10/22/09

not so awful

by ecp

I was really scared of renting from William Penn after reading all the reviews on here, but had already paid the deposit by the time I saw this site. Not everyone I dealt with at the company was the friendliest, but I have to say they have been overall very helpful and responsive thus far. Sure, the building is not in fantastic shape and my apartment had a lot of problems when I moved in, but hey -- for this price in Center City, I knew what I was getting into. When I've had minor maintenance issues I've had to leave a message as nobody ever answers the phone, but really, that's not a big deal -- they always got to it within a couple of business days. For more major issues (a leak in my roof, the deadbolt not working) they fixed them right away. If you want five-star service and clean apartments that don't have maintenance issues, don't rent in Center City in this price range. But I feel like I'm getting a pretty good deal for what I'm paying, including the service the company has provided thus far.

09/30/09

AWFUL

by williampennisawful

I cannot begin to explain hwo TERRIBLE this company is, so please first look at all of the other comments on this page and then read mine. First of all, the day I moved in they had changed the locks on the doors without telling me. I had all of my belongings out on the sidewalk in north philly. It took them FOUR HOURS to send someone out with a new key for me. The washer/dryer that they loved to advertise in the basement has never worked, but the buggies (can't say the other word on here) in the basement sure do. The building looks like a slum unless they are trying to rent out an apartment, in which case they might send some high schoolers out to clean the hallways and fix the broken lights that they never care about otherwise. One morning a plumber, without knocking, came into my apartment while I was in bed (7 am.), just to take 'a look around and see if everything was alright'. The reason for writing this review, however, is that I now have a hole in my ceiling (5 ft. by 4 ft.) with sheet rock falling into my small loft apartment. I'm not kidding..an enormous whole. I called a week ago (about twenty times), and every day since over and over and over again. I called the emergency number (which they charge you for), a guy came out and told me it was incredibly dangerous and made me promise not to stand anywhere near the hole. Hard to do in a tiny apartment with a huge hole in the ceiling. They sent maintenance out to clean an apartment on the fourth floor because they are trying to find new people's money to take, but did not even tell them about my ceiling falling in. I had been assured that people would be by to fix my ceiling that day so I called off work, because if you read these reviews, maintenance isn't to be trusted. I had to go upstairs and ask them to come down as a favor, they spent ten minutes ripping out sheet rock, throwing it on the floor, and then told me they were getting off early and left. IM NOT KIDDING. Wait, and they told me to move all of my belongings/furniture/lights...everything, to the other side of the studio so they could work more on it the next day. Well, I did, but they never came. They still haven't come. Although legal action was just threatened, and I finally got a call back. Maybe they'll be in today..probably not. Anyone interested in subletting?

DON'T RENT FROM THESE MONEY HUNGRY SLUM LORDS.

• Pros: location?
• Cons: EVERYTHING ELSE

07/26/09

Terrible, terrible, terrible

by zachwack

If you can ever get a hold of anybody at the office you will find them to be obnoxious and incompetent. The place comes off like a caricature of a used car dealership; sign em, screw em, and leave em! Its actually quite pathetic.

There are plenty of places in philly to rent from, avoid this place at all costs and tell you friends.

AVOID!! AVOID!!!! AVOID!!!!

I

• Pros: Decent property
• Cons: Terrible, terrible, terrible

05/11/09

1313 Spruce Street

by lipsy

What about 1313 Spruce Street...? Has anyone heard about this property? I am honestly scared after reading those reviews.

• Pros: don't know
• Cons: don't know

03/03/09

You get what you pay for

by ocbengali

Hey they might not be the best but they are not the worst. I lived it in1208 Spruce st at and The apt was great due to the great location and price. Mainly the price it was really really cheap for that location. Yes maybe talking with the people in the office was hard and they were rude. But if you keep pressing the matter you can get things done. Don't just call once and think all will be ok you have keep at it with the people. Maintenance is an issue so what I did was become friend with they guy (Chris) once we were cool I never had a problem I would leave him and email and he would take care of things. If you are renting from these people understand the two old ladies that showed you the place is nice and all but they dont know anything the main boss is MARK but you will never get a hold of him only person you can talk to is AnnMarry and she has her days some are good some are bad.....Ultimately I would live there again. If you cause them no trouble they cause you no trouble.

• Pros: Great Location, CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
• Cons: Horrible office hours, Cant get hold of any one, No one knows what they are talking about

01/31/09

why don't you bozos state the property addresses

by brindle77

this group manages a bunch of buildings. why dont you tell the addresses? what about 1208 spruce st any feedback about that?

• Pros: dont know
• Cons: dont know

01/13/09

They started a fire! (and didn't care---shocked?)

by Cronmoax

I have a laundry list of complaints...but I'll just leave you all with this one (IRONY at its best!):

Our smoke alarm needed to be fixed...so they sent one of their "maintenance" men. He wired it wrong. It caught on fire. If we had not been home and seen all of the smoke...our apt. would've burned down (and the building too, I assume). We called the "emergency" number that night and they simply said there was nothing they could do. That night the firemen had to turn off our electricity and we had to evacuate. We received no phone call...no apology...no check in. The next day they sent out an actual electrician to fix the problem...and he was in shock that someone could screw up something so bad as to cause a fire.

We got a lawyer...called L&I...and as a result...got out of our lease. REMEMBER: WPR does not want to get cited! Use this against them whenever you can! (and lawyers are crucial...they don't care about you and your little non-lawyer self. If you have concerns/complaints they will not listen.)

We're out of the apartment now...but the sad thing is...they're probably going to just paint over the burn mark where the fire was...and rent it to some new innocent person who won't hear about the mishap.

Landlords are corrupt, yes, but WPR is the worst, by far.

• Pros: location
• Cons: everything

06/05/08

Horrible

by CAT091

When I first moved in here(Sep.07), the bathroom sink facuet had low pressure. i called for some one to fix it and till this day it is still not fixed. Then just recently it started leaking, the maintance man just checked it out and didn't fix it. He told me he would send a plumber. I thought that the maintance person is suppose to fix the problem not send out a plumber for a leaky sink that just needs to be tightn with a rench. Also, when you call maintance, no one answers the phone. It is always a machine, except for after hours. Also, the windows had dirt and meldow all over it when I moved in. The floors had cracks in them in the bathroom. Then the guy upstairs started playing muisc real loud. I reported him 4 times and they tell me that they can do nothing about it at all. Just today I awoke to him laying music 2:44 am in the morning. There is also a rodent problem and insects come from nowhere. The staff are not polite and they make wrong charges on my account. For instance, they told me that they did not get the rent so I sent them another check, cause we have to send in the mail, they cashed the one I gave them. But when the check I orignally sent in arrived about a couple a days later for the same month rent they tried to cash that too. The check bounced back and they tried to charge me for a service fee from their bank. This has happened a couple of times before. This company has very bad practices and cares nothing for its tents. I can not wait until my lease is up.

• Pros: Cheap rent
• Cons: everything else

05/03/08

Pure horror and disgust

by LauraInPhilly

Though I have nothing that new to add to the other reviewers, it can't hurt to add another so that maybe- just maybe- people will stop renting from them. I signed for a small 1 bedroom and was, like many others, lied to when they promised the carpet would be cleaned and the rooms painted b/f I moved in. When I moved in, not only was this not done, but there was also, in the bathroom, human (I assume) excrement smeared all along the inside of the toilet. When I sent a certified letter complaining about the carpet, which was filthy beyond imagination, they called me with the number of someone who would clean it. I called and lo and behold it was a fake number. I too had mousy friends, but didn't even bother trying to get them to take care of that. The buzzer never worked, the main lock was always jammed. At one point the roof got a leak right over my bed and for a few weeks, before they would repair it even though I called innumerable times, I had to sleep on my futon instead. Unprofessional maintenance men. Was told heat was included even though it wasn't. Let's see, what else--- oh yes, the alley got so filled with garbage that the tenets on the lower floors apparently got rodents the size of your head. Washer in dryer in basement to disgusting to even contemplate using. All that, and I'm convinced from talking to others that I had probably the most pleasant experience any tenant of theirs has ever had. It's a small city, move south of south or north of market and save yourself the nausea and headaches if you can't afford Center City. Just avoid William Penn at all possible costs.

• Pros: Really, none
• Cons: Anything you could possibly think of

03/21/08

breakins, floods and homeless people

by nverg

NEVER rent from these people. First of all, I loved my apartment, lots of space, great location, cheap rent. The cons of interacting with William Penn were enough to move me out. Three floods, that averaged over a week each to fix. (Oh, and the mold from the floods was NEVER cleaned up, my roommate was sick the entire time she lived with me, and as soon as she moved out of her previously-flooded room, her health improved.) Disgusting trash alley way that was never clean, and rarely picked up. Broken locks on outside doors, leading to a homeless person living in the basement. Break-ins in the building (from one of the homeless people, electronics stolen from two apartments). Completely ineffectual accounting department, every few months I had to fight on the phone with them about their 'tenant ledgers' being incorrect. They definitely screen your calls, so don't expect anyone to pick up if you have an issue. Awful office hours. The only way I ever got them to respond to complaints was with threatening faxes.

The apartments look like a good deal, cheap and in good neighborhoods. Don't be fooled. Awful awful awful place to rent from.

• Pros: Good locations, cheap rent
• Cons: AWFUL management, unsafe living conditions