Avalon Union City — Local services in Union City

Let me start by saying one thing before, I not writing this review because some one asked me to sugar coat anything. I rarely write reviews for any product or service and I do that only in value of my time and value of the service or product. Avalon is a great community to live in. I have scouted a couple of apartment complexes in Newark, Union City and Fremont before choosing Avalon as my home. Avalon seemed like the best considering the price vs amenities. All the apartment in Avalon are standard a central heating-cooling system, attached laundry room, carpet flooring and kitchen with all equipment (freezer, stove-oven, microwave, dishwasher and garbage disposal.) The apartments are build fairly recently and maintained meticulous by a 24/7 on-site maintenance crew. The complex has common area with pool, sauna, bbq and fitness center which are well equipped and maintained. What is not there here to like to live in Avalon? The rents are comparable to other apartment complexes with similar or even most of the times lesser amenities. Another thing to consider is Avalon Union City is location right next to Union city BART station. It a central location that is closed to public transportation, shopping complexes, restaurants and banks. Hence, i didn't ever regret my choice to live here because, it indeed feels home. During my stay here, I have visited the office more than I can remember and always greeted well. Jennifer Sepulveda and other staff members at the leasing office are great to work and talk to. Everyone in the leasing office treats every single person like a friend, are always ready to listen to problems and happy to help. Its not the amenities that make a good home, its the people who provide the service that make it better and the staff of Avalon Union city go above and beyond to make the customer (you) happy. I did have few inconveniences here and there... and of-course stuff happens all the time. Some of them include,

1. my apartment was completely ready on the move in. The additional evaluation took 1 hr and it cost me $110 because movers were waiting for the inspection to compete. But, guess what, Avalon staff reimbursed me that amount in the next month statement because they were responsible for the delay. They could have just ignored my trouble and go on but they didn't. They took ownership of their fault and did their best to resolve it. I even had flowers and chocolates sent to my apartment with a card signed by all staff member apologizing for the inconvenience.
2. The boiler broke down twice and there was no hot water supply for an entire day. This happens and no once can anticipate the issue. But, Avalon Union City was quick to resolve the issues thereby minimizing the inconvenience to user

So, the bottom line is, there will be issues no matter where you live but, the way your troubles are addressed actually make a lot of different about how you feel about the people and community. Avalon Union city did an outstanding job in keeping up to its reputation in customer service. I really recommend everyone to consider Avalon Union City for your future housing needs. The only reason i am moving out is because i am moving out of state. Thanks for...

I've lived at Avalon for two years and had to leave due to unforseen life circumstances. I want to provide a very honest review to add some context to their recent reviews.

First and foremost, we rented a 2 bed & 2 bath. The apartment is quite spacious and we received the apartment in great condition. The amenities include a pool, hot tub, barbecue, and a gym that were all wonderful. The location is great and pretty walkable to public transportation, good restaurants, groceries, and stores.

The maintenance team is truly wonderful. Brian is very knowledgeable, helpful, and communicative. He is a joy to talk to and always gets the job done with precision, craftsmanship, and ease. We have also had emergency repairs from Frank and Sonia that were handled quickly and excellently. I have the upmost respect for the maintenance team and all their hard work in sustaining the place.

We've also had external complications here and there and had to consult the leasing office on multiple occasions. Mary, Cali and Eryn have all helped us significantly navigate very complicated situations. I have personally felt that they put their all in helping us in trying times.

Now, I want to add some context to the negative feedback I see.

Crime - Let's be real guys, we're in the Bay Area, next to a BART station. While it's no utopia, as a Bay Area native, I feel plenty safe at Avalon. Use your best judgment. While there have been break ins and it DOES suck, understand that there's only so much in Avalon's control.

Office Reservation - Admittedly, it is inconvenient to have to schedule appointments to see the leasing office. With that being said, I'm sure they have plenty work to do and need the focus on their jobs. Every appointment I have made has always been productive and helpful.

Trash - Trash chutes can get backed up and all hell breaks loose because residents don't want to bother being proactive. If everyone took the extra effort to properly dispose of their waste and not jam furniture in the trash room (theres a St Vincent de Paul close by), we wouldn't even have a problem to begin with. Let's be understanding of the staff that has to pick up after other's lack of responsibility.

Towing - The parking policy is clear and is communicated often. People get mad they got towed because they had no permit or took up a loading zone reserved by someone else in advance.

Move-Out - The move-out process is clear and reasonable. I wouldn't be surprised if people left a mountain of trash and the apartment in ruins, expecting their deposit back in full.

All things considered, I think Avalon Union City gets too much of a bad rep for things that are not in their control. The staff is trying their hardest in ensuring you have a great living situation. They are not here to bend over backwards in satisfying unrealistic entitlement. They are reasonable, responsible, diligent, and realistic. Respect and basic empathy goes a long way.

I have made a lot of good memories at Avalon Union City and I will miss it. I hope this review sheds some light and convinces you to give...

Edit 11/7/2019: Recently my packages directed to Amazon Hub had all been turned away and returned to sender. They also announced last week that they would refuse all packages unless the Hub was full, and would refuse heavier packages outright. As usual, they have been ignoring all my inquires including this one. Whatever it is, the current management is lacking good will. Will be looking for another place to live after my contract expires.

I have been living here for about a year.

Pluses:

Office staff is in general friendly, welcoming, and willing to help you. Rashmi is especially patient, nice, and helpful and has assisted me in solving some renewal issue caused by a computer glitch.

Location is great for commuters. BART is just steps away. Despite this you can hardly hear BART trains even at night.

Amazon Hub! Had to mention this as this thing is a God-send. We used to have packages stolen right in front of our apartment doors. With this wall of high tech (~ish) lockers, almost everything is delivered there, even when it is not from Amazon. Each delivery is password protected and you will never get packages stolen again.

Minuses:

The Avalon office does not respond to email inquires. When I first moved in, they always responded to my questions and concerns over email. Now for the past few months, they have been ignoring my emails entirely. Not sure what happened. Maybe a change in upper management? Their office hours are short on weekdays and i can only go to their office on Saturday. It would be nice if they could answer my inquiries in email so that I don’t have to wait until the weekend to go to their office in person. It would be more professional too, you know, to not ignore your customers.

Crimes. We have had our share of break-ins and thefts. Unfortunately this is one of the results of being very close to BART. Criminals can make a quick and easy getaway hopping over the BART gates after stealing stuff from our apartments.

It’s expensive! Even with the cheapest contract terms it is still around the upper range in the area. Maybe it’s the location. They do increase rent every time you renew your contract.

The “environmental friendly” shower heads they had us switched to are horrible. The flow is so tiny that it’s like someone is peeing over you. Not sure about others but our shower time has increased substantially ever since they made us switch. Water fees are shared among all residents and I bet they could save more water if they had installed separate meters for each unit, instead of trying to switch to some barely useable...