Central House Columbia — Attraction in Columbia Township

Bugs. In the fall we had flies and spiders and in the spring we had rollie-pollies and spiders. I was killing at least 3 spiders in my shower every day, not to mention the ones in my room. The reviews on the website are written by the employees. I know their names well because I went to complain so much. Also, I didn't have internet for the last 3 months of my lease because they were doing "upgrades". I was in the only building without parking. I work until midnight, so coming back at night, there were never any parking spaces near the building next to my building. Not to forget the snow. When it snowed, it took them over a week to remove it from the parking lot. Very unsafe. The gate around the "gated apartments" was hardly ever consistent in closing. I'd come back from work at night and sometimes it would be open and other times it was closed. You use your house key to get in, so you quickly have to figure out a way to get your key off your car keys that were in the ignition. When you want guests over past 10:00pm or whenever it closes, they can enter a key code, but they never actually sent the key code out to us residents so I'd either have to go unlock it for my guest or they'd wait until someone who lived there came along and opened it for them. Which is another reason their gate isn't effective. Chihuahuas lived in the apartment above me. The walls and ceiling are paper thin. I could always tell what my roommate was doing. I signed for a second year there and realized my mistake immediately. Getting a lease take-over was one of the worst experiences of my life. I did everything required of me (found someone to take over, paid the fees, signed the papers) and they lost the paperwork. While this was happening, they hired new people (and while always friendly, they were completely uninformed about how to do anything). When I asked for a copy of the signed paperwork to prove I had done everything (in case they lost it again!), one (very nice, but new) employee tried explaining to me that there was no way that after filling out the lease take over agreement, that I'd be held responsible for that apartment for the upcoming year and I didn't need a copy because they'd never lose that kind of paperwork. I told him that they lost the previous one and I wasn't leaving until they gave it to me. We always went over on utilities. When I toured there, the tour guide said she rarely went over on utilities living there herself. Lies. Every Single Month. When I asked the manager about the outrageous utilities bill at this "all inclusive" apartment, he told me that "college students and younger people take longer showers, do more laundry, and leave lights on." No. I did none of those things. We also were never given a third roommate. So that room was locked and we were paying to have it air-conditioned and heated without the $25 of rent going towards it that another roommate would have been paying. One of my friends living there at the time only had one roommate. And then someone just showed up and came in with a key. The office didn't call to let them know about a roommate. A stranger literally walked into the apt. Every single time we cooked, the fire alarm would go off. Not just once, it would go off repeatedly, the entire time you were cooking. The mail system was absolutely horrible. They are supposed to send emails when you get a package in their main office. Amazon said my package arrived. I repeatedly went and checked to see if they had it. For at least a month, the front desk attendants were unable to "find it". It sat back there for a month. She was unable to recognize the package because it also had my middle name on it. The only nice thing about the apartments were the pool. I never actually went to the "clubhouse" main office except to pay rent. The hang out area was always empty and the pool sticks for billiards were in terrible shape. Overall, a horrendous experience. I actually feel bad for the girl who took over my lease. I needed her to want the place so I could get out. I feel truly sorry that I did...

If you are a first time apartment shopper and/or looking to move in to a different place I highly suggest against The Grove. Seriously if you came on here to read reviews about a place and already have your mind made up about moving in, then just close this now. If you are truly allowing these reviews to affect your decision then pay attention. All the reviews are bad and consistent with each other. This place is extremely frustrating. It is very loud at night, the office hours are extremely inconvenient, it smells weird, the staff (with exception of literally two people) is extremely rude and do not know what they are talking about all the time. Don't let the 50 dollars cheaper lease agreement steer you to signing here... It's cheaper for a reason. Spend the money and live somewhere you are going to like because you are going to end up spending AT LEAST 40 dollars in ghost overage charges that The Grove makes up every month, and moving somewhere else at the end of your lease agreement anyway. They offer "catering opportunities" but it's always toward the end of the semester and you're only invited if you're resigning for the next lease agreement because it is the only way they can get people to stay. They also offer a free coffee bar in the morning but you have to bring your own cup and they don't even open it until like 8 or 8:30 which defeats the purpose of the coffee bar for the brave students who have 8 am classes. The "gym" is a very small room... it's a wannabe bowflex and like 12 dumbbells. The tanning beds are actually pretty cool and they're free so if you're number one deciding factor is your fake bake, then you've found your home ladies... and some guys I guess. The biggest problem I have is the rent though. Seriously every month.... literally EVERY MONTH, I had to negotiate and fix my rent because the greedy you know what's, upped my charges and tried to sucker more money from me. I didn't have a mail box for 3 months, and they had me in the computer system in the wrong room, in the wrong building complex, with the wrong roommate until March. My rent every month is $480.00 utilities included and an $11.95 insurance charge. In January they told me it was roughly $580.00. When I questioned as to why it was so much I was told, "well obviously you're rent is $525.00, and then their's a $56.00 overage charge for your unit because you probably had the heat way up or something"... Seriously. I don't even need to explain that. They didn't fix my name in the "system" until March like I said, and they kept that stupid $56.00 "overage" charge on the account until May, so every time I went in to pay my rent I had to explain that it was a charge from the first month of my lease and that I was promised it would be removed every time I went in there. I know this is an extremely long post and I am sorry if you are bored with it, but seriously if you are that one person reading this that is on the edge of another place and The Grove, I am speaking to you directly. Yes you. Don't do it. Save yourself the time and money, you're not exempt from these less than favorable conditions, and don't sit there and say oh well I'm sure the overages thing is just a bad luck thing. They do it to everybody, because they don't have enough revenue to support the place. Stop it, close your tab with The Grove, delete the notes you had about the place, leave them behind. Oh yeah and the shuttle breaks down like every other day literally. I missed a test this semester because of the shuttle. Go to Campus Lodge, or The Reserve or The Den or something. Spend the money and have a wonderful experience at...

This is my review for The Grove at Columbia, MO.

I am a current resident and I will give you my REAL experience here. I originally signed for a four bedroom but was placed in a third bedroom due to their mistake of overselling.

The front door from the kitchen is a nice size hallway that does separate everything else from the front door. The only problem I have is the space all around the door, they did not do a great job at insulation. When it's cold outside you can feel a breeze coming from underneath the which isn't green friendly. Also with poor insulation comes sound. You can hear everyone's conversation VERY loudly if they are in the hallways outside. I can even hear it from my room which is on the farthest side and sometimes it will freak me out because there voice echoes so you can hear them like they are right in your living room.

I was not impressed with the kitchen. Although the appliances are nice and well maintained the overall counter space is less than sustainable. I guess someone who is the average college student and doesn't cook would be fine with this, though I always cook and it's not enough space.

The refrigerator space is very small, hardly enough for two people, I can only imagine how hard it must be to fit everyone in a four bedroom. We had to take the ice maker box out of the freezer to make room. Get ready to wash dishes on your own, because the dishwasher is horrible. It doesn't clean it at all. I've had maintenance come up several times but they haven't fixed the problem.

The living room is very nice and open, I didn't have any issues. The furniture however is HORRID. Not just because it lacks modern and style but when we received our chairs for our desk and dinning table they were broken at the legs, I've told them about this multiple times but it seems my message isn't getting through.

The bedrooms are nice and medium sized. I have no complains. Compared to any other place the bedrooms are something to be impressed about. The bathroom size too is very large compared to other college livings around. The closets are indeed walk in closets and very spacious.

The washer and dryer however aren't standard. If you want to go through two cycles just to wash one load then this is for you. However I don't like drying two times, it is a waste of time and money. Again, called maintenance they claim they've fixed the problem, though I see no difference. And forget about washing with hot or warm water it's all freezing cold, how do they expect me to wash certain things?

The customer service is not good, everyone who you will talk to is a college student having a job and they put on big smiles but undermined everything you say.

WARNING TO PARENTS OF DAUGHTERS:

I don't like the fact maintenance just walks into the apartment anytime they want. IT IS NOT FAIR TO PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE APARTMENT. Girls especially, there have been times when I was not properly dressed and would have my front door unlocked and men walking in. I've complained but no responses. They just tell me I've should have gotten an email, but I've NEVER gotten an email. It's very concerning. I can not feel conformable in my own apartment.

If you would like to see pictures and hear more of my experience, don't hesitate to message me. I will not resign here and I will be...