105 Friendly Apartments

Benjamin Trubey

Preface: The actual apartment is very nice, especially for the price I’m paying, but wow is the management terrible. The incompetence of 105 Friendly knows no bounds. In case you did not have the pleasure of reading Ravi Hayden-Lowe’s Google review, I would strongly recommend you find it and give it a read. At the time of writing this, it is November and I have lived here for around four months, and we are currently on our third management company. It might be the second or fourth, I’ve honestly lost count at this point. Every single interaction with 105 reeks of unprofessionalism and incompetence. My roommates and I, a few months before we moved in, were told over email by management that if classes were to go online due to COVID-19, we would not have to pay rent until January. We were told that this stipulation would come in writing around a month after we signed our leases, but we never heard back. When classes inevitably moved to an online format, management said that they knew nothing about this agreement, even though it was included in an email from them. Eventually, we were told that this “free rent” program meant breaking our leases for the remainder of the year, even though that was the first time we heard this. When two of my roommates decided to break their leases, there was never formal paperwork or anything remotely professional, and on the last day of the month, they told one to just pack his stuff up and get ready to move out in case they figured anything out. A few days after they broke their leases, my roommate and I got a call from Anthony McHale, the leasing consultant for the building, saying that they were moving two random people into our apartment, in the middle of a pandemic. We would potentially be exposed to a deadly virus by two people we had never met. The two people who moved in ended up leaving two days later, with no notice to us by them or the managers of 105. We still have not heard anything about why or if they moved out permanently. Another example of the unprofessional and incompetent behavior of Anthony McHale and the rest of the management team is the Wi-Fi. High-speed internet was advertised to us, and so naturally we expected good connection. We were sorely mistaken. The internet would drop randomly, during class, making it impossible to learn remotely. I understand that poor internet connection is not the direct result of poor management, but when I brought up my concerns to Anthony, I was told to “please contact Spectrum using the info sheet you were given at move in.” If my power went out, would it be up to me to contact Duke Energy, and try to find a solution? Of course not, because according to my leasing contract, I pay rent in exchange for housing, which includes power. My leasing contract also includes internet, and so when the internet is not working, why is it up to me to do 105’s job of providing the basic amenities that were advertised? They are not paying my rent, so why should I have to negotiate with Spectrum? Eventually, the Wi-Fi got better, but we had to endure months of spotty connection in a time when reliable internet is crucial. There are countless other examples of the extreme incompetence of 105 Friendly, including a front door that was broken for months, a resident portal for paying rent that was broken when I went to pay my rent, a website that was broken when I tried to make sure I had the right contact information to ask about the broken resident portal, a slow, unresponsive team, and a trash room that seems to be perpetually locked (that I did not even know existed until my roommate pointed it out, thank you for telling us where that was 105!). I have lived here less than four months, and I already have pages of complaints. In short, 105 Friendly is easily the most incompetent, unprofessional, terribly managed apartment complex that I have ever had the displeasure of encountering. Do not let the name fool you, this place is everything but friendly.

Ravi Hayden-Lowe

Beautiful building and great location. However, don't plan on having a/c or working lights for a month while in the middle of the Summer; your service requests and calls will never be answered by this atrocious leasing office. Wait! There's more! You think clearly there would be some changes made after such an ordeal and clear lack of oversight. Think again. My dishwasher was broken for a month before it was replaced, and the front door of the complex has been broken for a month and is still broken. Management continues to dodge multiple residents calls and requests to have a working front door, on top of other outstanding service requests in the building. The excuse I was given for our front door was "we're ordering parts." I didn't realize it took over a month to fix a front door and order parts. Surely one month's rent from all the building's tenants could have paid for a new front door key fob unit, but that would be an inconvenience to the leasing office. Save your time and money folks. Thank you, Anthony McHale for you and your office's continued efforts towards making 105 Friendly the place not to live.

Linda Davison

My son just moved in today. His bedroom had been cleaned but the common areas were nasty! 3 of the 4 roommates were moving in today. Apparently they don't have the common areas cleaned if 1 room mate renews the lease. We called and they are sending a cleaning crew at 8am tomorrow, but beware!! Ensure you tell the mgmt company you want it cleaned before moving in!

Corey Zablud

Great location! Within minutes of main campus and all the restaurants Hillsborough St has to offer. The apartment has a really nice kitchen and living room area. Plenty of space to have people over. Love the fact that I don’t have to wait to use a bathroom since everyone has their own. Overall a great experience and would recommend anyone to stay here.