The Eli Winter Springs Apartments — Local services in Winter Springs

I’m giving a 1 based on how the experience has gone so far. Would’ve been a 4 if it wasn’t for this issue. Moved in May of this year. Things were wonderful, the whole process was nice. Shaya was very helpful with everything. She answered all of our questions. Got a chance to meet Cristina when me and my mom went to pick up our key. She made us felt welcomed. She made us felt like if we ever had any issues or concerns that we could come to her. And we were happy to feel that way. Well that feeling didn’t last long at all. Fast forward to now and it’s the complete opposite. I really dislike when people tell you one thing. But then when issues arise. All of that goes out the window. It’s pretty much like a car sales person They’ll tell you whatever to get you to buy one of their cars. Say all the right things. Just so they can get a commission off of you. And that’s how I feel about Cristina. She said all the right things to us upon getting our key and signing some documents. We felt like she was good on her word. Well months later there were some people who moved in on the 2nd floor above us. They are by far the worst upstairs neighbors that we have ever had of living in apartments. For the majority of the apartments are not carpet. I know they’re feet has to hurt every single day. They intentionally stomp when they’re walking. And how we know they do it on purpose is on some days when they’re stomping and bumping around. We would sometimes take the broom and tap the ceiling for them to stop. They would go and do it even harder. For these to be some suppose to be adults. They act like a bunch of kids. No scratch that they act like a bunch of wild animals. Why move into apartments especially an upper level apartment if you’re going to act like that. We have made multiple complaints with both Jessica and Cristina. It’s like a complete freakin joke with these two. Who tells someone to record upstairs noise from their cellphone. That has to be the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard. They haven’t done anything about it. Jessica told us to call the courtesy officer for those things. Last Monday things were ridiculous with our horrible neighbors. We also had family in town for the holiday. This was way late at night probably after 2am. Called the courtesy officer. Told him what was going on. He explained to me what all he handled but that he didn’t handle those things we were dealing with at the moment. He went on to say that he would talk with Cristina and Jessica. All I could do was laugh and tell him that they hadn’t been any help. And that Jessica was the one who told us to call him. He took down my complaint for them. The ruckus was still going on upstairs. So we called the non emergency number that was on our monthly newsletter from the complex. They came and went upstairs. Not sure what was said but things were good for a few days. Someone from the office I guess went up there eventually after the courtesy officer gave them our complaint. And of course the neighbors are going to act right and whatever. But you would act right if you’re being accused of doing something wrong. It’s like when kids get in trouble at school. They’re going to act right when the parents are there. So that’s how they probably were. Ever since then things have not gotten any better. I appreciate the non emergency line for their help. And the courtesy officer for trying to help as well. But it takes the property manager to do their job. And nothing has been done. Don’t even try to call corporate they’re a joke too. You call them and leave a voicemail. You’re expecting them to call you back. Nope they called the property manager instead. All I have to say to this complex. Stop just moving anybody into these apartments just to get them filled. Because when you move in people like our upstairs neighbors who acts like animals and no type of home training. That will make your complex go down a lot. Other than that the area is nice and winter springs is nice. We love our apartment just tired of the upstairs neighbors. We just want things...

We were at this property for three years. Madison Riverwalk took over Shadow Creek about two years ago. In their two years, Madison Riverwalk has attempted to raise our rent twice. The last time they wanted a 4.9% increase ($600/year), compared to the area increase of 2.5%. When we spoke with the Assistant Manager about the rent, he told us it’s better for them to take on new tenants rather than maintaining current ones, because they can charge new ones more money. That is how they treat their residents. They care about making money, not taking care of the residents they have. Before we moved out, most of the original tenants on our floor moved out as well.

The amenities and environment appear nice at first, but here is what they don’t tell you. Teenagers who don’t even live in the community arrive Friday afternoons and take over the pool. The driveways and sidewalks are always filled with youths skateboarding or biking. Children are left unattended everywhere. The hot tub is broken and has been broken for most of two years since Madison Riverwalk took over. The gym is frequently dirty. Individuals do not clean the equipment or put it back after they use it. The TV remote is missing, and unless you are over six feet tall, you can’t change the channel. The valet trash service is horrible. The workers of Invisible Waste Services arrive as early as 4:30am and slam the trash lids down of each trash receptacle outside your apartment door. The sound echoes in the breezeway and you can hear it every room of their apartment when the building.

Most of the staff is very friendly, but not efficient in their work. The maintenance crew used the garage below our living room as a storage facility for washers, dryers, fridges, etcs. All day we would here the garage door opening and closing, the banging of equipment. The staff would loiter below our windows in the morning, smoking cigarettes, blaring music at 7am. In terms of management, any complaints about tenants or issues usually go unresolved. Management is extremely anti-confrontational. If someone smokes in the breezeway or doesn’t pick up animal waste, everyone gets an email and no one is held accountable. If you ask for the phone number for Madison Properties to complain about the managers, they will not provide you with any information and insist the manager is the highest person to talk to.

The excellent maintenance worker of Shadow Creek was replaced with five individuals, none of which were properly introduced or would give their name. Every time we needed a repair made, we asked that we be home to let them in. When they came to make the repairs, they would knock but quickly let themselves in without hesitation, using a copy of our key.

Security is a joke. Despite it being advertised as a “locked-community”, one of the gates is always down. Any individual can get into the complex by tailgating residents who scan their proxy card. There is a deputy officer that can supposedly be contacted. However, in the three years we have lived there, I’ve placed eight phone calls (for public intoxication, child endangerment, noise complaint and domestic disturbance) and no one has ever returned my calls or came to investigate. The 24 hour answering of Madison Riverwalk service encourages its residents to not call the police in order to maintain the reputation of the complex. Instead, they want you to file complaints and reports to the managers, which are never properly handled or addressed. Since Madison Riverwalk took over, I have had to call the actual police four times. Towards our last few months there, the police were seen on the premises weekly, often...

CONS: BED BUGS GERMAN ROACHES SPIDERS BROKEN AC FREQUENT POWER OUTAGES

At our first viewing of Madison Riverwalk in April 2018, we were given a tour of what seemed to be a luxurious apartment. Third floor, lake view, and updated kitchen. We were esatic about moving into our new “luxury” apartment. Upon moving in, our apartment was infested with German roaches. We contacted the office and were told they would send out Massey Pest Control to exterminate our apartment. We had roaches crawling on us as we slept, and infested in the kitchen. We didn’t walk into the house once without seeing a roach crawling on the wall or counter top. One top of that, we encountered several spiders in the bathrooms and window sills. Pest control took a week to arrive, and they only sprayed the kitchen and not anywhere else, although we specifically told them we had them in our bedrooms and closets. We contacted the office again, and were told the soonest Massey could come out would be a week later because they only do services on Tuesday’s. We had to call the office every week to schedule another pest control service (although you pay for pest control as an added fee in your rent monthly even if they don’t come). Although Massy sprayed weekly, the roaches never left. And that’s not the worst of the nightmare. After two months of living there, my roommate and I started to get the same strange rash on our backs and arms. We visited several doctors to try to diagnose the rash, and were told it looked like bug bites. I woke up in the middle of the night several nights later and found bright red BED BUGS on my bed. I have never experienced them in my life so this was really traumatizing to find. I walked to the office when they opened a few hours later to inform them. They were the least bit sympathetic of my situation, and immediately informed me that I could have brought them into the apartment myself. Mind you, that amount of bed bugs can not reproduce and grow into full size adults in less than two months, therefore they had to be there before we moved in along with the infestation of roaches. We simply asked to be relieved of the lease because due to my medical condition, I could no longer live there because I was highly allergic to the bites and suffering. They told me the BEST they could do is relieve us of the lease only AFTER a 60 day notice. Meaning we had to pay full rent for two more months before moving out. They fumigated the apartment with Massey services 4 times within those two months. Massey missed there scheduled appointments several times, which is vital for the fumigation to be successful. I put all of my belongings in sealed bags for two months and stayed somewhere else until I could finally have my items throughly fumigated and move out. The total time living there was 4 months, April- beginning of August. Only two months was spent actually living there and we spent a total of $6,000. We received no compensation and were actually mailed a final bill after we moved out of $162 that we had to pay after leaving the apartment SPOTLESS.

On top of the bugs, our electricity went out twice while we resided there. The AC broke three times. There was a leak in my bathroom ceiling that they didn’t repair. The so called “valet trash” costs $25 on top of your monthly rent, and they only come once a week. The hallways reak of rotting food 24/7. They force you to pay for cable even if you don’t want it and it’s about $40 a month. This place was an absolute nightmare and I’m so thankful we were able...