Horrible. There are so many bad things to say about this community and it's mgmt. I'm not really sure where to start. We lived there from 2007-2008, and were sold by the fact that the units were "renovated." We were promised "all new appliances" during the tour of the model. We were given a refrigerator which stopped functioning a few days after we moved in. Our dishwasher would actually make dishes dirtier! (we would rinse plates until they were clean, put them in the cheap dishwasher, and when we would get them out, they had what appeared to be sand and dirt stuck to them) We complained to mgmt a few times, they sent someone out to "fix" it, to no avail. Then there are the antique washer and dryer in the unit. They were INCREDIBLY loud, very energy inefficient, and when we complained that they were not the "new appliances" we were promised, they told us that they only replace the washer/dryer if it is broken and unable to be repaired. (as if to say: "break it, and you'll get a new one!") The next problem we had was the community as a whole... a bad mismatch of young full-sail students and a few families & elderly people who had to put up with the thoughtless & disrespectful antics of the full-sail students. Since Full Sail is a 24-hour school, you can expect constant "beats" permeating the paper-thin walls/floors at ALL HOURS of the night. Complaining to mgmt about the noise was to no avail; the problem continued. The residents don't speak to one another, don't respect one another or the property (once 1 person leaves a bag of trash in front of the dumpster instead of IN it, everyone else sort of blindly follows their lead, so about once a week there is a large 5-foot deep pile of trash bags in front of the dumpster). This may or may not have contributed to the major vermin problem in the complex. For the first time in my life, I saw a large (6 inch ) rat in FL... I was getting something from our storgae closet located off the patio, and I disturbed a rat that was busy building a nest in my stuff (there was no food or anything else in the closet, just some posters and old boxes from electronic gear) I then saw rats on the property no fewer than 3 more times.

Then there are the bugs. I personally kept my apartment quite clean, and I was careful to not leave food out. No matter what I did, I would find roaches (4-7 per week, big guys too!) in the apt. Also there was a constant fruit-fly problem, which oddly enough was not confined to the kitchen area. Instead I would see flies buzzing around every room, and would swat at least 1-2 per day. This began almost immediately upon move-in, and continued until the day we left. The construction allows for the bugs to travel between apartments easily, and obviously the apts are not sealed off from the outside very effectively. If your neighbor is a slob, you WILL have bugs.

I had to call the police twice while a resident here (a new personal record!!) because of fights and knife threats that would occur outside of my bedroom window at 3 am. while trying to sleep. One incident in particular was quite unusually obnoxious, even for this property: At 3:20 am. one morning, I awoke to VERY LOUD and DEEP bass rattling my apt. It sounded like someone "bassing out" in the parking lot. It continued for 5 minutes, and I went on my patio to investigate. I discoverd that it was not a vehicle "bassing out," but it was a neighbor a few units over. I went to ask him to turn down his music, but no one answered the door (the music was so loud, there was no way anyone could have heard the music anyway). The resident had left his music THUNDERING, with his patio door open to share his music with his neighbor. I called the police while waiting for some sign of life from the apt. Still no one came to the door. After a few minutes of listening to this noise, a neighbor from another unit came by, looking quite "out of it" and "unnaturally awake" for 3:30 am, and told me that his friend lived in the apt. with the music blaring, and that his friend wasn't home(!), and that he could go in and turn down the music. At this point I realized that the group of kids sitting on a nearby patio, drinking and consuming who-knows-what-else, were the ones listening to the loud music out of their friend's apt, being so unkind as to broadcast it to the entire complex. They finally went inside the apt. and turned it off (3:40 am). 30 Mins later (4:10 am) I awoke to the same thunderous bass. I called the police, then went on my patio to tell my neighbor to turn it off. (apparently the owner of the stereo had returned home and resumed his partying) He proceeded to threaten me with physical harm and taunted me saying "come up here and do something about it tough-guy". I told him the police had already been called, he yelled from his upstairs balcony some more, and by the time the police arrived he had turned his music off. I had to work that morning at 7 am.

Then the construction began. A FULL Rebuild of the property began at 7 am everyday. by 8 AM there were circular saws and compressors running almost constantly until 4-5pm. The siding on all the units was being replaced because there were major structural issues due to pervasive termite infestations. We were forced to live out the last 3 MONTHS in a total construction zone, one in which workers crawled over our building like ants, and were required to wear hard hats (due to falling debris, etc.) but we were expected to live in with no problem. Then they rebuilt the clubhouse entirely, leaving only the roof and load bearing walls intact. Obviously this meant no gym, and the pool area now became a full construction zone as well. I contacted an attorney, seeking clarification on the legality of this rebuild, and to see if calibre bend was in violation of our lease, but unlike most apt complexes, Calibre Bend sneakily removed the amenities from the lease, meaning that they were not legally bound to provide the amenities, even though that was their major selling point aimed at potential new-residents.

Water Bill: 50 dollars every month, just for water!!! by far the highest water bill I have ever seen. (electric was unusually high also, due to the inefficient washer/dryer and AC unit) When I challenged the water provider (National Exemption Services), I was told that our bill isn't a measure of our ACTUAL water usage, instead they take the total water usage of the entire complex, and divide it up into the different residents. That means that if unit 5b has a leaking pipe in the wall, every other unit pays for that water! Our final water bill was $57 for 6/17-7/17 2008, and another $17 for 7/18-7/30. This final $70 was taken directly from our deposit, so there was no way to contest of dispute the amount. Before you live here, understand that you will be paying a HUGE water bill, no matter how conservation minded you are. Also check out the water-crook's website: www.submeter.com This appears to be a scam to allow apt mgmt to sell water for a far higher premium than it is charged from the city. NES and the complex can then split this money. And they do this under the guise that it will promote conservation among residents and keep costs lower. Again, I have NEVER had a water bill over $20 in my 8 years of renting apts in winter park and Orlando.

We also had a water leak from the above apt which we complained about for the entire time we lived there. It would drip loudly enough that it could be heard throughout the apt (sounding like a dull knock from "beyond", a constant and incessant rapping on the wall near our ac unit) . On one occasion it stained the drywall on the ceiling, which was enough to get maintenence to come and replace the soggy, molding drywall (after almost 2 weeks, I finally had to take photos of the mold/leak to the office, as phoning in a problem didn't seem to get anything done!). However they did nothing to fix the problem (the leak!), choosing instead to only fix the cosmetic damage that was caused. This is typical of how they deal with maintenance issues in this old, somewhat dilapidated property; "a fresh coat of paint and a new resident means no-one will know until it is too late to get off the lease!" They make it extremely difficult to get out of the lease, it will cost you at least $1200-1500, even if it is only a few weeks early-(read the fine print!!). This is a perfect example of a corporation taking advantage of people to earn a profit, no matter what the consequence to people's lives.

To recap: Water-bill scam; Loud & disrespectful (sometimes dangerous knife wielding) neighbors, "new appliances" that are the cheapest you can possibly buy, THIN-THIN-THIN walls and floors (we knew exactly where, in his apt, our upstairs neighbor was at all times due to the sound of footfalls, not to mention what he was watching on TV, and worse of all, the constant arguments he would get in with his girlfriend); Living in a construction zone; High rent for what you get (dolled up exterior conceals major weakness in overall construction/design); and a gate system that works properly about 25% of the time; bad lease conditions; VERY HIGH CRIME AREA

(check with orange county sheriff's dept. and get the facts yourself... criminals targeting women in the area is getting more frequent all the time; The Target parking lot is considered high-crime; roadside robberies in univ/goldenrod area are common- this place is in a nasty spot)

Do yourself a favor, don't get scammed like we did. (I left my email if anyone would like to contact me about this any further)

User Responses
From: aunicorn83	Date: 08/20/2008
Wow! That place has really gone downhill. I actually had a similar problem with leaks and them not wanting to fix them, and they had those antique stacked W/D units. It took FOUR MONTHS for them to send someone out to "fix" the moldy wall in my bedroom which was caused by cracked/leaky foundation. They never fixed the problem (the cracked foundation)...glad I left when I did *lol*. Sorry you had to go through all that.....And it's not all Full Sail students making all the noise, there are a bunch of deadbeats over there too. But yea Full Sail does have its fair share of rowdy tenants there.
From: Anonymous	Date: 11/02/2008
Wow, seems all the apartments around full sail have the same problems. Im glad you take the time to post this information. I was actually looking to rent here, thinking since it was a nicer upgraded gated community, it would not have the same problems. Now Ive changed my mind.
From: Anonymous	Date: 08/12/2009
I take offense to the comment of full sail students being thoughtless and disrespectful, it is an overall bad assumption and in most cases is untrue. I don't see what full sail being open 24 hours has anything to do with students making "beats" 24/7. The school stays open as a privilege for students to come in and study and finish up necessary work in case you need to pull an all nighter. Next time do your research a littler better, you moved into an apartment complex that is in between two different colleges, OBVIOUSLY there will be a lot of young students living there. Anyhow, aside from all the personal problems and complaints about the tenants, the actual criticisms about the apartments and management were very helpful and eye opening. Bad management can give you a good idea about how your living experience will be and can immediately set off some flags. I was looking for a new apartment and decided to consider Calibre Bend but after reading this I may reconsider. Thanks for the post and cheer up, considering your experience you seem very angry.

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