The Lagoons Apartments — Attraction in Foster City

My wife and I had a very negative experience with the Lagoons Appartment complex. We toured the complex on the April 17th, and Lagoons employee J. Ramirez said she will get back to us with renting details. We called the office multiple times the day after but could not get in touch with anyone, after which we followed up by email on the 18th and J. Ramirez said "I have sent the Assets Manager a request and am waiting to hear back from him." We called the next day April 19th and got no response then got an email at 3 minutes before the leasing office closed that said that she has heard back from her team and offered us a promotional discount if we move in within 7 days. On April 20th we submitted an application and paid $610. Right after we paid the application fee we received a phone call from J. Ramirez saying that they cannot honor the discount. On April 23rd we received a lease for review. After multiple unreturned phone calls, we followed up and received a response on April 24th: "Apparently there was a typo and the 1,000 off is only applicable to applications submitted within 24 hours of touring. "

Our response was that we tried to get in touch with her during those 24 hours we could not reach her, and after further 6 agreed to honor what we initially agreed upon. This already delayed the whole application process by 4 days. Just waiting on response, which I believe is their tactic.

J. Ramirez sent an email on April 25th saying she did get verbal approval from the management to give the concession and was waiting for written approval so the lease could be amended.

She then said we will get the confirmation of these agreement in writting. Also, in their lease we noticed that there is no CANCELLATION CLAUSE, so we asked for that to be added. DAYS HAVE PASSED BY WE HAVE NEVER EVER RECEIVED ANY OF THE REQUESTED DOCUMENTS IN WRITTING. We called to follow up multiple times no one ever answered the phone.

We had Relocity help us with our relocation, and they then tried getting in touch with the leasing office. They spoke with a leasing representative on the phone on April 26th who let them know that the deposit should be refundable within 72 hours of the approval date if we decide not to move forward with the lease. We were never informed that we were approved. Then R. Calhoun sent an email stating that they we actually have 72 hours from the application date.

We sent an email on April 27th requesting the return of our deposit and then R. Calhoun responded on April 28th and stated the 72 hours were up and the deposit cannot be returned.

From April 20th when we payed the deposit and application fees to April 27th we were trying to receive truthful informations about our lease and conditions of the lease agreement. They were dragging the time for deposit return to expire ( although we never received the real truth about when is the "deposit return deadline date") while we were still confirming with the management lease terms agreed upon before...

I am extremely disappointed with the management of the Lagoons Apartments in Foster City. After living here for a year, our lease renewal came with a staggering 10% rent increase, which we find unacceptable given the current market conditions.

We have sent emails and reached out to the leasing office in person many times over the last three weeks to discuss our concerns and negotiate the increase. However, despite our repeated efforts, we have been told that the leasing office will contact the manager but cannot confirm when we will receive a response. The lack of communication and disregard for our situation has left us feeling frustrated and undervalued as tenants.

Even in the last week of our contract, when we visited the leasing office in person, we were still given the runaround and told they couldn’t guarantee a response before the renewal deadline. This is absolutely unbelievable. Only after we mentioned filing a complaint did the leasing office staff state that the manager would reach out on the last day.

This behavior is highly unprofessional and unacceptable. It feels as though the management is intentionally delaying their response, leaving us with no time to explore other options and forcing us to accept the rent hike.

We are urgently seeking a timely response from the management, regardless of whether they can offer us a better deal. This response is crucial for us to decide whether we will continue living here.

This is not the level of service we expected when we chose to live here. The management’s unresponsiveness and lack of professionalism are highly concerning, especially when dealing with such important matters as housing and rent.

We urge Prometheus Apartments to address these issues and improve their customer service. Until then, we cannot recommend this place to anyone looking for a reliable and responsive apartment...

We lived here 4 years and mostly enjoyed the experience - great location and decent amenities. However, the last year, customer service at this property has been awful, especially with the staff turnover. We tried to get information about move out, but no one responded to our emails for weeks, and the voicemail box was full the entire time. After looking up other contact info, I finally was able to get someone from another Prometheus complex to respond to me.

Now we received the final bill and they want to charge us an extra week's rent even though we sent our 30 day notice well in advance of the deadline.

So rent at your own risk. It's sad that this terrible customer service has ruined 4 years of generally positive experience. Sidenote, they will raise the rent on you as much as they can, but that's to be expected from a company, so not docking them for that.

Updated 4 weeks later. Since this time, Prometheus still has not returned our deposit or given us a final accounting, almost 2 months after we moved out, in violation of CA laws requiring return within 21 days of vacating premises. When I contacted the Home Office staff, they initially blamed the Lagoons staff for entering the moveout date incorrectly, saying they were unaware of my actual date, until I pointed out I had cc'ed them on 3 emails that stated the correct moveout date. This is terrible service considering Prometheus has been in business for so long. Rent at your own risk from a company that can't get its act together enough to get your bills correct and to refund you...