Alpha Rentals Carbondale - Carbondale, Illinois

Logan W.

If I could give less stars I would. Oh where to begin. Like everyone else has said, they're fine until you don't renew your lease, then let the fun begin.

I started renting from Alpha in 2017 and had a fine experience the first fall and into the spring. Then I got new neighbors who were constantly fighting and yelling, I called the landlord to complain and she said they can't do anything about it unless I call the police.

A few weeks later I walked out my front door and stepped in a pile from a dog and called the landlord to complain and she said they can't speak to that tenant about it because it was a service dog nor can they comment on if they have a dog. Instead they sent out a single email to all of the tenants asking them to pick up after their pets; how this was going to help is anyone's guess.

Then came the story of the showings. My apartment was shown countless times to which I didn't have an issue with considering it was the last available unit of its type. What I did have an issue with is when the phonecalls about showings stopped and became emails that could be missed. Or when even the emails stopped and I'd get a call 15 minutes before my lunch break (where I go eat at home) saying that they forgot to call me about a showing and would be by shortly to show my apartment. One time I can forgive, but not this many.

Then comes the security deposit, which was $615. I attempted to call Magic Carpet, their "recommended" carpet cleaner but he never returned my messages in the weeks prior to my move out, so I chalked that up to be taken off my deposit.
I gave them my keys on a Monday, 5 days before my lease was up. The weekend before I cleaned the apartment from top to bottom all according to their cleaning checkout list. I realistically spent 10-15 hours cleaning the place by myself and it looked even better than it did when I rented it. I even dusted the light switches, which I thought was ridiculous at the time but didn't matter in the end.

A few weeks later I got a check for my security deposit, less the fees for the cleaning and the carpet cleaning. I was quite shocked my check was only in the amount of $215. That is $400 less than my security deposit. Inside they included a bill for the labor and supplies for the cleaning crew (which Alpha oh so graciously paid $50 towards) in the amount of $340 + $25 for supplies. The cleaning crew charges a total of $70 an hour for a crew of three individuals. That means it took them 4.8 hours as a group to clean my apartment and a total of 14.57 individual hours to clean my apartment. On their checklist it lists every single aspect of the apartment as needing to be cleaned. There is no way anyone could have looked at the apartment and thought this.

I sent them an email about it and I was met with the most blanket statement I've ever seen. Chris Smith responded with the generic "we looked into it and it looks good to us" type response I could've imagined. On top of that, Chris Smith essentially claimed I was lucky that it didn't cost me the full $1,777 to clean the apartment as it states it could in my lease. Now, just to delve into the math on that one, at the rate of $70 an hour for a team of three, that is 25.38 hours as a team to clean the apartment and a total of 76.15 individual hours. That price is so outrageous I don't even know where they get these numbers.

Since my last communication, Chris Smith has stopped responding to my emails about the deposit. There is no justification to the charges or explanations, just "well it COULD have been" and other similar statements.

I've attached 5 of my 51 photos that they said didn't dispute their charges of over $300 for cleaning. I beg to differ.

Run for the hills future tenants. Once they have your deposit they won't ever let it go.

LocusBlack

Andy Wallace! Alpharentals owner! In Carbondale Illinois 62901. Do not rent from! You will clean, scrub, and scrutinizing the apartment!!! He will take your deposit!!! Slumlord! Stay away from Alpharentals in Carbondale Illinois!!!! Please LOOK AT THEIR REVIEWS!

Luna P.

Please DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE! The office ladies are absolutely rude, minus one. Not only that the place is completely disgusting and they will charge you for any damages that were on the property before you signed. Example being they charged me for a broken screen on a window that was already busted when I moved in. Had pictures and everything of all the damages and they wouldn’t even hear me out. All they want is money! These people don’t care about you, they care about money. Also bro to mention they had someone else sign a lease in the apartment I was living in when I told them I wanted to sign again. Had a month to move out. Also maintenance guy is a major creep!!! He would come in my apartment unannounced and sometimes he wouldn’t knock. He would come in when I was sleeping or doing house work! Once he came in on me while I was showering and he walked in on me wearing nothing but a bra shorts and a robe. Not cool! I had a leak above the kitchen sink and the whole time I was there they never fixed it. They are super cheap and super lazy! All they care about is money like I previously stated. I will only be paying them what I rightfully owe them and that’s it. Charging me for stupid things isn’t ok. When I first moved in I shower them the pictures of everything that was damaged and it seems like they still charged me for them. Again please don’t rent from them, there is a reason they are cheap. If it looks to foot to be true it probably is. Worst place in the world to rent from! If I could give them negative stars I so would.

Doty7

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE!
Worst rental experience ever. Do not get an apartment from these people. If I could give them no stars or even negative stars I would. They do not maintain their properties; so prepare for a trashy yard. There were used tampons and pads that appeared in front of our apartment and left for months. Nasty yards and leaves everywhere. They will not maintain the landscaping at all except mowing occasionally. Barely any parking. The owner and office workers are not helpful, and only care about money. Don’t expect them to help you with anything. Terrible people. Also terrible neighbors. If you do rent from these people do not get a downstairs apartment or you will be staying up 24/7 for the whole lease. They seem friendly but are not. COMPLETE SLUMLORDS!

John B.

Don't ever plan on getting your deposits back!! So nice at first but once you move in they don't ever want to seem to do their job when something is not working. We moved in without bulbs in all the fans and with dirt and scrubs all over the back porch. We scrubbed for 3 whole days to make sure the place was spotless once we left. They still managed to find a way to take our entire deposit. Go to Aspen Court instead, I regret moving out of there, they were actually one of the best spots in town to rent from.

Emily C.

Alpha, though nice at first, is not a good place for anyone to rent through. My mom and I spent over 4 hours on our hands and knees cleaning. My mom was a custodian for 10+ years, so I knew she would help me get the job done when it came to cleaning my apartment. Especially because they provided tenants with a laundry list of things to clean. At first, I was okay with it because I appreciate detailed people/clean companies. However, after hours of cleaning, apparently this was not enough for Alpha. When it came to my security deposit, I waited over a month for it. I called and emailed only to be shorted my money over a month after I moved out. I should have received over $500, but I only got $226. They claimed they would provide us our checks within 30 days of moving out. After relentlessly trying to get my money, I did not receive the itemized list of expenses they took out of our deposit. Though, they told me they mailed it out prior to receiving my check. After multiple emails, that they claim they never received, and phone calls, I finally got the itemized list. They hired a cleaning company and fitted only $50 of that bill, the rest was out of my roommate and I’s security deposit. The cleaning company claimed that our apartment was filled with cat hair. However, we did not own a cat!

I am writing this for potential future tenants to think through their options and to inform them of these instances that seem to be common with this company. Beware and do your research before renting through them.

Bill S.

They will steal your deposit faster than you can say "lemon oil". When we moved in, the place was disgusting. Walking in the living room left black crud all over your feet. We cleaned up and down and all around and left the place in way better condition. Still, they tried to take 90% of our deposit.

Take a video of yourself wiping lemon oil on the wood trim and put it on a disc, you'll need it when you threaten to take them to court.

Sui students, feel free to contact student legal services and they will be more than happy to help you get your deposit back from these slumlords.

MacKenzie L.

DO NOT STAY HERE
First of all- I moved to the area after not knowing anything about it and they told me it was a safe area… multiple shooting happened literally in front of my door. My neighbors dog kept pooping IN FRONT of my door and they told me to call the police about it. People were screaming and bumping music almost nightly. When I moved in- it was a mess- they said they’d fix it and they never did. They told me to. The fire alarm was on the ground broken with a dead battery- they came and put it back in with the same dead battery. At the end, I moved out and actually fixed issues that were there when I moved in (screen door, wall issues). Then, they had sent me my deposit over 30 days late and had responded to zero out of three of my emails. The last one had threatened the use of a lawyer. They had deducted well over 80 percent of my deposit even though this is illegal after 30 days. These deductions were the things that were broken when I had moved in, told them, and they refused to fix it. In the lease it actually says not to call them about the deposit which is extremely sketchy. Anyways, do not give this place your business, they shouldn’t have one anyways.