Recently my fiance and I had the misfortune of losing our home. In our devastation we rented the first storage unit we could find, closest to the house we were losing. Unfortunately, this was a disaster. The woman running the San Pablo Dam Road Extra Space storage facility was a continuous nightmare from day one. The only way I can explain her constant presence and intrusion in our access to our unit was that she must watch the security camera every minute of the day sure that somebody is going to come on site and commit some offense that she can then go yell at them for. Without exception, every time we went through the gate there was an issue: somebody dropped a cigarette butt, somebody poured out a coffee, I had to walk my dog during a very hot day after he'd been in the car for 3 hours, this was a problem, and not because I didn't pick up after him, I absolutely did and she said nothing of the kind oh, it was just a problem. On a colder day pulling the door down a quarter of the way to block the blustering wind was also a problem, spending more than 3 hours in my unit trying to find anything or make sense of the chaos that had once been a three-bedroom home now occupying a 12 by 20 foot space, also a problem. Oh and by the way, coming back later that evening after my 3 hours in the afternoon, she made sure to inform me that I had already used up my entire three-hour quota for the day ( as my boyfriend had rented the unit I was unaware of this policy and this was my first time in violation of it). Therefore, she had no intention of allowing me to be there more than 15 minutes and she stood outside the unit looking at her watch while I went in and grabbed a bottle of wine and then left again. In short every time we went on site it was a constant problem and nuisance. If we were there more than 30 minutes we would see her more than once for sure. Make no mistake, these were unpleasant exchanges. She nearly always came bitching and chastising. Needless to say, I responded in kind and eventually did get banned from the facility. I know I am no angel, but I do expect to be treated courteously and professionally and respectfully when transacting in such a manner. Furthermore, I take zero issue with getting banned from the facility, because I did respond as I was treated, abhorrently. I get that. That's her prerogative. But it was a completely unprofessional way for her to treat her clients that I was responding to, and am still offended by. In short, our treatment at this facility was absolute harassment. Because she refused to stop pointing her finger while she was yelling at me, the last time I saw the site manager she actually hit my car window next to my face! I would not rent, or advise anyone else to rent, a unit from this site under any circumstances, ever. As soon as we could, we removed our items from storage at that site and found a unit $100 cheaper and twice the size within a 5 minute drive from there. It's completely secure and I've never seen the owner or manager.
My take away: no matter how bad things get, just remember they can always get worse! Choose wisely, not desperately! read more
