more woes.....

some older posts on gaijin pot - it shows that things have been bad for a while....

"Sakura House is such a scam if you decide to stay for anything more than a short period of time. I am talking about their apartments and not dorm rooms, which I have no clue of.Tiny...like less than 15 square meters. Mainly north or west facing apartments (not manshon, but aparto therefore no auto lock etc.). Thin walls. Unit baths etc. Locations that usually aren't near prime. And they will charge 100,000yen and more for these. When the real value would be more like 60,000 for the same thing (granted you will pay an extra 10,000 for all your utilities). Sakura House is fully furnished...ha! Well their idea of a desk (or more apt, a folding table) costs 1,000 yen.Now as a gaijin it is much much easier than it used to be to find a apartment. More and more places have you just paying about 3 or 4 months rent when you move in as opposed to 5 or 6. But also will get a bigger place for the 100,000 you were paying at Sakura House. If new, modern amenities like the auto 'wash toilets'. Wood floors. South facing etc, better location. You will have an all around better place that you could even have pride and not shame...and that you could invite someone to.If you stay for anywhere near a year...find your own place. I hate to say it but I stayed at Sakura House for more than a year. I was just too lazy to go through the apartment hunting process. But is is much easier than ever with internet. Also go to a big realtor, and not a mom and pop one. They will have worked with Gaijin many times.i.e. Tokyu http://www.livable.co.jp/ (in Japanese)I am free free free from the chains of Sakura House. Sakura House apartments MOSTLY SUCK. I thought they were okay until I saw the light and visited other apartments. They SUCK SUCK SUCK. RIP OFF!"



"Sakura House=CHEAP, GREEDY PEOPLE !!!
Please, i know this message has been responded to before. But let me add just one thing.Don't you ever rent a Sakura House appartment!!! BEWARE. Those people are without any conscience and purely concerned about money making, and ripping off foreigners.I am writting this, because I made my own experience with their policy. One time during stormy weather the ceiling in my room came down. Water dripping from the ceiling when I came back home. Well, you'd think they'd give you a notice if something severe as this would happen?? You are wrong!- They left a note saying, they would fix it asap. ALRIGHT, I lived in a shared room which means I have a roomate. Sakura House was so considerate moving her to a different room, because the leak was over her bed. However, for me they had no more room available, so I had to spent FOUR days in a damp, mould fungus smelling room before they glued a board over the opening. On top of that I had to pay the FULL rent for entire time.If you still think you want to RENT a ROOM at Sakura House, then good luck! -I hope you never have to rely on their service!! "



"I recently stayed a Sakura House Apartment for six weeks.I had the following problems:- Because my apartment building was old with paper thin walls I could hear my neighbors chatting loudly, arguing, playing music, walking, and having sex.- The cost of changing apartments is 10,000 yen. And most of Sakura's buildings are old and poorly constructed, making it unlikely that one would want to change.- Sakura requires tenants to clean the apartment and mine had a layer of grease over the kitchen area and the bathroom could have been cleaner.- My apartment had only two cockroaches. One big and alive and one small and dead.- When moving out, the tenant has to put out the trash, but in Tokyo trash is separated and the trash not collected that day must be taken to the train station or the airport or given to Sakura who will charge you to take it away.- The website advertises unlimited utilities. This is not true. The rental contract states that the limit is 10,000 per month. But the agent told me the limit is 15,000 yen.- If you stay for a partial month, then the rent for these last days is prorated. Except that Sakura charges you for the last day - regardless of the time you move out. Normal business procedure is to charge by the nights of your stay. This allows Sakura to charge the next tenant for the day you move out!- Three weeks notice is required for moving out. This is somewhat inconvenient and is not shown on the website.- The staff will not give the address of an apartment if you would like to see the neighborhood and apartment building.- Sakura advertises that it does not charge an agent fee, etc. But you must pay a 30,000 yen deposit with a maximum of 20,000 returned. The 10,000 not returned is a fee!- I found many of the staff at Sakura unpleasant to deal with."