Avalon @ Mission Bay may bill itself as a wonderful place to live with great ammenities, but it really shouldn't. If I could sue them for false advertising, I would.

Where to begin:

RUDE staff. - They are more interested in surfing the internet than actually helping you.

Horrible maintenance team - Take 1-2 days to get to you and then they just cover up the issue, instead of fixing it. It took them 7 (!!!!!!) visits to fix my microwave. They had to re-grout my bathtub after we moved in because it was falling out - then they used caulk instead of grout so now I have 1/2 dull grout and 1/2 shiny caulk in my tile shower.

Television service is TOTALLY unacceptable. -
They use AT&T Home Entertainment who only answers their phones Monday-Friday 9-5 Cental Time. The picture quality is unbelievable bad as it's 1 satellite signal split into 300 connections. The HD service cuts in and out constantly. NO HD DVR Service. AT&T says they can't offer it. Don't let them fool you, DirecTv may provide the service, but it is not true DirecTv, you do NOT get all of the channels (actually about 30 less and you will not have access to the NEW HD channels DirecTv is launching as they don't have the correct MPEG4 equipment). The kicker is you pay approximately 40% more than you would if you could just get DirecTv on your own.

Pets:
If you have a cat you will pay $50 for kitty rent. Same for a dog. I love Dogs, but frequently have to watch my step in the elevators and hallways as bad owners let their Dogs relieve themselves in the hallways and elevators.

Parking:
Numerous spaces, but all are VERY close together, tons of SUV's in compact parking. I asked MGMT to re-assign the SUV's to normal spots, but they didn't. My car has dings on both sides because the distance between cars is only 10 inches. If you have a nice car, DO NOT MOVE IN HERE. Since I have lived here, 4 cars have been broken into. They have a seperate bike storage locker, but all 3 of my bikes have been stolen as you just have to cut the locks off. Any one can enter the bike locker. MGMT, does not care about it either. They say, Oh that's too bad. Use your renter's insurance. We do not take responsibility for it. Call me crazy, but if you pay $300.00 a month for a parking space, $75 a month for bike storage, they should take some reponsibility and put camera's in and secure them.

NOISE:
you cannot hear noise from other units, but street noise and CalTrain Station is unrelenting. 24/7. The trains juice up at night and emit this LOUD hum all night.

Odor:
Panera bread is in the building so now there is this odd incredibly sweet smell in the hallways that does not go away. Mix that with the dog pee smell and you have nothing like fresh bread should smell like.

Gym:
The gym is fairly well equipped, but when people bring their dogs with them to work out, it makes it kind of hard. Equipment frequently breaks down and sits for a few weeks before getting fixed.

Bottom line, paying over $4k a month for a 900 sq. ft. apartment should get you much better quality of life than you get here. They sucker you in when you sign a lease promising to care when something goes wrong, but then they act like they don't know who you are when you pass them in the hallways. (ESPECIALLY BARBARA!! - very nice when you are interested in renting, but see her on the property with clients and say Hi to her, it's like she doesn't even see you).

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/20/2007
Very well said. Summed all of my issues up very succintly.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/20/2007
too bad, we moved out 2 1/2yrs ago for all the above reasons, sounds like nothing has changed.....is Barbara really the old Nancy???
From: zanoryt	Date: 06/20/2007
I agree with most of the issues stated, and my review has it as well. We're halfway out the door now, and by the time the lease expires, I doubt there will be anything to keep us here.
From: zio591	Date: 06/25/2007
you are absolutely right. I moved out in dec. 06 and i never regretted the decision to pay the penalty and get out....i was so sick of it when my car got broken into after the thanksgiving holiday and nothing happened. I'm at the building on 3rd/folsolm and you can actually see 24hr security walking the building instead of concierge just busy on the internet and saying Hi and not doing anything else to make the building feel secure.
From: Mychemro	Date: 06/28/2007
I don't think it's all that unusual that several people might post on the same day about the same apartment complex. I think most people are here because they are looking for something else and from what I keep hearing about a lot of these large complexes, there is a high turnover. The thing I've read consistently is that the staff are rude. I don't understand why these places would tolerate rude staff, as it is just bad for business. Bottom line is that they don't care, because they charge so much that they are making money regardless of whether you like it there or not, and whether you move or not. In fact, everytime someone moves, they have an opportunity to raise the rent for the next tenant, so I think this is just part of the game. I want to live in the South Beach/Mission Bay area badly because it seems like so much is going on, especially compared to when I lived South of Market 10 years ago. The idea of living in "luxury apartments" seems to sound really nice, but it seems so hit in miss as to whether or not you're going to get what they are advertising. I wish they would realize these are people's lives they are messing with. Thanks for telling it like it probably is.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/03/2007
Before you listen to these reviews, you should probably go check it out for yourself. Here is my opinion: -Pros: the new manager (she's actually in the office unlike the other guy and is helping the place get cleaned up. I didn't find the notes that have been sent out harsh-unfortunately I found them necessary), great location, emergency building super that actually responds, great penthouse lounge you can reserve for free (you have to put down a deposit to ensure you don't trash the place or steal anything), dry cleaning pickup, proximity to AT&T park, they take AmEx online for paying rent(hello, miles!), free baseball tickets but I guess you only get a certain number per season. still, free is free. -Cons: The trains can be loud, but hey...you kind of know that going in-the price you pay for the location, the manager of the concierge is a moody you-know-what, the residents are rude, snobby and careless, their "online website for residents only" is totally useless, the Phase 2 building smells like burnt bread when Panera makes a mistake, guest parking (but that's expected for the city), proximity to AT&T park, when I first moved in I had problems getting my mail, but they seemed to have fixed it now I thought the price was kind of high, but my contract is up in August and I've been looking and it seems to be average for this locale and the features you get. I'm considering staying but moving to the other Phase. It seems there are a lot of young people on this side that have no regard for others. Overall, I really think it's getting better.
From: Anonymous	Date: 07/07/2007
7/3/2007 response is probably from the management-- indeed you should go check it out yourself. ALSO BE SURE TO GET REFERENCES FROM CURRENT RESIDENTS (especially from Phase II) before signing anything. They will corroborate all the headaches and nuisances listed here.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/11/2007
Thank god, I heard the truth before committing based on their false marketing. So any recommendations for a decent 1BR luxury apartment in Mi.Bay/SoBe area?
From: Anonymous	Date: 09/05/2007
I have to agree with you on everything! Can't wait to get out of this place when my lease ends. I wish someone would do something about Panera Bread's music playing all night long every now and then...Phase 2 smells like crap too (again, thanks Panera Crap!) I wish I could sue them for false advertisement...(class action lawsuit anyone)?
From: Anonymous	Date: 12/10/2007
Oh the constant bread smell. It makes me want to kill myself. Everything else is fine, if you can deal with the lack of real flooring.

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