Check the BBB for Oakwood Management before moving to any of their properties. My experience at Cheswick Village was extremely disappointing, and I would not recommend living here unless major changes are made to management and the way the property is run. We moved out a while ago, and I had been trying to avoid leaving a negative review. I believe I initially sent a positive one to the email, but now that we are officially out and have received our deposit back, and due to ongoing issues that are still affecting us, I feel it is finally time to share our experience.
The maintenance technicians themselves were kind, but the overall maintenance process was slow, inconsistent, and poorly handled. It took weeks to receive help for water that smelled strongly of sulfur. The complex manager repeatedly told us that "it's just the city water" and "we can't fix it," even though the odor was so strong I couldn't safely shower, wash dishes, or do laundry without triggering asthma attacks.
It wasn't until I contacted the corporate office and explained that the issue was impacting my breathing and that I would need to be released from my lease that someone was finally sent out. The problem was then fixed immediately. The entire issue was caused by an incorrectly installed water heater, which is something that should have been caught from the start.
Other issues we experienced included:
A flooded basement room due to what we assume was the open-topped pipes filled with water in the floor.
A back door handle that wasn't secured with the correct screws repeatedly fell off.
A basement window that wouldn't lock or stay closed.
Management was by far the biggest issue. The woman in the office consistently had a rude, dismissive attitude and showed little interest in helping or caring about the residents. Communication was almost nonexistent unless she needed something, and we often waited weeks or sent multiple follow-ups just to get a basic response.
Any time we had to reach out, we were met with the same unprofessional, unpleasant attitude. It made even simple interactions unnecessarily stressful. This was absolutely the worst experience we have ever had with complex management.
The area itself isn't great. Every single night, you can hear cars racing up and down the highway, and it's constant. Obviously, that has nothing to do with the management or the complex building itself; however, if you want a calm and quiet environment, this is absolutely not it.
What's even more concerning is that it's clear they do not screen tenants well (if at all), or if they do, they do not care if they bring in other people who are not listed on the lease to stay there. A very traumatic incident occurred because people who were not on the lease were being allowed to live in a nearby unit without any consequences, despite repeated concerns being raised. Instead of enforcing their own occupancy rules, we were the ones who had to deal with the fallout, and we are still dealing with the trauma from that situation. We were told that they were already wanting to terminate their lease due to other issues that they had, but they had not followed through with this, so these issues were not something new.
The actual layout and interior of the unit were nice, and we genuinely enjoyed the space itself. Under better management, this could have been a much more positive experience, and everything else would have been much more tolerable.
Even though the units are nice, the management, lack of oversight, and the way issues are handled make this place not worth the stress. I would strongly avoid living here. read more