap, superficial repair. The oven, which is probably from the 50's, doesn't fully close. Several of the burners don't work. The dishwasher is a joke. It barely cleans. There are gaping holes in the wall just out of sight - under counters, behind mirrors, etc, covered in nothing but a wire mesh. I guess that's why our energy bills are so high. The toilet has been broken (both the seat and the back) since we moved in.
I would expect some disrepair in an old house, but John and Medora respond very rudely and unprofessionally when these problems arise. For example, when my girlfriend reported the oven door problem, the response was ""No one else has ever complained about it."" I reported the toilet within the first month and never heard back. When the pipe under our sink broke, on account of being amazingly rusty and rotted, it took three calls to get anything at all done about it. The first response was ""The Barkleys are on vacation, so they can't do anything until Monday."" Big surprise. The Barkleys are always on vacation. Finally, after the third call, John called me back and gave me instructions on how to rig it to be usable until Monday. It should not be a struggle to have running water in a place we're paying over a thousand dollars for.
Speaking of water, the water main for the house is so crappy that if two people are using the faucet at the same time, they both suffer. Frequently, the stream will suddenly turn to a trickle. This is especially bad for hot water, which will abruptly turn freezing cold or scalding hot. Considering that this is a four-unit house with two people living in each unit, I'm sure you can imagine how hard it is to get a decent shower around here.
Everything is cheaply maintained, too. When they had the house repainted, they hired cheap labor who couldn't be bothered to reattach our mailboxes to the wall, to put our screens back in our windows, or to hook our porch light back up. Considering that they raise rent constantly, you have to wonder where that extra money is going, since it's obviously not to maintenance.
At least their secretary, Steffany, is nice and has good phone etiquette. The Barkleys themselves are terrible landlords, and I regret ever renting from them. I wanted to wait and post this after my lease was up and settled, as I don't want to suffer petty ramifications, but I just couldn't wait any longer. Stay away - Far, far away.
Pros: Close to campus. That's it.
Cons: High rent, rude landlords, properties falling apart
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