Volvo OPINIONS Forum

Wow, what a ride, 10 years on the last job, survived three rounds of layoffs (staff dropped from 200 to 20 over that time), so it was time to find new employment. Note to ALL, if you have an EE degree, there aren't any jobs in the Winston-Salem NC area!

Being a wire bender (EE), this layoff meant mandatory relocation unless I could afford 300 miles of fuel every day to commute along with two hours each way. Since relocation means selling a house, that means I have to find rental property with a short term lease until the house in W-S sells. FWIW, the new job is in Raleigh, NC.

Now for the funny/stupid part... apartment rental "associates" sound great when you talk to them on the phone, ie, they tell you what you want to hear. They want to wait to tell the "truth" until you are on their property! How do they get you to that point??? simple, they pull a Clinton and lie/omit! Here are some doozies I ran across while trying to find a 3 month lease with two Boxer dogs:

1: Sure, no problem we do 3 month leases on a regular basis (stated over the phone). Upon arrival and face to face conversation, yes, we will do a 3 month lease, but only after you have lived here for 12 months!

2: Over the phone, sure, two dogs, 3 month lease no problem, as long as the pets weigh under 65 pounds. Once on their property, their first question was how much do your pets weigh... my response, 45 pounds and 60 pounds... rental associate chick with a nasal high-pitched voice barely audible by dogs says: Oh my, our pet weight limit is the total weight of all pets, not individual weights! My response was crude but simple, "do you have children?", her answer was yes. I asked how many children she had, her answer was "five". I then asked her if any of them weighed over 65 pounds, she said no (hard to believe). Then I asked if her children's combined weight exceeded 65 pounds and she said yes. I followed up with one last question... which one of your kids do you want to keep as it is obvious that the other four have to be euthanised. She was disgusted with my comments and I left, strangely though, an hour later she called and said "okay we will allow both dogs". I was so PO'd at that point that I told her to figure out how to be human, not just a used car salesman... She still couldn't tell me which kid she would save/not kill.

3: Yes, we will do a 6 month lease and allow pets no problem (over the phone). I visit them, 6mo no problem, if you have pets, one must be a cat, one must be a dog, beyond that, there are "breed restrictions" nothing over 40 pounds and it can't be "mistaken" for a pit bull. Yeah right, try meeting that criteria with two BOXERS! Am I supposed to glue a raccoon tail to one of our Boxers so he looks like a cat? This sucks, dog breed discrimination should be the new political hot button issue!

That being said, the apartment I signed up with was honest front to back, no surprises, expensive yes, but at least they didn't lie to me!

Finally a question, who else has rental-hell experience to share along with the solution(s) you came up with.

jorrell
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92 245 250K miles, IPD'd to the hilt, 06 XC70, 00 Eclipse custom Turbo setup...currently taking names and kicking reputations!