I moved in over a year ago and was reasonably pleased with my 2 bedroom loft apartment. My biggest issue initially was the lack of response to maintenance requests. The next issue was a putrid aroma emitting from the sprinkler system (which has yet to be resolved). The grounds just outside of my apartment were constantly flooded, creating a safety hazard. This went unaddressed for some time. All of this apparently came to a head in October of 2006 when I noticed yellow tape being used to surround an area in front of my building where a hole had been dug. A pipe with tools extending from the ground was exposed. This was the first indication that there was apparently a much more severe plumbing problem. This half-hazard fix remained in place for at least a week before the water main broke, releasing a stream of refuse across the common sidewalk and courtyard area by my building. The result: No water for the residents of my building for over 24 hours. No contingency plan had been established and the staff was less than accommodating to the situation. I attempted to be patient through the emergency while the local staff lied about what they planned to do to rectify the unfortunate situation. The result ended with a call to my attorney who advised me to get a hotel room and then charge it back to the complex since, by law, they were liable. The staff was very rude which in turn, provoked a rude response. After calls placed to the regional manager and my attorney, all finally did die down. Skip forward approximately 8 months to the present date. I, being too lazy to pack my things, decided to renew my lease (bad, bad, decision and I take full responsibility). Out of the blue, construction has begun on my building. I knew other buildings were being renovated as well, it's just that I assumed that there was some organized plan established to notify residents of the process, any potential safety precautions, activities residents would be required to perform in preparation for construction, etc. This was not the case. The entire process was impromptu. I received a notice in my door on the evening of June 5 stating that I would need to remove anything I valued from my wall for construction beginning on June 6th, as well as any items I owned outside. Since my job requires that I travel a bit, I found this lack of notice a bit disturbing, but did not bother to complain. I simply complied. This week, I received a notice on my door on the evening of June 12 that the power would be disconnected from 8am to 6pm on June 13. This was particularly disturbing because I have a small child with severe allergies and asthma. It is the summer and we are in Florida. Apparently the individuals in charge of the poor planning failed to take this into consideration. Additionally, I had just purchased groceries. Even FEMA responded better than this place! After a discussion with the staff on the morning of June 13, Barbara apologized and claimed it was the "corporate" office's fault. She said they refused to listen to her. I advised her of the many safety hazards brought on by the construction. One of the workers left a circular hand saw unattended in the middle of the common sidewalk. The crew left tools and supplies in the disabled parking area, which is a clear violation of city code. I advised her that it would be beneficial to residents and workers if we were provided some sort of schedule and list of things that we may be required to do ahead of time. Since she was adamant about blaming the "corporate" office for her woes, I requested the number for the "corporate" office so that I could be of assistance. I later discovered that what she gave me was a phone number for a regional office here in Orlando, not the actual corporate offices located in New York. I contacted Marlene at the regional office and advised her of the situation. She agreed to fax a schedule to the apartment office by the end of the week for distribution to residents. I have yet to see such a schedule. Due to weather conditions, the power was not shut off for my building on June 13. Instead, workers performed some sort of activity which resulted in the demise of my fire alarm system which shorted out and rang relentlessly around 10 PM that evening. After investigating, I concluded that there was no actual fire anywhere. I contacted the office and received no response. I left a message that I would drop the hotel receipt off the next day. Tired and frustrated, I collected my child and laptop in search for a hotel. The first one was booked. I had luck with the second location. I contacted the apartment office the next day and inquired if they had received my message. Nydia, the assistant manager (who has displayed anger management issues in the past, but not on this particular occasion) said they had not. I was not shocked that at 3 in the afternoon of the next day the management had not bothered to check their voicemail or follow-up, because I've grown accustomed to the lackadaisical attitude of the staff. I explained the situation and advised her that I would drop the receipt off. She said ok and seemed to have no problem with the arrangement. That evening I came home at 9 pm on purpose, to allow time for my apartment to cool off after having no power all day. Upon my arrival, my air condition was running without pause and the temperature in my home was 85 degrees. I waited until 10:30 pm and the temperature had barely gone down to 80 degrees. The conditions were much too harsh to spend the night with my allergy-prone offspring. I made another worthless call to the office and took off for the hotel again. I called the apartment office the next afternoon around 4 pm to ask Barbara if she had received the first receipt that I left in the drop-box. She said she hadn't and immediately began to attack me for leaving my apartment because of the fire alarm. She was very sarcastic and patronizing. I admit, I was shocked at her caliber of cruelty and quickly reminded her of the unsafe living conditions I've been forced to endure. I'd been quite patient. She went on to insult me by insinuating that I wanted to stay in the hotel at the apartments' expense. (As if! Had that been the case I would have ended up at one of the Disney Resorts, not Raddison!) Hurt and truly insulted, I advised her that if she wanted to deny me the rights outlined by law, I would let her take up the discussion with my attorney. She then apologized and stated that she did not know why I had to involve an attorney. I advised her that after the numerous insults and the unwillingness to resolve any of the matters mentioned, I had reason to want to consult my attorney, especially since she expressed no sympathy, desire to apologize, or rectify the issues until after I mentioned the attorney. Following my call to her, I quickly looked up the information for Tarragon's "real" corporate offices and gave them a call at 212-949-5000. I gave them the ugly details of the goings-on at the Orlando Knightsbridge location and not only did they express interest, but disgust at the actions of their complex manager. I am currently awaiting follow-up on Monday and plan to contact my attorney first thing. Luckily, I have documentation and proof with use of my VOIP phone records, a digital camera holding evidence of the unsafe conditions, as well as a staff witness to the horrible temperature conditions in my apartment that remained until June 15 (by that point, the A/C was completely broken), as well as copies of my receipts. --OH, and I failed to mention, the workers have also busted out my bedroom window leaving glass behind. With all of my windows covered for construction purposes, when the A/C went out, I had no other recourse, such as, opening a window.

By all means, if you enjoyed this sad but true story and look forward to experiencing the same headaches, please run -- don't walk to Knightsbridge at Stoneybrook (VOTG as they used to call themselves) and lease one of the many poorly-maintained units right away! See you soon, neighbor! :0)

User Responses
From: worker1	Date: 12/29/2007
this is very good reading .WHAT PLANET DO YOU LIVE ON . RAMBLE ON
From: itshot	Date: 12/29/2007
this sounds like a good fiction book go for it .
From: Nilaja	Date: 01/18/2008
worker1: To complain about rambling, but read it anyway is pretty asnine. itshot: Glad you enjoyed the review, but it was unfortunately true. I will say this, since the complex has changed management, it has improved 10 times over.
From: Anonymous	Date: 01/23/2008
Same situation here! I remember that day the electric was shut off! Notices were dropped off after hours on a Friday telling us our electric would be turned off all day on Monday. We were away and ddin't get this info until Sunday evening. The girl at the desk told me that they would not pay for a hotel (my son has asthma) so I went to the library all day. Wish I would have known then they were liable! I can't begin to tell you the problems we've had here. Mostly maintenance and the cruel tone Barbara has taken with us in the past. I was in absolute shock that I was spoken to that way. All I asked her for was a UPS box that had been dropped off at the office. I won't go into details here, but we have also consulted an attorney - I'm just angry we didn't do it sooner.
From: NeverEnuf81	Date: 05/04/2008
Nilaja...don't bother responding to those 2...i think it's evident to EVERYONE reading this that those are the "rude management" employees that everyone talks about ridiculing you like children for saying something negative. They didn't refute anything, if you noticed. They just wanted to say something rude because you hurt them, exposing them as being incompetent. No resident would get angry and be so childlike and immature as to just attack you for no reason with no substance. I'm actually shocked that management is really that immature and pathetic to come on here and attack someone for leaving a review. What motivation would you have to come here and lie if you had a satisfactory stay? Obviously something was wrong. I'm actually not moving here now that I've seen the actual apartment employees attacking reviewers like pathetic, troubled highschool bullies. Thanks :-D

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