We tried using them and had a terrible experience from start to finish. The person at the front desk seemed disinterested in our business. As we spoke to her we were left with the impression that she assumed most people were trying to rip her off, not pay their bill and generally get something for nothing. She sounded like a landlord who hated her renters. But we persevered because it was relatively close to our home.
We knew it was long term and prepaid for 6 months. It would come due (we thought) on January 1. No. We later learned she counted something differently so it had to be paid on December 1. When we went in to pay on Jan 2 (NY day they were closed) we were informed that the contents of our unit had been sold the week before! WTF?!?!? Moreover, we had been sent an certified letter on December 1 saying we had 2 weeks to pay. (No. We did not.) I asked her if anyone had signed for the letter (mumble mumble mumble) So...no. No one had seen the alleged letter.
We asked who bought it and - after some attempts at deception - discovered SHE had bought it from the company!! We asked her what she paid and told her we would repay her with another 100 on top to get our stuff back, but we needed immediate access.
After a LOT of conversation we discovered she had (in our mind at least) INTENTIONALLY misled us as to when the due date was. She was able to do that by misrepresenting the company policy about partial months. She apparently charged the full first month for 2 weeks. She said she "needed 48 hours to process the paperwork". When we finally got into the unit we found that every box had been opened and the most expensive items had been stolen. We asked her to return them, she said she'd already sold them.
Storage is a very gray legal area according to our lawyer. We could not prove a thing. Everything lost was less than $2500. Everything from china to a very expensive high chair that had sentimental value was gone, but...nothing (per our lawyer) we could do so we emptied it out and learned to always go with our first impressions.
We believe (but can not prove) she had not gotten around to looting the place and used the 48 hours to completely strip it of anything of tangible value/easily sold. But, as the legal owner of the unit in a small town where renters and such have few if any rights, there was not much we could do.
The person at the front desk was the only person I ever saw working there. When we tried to find a manager to complain, there was simply no one else to be found. She appeared to be in her late 20's and might have moved on, but for all I know she was the daughter of the owner. In any case, in no way shape or form would I ever entrust this company with anything and - given all of the alternatives available - see no reason why anyone ever would have the need. RUN to another storage place! read more
