Students who applied to live at the brand new Panther Hill Apartments say their move-in date was delayed several times and they say the new construction units aren't completed.
[Ads /]
"There's debris everywhere, her bedding was still in boxes, a construction worker had to come in and put her bed together. It's dirty," said parent Tracie Watson.
Watson says they had to clean up the mess from construction in their daughter's apartment, the furnished apartments are missing furniture and they say they had to assemble some of the furniture.
Some students moved in as workers were still painting the walls. Construction trash litters the hallways, equipment is parked outside doors and in some cases, the new tenants say the air conditioning isn't working either.
"It's hectic. Asking people if they could put my bed in. Asking if I have a desk. Where's my couch, can they help me set it up because I'm here by myself," sophomore Delijah Nickelberry of Richmond said.
A spokesperson for PVAMU says the apartments are off-campus housing and not under the university's jurisdiction.
Eyewitness News has asked specific questions about the status of the apartments. Management has not yet responded. A letter written to the students reads:
[Ads /]
"Dear Residents,
Please accept our sincere apology on behalf of Panther Hill Apartments. We are deeply troubled that the issues you have endured has caused so much distress to you and your guarantors, our valued customers. After much review, we have looked into your complaints and have narrowed down the cause of the issues you have been experiencing.
We are in constant pursuit of perfection and are already working on solutions that will prevent similar problems from occurring in the future. With installing new backup systems, the creation of company-wide training sessions, new staff, and internal system updates. Our process will be stronger than ever and will help eliminate the problems you experienced in the past.
Please keep in mind that we experience a high volume of calls on a daily basis, so we have a hard-time answering every single call that comes through. Please feel free to email our leasing agents or community assistance for a faster response.
We would like to thank you for your business and for bringing this to our attention. It will help us improve our operations and services."
Follow Christine Dobbyn on Facebook and Twitter.