While the Lakeshore Apartments may look very appealing from the outside for a prospective renter visiting the property, the reality is that I have never had a worse experience living in an apartment community. Hidden service fees, exceedingly slow maintenance repairs, and unprofessional/untrained staff are just a few of the problems I have encountered while living here- and for only 3 months so far too! To begin with, when looking to sign a lease, the leasing agents don't exactly tell you the truth when it comes to paying your utilities. They told me that my water, sewer, and trash was going to be a flat rate dependent upon the number of people living in my apartment, which is 2. "It shouldn't be more than $30 per month," was the quote I got. However, you really do pay for what you use; there's no "set fee," our bill changes every month depending on what we use, the only thing that's "set" is what we pay for trash. Not only that, but they failed to inform us that there would be a $14.00 service fee for the first month, and a $4.00 service fee for every subsequent month after that. If I'm the one paying for the service, why do I have a service fee' Not to mention there was no mention of any of these "service fees" in my lease. And maintenance is the WORST. We had to call about our air conditioning not working for THREE WEEKS before someone finally came to fix it. Or when someone's key got stuck in our button-activated front door, it took them almost a week before someone was out to fix that, so pretty much anyone was able to come and go as they pleased in our building, safe, huh' The fact that my window didn't lock [security hazard] and our dryer was terrible and exceedingly noisy [costing us extra in gas] were just a few other maintanence issues we had to call several times about in order to get them fixed. The apartment itself is in terrible condition in general and is in desperate need of renovation; closet doors easily slide off track and fall down, same with screen doors out to the balcony, the balcony railing wobbles back and forth [they still haven't fixed that one yet..], and the bathroom sink is rusting in several places. Also, parking is terrible- there are dozens and dozens of carports in my parking lot [probably equal to the amount of parking spaces] that sit unused as it is an additional $10 or $15 per month to have one, but they take up so much space from the regular lot that I constantly am having to park in them, hoping I won't get towed, because there are no available parking spots. An apartment community should not design a parking lot with spaces equal to carports, as obviously the majority of tenants do not wish to pay extra in order to have them, so the lot is ridiculously over-crowded. The only thing I actually like about living here is the gated security- you have to show your ID when visiting the premises and say who's apartment [last name and number] you are going to visit; supposedly anyone with a felony is not even allowed on the property. However, I recently noticed that anyone can just walk in to the complex, without being stopped by the security, if they are not driving a car. I guess it's ok for you to have a felony as long as you don't have a car. I am kicking myself for not reading these postings earlier now that I'm stuck in this POS for another 9 months- a 37% recommended out of 181 ratings- wow! Obviously, the majority of people do not feel like a "star" living at the Lakeshore Apartments.

User Responses
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/07/2008
I share your thoughts and some more. I just leased two month ago and stopped by to turn in a maintenance request. The langauage, I heard made me sick to my stomach. The manager was using the f word, speaking about residents. Does she not know that without us, she has no job. I work in a professional office setting, doing customer service eight hours a day, NEVER would I use such language. The office is open for the residents to do business, we are expected from time to time, she knows that, yet she does not care. Whom ever runs this place needs to speak to her and if she does not stop, bring in someone with more people skills, one that respects us. I am a good resident, master's degree in human service for a large corporation in AA and I love the community, I will not stop by again and make all my concerns via the phone as I will not subject myself to such a disrespectful person. I asked the lovely blonde lady at the desk, who she was and she said the manager. I could tell she was botherd as she whispered, I am sorry in a low voice. If she was my employee, she would be fired.
From: Anonymous	Date: 10/09/2008
I agree with the review above...but not with the first comment. I've lived at the Lake Shore for 3 years now, and I do like it. But the problems identified are pretty accurate. I, however, have never experienced anything but professionalism and respect from the (current) staff.
From: LorenSealover	Date: 10/10/2008
I just picked up a brochure from St Joes Hospital 3rd floor employee lounge and I am going to check this place out this month.
From: PineappleCrush	Date: 10/11/2008
Eh.. I would look into other options as well. While there are several postings on here that are obvious ex-employees with a vendetta against the current management, my posting is a legit review by a current resident. The biggest issue with my apartment is the maintenance; I don't know if they're exceedingly busy, they don't have enough help, or what the issue is that causes such a delay in fixing service requests, but the fact that the door to my building was broken for almost a week, allowing anyone free entry, is unacceptable to me. My advice, make sure you see the exact apartment you are moving into before you move in, as the models are quite a bit more updated [newer appliances, cupboards, tiles, etc.] than the apartment you may end up renting. Also, as parking is another problem in my complex, if you do decide you like the place, see if you can rent in a unit that is less occupied so you don't have to fight for parking spots every night. And lastly, as our leasing agent was extremely vague when it came to the utilities, you have to pay for everything. There is nothing included- you pay water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, and cable/internet [if wanted] in addition to rent. So, after what seemed like a steal on our apartment, as they are quiet spacious, my roommate and I are probably paying around $900 total for everything. If we had known it was going to be so expensive, we would have definitely chosen one of the other apartments we looked at- even if the rent was more expensive, they were in a nicer area and included some utilities so it probably would have evened out overall. Don't let them fool you- while the rent here might seem like a great deal when compared to other complexes, remember that most other complexes include at least your water, sewer, and trash [ours is $45 for 2 people] so you really aren't saving all the much once you realize you have to pay all of your utilities.
From: Anonymous	Date: 03/08/2009
I like everything about this apartment so far, however I agree that you should see "your" apartment first. In response to the review, I was told directly and up front about the service charges and the reasons for them (because they consolidate all the bills together for gas, water, sewage, and trash). I was also told directly that the water and sewage will fluctuate upon building use, and are affected by how many people you have. As for the parking situation, if you live in a congested area without enough open parking, it's not hard to convince the management to give you a FREE CARPORT SPOT. So don't get carried away. Even I can only see a few places where that is even necessary. Everyone I've met so far has been nothing but friendly and helpful. Everything has been open and honest. "pineapple" may have had a bad experience, but that's not the norm.
From: Anonymous	Date: 06/08/2009
Remember the old adage, "you can't please everyone" ? It seems that's pretty much the case here. Everyone has different expectations and different experiences where they are living. Living conditions probably differ depending on the building you live in, the parking lot you use, and the staff you deal with. I live in the towers, have absolutely never had a problem with parking, and have had my maintenance requests answered and addressed promptly every time. Is everything perfect? No, obviously not...but I don't expect it to be. I'd have to agree with the post above that Pineapple's experience is likely not the norm. Most people who feel the need to review an apartment do so because they have had a poor experience and want to let others know. There is nothing wrong with that, but the majority of satisfied residents probably don't feel the need to express their satisfaction in such a forum. So, for them, let me just say that it is in fact a very nice place to live. Naturally, it is not for everyone, but it's definitely worth checking out.
From: carlab179	Date: 06/12/2009
I totally agree with the above post. I wish we could get the satisfied residents to blog on this site so we can continue to have quality people living in our community. My husband and I have always owned our own home until we recently sold our house to try apartmennt living because we now have an empty nest and want to keep it that way. I too am very satisfied with the maintenance and the whole Lake shore experience. Each time we submit a maintenance request it is promptly taken care of and we are always asked if we are satisfied with our service. In fact the reason I am on this blog is because one of the maintenance folks asked me to go here and state my satisfaction. I highly recommend Lakeshore Apartments.

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