UniLodge Reviews 109

After receive a 2 weeks notice I left the Unilodge on 14/07 bond and today is 05/08 and I`m still waiting my bond.

I`m just wondering if is correct take more than 21 business days to receive the bond back???

I contacted UniLodge Southbank at the end of May to see what my options were at the end of my lease (28.06.22).
I explained how I was seeking a new rental property- but as it was challenging lining up the move out date from unilodge & a move in date for my new residence - if I was able to stay paying weekly for a week or two after my lease finished.

I was advised by UniLodge Southbank that after my lease finishes - I can continue paying weekly at the current rate for up to 4 weeks.

This allowed me to relax knowing I had a 4 week buffer after my lease finished to secure a rental property.

I have just signed a new lease elsewhere - my move in date set for the 7/07/22.

I advised Unilodge of my Intentions to move out on the 7th - 8 days after my current lease finished - expecting to pay the extra week or two with no issues.

UniLodge has replied simply saying that my contract ends on the 28th - as such I have to vacate the property on the 28th.

No ifs. No buts. Goodbye - Get off our property.

Apparently - even though I was told a month earlier I could stay on for upto 4 weeks after my lease finishes ( of which I have IN WRITING ) - I no longer have this option.

This leaves me homeless for 8 days.
8 days of no where to go, no where to store my entire studio of belongings - no money to rent a hotel room.

Somehow I'm meant to manage all of this whilst still doing full time study.

WHAT. A. ABSOLUTE. JOKE.

I have rented through Unilodge for the previous 6 months - always been ahead in rent, kept my studio immaculately clean and always kept a open line of communication.

My reward for being an ideal tenant is for Unilodge to go back on their word - leaving me without a roof over my head.

Unbelievable that such a large establishment who speaks so highly of mental health & support is the reason a student is stuck in such a depressive situation with no hope or support.

Just a little shocked that there is no option to extend the lease end date, even just by a few days, and even though the letter of offer says something different. Panicking because this means I will have to move out during my exam period.

Edit: that's Unilodge Park Central

If you have plans to live there BE PREPARED TO NOT GET YOUR BOND BACK SO SOON and EITHER NOT 100% of it. FORGET IT! Unilodge Broadway took almost 2 months without ANY excuse to keep my bond and despite my last emails asking WHAT WAS THE REASON I received my bond incomplete NEVER receive a response. They just did not feel they need to give a fair response..... MY ADVICE: Run!! 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

I stayed with Unilodge for 3 years, and throughout my time with them it was fine, but my final experience with them was so bad I feel the need to give them a one star review.

I returned to my room to pack up my belongings to find they were already packed up by the cleaners. While I was the lawful tenant, strangers who I had never met touched everything in my room and damaged several of my belongings with their careless packing. As if that was not bad enough, after getting everything out of the boxes, I found out that they have stolen items from me! Here's a non-exhaustive list:

20 pack of toilet paper (this was when it was really hard to get at the shops)
Aftershave
An SD card with some personal photos on it.

I have searched through all my belongings time and time again, as I do not make such accusations lightly, but they are not there, and these cleaners are the only ones that could have taken them.

I asked to be contacted through the Wellbeing Form, and heard nothing back. I tried contacting the head office, but heard nothing back. It makes their constant preaching 'we care about your mental health!' seem like a lie when I have still heard nothing from them all this time.

Let me make this absolutely clear: these cleaners trespassed in my room, while I was still the lawful tenant, with all rental payments up to date. They then packed my belongings without any due care causing damage to some very important items, and finally, stole items they thought they could get away with stealing. Who knows what else they stole that I haven't noticed? To top it all off, I have been ignored by the very people Unilodge says you can contact 'if you have any issues'. My mental health has certainly been affected by this experience, let me tell you.

So Unilodge is good enough until anything bad happens, then they are shown to be what they really are: a soulless careless company that cares only about your money and what they can steal from you, nothing more.

STAY FAR AWAY!

DO NOT STAY AT UNILODGE ST LUCIA - I guarantee you will regret it. If I could have given a 0 rating I would have.

First of the apartment was absolutely disgusting, u name it you have it. Hair, dust, mould, grease, stains in the rooms. The sofa was SO mouldy it gave off a stench. The office chairs provided were torn and also mouldy. The aircon gives off a huge stench whenever used. There are stains on the walls and floor. There was hair and dust in every corner of the room, even the wardrobe and drawers. The oven and microwave were greasy with trays leftover from the previous tenant. The light and tv in my room were faulty once I moved in. I emailed the front desk multiple times to ask for a repair but NO REPLY. I went to the front desk and they informed me the maintenance guy was coming but they could give me an exact time or date. Ridiculous. Also, beware that they will allow the maintenance guy into your room without your presence, consent or notice. When the maintenance guy came, the long list of damages I submitted to the front desk was filtered down to only 2 things: a small chipped off tile and a faulty light. I am still awaiting the repair for my light, 4 months in.

(btw they require all tenants to pay for professional cleaning at the end of the lease, so there is no reason for it to be so dirty)

The walls are really thin, you can literally hear people closing their doors, wardrobes and drawers. If you have a neighbour upstairs, good luck because all you can hear are their footsteps.

Smoking is not allowed onsite YET people smoke on the balconies without ANY consequences. Multiple calls and complaints were lodged to RAs and Frontdesk but apparently, photos and video evidence of them with cigarettes in hand were not enough to trigger any disciplinary action. The management then claimed that "they did not catch the smokers smoking" hence only warnings can be given.

The people at the front desk have a very bad attitude, ignoring all emails sent. Only replying when the rent is due.

As you know, an entry condition report has to be done at the start of the rental period (within 48 hours) with the staff. BUT the staff did not complete it with us, they did not even inform us to do it. In the form was a template stating that everything was clean and in perfect condition. I filled in the form along with pictorial evidence and sent it back to them. But, low and behold, no reply. Not even an acknowledgement that they have received it.

Lastly, upon arrival, you will be given a set of keys. But the set of keys that I and my roommate received was different. I was missing a key and when I approached the front desk, they claimed that they are missing 1 and could order 1 for me if I wanted. I was supposed to have a full set of keys as written in the agreement they had me sign and I would be charged if there was any missing key at the end of my lease. This was a very irresponsible act because if I had not checked it, they might have charged me $50 extra for the missing key I was never given.

Update to their reply:
- Regarding their comment "confident that the issues that you raised to us about repairs have now been fixed", this is not true as I am still waiting (as of 26 April 2022) for the smaller ceiling light to be fixed in room B. When the maintenance guy came and inspect it, he told me (twice) that the bulb had fused and he submitted an order for the specific bulb to the manager's office as he did not have it.

- Regarding the smoking problem, a video was sent on 23 February 2022 (specifically at the 00:18 mark) clearly shows the man holding a lighted cigarette. Another video on 12 March 2022 shows the man putting a cigarette in his mouth whilst calling on the balcony. On 16 March 2022, I sent a picture of a cigarette on their balcony floor. I understand that the staff had checked on them when I called but obviously they would have thrown their cigarettes out and gotten rid of the smell. I appreciate the RAs' time and effort to catch them, but the need to catch them smoking red-handed to instil disciplinary actions is beyond me when I have photographic evidence.

- Regarding the missing key issue. I did inform the front desk that a second pantry key was not needed. However, is it not protocol for each tenant to have a whole set of keys upon arrival? Or will the whole set of keys be provided upon request?

Additionally, I do not appreciate my name being called out on an open platform like this as it beats the point of anonymity.

I asked for cancellation of a apartment key request and a refund for my payment. At first, they replied that they were checking with the OC manager regarding my payment then they have been kind of ghosting me for 2 weeks now. All of my attempts to contact them via emails and calls didn't get through. I can't believe that a service provider can just ghost you with your money like that.

Update (26/04/2022): a customer service manager finally replied to me after more than 2 weeks saying that the refund could not be done because they had already coded the key FOB. Even though I informed them on the next day, somehow it was not fast enough for a refund. Anyways, I still came pick up the key FOB, as I dont need it anymore, was not very happy with the outcome, but the case was closed after all.

UniLodge park central
waiting 4 months for bond refund, but still don't get refund. no one reply me with the process just say raised this issue with higher management but no more updates.
This is my worst experience in AU.

Unilodge Macquarie, St lucia which is managed by unilodge manors has the worst management EVER!!!! I will explain why.

At the start of Jan 22 I UniLodge sent a letter of offer. I accepted and paid the four weeks in advance. When I arrived to move in on the 31 Jan as per the agreement I found out that the previous tenant had not moved out. While giving the apartment to a new tenant, management did not even check if the old tenant had vacated. So, I was told to come back later in the week. I had no place to go, and had pre-arranged for electricity, paid rent and internet to be connected for the day I moved in on the 31. Only to have someone else to stay in the apartment when I am paying for it.

The apartment was supposed to come with an undercover carpark, but Unilodge never gave me access to it. I have been parking outside during storms in hopes that my car will not be damaged. I still don't have access to it. unilodge management was notified of the problem and I informed them of my concerns; however, my request has been ignored.

The apartment was advertised as furnished, yet when I moved in I discovered the double bed was broken and had a big bend in it, as well as two single mattresses on top of the bed. The UniLodge did not bother replacing the bed and instead provided tenants with two single beds to cover the broken one! I have been sleeping on the couch for the past few days because the management ignores my emails even after I send them photographs of the condition.

As far as I can tell, the apartment wasn't bond cleaned at all. There was a half tube of toothpaste, floss on the benches, massive cobwebs on the balcony and white marks on the bathroom floor. After contacting management once more, you can imagine what happened next.. nothing my emails were ignored.

When I advised in writing to unilodge that no one to enter my property unless I was there. Yet when I came home i noticed someone with access has entered my property without my permission.

Additionally, there is a lot of gas building up in the bathroom when the door is closed and clearly noticed when you open the door. I notified management, but, this time, I will let you, the reader, guess my verdict.

Stay away from this place what you see on website is not what’s in reality.

DO NOT LIVE IN UNILODGE ST LUCIA

PROBLEMS:
BROKEN electrical appliances:
TV
Telephone
Dryer (SHATTERED in pieces)
Ventilator
Lights (one of them)
Oven (plastic ring near the oven door is broken)

Nearly ALL electrical appliances in the room are unusable.

Hygiene (EXTEREMLY BAD):
Dust EVERYWHERE
Kitchen cupboards are covered with oil stains
Chair (Black chair is now covered with WHITE grease and UNWASHABLE)
Mattress: yellowed and filled with dust and stain
Bathroom: covered with dust and stains.
LOTS OF INSECTS in the room.

Plz remember tenants have PAID the rent and unilodge is OBGLIATED to provide a clean and comfortable living environment to tenants when they arrive and clean the room PRIOR.

I have booked online last month and the website clearly states that the price is a rate ‘applies to 2 people. I have then selected 2 people with the website showing ‘charge included’, then I have submitted my booking, After 2 weeks, I have received my offer letter, but they have not specified as a ‘2 person booking’ in my lease, so I am a bit frustrated about. I replied to their email right after I received, to ask and reconfirm about if it is a 2 person booking or not. No reply was given until the offer deadline so I have to pay the deposit. Until yesterday I called in to request a change in check-in date, and they tell me I have only paid for 1 person and I will be sharing the room with someone else. Then I go back to the website and check and they did really change the info to ‘rate applies to 1 person’. I do have the screenshot of their website by I time I made the booking, which clearly states that it should be a price for 2. The customer service even suggest I not call back since they are busy, but you guys never reply to my email, so how can I get addressed in time? I am very frustrated and unhappy about the result and I decides to have my deposit refunded and I will not come back again. If you need the screenshot for proof then I will be more than happy to provide it (actually I have sent it out along with my email but still, no reply :)

lets say any boarding house in victoria as I know the

legislation there and have had a bit too do with the

tribunal system there.

of course your answer was to divert.

making me think I am right.

either that your you have found a loop hole to take

advantage of the weak poor and disadvantaged.

international students will not know about this and

most 18 year olds and there parents who either rent

there own property or own would not know it.

I have acted onbehalf of international students before

to stop preditory actions from landlords.

I will take my time get advice and we shall see were this goes.

too have no compassion dure in covid lock down

will make this a true pleasure.

there was law passed about lockdown and rental agreements.

what makes you think you were above the law ?

a peice of paper is only as good as the legislation

behind it.

so before everyone at your lodges learns about

tenancy tribunal answer the question.

If I am right and I think I am you will have to pay a lot

of money back.

I would also think a curent afair would love to hear about your actions dure in covid.

truly amazing that you have stated your place online

so others can see it including the tribunal and media.

did you know the fine for not lodging a bond with the

bond authority in victoria is around $16,000 per person.

and it states that any money taken that is not rent

as a holding fee incase of damages etc is a bond

even if the landlord pretends it is not.

I wonder what 16 grand multiplied by everyone you

have had stay there would be ?

do you lodge your bonds with the bond authority ?

to all the people reviewing here did you get a recipet

from the bond authority ?

if not it is illegal too collect a fee for damages or unpaid rent for a room or apartment.

I doubt we can classify you as a hotel as you have long

term contracts.

I have never heard of you being put too the test.

it will be interesting to see the outcome.

Unilodge on Riversdale road, Melbourne, VIC 3122 is the horrible place with the worse managment ever. They have students as RA to help out the tenants but they select students as RA that they smoke in their apartments while they have already deactivated fire alarms, and party till morning and make noises and bother neighbours.
If you contact manager, they just ignore.
Just avoid the Unilodge in Melbourne.

I want to pre-warn parents who are thinking of using Unilodge accommodation for their child going into first year- just to share my experience. Mine is doing first year at University of Canberra and is in a Unilodge room there. When they initially send you a contract to sign for the lease of a room, it says that it ends on 31 Dec. When we signed, we thought end of of Semester 2 exams must end in mid-December for them to have a option of 31 Dec end date for the lease. But then now, the exams timetable were scheduled last month with the last exam taking place on 14 Nov. Which means from 15 Nov, interstate students can go back home to their families. Now parents like us have asked Unilodge to allow us to have an early lease contract termination - with incomes reduced this year from COVID-19, it makes sense that it will be huge burden to continue paying for an empty room for another 6 weeks till the 31 Dec. But Unilodge won't budge from their policy that early termination can only happen in the event of a death- the occupant, or a bereavement which requires the occupant to leave early. One of the conditions for early termination as well is that we must find someone to take over the lease- who must be enrolled in a course, who must be from UC or ANU..In an ideal year, that would have been easier. But when COVID-19 hit, and classes went online, we haven't been able to find anyone who wants to move in and stay in an empty university campus from 01 -31 Dec- Unlike banks, who were willing to change their loan terms and defer repayments, or the rental board putting a stay on eviction - where people occupy a house and don't pay rent - Unilodge insists on people paying rent still for a place they no longer occupy. They have no sense of social responsibility or sense of business goodwill, for parents whose kids will be back in Year 2. We won't be using them again, and will recommend the same to others. It would be best to only opt for them if you are really desperate for accommodation.

DISGUSTING. UNILODGE Broadway Sydney.
HORRIBLE RUDE STAFF. Dont expect them to be nice to me, but please hire someone to solve problem, not to create problem. THANKS.
WORST STUDENT ACCOMMODATION EVER.

Ideally, I pay $388 a fortnight to be subject to all the rules set out in the contract. These rules are hardly enforced. There is no security or anyone to enforce the rules. The rules are only enforced when someone reports it.

The noise restriction is a massive lie. If im paying to stay here I expect to get what I was promised - a noise curfew. If you have a job you care for, dont live here.

If youre respectable enough to be looking at reviews before living here, youre good enough to not be living here. Ive havent seen such immature people in my life since high school and I left 6 years ago. Absolute joke of a company for not kicking out repeat offenders either.

I had the worst experience ever with Unilodge Southbank and I still have , because I can’t break my lease.
I know that by posting this review, people at the front desk would treat me worse than before, but I have to do this to prevent students from falling in this big trap and not waste their time, money, and grades!
I moved to Unilodge because this was the only option for me with a flexible rent date and near the place where I am studying. I moved to a bunk studio cause this was the only room that I could afford (209 weekly for 47 weeks). I'm not going to lie, the first day I came for a tour, I enjoyed their company because the woman who showed me the room was helpful and friendly, I said okay! Friendly people, polite and always smiling, seems like a nice place, right? WRONG!
You think the first thing that student accommodation should provide is the internet, right? I have an internet connection problem for 2.5 months now. I discussed it with them 5 times, even though I reached their internet provider, but nothing changed until now!
Now I "SURPRISINGLY" got deleted from their event app, I signed up for their events. Still, it seems like my account "AUTOMATICALLY" got deleted. No one could fix it in these 2 weeks that I discussed it with them, not to mention I got removed from all the events, and I can't participate in any of them now.
Another thing that bothered me so much staying here is that THEY OPEN YOUR DOOR AND THEY JUST WALK IN. They say it's for room check (when your room doesn't have any problem) the first time this happened was the first week that I moved here, I was sleeping till 10am because I stayed up all night working on my assignment then I heard that someone opened my room and walked in! Imagine this! You don't have any privacy here. This happened 5 more times till now, and today was the most recent one. I heard the bip sound, which is the card opening the room, and then he just walked into the room, I told him please stay outside. I will open the door for you, then he told me he wants to check the room because someone is moving here in 2 days! NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT IT, NO ONE EMAILED ME ABOUT IT, BUT THEY SHOULD!
It was suitable for the first 2 months, then suddenly covid19 attacked, during the first week of the outbreak, while QLD was reaching 70 positive tests daily, they said they're going to send a roommate to my room, I talked to them and begged them because of my breathing problem, please don't put her in my room or at least give her a room for 14 days, quarantined, then let her to my room. They never listened and acted so rude to me and made me cry, so I gave up talking to them and went to rent the Emperium Hotel for a month, to keep myself safe. After that, I came back and saw 3 big bags sitting in my room, without a roommate, a week later, when I wasn't home, someone came and took the bags, went to the front desk and asked them if my roommate canceled or not? They said they don't know! Two weeks later someone came to the room and asked for my roommate (whom I never met) I told them that I already told you that she's not in the room. Then a week later, they discovered she left without paying a single week! I told them what if something from my room went missing? What if she stole my money or laptop? They simply didn't care!
People at the front desk are always rude to me. I don't know if it's because I got their cheapest room or because I am international, but please, please, if you are an international student. You care about your studies, never move to Unilodge, because they will always make challenges for you to solve. At some points, you can't do both if you are working, you want a place to rest and study, not a place that always makes you uncomfortable and insecure.

RIPOFF FOR THE DIRTIEST STUDENT PLACE EVER

cost me 395 AUD per week (250$ base rent+50$ short stay+ (150$/2 weeks) cleaning fees + 20$ parking), which is twice as much as the market price for a student bedroom in Brisbane.

BATHROOM: unflushed toilets, broken toilet seat, fecal traces everywhere, shower curtains yellowed by dirt, strong smell
KITCHEN: traces of oil and food remains in cooking stoves and around, rubbish on the floor, plastic bottles and plastic bags all over the place, unwashed cooking appliances plugged and directly on the floor

To cheat guests, they show you a nice "model unit" which has nothing to compare with the hog house (according to any international standards) that you'll be staying in. Covid-19 is the "excuse" for you not to be allowed to check the real premises. So once you've signed up tons of contracts and papers, where they "cut and paste" your signature and make ticks in every pages and every check-in detail, you may realize the irony and the fraud:

The actual place is disgusting. I have voiced out my disgust every single day to the staffs at counters and by e-mail. They fixed the toilet seat and anticipated the bi-weekly cleaning by 24hrs, but then, UniLodge Management (Georgia A., Dylan W.) believe they "did what they have to do" (ironic). They yet have the nerves to try to charge you 150$ for cleaning fees --or you can do it yourself with accredited cleaning company and buy UniLodge a new mattress cover and a new shower curtain (no kidding!!).

After 1 week in this disgusting environment, and many e-mails about the lack of hygiene, Michelle S. finally answered that - as a favor-, her supervisor was agreeing to allow my early departure (because the place is disgusting and doesn't justify 395$/week). But it's only at the very last moment of the checkout, when i remitted the key, that they announced me the unused second week of my tenancy in UniLodge Brisbane Park Central was being cashed-in by UniLodge whether i'm staying there or not. Please contact me if you wish to know or see more about the real UniLodge condition, hygiene, care and safety.

Horrible RUDE staff, useless and will not help you at all. Rooms are tiny and are not well maintained.

Do not stay here, stay at SCAPE or StudentOne.

Isent my daughter to stay with unilodge during coronavirus and they way they handled it is disgusting. My daughter was not allowed to have any visitor in the building even her parents but there are staff coming in every day bringing the virus into the building and putting everyone in danger!!! My daughter asked one of the staff if she could have a meeting with her (apparently this person in charge of welfare!!!) and she said that they were only doing zoom. Then why are they coming into the building every day and I am not allowed to have dinner with my daughter,?? If only doing zoom meetings then why not work from home?? Unilodge is illegal and dangerous and should be sending staff in VICtoria home like everyone else and letting my daughter have the welfare she needs by seeing me