The Grove Orono Reviews

Room is perfect size, roommates are awesome and staff is very good at helping with questions!

I got a free gift card if I gave this place a 5 Star rating. If I could give it half a star I would. if you see a 5 or even 4 Star rating, Just stop and think.

In the winter they do a parking ban to plow. If you don t move your car they tow it immediately and charge you $60.00

There is a gate that is always closed and is a pain in the bum to open if you want to have a friend come visit.

The insulation is scanty at best so expect a heat bill of $15 to $30 a Month on top of your rent.

Whenever you call for help at the front office they say they will call you back and they don t. Same thing with maintenance requests...

Fun place to live but you can do better for le$$

I don t suggest living here. Recently we were hit with an electricity of about $500 so once it was split by 4 of us we are expected to pay ~130 each. We called the electric company and they told us that our bill was supposedly $800 dollars over one of the winter months although we only paid 240 because the reserve puts a cap for the winter months. The insulation is absolutely terrible. We only heat the apartment to about 64 degrees, turn off all lights and try to use minimal electricity. Honestly wouldn t be surprised if the electric company that runs the place is faking the meter count. I heard from somebody that the electric company that the reserve was suggested to have somebody come look at the electrical but they can t because they don t have a manager right now. If you choose to live here be very expected to get hit with ridiculous charges. My roommates car got towed one day and we picked it up less than 4 hours later and he had to pay over $100. The place is also not in great condition. When we moved in our carpet was disgusting the railing for our stairs constantly falls out from the handle, the dishwasher has a giant dent in it and makes a very loud annoying noise the entire time it is running. The people that work there are at least very nice and the maintenance crew do come help when you put in a work order but as was said in many other reviews the management is bad and the prices are ridiculous.

If I could give this place 0 stars I would.. DO NOT SIGN HERE. Nothing but problems and I have looked into Maine state laws and they have broken lease by illegally doing multiple things! Management is RUDE, no one is willing to talk or help with problems..The apartments are dirty when you move in, and are built poorly

The Reserve, "Scamming broke college students out of their money is what we do best." I read all the negative reviews when I signed my lease and said, "Oh it can't really be like that." Yes, yes it can. Management will only act if you kick up a huge fuss. You will be paying close to it not more than $100 more a month than what you sign for. The apartments will have damage from the people before you and guess what. Even if you write those damages down on the stupid sheet they give you when you arrive you'll still get charged for them. There was mold everywhere in my apartment when we moved in. Broken glass and vomit is everywhere from all the partying (no, they don't enforce their noise policy either). Honestly just find a house or apartment to live in and avoid any of the big apartment complexes (ESPECIALLY THE RESERVE).

I don't even know where to begin with this stupid place. All the reviews are fake that are above a one star so don't believe them. They bribe their residents into giving 5 star reviews for a dumb $5 gift card to amazon. On top of the high bills they give ridiculous amounts of charges for everything. The best part is all the illegal practices they have been doing over the years. Good luck talking to management he likes to hide in his little office of his.

Love it here, management is awesome and pet friendly is a plus :)

My daughter lived here for one year. She was told that a great thing about a lease at the Reserve is that they relet in the summer, so if you are not going to be there, instead of a sublet where you would be responsible, they will relet the apartment for you. She paid the $480 fee to relet, moved out, turned in her keys, and then was charged the rent for the other months, too! Turns out the person they relet to never moved in, so it was her responsibility per the fine print in the contract! Not only did they charge her the rent, but also overage charges on electricity, when she wasn't even living there. When asked why she was responsible when someone new had signed a lease, they said they were both responsible- so they are getting rent from two people who are both not living there! And good luck trying to resolve any issues- they never return phone calls....and just remember, all those 5 star reviews are because they give the residents a gift card for a good rating....

The reserve is an awesome place to live! I love it here!

I have yet to move into the Reserve and I'm already dealing with problems. Their staff doesn't know the answer to the questions I had about the leases. I have talked to three different workers and I've gotten a different response each time, however, they are extremely friendly. They are expecting me to pay the month of August when I don't even move in until the 26th of this month, Should I also mention they are double dipping with the previous renters who don't move out until the 11th. They also have problems with their system that they operate on, sending out false roommate information and constantly getting things wrong. They have caused me a ton of problems and have done nothing to fix them. They are willing to take advantage of any college student so READ YOUR LEASE FINE PRINT AND ALL!

If I could rate this place zero stars I would. This was probably the worst living experience of my life. During my stay at this lovely establishment I was stuck with two men who seemed to both be very dangerous my roommate and I and felt so uncomfortable, they did little to nothing about this. I moved out and I am still being charged for the electricity that I am not using. Please never live here

If I could give less than 1 star I would. What a bunch of scammers and a whole lot of illegal practices at this place. I wonder how they are even able to operate.

Do not lease here. You will be paying more than you thought because of your ridiculous light bill. Sometimes $130- $255. It doesn t matter how many lights you turn off or if you shut off your tv. You split electricity with your other 3 room mates evenly. So all together our electricity bill was $1000 this month for the 4 of us. Also the drains have probably never been cleaned, the water just sits there all day and doesn t drain. The hot water lasts 5 minutes if you are lucky, sometimes it s cold when you start it. The place was gross when we got here and was probably not cleaned professionally. Because I m order to move out they tell you to clean the tub and the lights and dust everything. But really what college student does this. So we probably moved into a dirty apartment that s infested with ants. Left the heat off a couple days ago to go to the beach with my boyfriend and it decided to blow hot air on high all day. It was so hot on the third floor that if I had decided to leave my puppy in her crate she would have died from heat exhaustion. My candle, and chocolate was melted. So thank you for making my first apartment experience something to really remember. You really know how to take advantage of young students.

The Reserve is great! Spacious and clean and a great community building.

Have lived here for the past 2 years and have no complaints, great place for students

I like living at the Reserve a lot, the clubhouse is really inviting and updated!

Clean campus. Front desk girl s makeup is on POINT.

Had a really great experience at The Reserve! Friendly and attentive staff. Super clean and great environment!

Beautiful property! The clubhouse is awesome for the residents, as well as the events here are really student based!

Great place to live, and the staff is always friendly and willing to help at all cost. Reserve life is dope!

Great option for off-campus student housing with an easy leasing process, separate leases for each roommate, separate rooms and bathrooms, in-unite laundry, and is fully furnished. It's great for students who know they will be leaving the area after finishing school.

The Reserve is such a great place to live! The management is awesome and the units are so nice. I would recommend living here to anyone.

Stayed at the Reserve last year, now living at the Ave. You're better off paying more and staying at a nicer place like the Ave, you end up paying the same thing anyway after utilities and random fines they hit you with. The fact they have to give people gift cards in exchange for good reviews should also tell you something, the Reserve is a joke.

The management is awful. As much as they can, they try to deceive you to get more and more money! They even change their own words! Just read the contract carefully, and be accurate about all dates and money that you have to pay, specifically when you want to do sub-lease!

I wish I could give a rating less than one star. :( When searching for my first apartment, we found out about the reserve, how it was fully furnished, and fairly affordable. After stopping by the reserve and seeing how cute their "demo" apartment was, we agreed to sign a lease and move in.
BUT....When we walked into our new apartment, the disappointment and regret immediately hit. Our apartment was absolutely destroyed upon move in. The living area had DRIED VOMIT (biohazard???)that the couch had been pushed over to cover, scensy wax spilled all over the carpet, stains all over the couch, the stove would catch fire if we started it from all the gunk in it, as well as a disgustingly dirty microwave.... The fridge still had ROTTING food in it. My shower still had bars of dried soap and so much soap scum all over it.The blinds were broken, the rug was ripped in several spots, the walls had scuffs and stains all over them, my roommate and I spent our first two days of move in completely cleaning the place from top to bottom. They told us there was nothing they would do because we had taken over someone elses lease so it fell onto us.
OH, and the rent seems affordable (I signed at $489/mo) but then they'll hit you with crazy electrical overages (averaging 40-50 a month for us) when there was only two of us living in this small apartment.
In May of this year I wanted so badly to be out of the apartment that I signed a new lease elsewhere and just sucked it up and paid two rents until my reserve lease was up at end of July. STILL, with only ONE person living in the apartment, I was getting electrical overages on my rent, just as much of a charge as I was when there was 2 of us there?
Now that I've moved out, I got sent a $120 bill for damages to my room. To repaint, replace blinds, and MORE electrical overages. BUT I left my room in better condition than I when I moved in!
I can't believe what an absolute scam this place is. Please, PLEASE do not sign a lease here - take it from someone who signed a year and a half lease and has gotten screwed. :(

This place is uninhabitable and this company are theives! Our first apartment, which was in the first floor, had mold on the floor, all the furniture, and window sills. While they give you a $25 "electric allowance" you will still go over and be charged around $30-60 dollars a month. I wasn't even living there for two months, I was at my boyfriend's house, and I am still getting charged this extra fee. Moreover, I know for a fact my roommates did not use this much electricity. And for the cherry on top, I am being charged with $125 damges and repairs for a blind replace in the common area ($20), touch paint charge ($75 which I can do myself for even less), and a bathroom cleaning charge ($30 which I know I cleaned before I left). This place is ridiculous and it sucks to live at because you can hear everyone be it people upstairs or downstairs.

As a parent that has to deal with trying to pay the bills, this place is awful. Every single month we get electrical over usage fees and get billed for renters insurance. The fees were assessed over the summer when the apartment was empty and no one was using it. We provide a copy of our son's renters insurance policy every single month and it takes 2-3 phone calls every month to get it taken care of. When someone does answer the phone they can't help and no one will return a call. They assess these fees and then take them out of the monthly rent payment, and then charge a late rent payment fee. Now this week their phones are not working so no one can call to deal with these issues. Also, our son moved from a 3 bedroom to a 4 bedroom unit in August. They have refused to return or apply the last months rent security deposit and are flagging his rent as overdue because they are trying to access another first and last month's rent deposit! Signed, a fed up parent!

The gates being shut is really annoying and so is the security on the weekends. And they just did a deal where they gave out chiplote gift cards if you gave them a 5 star rating which I think is kinda shady.

All of these one star reviews are accurate. The way this business makes money is through scamming its current and former residents. The fact that they bribed students with a gift card to give them a five star review should tell you what type of business is done here. The management WILL take any chance they get to take money from you. I moved into this complex when it was The Grove, and during my contract period, they switched over to The Reserve. I understand that college students are not the ideal tenant, but this is why this complex was created, and the functionality of the actual building reflects this. If you have an issue that goes past the maintenance level and needs the attention of the general manager, Maurice, good luck. The other reviews about having poor communication skills are completely true. They will NOT call you back if they say they will. Even if you send a direct email and follow up, you probably will not hear back either. If you go into the office and try to talk to Maurice, he will be in his office and 9 times out of 10, the employees at the counter will tell you that he is not there. I have been trying to fix an issue with payments at the Reserve for the past year, and I still cannot get replies from management. They did not return my security deposit despite me providing actual proof that damages in my unit were there when I moved in two years prior. After several months of requesting them to send me a copy of my contract, I finally was sent it to see that someone at The Reserve had made handwritten changes to it without any permission from me or my family member who co-signed. I have emailed them once again concerning all of these issues, and they have not replied since (almost 3 months). I truly believe that when confronted with an issue that will make them lose money, that they will put it off until you forget about it. There are so many other places to rent in the Orono area that will cost you less money and stress.

I HIGHLY suggest living anywhere else! The apartments are moldy and musty and extremely run down and poorly maintained. From my own personal experience, I left some of my items in a duffle bag in my closet for the summer and came back 2 months later and there was mold growing all over the bottom of the bag.

Everything is great here except for the management. They treat you like you're less than trash and are rude with each encounter. They try to scam you for your money and have put up false charges to your account to make you pay more. Wouldn't recommend people living here unless they like money being stolen from them.

I lost a key and was told I would be billed $35 which is fine. However, when I received the bill it was for $70 and included a charge for a parking decal I am 100% sure I turned in. Maurice refuses to correct the mistake. Do not live here.

This is how the common area looks like since I and 2 new residents moved in, more than 2 months ago, and the lease office told us many times that they would send a cleaning company to clean it up but no body showed up
it's a disgusting place to live in and very expensive, and they are totally irresponsible

Got locked out of my apartment for 5 hours with no help. I called the office 3 times and they didn't help at all.
Not only that but they never follow through with maintainence

You don't want to live here. This place takes advatage of poor collage kids and makes them pay way more the your "scheduled charge". When put in a unsafe situation they take months to even pretend like there going to help you. On top of that there was a recent bed bug out break. No stars.

Horrible place to live, staff are ok but people who own it suck. 9/10 would never live here again.

Absolute worst place I have ever had the displeasure of living in. Management is rude and incompetent and the General Manager is ALWAYS "unavailable." Edit: There's a reply on here now that claims they did everything they could to resolve my issues, and that is definitely NOT the case. Again, haven't even spoken to the General Manager, Maurice, ONCE, and they ALWAYS claim he's unavailable even when he's in the building, and their attitude most certainly DID NOT change. Circuit shorted out and fried my laptop, apartment was gross, charged me 35 dollars for a parking sticker, and treated me with complete and total disrespect every time there was an issue. Staff lacks the knowledge to help with anything so I was constantly stuck dealing with their rude, disrespectful lower manager, Brad. The best part, when trying to get something out of the apartment that I left, Brad had the audacity to hang up on me and ignore my calls! Very professional. Then, months after I moved out, they claimed they tried to contact me about money they claimed I owed them, and I never ONCE received ANY kind of phone call. No effort. At all. Whatsoever. So they sent it over to collections. Of course, when I said I need to speak to some kind of manager or higher-up after this happened, he wasn't available. AGAIN. This time they wouldn't even put Brad on the phone. OH! One more thing, they charged me for a key I NEVER got and claimed I signed for it because I signed the move-in paperwork where they told me to and were rude and insistent no matter how many times I told them I never received said key.
To sum this up, DO. NOT. LIVE. HERE. They will screw you out of all the money they can and treat you with complete and total disrespect if you dare to question them.

Love the pool. The staff is so friendly whenever I stop by the office.

Manager is doing a good job. Just built a new dog park that's spacious enough for what seems like every dog that lives here. Previously gave this place 1 star, but it seems better this year

Overall a very safe, well maintained and a great apartment complex.