China, Myanmar (Burma) and now The Crescent

The government of Myanmar has shut down the Internet. Communist China restricts what web sites it's citizens can visit. Now the management at The Crescent is censoring what YOU can read online.

If you go to one of the computers in the Business Center to try and read this blog, you will find yourself re-routed to http://www.crescentfellspoint.com/, the company's web site.

Technically what they have done is this (skip this paragraph if you don't know or care what TCP/IP stands for). They have placed two entries on the "hosts" file that re-route the domain name lookups for www.CrescentFellsPoint.net and blog.CrescentFellsPoint.net to the IP address 208.112.58.87 (the server hosting The Crescent's web site).

When you type in the address of this blog, you are hijacked and sent to their web site instead. They aren't restricting any other web site, just the one that presses them on the things that they don't want to hear.

I'm not a lawyer, but there may be a free speech lawsuit there somewhere.

The Crescent: Out of Order

For what it's worth, there seems to be a lot of things in need of repair here lately...

The laser printer had a flashing report (on the display) that the drum needed to be replaced soon. That was 2 weeks ago. The drum should have been ordered then, so it could have been replaced the day it went out. But that would mean that management was proactive in maintaining the building for it's residents, which I believe we have shown they are not.

And another big WTF...

The poop bag dispenser has been empty for about 2 weeks (again) causing waste to pile up on the grounds (I keep a private stash of bags for such a case and always pick up after my dog).

How hard would it be to have someone walk around the property once a day (God, even once a week for that matter) and look for things like this? It's just common sense. We pay so much for rent and get sub-standard service like this!?! (I know... broken record).

More People Speak Out About Security

Here is the text from an email we received today from Monica, a concerned resident of The Crescent at Fells Point. It was a follow-up to the original post regarding security and the recent garage break-in. She asked that we post it for her.

"I am very concerned about the door that goes to the garage from the elevators on the first floor. In the last several times I came through it, coming or going, it has been open. And when it slams behind me, whether my arms are full of groceries or not, it closes less than 30% of the time. This is a real security risk, especially given the recent pedestrian break-ins in the garage. I would like to know when this will be fixed!"

Another resident said this:

"You've got me sufficiently fired up to write to her as well. (Though I may not be as restrained, as eloquent, nor as positive!) It's great you are doing this. Thank you."

We've forwarded a copy of both of these emails to the Management in hopes of getting a response. So far they have said nothing about the matter.

*** UPDATE ***

Monica received this response a few minutes ago:

"Thank you for informing us about the door leading from the garage not closing properly. I will have our service team take a look at the door today to ensure its closure. We will monitor the door and its performance over the next few days to see if further steps have to be taken."

If Management knew of the problem over 5 days ago, why is it just being looked at today? I hope that they aren't simply paying us lip service?

"Climate Controlled" Hallways?

It seems like the "climate controlled" hallways (or at least that's what they are called on the web site) are finally at a somewhat comfortable temperature. They're not "ahh this feels good" cool, but at least they are no longer "New Orleans in August" hot and muggy either.

This climate change didn't happen on its own. It took a little prodding from James the other day as he gave the property manager a piece of his mind (Go James!).

What makes me think "excuse me?" was what he told me of her response. She stated something to the order of "unless the residents tell management of issues, we don't know that anything is wrong".

While I agree with her that we need to point out certain things, we shouldn't have to tell them of blatantly obvious matters like "it's 85 degrees in the hallways".

I'm pretty sure that people from the office wander the hallways every day. If not giving a tour to potential new tenants or maintenance people fixing problems in apartments, then surely they know how hot the hallways are because some of the management staff actually live here.

Please get your head out of the sand and take some responsibility for things that go wrong around here. And I shouldn't have to tell you this either, but there has been a light bulb out over the island in the gourmet kitchen for about a month now.

If it weren't so serious, it would be laughable

I was leaving the garage last night when I noticed this (see picture below). The door was open again! Why is it so hard to keep the garage area secured?

Residents of The Crescent at Fells Point (a luxury apartment complex managed by Metric Property Management) have had many issues with management over the lack of security in the building. So many that I'm getting sick and tired of writing about them, but someone need to hold their feet to the fire.

In fact a week or two ago the same pedestrian door was pried open as someone forced their way into the garage. No, management did not inform the residents of this break-in, but we thought that you should know.

Here is the step-by-step account of what happened:

1. Saturday 07/21/2007, around 7pm - A concerned resident found the pedestrian door to the garage pried open and took the picture above (click on the imageto view larger). In other words: we had a break-in at The Crescent garage.
   
2. He immediately reported the incident to the courtesy patrol officer on duty.
   
3. The officer (who had just come on duty at 6pm) looked in his log book and told the resident that the pried lock had been noted by someone on the previous shift. As this was Saturday evening, the "last shift" would have been the Fri-Sat overnight shift. Management from The Crescent were in the office from 10am to 6pm (albeit intermittently, which is a security issue for another blog post of its own) on Saturday, indicating that they either a) did not read the note in the log book or b) were aware of the broken lock and did not fix the problem.
   
4. The resident then sent an "emergency maintenance request" via the web site where he was relieved to read that someone would contact him within the hour.
   
5. An hour passed and with still no contact from maintenance, the resident calls to report the matter (luckily no one was hurt and nothing was stolen or vandalized during this hour).
   
6. Shortly thereafter a maintenance person showed up to fix the problem.
   
7. Maintenance secures the door with plastic zip-ties (see picture to right) and put a sign on the door that read "Gate closed until Monday, sorry".

Questions for management:

1. If the break-in was on the security log books early Saturday morning, why wasn't it corrected by Crescent management during the day?
   
2. Do you think that someone who broke in earlier by prying open a steel door would be deterred by a plastic zip-tie and handwritten sign? The pool area is more heavily secured from it's own residents using a steel cable and padlock.
   
3. Management has proudly announced that stronger springs were put on the door so that it closes, but the problem of open and tampered locks remains? How many bikes need to be stolen, cars vandalized or heaven forbid someone mugged or raped and how little common sense do you need to realize that the garage entry is so conveniently located down a quiet, recessed driveway with no foot traffic that this door is a serious target for crime? Once you realize this, what are you going to do about this security risk?
   
4. Did you report this break-in to the police and did you give them a copy of the security video from the camera monitoring the area?

Sure, residents should take responsiblility for making sure the door closes behind them and if we leave it open, we are to blame. But I'm guessing that it wasn't a resident who pried open the lock and it isn't always a resident who has left the door open (employees use this door too and need to use the same care). After all, our front doors are open all day (unmonitored) allowing anyone to stroll in and go through to the building and garage. Furthermore, there IS crash door technology that residents, employees and criminals can't leave open.

But more importantly, we need true 24 hour security. You know, the kind you find at other luxury apartment complexes where front doors are always locked and they take security seriously. We need more than one courtesy patrol on duty: one patrolling the grounds and one at the front door at all times. We need effective video surveillance of entryways. Even if a resident, employee or ne'er-do-well leave that door open, patrols and video would help prevent trespassers and thus, potential crime.

After all of this, I have to wonder - why should we need to tell management how to secure its residents? Will it take a serious crime and lawsuit against The Crescent before they respond to the security lapses?

Security? What Security?

Many residents have expressed their disapproval at the lack of security here at The Crescent. I've written about security in this earlier blog post and have even written a letter to management.

In a written response to my letter, the Assistant Property Manager states:

"...this forces the use of a fob and requires that guests utilize the keypad located in the front of the building to contact a resident in order to obtain entry. Courtesy Patrol has been advised that No One is allowed to enter the building after hours."

Before you watch the video below, let me set the scene. Today is July 4th and the office closed earlier than normal (at 3pm). The security guard, or "Courtesy Patrol" as the management put it (probably to limit their liability if there were a problem), didn't come in early so as to compensate for the earlier closing time of the office. This left a "vacuum" whereby anyone can just stroll into The Crescent from 3pm until security arrives and/or the automatic locks kick in at (I believe) 6pm. The same issue was brought to management's attention after Memorial Day, which is why I even knew to check it today.

My question for management: If you already knew about the holiday security lapse, why weren't the front doors locked today at 3pm when the office closed and why wasn't a security guard posted at the front door at 3pm as well? Is this what they consider security?

The DOGIPOT Bags Came in 2 Days

The DOGIPOT bags that I ordered 2 days ago are here already. Hmmm. I'm not sure what the problem is with The Crescent's order.

Some would say that I've been a bit harsh on The Crescent management lately for some of their performance lapses. I plan on presenting the bags to the management of The Crescent on Monday as a peace offering. I hope that they accept and put them in the pet center for all to use. I also expect that they follow my lead and order (um, I mean RE-order) bags of their own.

It would also be a nice gesture if the office offered to credit my account the $16.94 that I spent.

*** UPDATE ***

The bags were presented to management today as I heading out the door for lunch. They were installed by the time I got back and walked my dog. The offer to reimburse me for my expense was given without me saying a word. Thanks Janet.

Am I allowed to say "poop"?

I've been walking my dog near the northeast pet station, back where there is still a "secret stash" of litter bags, because the other one, near the promenade, has been out of bags for the better part of two months. Several residents have brought it to management's attention and their response was to put out a roll of clear produce bags like you would use for tomatoes at Safeway. Now these produce bags are gone as well.

Let me interrupt myself to pose this... Who wants to pick up dog poop using a clear bag? Eww.

Many of us have been told that the real bags were "on order" (that was 2 months ago).

DOGIPOT, makers of the pet station, states this on their web site :

• Because it's the responsible thing to do
• Because it's the law in most areas
• Because unpicked dog dirt can transmit disease to children and other pets

Without these bags, dog waste will inevitably build up more than it already does. Other than the fact that it is just gross, negligence by The Crescent may actually contribute to children and pets catching diseases. Great.

Someone in the office recently remarked that I "must have a lot of free time". With all of my "free time" I thought I'd investigate these bags that seem to be so hard to order. So, to Crescent management and everyone who thinks I have loads of free time, this is for you:

A 200 count roll of DOGIPOT bags can be ordered here for $8.95 per box. This is the retail price. I imagine they are cheaper in bulk (if you are worried about cost).

I personally ordered a box (click on the thumbnail of the invoice on the right) to see if indeed they take 8 weeks to arrive. I will let you know.

By the way, the Dogipot website states "Opaque brown, so they can't be seen through". At least someone understands.

Are You a Towel Thief?

If you use or have used the workout facility at The Crescent at Fells Point, then you may be stealing towels (or at least that seems to be the management's conclusion).

I gave management a hard copy of my earlier article titled "Out of towels in the Gym, Again". Yesterday I received a letter which states:

The lack of towels located in the fitness center is due to residents taking them home and not returning them once they are used. In maintaining this amenity we will need the assistance of residents by placing the used towel inside of the basket located in the Fitness Center so that they can be cleaned and returned to their proper place.

I'm not sure how management came to the conclusion that residents are taking the towels. There are as many employees (maintenance, construction, management, etc) who have access to the fitness center as there are residents. At one point, I think there were MORE employees than residents. I really don't care if employees and residents share all of the amenities. It seems fair that they have access. But if that is the policy, the management is ignorant to jump to the conclusion that only the residents are depleting the resources of the building. It would be more accurate to say that "towels have been removed" or "people are taking towels and not returning them". It is offensive that the residents are spotlighted.

That said, let's say that management is right. Those of you who steal towels, I beg of you, please turn yourself in to the nearest Baltimore City police officer. I'm sure the legal system will go easy on you.

I'm also not sure what the letter implies. Are they going to replace the towels or simply wait until the thieves return them? How would a luxury fitness center or a "boutique hotel" react when they lose towels as a natural course of business? Might I suggest a simple, polite notice near the towels, reminding the gym users that in order to provide towel service for all, management appreciates our cooperation in returning them. And then just buy some more towels.

Business as Usual

The Crescent at Fell's Point apartment complex prides itself on many things. One of the amenities listed on the web site is the Wi-Fi Internet and executive lounge with 24-hour coffee and hot tea bar.

I used the Internet enabled computers quite a bit when I first moved in before Comcast came out to install my cable modem. At the time the color toner appeared to be empty on the color fax machine/printer, so I informed the office.

A few weeks ago (and several months after reporting the toner situation), I found myself in need of a color printer so I once again turned to the business center. I went down at about 1:30am to find this (see image right) on the printer's display: "Replace supply, Using black only". Needless to say, I wasn't very happy.

As it turns out, both the Cyan and Magenta toners are empty, as you can see here from a copy of the printer's Supply Status Page. None of the color toner cartridges have been changed since July 2006 (about the time the apartment opened for business). Interestingly, this report shows that the black toner was changed just yesterday on June 18th, 2007. Maybe they noticed and ordered some new color toner as well (keeping my fingers crossed)?

Shuffleboard Table - Sand = Buffet Table

We're lucky here at The Crescent to have a top notch game room, complete with a huge HDTV, a billiard table and a shuffleboard table. I'm by no means an expert on the game of American shuffleboard, but I have been know to play it from time to time at a bar.

Shuffleboard can be fun, but only when played on properly maintained equipment. Shuffleboard tables are designed to be covered with a fine sand-like substance, which is actually small grains of wax (seen by enlarging the above photo).

Every morning the shuffleboard table here at The Crescent has the pucks neatly lined up in formation (see pretty picture, left). While this must look impressive to prospective tenants, the table is nearly impossible to play on. This is because someone (and I can only assume it to the be same person who lines up the pucks) is cleaning the table; wiping it completely clean of all of the essential powdered wax.

I've reported to the office on several occasions that: not only is the table being cleaned, but that there isn't any powdered wax available in the game room. Powdered shuffleboard wax is not expensive (a single can goes for around $6.00).

Please, please... spend the 10 minutes that it takes to order a few cans of powdered shuffleboard wax on the Internet and instruct whomever is wiping the table "clean" to stop it!

Out of Towels in the Gym... Again

I've brought this to the attention of the managment more times than I should have to, but The Crescent at Fell's Point's gym, health club, whatever, is out of towels, again! There's really no excuse for this. As you can see, this photo was taken at 5:01pm.

This next picture was taken the following day at 12:19pm. Still no towels.

No clean towels again today, boys and girls. It would appear that this basket (below) contains the entire supply of towels for the building.

*** UPDATE ***

When I went to work out again today, there were no clean towels in the gym. This time I went into the office to ask if they could put some out. Richard told me this: "We had 300 towels at one point, but people kept taking them to their rooms. It's too expensive to keep buying new towels." I asked again "So there are no clean towels?" He replied "Correct."

It felt like I was being accused of stealing and that as punishment, they were taking the towels away. I wasn't very happy to hear his response, but I didn't say anything.

I did some checking (which took all of about 30 seconds) and found a site online that offers 14” x 26” white towels for $5.95 per dozen (that's 50 cents each). Expensive? No.

Even if towels were expensive, and they continued to disappear, let me again remind you that rent here is expensive and I expect you to live up to the level of service that you advertise. Get some clean towels in the health club now!

Lights Out!

About two weeks ago the Fell's Point area experienced a power outage. The building's power was out, but strangely, the power in my apartment was just fine . It wasn't until I decided to take the dog for a walk that I even noticed the problem.

When I stepped into the hallway, all of the center lights were out. The recessed lights above each door remained on (leading me to believe that they are powered by each unit).

I made my way to the elevators to find that they weren't operating. No problem. We're all told that in the case of an emergency or power outage to use the stairway anyway. I opened the door to the stairway, but found it dark. Completely dark. As in, there were no emergency lights!

The dog had to go out, so I slowly walked down the stairs hand-over-hand on the rails but only managed to make it 4-5 stairs before it was clear that my dog was scared and, unable to paw-over-paw HIS way down, he wasn't moving. I also twisted my wrist as I fumbled in the dark. I turned around, coaxed the dog back up the stairs and returned him to the apartment.

Dogless, I was able to slowly descend the 4 pitch black flights of stairs to find a darkened first floor lobby. A maintenance rep told me that the diesel backup generator had not automatically kicked on and that they were working on it.

After a short period of time the backup power finally came on. One of the elevators was working, but I wasn't confident enough in its reliability to use it, so I used the stairs again. The first and second flights of stairs were still dark, even with backup power. There were lights on the third floor stairwell and above. In the event of an emergency, we will be able to get to the second floor, and then we jump, I guess.

At this point, I was curious about the other two stairwells. The lights worked on all floors of the stairwell on the west side of the building (by the trash chutes). However, the stairwell on the east side of the building (nearest the town homes) was completely dark (see video below). Remember, this is after the backup emergency power was restored.

Was the building wired wrong? Unfortunately, this flight of stairs is the one that I would use in a real emergency.

While the problem with the emergency lighting is the most alarming, there were more fallout from the power outage that was not handled particularly well. During the outage, the fobs didn't work. So, of course, doors had to be propped open. And sad as my video is, even sadder was our security guard, poor Ms. D, that night. She was guarding our building, sitting at the front desk in complete darkness, front door open, only lit by the candles and flashlights that we residents donated. Not only was that rough on her, it likely was NOT the best security situation.

False Advertising?

Promises, promises. This article will point out some of the (empty) promises made to us by The Crescent. My source for most of these is The Crescent property's very own web site, on its Amenities page; however, some were told to me by the leasing agent when we signed.

On-site Social Director and Gourmet Kitchen with Guest Chefs

The Truth: I talked about this one in my last post, so I won't go into too much detail. The truth is that we do not have an on-site social director and thus, we have had few events. The leasing agents have pitched in to plan some social events, but there is no way they can organize the level of activities expected (and previously provided by) a dedicated director. This was a BIG selling point to us when we signed and now The Crescent saves money on a director while we pay the same rent.

The Truth: When we first toured the building, we asked about the kitchen in the game room. We were told that The Crescent brought in top local chefs from time to time for cooking demonstrations. "Cool", we thought.

Since moving in (in mid-March) there has been a total of zero gourmet kitchen demonstrations. I did use the gourmet kitchen once to re-heat pizza, although Pizza Hut could hardly be considered "gourmet" and I didn't have an audience so it could hardly be considered a "demonstration".

Guest suites

The Truth: We all have friends and family who visit. Before we signed our lease, we asked about furnished "guest suites" that we could rent when we had visitors. We were told that they were available. Great - another nice amenity making the rent worth its heft. We have since found out that those suites are not available any more. Although the corporate website still advertises them.

Mountain bikes

The Truth: The Crescent had a fleet of (ok, 4) mountain bikes available for residents to use any time. The first time we tried to use the bikes, the office didn't know where they were nor where the key to the closet was. We were told we could "wait around" until she was able to get the key from someone. Instead, we wandered around the building and then the garage for awhile and finally found it ourselves. That was a month ago. Since then, 3 of the bikes were stolen from the bike room. Yikes! Furthermore, the management waited about a week or more to inform the residents about the bike theft, after quite a few residents voiced their concerns about not being told. Unfortunately, during that interim, a resident's own $1200 bike was stolen from the garage. We should have been notified immediately about the theft so we could all take extra precautions to secure our items. Oh, and an no one from management has indicated that the bikes will be replaced. Which is a perfect segue for...

Security

The Truth: We were a little concerned about moving into a new urban neighborhood (and Baltimore doesn't have a glowing reputation of safety), but we were assured that the building provided 24 hour security with at least two security people after office hours: one at the front desk at all time and the another walking the property. Since we have been here, there is only one security guard on duty after hours and no one at all between 6am and whenever the office opens. That means that when the one guard patrols the halls and garage, the front door is unattended.

In addition to the lack of guards we have seen other problems. The pedestrian door next to the main garage gates is ajar about 50% of the time when I have used it. The spring mechanism on the door is simply inadequate to close the door automatically. Yes, we should always check that the door is closed behind us, but occasionally we don't. A simple spring mechanism would guarantee that it is closed and we would all be a little more secure.

Also, twice we have found the loading dock area left open late at night. This allows anyone to just walk right in as the double doors on the dock do not lock!

In Closing

We all know rent here is more expensive than other housing opportunities nearby. On the other hand, the list of advertised amenities makes The Crescent the "place to be" and worth the money. Without these first class services, it is difficult to justify the rent. We understand that the management has been going through a transitional period, which is bound to be a little bumpy. But we are disappointed that they have not acknowledged nor apologized for lapses in service and amenities. When your tenants pay this much for a great home, you have a responsibility to make the transition seamless. And if that is not possible, acknowledge the problems and take some responsibility for where you have faltered. It is inexcusable to take our money without maintaining the level of excellence you promote.

How can a Modern Apartment Complex such as The Crescent NOT offer a Recycling Program?

Soon after moving into The Crescent at Fell's Point, my girlfriend and I inquired about where the recycling was to be placed. We were told that the building didn't offer a recycling program. What!? We live in a $60M building in the year 2007 and it doesn't have a recycling program? We were shocked!

We started collecting our cans and bottles and placing them in front of the car in the garage where twice a month Alyssa would drive them 5 miles away to the local recycling drop-off center. We did this for a few weeks until we received a excessively threatening letter taped to the wall near our car stating that we we not allowed to place items in the garage and that they needed to be removed immediately. Now our recycling stacks up in our apartment until we can get to the drop-off center.

Bitter that I trip over the bags of recycling that we have to lug to the car and that we waste our time going to a drop-off center and infuriated that any apartment complex in this day and age wouldn't offer recycling, I wrote the following letter and sent it via snail mail to the office.

I also placed a copy of the letter near the mailboxes along with a pen and a post-it note stating that if any other residents agreed with the contents of my letter, would they please sign it so I could present the signatures to the office. It was up for a few hours (where I understand that a few people signed it), but it was mysteriously removed.

The point of this blog posting is this: It is irresponsible of The Crescent at Fell's Point to not offer a recycling program. Especially as we understand that the waste management company used by the building does in fact offer recycling pick-up.

I'm also upset that to this date (over two months from sending my letter) The Crescent at Fell's Point still does not have recycling. Also, the management has never formally acknowledged my letter. Even a letter in response with something like "we're looking into it" would have been nice.

But enough about recycling. What about the "on-site social director" that we were promised before signing our lease as show here (left) from the Amenities page of the website? Meeting new people was one of the main reasons we moved here. Having an on-site social director made the $3k/month rent a little easier to swallow. The calendar of events on the company web site showed social events almost twice a week for January and February of 2007. We were especially excited about the prospect of "Yappy Hour", a bring your dog and drink wine event, as we are big dog lovers. But, after moving in, we didn't see anything taking place.

When we asked about this lack of social events, we were told that the social director moved out and that they were looking to hire someone else. Again, that was 2 months ago. Since then we have maybe had 2 or 3 events.

I'll end this blog post the same way I ended my letter:

We call these items to your attention in hopes that they will be remedied. Until such a time, we cannot, in good conscience, recommend The Crescent at Fells Point to our friends, business contacts or anyone else.

Nice Elevators!

We have two lovely frosted glass lined elevators here in the building. A few days ago I pressed the elevator button and was greeted by this (see photo). I'm not sure what happened, but the entire pane of glass was removed. I can't fault The Crescent as I assume that someone accidently broke the glass panel and another one is on order.

I do take issue with the other elevator. There is also a pane of broken glass in that elevator and its been like that for a very long time (5+ months). It also has the ugly "move in blankets" hanging on the wall for about as long.

When someone moves in, they must request the elevator key from the office anyway. You can put the blankets back up when someone moves in and keep the eye sores down the rest of the time, can't you?

Come on people, take down the ugly blankets and fix the broken glass!

*** UPDATE ***

I left a comment that I thought the glass in the other elevator was fixed. I was wrong. I was just looking behind the wrong blanket. When you get into the elevator on the right, look behind the blanket on the right and you will see this panel of broken glass (below).