Think Again Before Renting From Westminster

The email below is an anonymized version of an email I sent to Westminster.

A Full Account of Our Move-In Experience — Unit <first unit> / <my address>, <city>

To Westminster Management,

I work full time, and yet I am going out to buy stamps, write, print, and mail this lengthy letter to you via USPS. I would not do that over a minor inconvenience. I am doing it because the full story of our move-in at <my address> needs to reach people above the on-site office, and because I want it to be accurate and fair. Our email correspondence with the team is attached so that you can verify every point below.

We signed our lease in August to move into unit <first unit> on September 12. On September 10, just two days before move-in, <manager> told us the current tenant was not vacating and that we would temporarily live in unit <second unit> until about October 3. I want to be fair about what went right. <manager> apologized, billed our temporary stay at the unit <first unit> rate, and arranged the transfer of our internet service. The team also gave us a $700 credit, wine, a coffee gift card, and a free storage unit. <leasing person> and <assistant to the manager> were courteous throughout. We appreciate that.

The problem is everything that happened around those gestures. On September 12, the day we were supposed to move into <second unit>, even the temporary unit was not fully ready; we were told the kitchen was still being cleaned. On September 15, neither of our fobs opened the package room and we had no PINs; it took several emails to sort out, and my wife’s PIN stopped working again on October 14.

The mail was the most persistent problem. I first asked to retrieve it from the unit <first unit> mailbox on September 14, then followed up again on September 16 and September 22. We were told the current residents were out of the country and that management could not legally open a current resident’s mailbox. On September 23 we were told the mail would be provided over the weekend. We did not receive it until September 28, two full weeks after our first request, and only after the events below.

On September 26, at 20:45, we came home to find the lock on our temporary unit jammed. We were locked out for more than three and a half hours. Our pets were trapped inside, hungry. The superintendent spent thirty minutes trying to force the door with screwdrivers, then told us to call a locksmith ourselves and bill the management. When I asked the concierge for the after-hours emergency number, the call routed back to the concierge desk we were standing at. We paid for an emergency locksmith out of pocket, while my wife, who was in significant distress, had to lie down in the 7th floor lounge.

<manager> met with me on September 28, and I want to acknowledge that the locksmith reimbursement was ultimately approved and credited on October 2. But it should not have taken that long, and it should not have taken this much effort. Getting a straight answer required me to follow up by email on September 30, October 1, and October 2, and to call the office more than once. More than once I was met with a response along the lines of “what updates, I said I will get it done after talking to the superintendent,” as though following up on money I had already spent was an inconvenience. The attached emails show the same pattern: we had to keep asking.

We also moved twice in three weeks, living out of boxes the entire time because we could not unpack into a home we knew we would leave. And to this day, the charges on unit <second unit> have still not been voided, even though <assistant to the manager> confirmed in writing on October 2 that they would be.

Finally, we moved into unit <first unit> on October 3 after being told, on October 2, that it was being cleaned and would be ready. The kitchen had clearly not 100% cleaned: the insides of the cabinets, the cabinet doors, the handles, the large drawer next to the sink, and the stove knobs were all dirty, sticky, and greasy. Furthermore, the bathroom wall has stains. On October 14 we also reported that the washing machine was full of mold and smelled bad, and I do want to acknowledge that it has since been fixed. I have photo and video documentation of the condition we found in the kitchen. Please see the attachments.

Each person on the on-site team responded to us courteously, and many individual items were eventually fixed. But I should not have had to chase nearly every one of them, and taken together, this has been three weeks of broken promises and constant follow-up, with a stressful night in the middle that nobody should have to go through.

I also want you to know that I have shared this account publicly in anonymized fashion. I published it on my personal website, posted the video of the stove grease on YouTube, and shared the post on my Instagram. I have deliberately not named or identified any individual employee in any of them, and I want to be clear about why: my complaint is with how Westminster’s management and processes failed us, not with the people on the front line. The superintendent, the concierge, and the cleaning staff were working inside a system that gave them no functioning emergency line, no locksmith vendor to call, and no clear instructions. I do not want any of them to face discipline or consequences because of this letter or because of what I have posted. If anyone should answer for this, it is the people who run the process.

I am asking Westminster to recognize what we went through. We are requesting a full month’s rent credit, in addition to the immediate voiding of the outstanding charges on unit <second unit>.

I am only sending this now because things have just settled enough for us to sit down and write it properly, which I trust you can appreciate after what we were put through.

Please respond in writing within a week with how Westminster intends to address this. I am sending this both by email and by physical mail for the record.

YouTube: https://youtube.com/shorts/TFm4jz-L4K0?feature=share

Blog: https://alperengormez.github.io/blog/westminster

Sincerely, Alperen Gormez Unit <first unit>, <my address>

Published: Oct 19, 2026.
Last edited: Oct 19, 2026.