Vista Group Inc - Calgary

BED BUGS. Death threats, bugs, Crack dealers, unsecured building, stolen property, and they have a program with the alpha house they will only tell you about after you sign the lease(meaning addicts and recovering addicts all around). After we signed the lease Billie went off about all the things that would have made us say no freaking way, like the person who died in our suite weeks earlier. Don't rent here. They will not give you a place to live that is safe and will send you to collection after taking all your damage deposit even when suite was professionally cleaned and in better shape then first rented. These people should be put out of business for their borderline criminal behavior.

Between the drug dealers living in our building and vista group lying about it and the constant notices to enter your apartment it is any wonder how they manage to stay in business. Privacy is not something they understand, Security is lack luster at best often starting confrontations with tenants and building goers. Most of the people I know in the building have opted to pay more just to get out of the building when their leases are up. That in of itself should tell you something about how the building is managed. While the company fails in a mountain of ways they do offer some reprieve in the ways of flexibility. They will on occasion allow a pet in the apartment with a fee which is understandable, along with the rent being reasonable for a budget saver along with the somewhat free internet. The company has made strides in the two years trying to make the building better in some ways it equates to nothing more than a lipstick make over, You can put lipstick on a turd but at the end of the day it is still just a turd. Approach this company with extreme caution and a healthy reluctance they will not often be truthful about some of the things that have gone on in the building. Come prepared and you will be fine, fail to do so and you only have yourself to blame when the other shoe drops. Not all bad but bad enough for me to warrant paying more to go to a better neighborhood it is near the beltline after all.

We lived here for about 4 months Sept to Dec 2012 and our stay here was most comfortable. We never had any problems regarding maintenance. Safeway was about 15 footsteps away:) LRT station was 7 min walk and bus stop was on 1 min walk. there was a library so our 2 yr old daughter was very pleased. The best part however was that they returned our security deposit without any deduction. we will recommend them to every one

We had a wonderful experience renting a flat with vista group. We rented for a year and never had any problems at all. Whenever we called up, our issues were resolved within a day. We were totally happy with the services. Even while leaving the flat after an year, everything was taken care of by vista people very efficiently. I would recommend vista group to everyone who is looking for rented apartments in Calgary.

I have been a tenant in the same Vista-managed apartment for nearly 3 years. In that time they have been really awesome - super responsive to any arising issue, and kind and professional in all communications. The onsite managers they have hired that I have met have all been really great too. I just renewed for another year without hesitation.

My partner and I are glad our year long lease is ending, to say the least. It seemed like a great deal initially; all the utilities were included, it’s completely furnished, the location was central, and it had an okay price. But over the course of the year and especially during our last month of rent, living here has been terrible. First of all, many things have begun to fall apart in our unit, and not because of ‘general wear and tear’. The blinds have been breaking off, the floorboards came apart, the closet door came unhinged, and my biggest pet peeve, the couch, has been shedding leather pieces constantly because it’s so old. I’m talking big chunks of leather that fall on the floor everyday, and a couch cushion that we had to sew up ourselves because the stuffing was falling out of it. Even after notifying Vista Group of a desperate need of replacement and them agreeing to do so, they have not done anything. Next, let me tell you about our last month here. Vista group put up Notices to Enter with 4-5 days of scheduled viewings, 6 times. We have had to accommodate 4 viewings every week, starting 2 months before our lease ended, making it super hectic for our schedules. And to top it off, they recently violated our lease by not giving us 24 hours of Notice to Enter. They texted my partner the morning of, and came into our apartment without our consent, when we were not even dressed. We discovered that they had put a Notice to Enter that same morning, saying that they had put it there the day before. So to conclude, we are very delighted that we will never have to deal with this company again.

I have nothing but great things to say about my 3+ years renting from Vista Group. From day one of the relationship, our landlord Scott has been nothing but attentive, proactive, timely and friendly to us. When anything in the unit needs to be fixed, he sends out a maintenance guy right away (who is also very knowledgeable and handy with repairs). He always follows up to make sure the repair went well, and has been in our corner for building-related maintenance items. His support has truly made our unit a nice place to live, and a great example of this is when the apartment got hot during last summer's heatwave. Scott had ceiling fans installed throughout our unit at no cost to us, just so we would be more comfortable. It was a very appreciated gesture that few, if any, landlords in the city would make for their tenants - but he did. While still renting from Vista, I wouldn't hesitate whatsoever to rent another unit from them again. And I certainly would recommend them to my friends. If you're looking at a unit of theirs, rest assured that they will take care of you.

Want to share my experience for anyone considering renting at Crown Towers. On a positive note, Kim and Scott were very responsive and friendly, and it's a great location. However personally I would not live here again.. Regarding my suite, I made the mistake of not viewing my specific unit ahead of time, instead I viewed the in-building manager's who told me they were all the same. There were some issues with my suite that needed to be fixed, most of which they did in a timely manner: -the cracked light fixture in the kitchen fell off and smashed on the floor, luckily when I wasn't home. They replaced with newer model. -no electrical outlet in the bathroom. fixed 1 month+ after I moved in. -tension rod for shower curtain didn't work kept falling. replaced with permanent rod. -living room blinds were broken. replaced the whole unit. -kitchen fan was moldy. I was told the fan didn't work and didn't vent to anywhere, but when they removed the unit it revealed a hole in the wall, which they put a metal grate over. This concerned me and I was assured it was fine. I inquired at the City, learning it is common for older building to vent fans into a wall rather than a duct to outside, but it should have a filter, I gave this information to Kim who basically ignored it, and said since I asked for it to be removed they wouldn't be fixing it further. It didn't seem to matter that I made the ask based on mis-information by their staff. -the cupboards are all scratched, inside the cupboards there is wall paper, the tile job is messy, the bathtub is chipped, plus further superficial aesthetics that I never complained about -the suite has a good storage closet, open layout, and lovely view which I did really enjoy Regarding the building: -there is no recycling so you have to take it off site -since the building has commercial units it is open during the day so anyone can walk to your floor and once a random person (who seemed of unsound mind) banging on my door in the middle of the day -the laundry room was never what I consider clean in the 15 months I lived there, it was dirtier at times than others, so it got cleaned, but not well -pigeons love the balconies, the first summer they stayed away since they had just repainted the deck, but the second summer I couldn't keep them away despite trying numerous deterrents so always had bird poop -smokers are suppose to go outside, I observed there are a few people often outside smoking, which meant often I would get in the elevator and it would reek like cigarettes -it is a great location, but loud motorcycles frequent 17th ave at night -there is no elevator key for moving Regarding my security deposit: -they give you a move-out check list and proactively communicate you will be charged for things not cleaned -I lost $122 because it was not perfectly clean and a light bulb was missing. when I moved in it was noted that the kitchen was not clean but because it was different areas that got missed when I moved out (part of fridge, stove, windows) I was charged for those. A light bulb was burnt out when I moved in, and when I moved out but I got charged for it. -the light fixtures trap bugs, and you are charged if you don't clean them -I hired a cleaning company, but made the mistake of arranging for them to connect with Kim to do cleaning inspection since I had left town, this didn't happen, and both parties decline responsibility. Moral of the story, definitely look carefully at the unit before signing on, they are not all the same. Get very good notes on your move-in report, really look at what is clean, and test things to see if they work or not. Be there for your move-out inspection in person.