Brixton

It sucks to have to write a bad review, especially for a place I currently live. But I want to warn others because I’m...

It sucks to have to write a bad review, especially for a place I currently live. But I want to warn others because I’m so disgusted with Brixton. Moved in 9/19/19 after driving 1,856 miles in 2 days and starting a new job the following Monday. So exhausted. I knew a subscription to Dwelo smart apt system for $25/month was part of the rental package. No problem. Dwelo worked for a few days then stopped working. Problem. Spent 2 futile weeks troubleshooting with Dwelo and Brixton--including racing home ½ hour early from work for a 5:30pm appointment so Brixton mgr Avonte could power cycle the hub (which Brixton unwisely LOCKS in a cabinet refusing to let tenants access it). Avonte stands me up. I call him twice, after which he finally comes by at 6pm (so I needn’t have missed work for our “appointment”) and unlocks the hub compartment and power cycles the hub. Dwello works for only 2 hours. Troubleshooting with Dwelo resumes and they inform me they’ll have to send a tech who only works M-F, 9-5. I tell them I work those hours at a new job I can’t be absent from, on an hourly basis and I can’t afford to miss income (as I had for the half hour when Avonte stood me up; hey time is money), and I can’t let strangers into my apartment when I’m not home. So that’s another problem. At this point it’s been 3 weeks of throwing away money on a broken system that Brixton forces on tenants and I don’t have time for ongoing troubleshooting and I’m pissed. So I email Avonte 10/14/19 and say I don’t like being a captive customer for a system that doesn’t work and ask if I can opt out. He ignores my email. I again email Avonte 10/15/19 with the same question. He again ignores my email. So on 10/16/19 I leave work early to stop by his office at 5:30pm to discuss it. He’s gone for the day. Paola tells me that Brixton and Dwelo have a 3 year contract so tenants have to pay whether it works or not!!! Then she claims that Avonte will discuss it with me. Avonte continues to ignore me. It’s now clear that I have to pay $300/year for a broken system so I need to get it fixed, and I get permission to work from home on 10/18/19. Dwelo kindly sends a tech out on just 24 hour notice. And guess what the Dwelo tech discovers-- The problem was that the locked hub enclosure was wired wrong and there was no internet access to the hub. So the hub worked briefly on cellular then dropped dead. Brixton was 100% to blame for the defective wiring, all while forcing me to pay for service that couldn’t work due to their defective wiring. Rather than endure another service call to get the locked hub enclosure properly wired with internet access, which likely would have required yet another day of me working from home--which I doubt I’d get permission to do, the tech connected the hub directly to the router in the living room and Dwelo works. So now I’m seriously pissed at Avonte because of what he put me through while refusing to communicate or negotiate or help troubleshoot. Suddenly, hours after learning from Dwelo that Brixton’s faulty wiring was the problem all along, Avonte belatedly answers one of my long ignored emails and claims he tried calling me all week but couldn’t reach me and asks if i have a new phone number. I respond by showing him the email I received from Paola in his office on 10/12/19 acknowledging I gave them my new local phone number, and assuring me “we will update our records.” So yeah. He had my new phone number and he had my email address and he had my apt number and he had my street address, yet he couldn't find a way to respond to me the many times I asked if I could opt out of Dwelo because it didn’t work. Beware. I’ve learned that tenants have to pay for Dwelo whether it works or not because Brixton’s contract with them is more important than their tenants. I’ve learned that this is true even when Brixton screws up the wiring so badly that Dwelo can’t work. I’ve also learned that the tenant will bear the burden of all troubleshooting and any resolution even when Brixton’s mistakes are to blame. And if my experience is typical Avonte will refuse to communicate with his tenants about major issues. I have no idea why. Seems to me this problem is exactly the type of thing a rental manager should investigate and resolve. But he abdicated responsibility with the Dwelo issue and refused to communicate. Therefore I have no confidence in Avonte as a manager. And I have no confidence in Brixton to treat their tenants fairly. I wish I hadn’t moved in here but I’m stuck in a lease after an expensive move. And that sucks. But at least I get to warn others. Epilogue: 1-This is not the only problem I’ve had at Brixton; it’s simply the biggest. 2-Brixton pays tenants for reviews via a “raffle” system. The winners get a $200 Amazon gift card or a $200 travel voucher. Perhaps that puts some reviews into perspective.