Spaces, BC, Vancouver - Spaces - Gastown

Ryan James 10 months ago

Very bad co-working experience with no support for customers or amenities that are basically universally standard for co-working spaces in Canada. To sum it up, think of the worst landlord you've ever had and how they treated you as a tenant, that's what it feels like being a customer here. Cold, unsupportive, and unnecessarily rigid are the words that best describe this place. Here is a list of the things that are infuriating about trying to work here: -With a hot desk or permanent desk, you do not have any access to meeting rooms included, it is an additional fee. -They will charge you a $40 cleaning fee to wipe your desk off. -They hold a retainer of an entire month's bill, which you need to fill out a form to request back after you leave. -Unnecessary bureaucracy, blocking, and gatekeeping every step of the way preventing you from having a good experience or getting support for anything. -Staff are unable to help with even the most basic and simple requests. -No coffee included! -No community or attempt at community building. You will not build any network here. -Strict rules against any promotion of your company. The staff were nice but seemed to have their hands tied due to company policies that basically make their job to act as gatekeepers from you actually getting help for any issue. For example, one time I accidentally booked the wrong meeting time for a room, a very basic issue. When I brought this up to the staff after seeing there was no way to cancel it and be refunded online, they told me it was impossible. After leaving, a salesperson reached out. I shared my concerns with them and they didn't even bother replying. I've worked at multiple co-working places in Alberta and BC and had a very positive experience everywhere other than here.

Kate Thom 3 years ago

I would strongly recommend choosing a different co-working space. They appear to be friendly and helpful until they get a contract with you, and then you are on your own with no support. It's just not worth it. If you are billed incorrectly, there will be nothing you can do to fix the issue and you will simply have to pay, even if it's their company's error. On principle, I was pretty unhappy with this company's ethics and lack of commitment to customer care. If you care to read the story: I tried to cancel my membership over a year ago, and was told by the front desk staff that "it was simply not possible" when I asked how to cancel. The staff told me I was locked into a 1 year contract, without even looking at my contract, which was month to month. I was stuck paying for two office spaces, because they apparently wouldn't allow me to cancel. I emailed their management team a while later who told me that I could cancel through their online portal. I asked to not be charged for the time between asking to cancel and now, and heard no reply. I asked again to speak with him about the issue with his staff a month later, and received no reply. I attempted to get help or clarity on the issue for over a year through their support team (spoke to about 5 different people over a number of months) and was never followed up with, not once—even when they swore they would 'personally look into this for me'. It was like I was talking to a wall the entire time.

Brent Winterton 3 years ago

It takes a lot to get 1/5 stars from me, so when it happens, it's earned. TL:DR: Easily the worst investment I've made in the 5 years I've been running my business. The experience started relatively well - a newly built, beautiful space with a lot of promise. There was a big event happening within a few days of our signing, which ended up being a ton of fun and had the team quite excited about what a full year had in store. That first week was the best of our experience during our 52-week term. Here's why. No Cell Service We had a private office on the fourth floor and for a full year, we were unable to use cell phones while in the office. Signal was so bad I couldn't even send/receive emails and text messages. Nothing has or was done about this and the "help" provided by the team was to download a signal extender app - after all, the contract didn't promise cell connectivity. Private Office Not So Private We wanted a private office as I am on calls A LOT. When I spoke to my neighbors, I learned they could literally hear me, word for word of every conversation. I felt bad as I was surrounded by developers who needed to concentrate and was astonished by how little thought went into making space workable for all types of professionals. Hidden Details In Contract I highly highly recommend reading your contract word for word. As I was fantasizing about leaving by month 5, I thought it would be wise to learn about how to end the lease. Glad I did as they require THREE MONTHS notice or your agreement will be automatically renewed. Meaning if I didn't catch that, Id be automatically signed up for another 12 months. Yikes. Hidden Service Fees At the end of the term, I received an unexpected invoice for roughly $500. I was surprised and assumed it was a mistake until I was directed to two separate documents. One is the original contract (which I had read in detail 3 times at this point) which outlines that at the end of my lease, I was to leave the space in the condition I found it, cleaned and functional. At the same time, I'd be charged an "Office Restoration Fee" to restore the space to its original condition and testing. The fee itself was not disclosed in this contract OR on the front page of the agreement that outlines all the financial requirements of the contract. A second document specified I was required to pay a restoration fee of $x per square foot. $500 to restore an office that I had to leave in its original state. Access to the Building This one blew me away every time it happened. Occasionally, Spaces would rent out various floors for events or film. Originally I thought this was cool until we weren't allowed access to main areas due to filming. At one point guests had to go through the back alley and if needed, they'd have one of the front desk staff there to let them in. Staff Rotation Staff moved through like a revolving door which made it impossible to build relationships with the organization. Some people got promoted and others left. Eventually, I stopped trying as I just assumed they'd be gone in 2-3 months. This may not sound like a big deal, but it created a strange impersonal feeling to the "community" I signed up to be a part of. I highly recommend looking at other options. In the end, nothing they did was illegal and in some fashion, was in the fine print. Fair. That said, I walk away from this transaction feeling tricked and that I wasted $18,000. Lesson learned. After writing 100s of reviews on Google, I've learned there is a character limit. Here are the other big pieces that I can't expand on: - Very Little Community & General Business Conduct is impersonal - Issues with Accessing the building due to private events and tech problems - Excessive construction & noise leading to call and meeting interruptions - Regus Organization seems infamous for most of these types of issues - No response & limited support when trying to use facilities in other cities Good luck on your search and I hope my review contributed to your decision-making process.