There's good and bad in this post. I am going to start with the bad.
I hate the Oakwood. There, I said it. I know I am supposed to grateful and, um, diplomatic as per my husband's request, but I can't keep it in anymore. I have been grateful and diplomatic for almost 7 months and what have I gotten in return? I have been ignored, mistreated and then ignored some more. So, Oakwood, there you have it, I HATE you!
I hate you for your lack of charm. I hate you for your abysmal customer service standards. I hate you for the fact that you happen to be completely under-construction and my children haven't napped on a weekday for the last three weeks. I hate you for never so much as offering an apology for aforementioned construction. I hate you for all the calls I've made and gotten no response. I hate you for dangling the carrot of moving us to a renovated unit without construction noise and then never getting back to me give me further information one way or another. I hate you for leaving me, a chef, with a broken electric range. I hate you for choosing DISH network as a cable provider because it loses its signal at every climax. I hate you for making me use a code every time I log on to the internet and for letting me load an entire jumbo size dryer full of wet baby clothes and not telling me that IT'S OUT OF SERVICE! Ugh. I could go on, but I won't. Oh, there is one other thing: the goddamned vegetable peeler! Come on.
The good news: I have just over a month of suffering to go and then we are off to our new HOUSE in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a beautiful French-speaking commune in the heart of Brussels. Yes, the wait is over. The housing folks finally located a beautiful, little house for us and we couldn't be happier. There's a lesson here for new Foreign Service folks: if at first, your housing option makes you want to kill yourself, ask for another option. Chances are they will try to make you happy. In our case, they found what amounts to a perfect situation for us. It has four bedrooms so we all have our own room, plus a room for guests, which I anticipate needing frequently (hint, hint, nudge, nudge). There's a garden for us all to play in (girls), garden in (me), and lay about in (furry ones). There's a garage for our car, a nicely-appointed kitchen, and a separate playroom for all the toys and kid-related clutter. It's a dream, really. I am so happy and grateful to be leaving this hell-hole and going to a place that feels like a home!
You carry a Coach bag? Or maybe Louis Vuitton?
9 years ago
I am incredibly jealous about this new home!! Can't wait to hear more!
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about Oakwood is that they are no hassle in terms of moving to DC...you have a place you don't have to look for or pay for. The problem is, they have absolutely ZERO incentive to make things better. They KNOW you are unlikely to move elsewhere. They KNOW they will get their money whether you are happy or not. They KNOW they will have a replacement for you the minute you leave. And they KNOW that even if you left a bad review of them somewhere online, it won't matter because they have built-in clientele. I think the way State has set this up is great in terms of insuring people have a place to stay but sets it up for a miserable experience for almost everyone who stays there. Glad you have better housing in the future!
ReplyDeleteDigger- True dat. I feel like the only power I have is to say, "This is one Foreign Service family that will not be staying at the Oakwood again." To which, they would likely say: "Who cares? There's 10 families coming in the door behind you." It's very frustrating, indeed. In the future, we will know how long our stay in DC will be, so we don't have to do this again. Lesson learned...
ReplyDeleteBetween you and Kolbi and a few others I will do all in my power to avid the Oakwoods. It sounds just dreadful!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the housing assignment. Sounds like it will be just perfect. I can't wait to hear all about it once you arrive.
Sounds like you've had a lot of trouble with Oakwood. I've heard the same thing from other people too.
ReplyDeleteI think some of it depends on which building you're in. We're in Rosslyn. And while I 100% agree about the lack of charm, the customer service we've received has been very good. If we send a service request via the website, we get an answer in a few hours. We even had our carpets cleaned within a few days of asking.
Hang in there!
Congratulations on your post's housing! What a great place to look forward to! Tick tock tick tock -- you're almost there!!!! Until then, enjoy outings in DC and just being home in America. Oakwood is almost a funny/frustrating memory!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear about your luck. We like the Crystal City Oakwoods and the staff goes way out of their way to help. It probably all depends on the location.
ReplyDeleteFYI: Our location has cable, free internet without passcodes (although it is not always high speed) and a washer/dryer in every unit.
I am glad you are getting out of your Oakwoods apt.
Hooray for the perfect place in your new location!
ReplyDelete(And, yes, I bought a NEW veggie peeler for my Oakwood kitchen. I can make do with most of the Oaky kitchen stuff, but NEEDED a decent peeler.)
Just wanted to let you know I linked to your post. Please let me know if it is a problem. I agree on the peeler!
ReplyDeletehttp://smallbitsfs.blogspot.com/2010/12/housing-options-in-dc-oakwood.html