I'll start with the positive, it's not all bad and they (Public Storage) have the potential for changing my mind and rating.
It's certainly convenient to shop for a storage unit online and move in without having to wait in line at the facility. The text message received with access information I streamlined and generally quick.
Well, that's the positive, on to the not so positive.
1. Shopping for storage units is tricky, the spaces are like commodities and they range in price even within a given chain of storage units so there's not an easy way to see if you're getting the best price at a given location.
2. The common practice nowadays at Public Storage locations is to have staff on site for only part of the day even during traditional day time business hours so you are not likely to get in person support. And when trying to contact the location by phone, either the regular worker or the district manager, you will likely go several days before phone calls are returned so the speed of service is pretty slow.
3. I'd make the argument that, in my opinion, they practice false advertisement with the types and sizes of some of their units. I'd recently reserved two units and one was temperature controlled (higher fee) and one was not yet they have no discernibly different characteristics. While the units are not open to the elements there is a degree of protection but I don't think either could accurately be called temperature controlled given the heat inside the units and just outside the units. Worse is I pay more for one that is supposed to be temperature controlled but certainly is not.
4. One of the worst aspects of this location is the lack of appropriate lighting inside the storage units. I was lucky enough to catch the office worker in person when I moved in (by just a few minutes as they left this location for another location just after we spoke), and they told me why I had no lights in my unit. I was confused as there was clearly a light in my unit and a box outside the space where there ought to have been. The resident employee told me the switches were removed at the behest of the site management because lights were being left on and they didn't like paying a high utility fee. That's right folks, they didn't like supporting the residual requirements of running a storage facility and would rather charge customers full price while providing less than 100% of the appropriate service. It's all the more odd, even enraging, when they found a way to install motion sensor activated lights in the hallways, but decided that no light inside a storage unit was necessary. So as I am trying to utilize the space of a 30 foot unit, I am left to do it in the dark. Sounds perfectly safe to me. As I write this review it's been four days since I called the district manager and have not yet received a return call.
5. I appreciate the security of the location, when it's working, but it isn't always working. I've only been a customer less than a week and I e already witnessed the security gate left in the open position for extended periods of time. If I am paying for a secure storage facility, I want a secure storage facility, not one that is secure some of the time and not all of the time.
6. Not uncommon for a business, but unsettling nonetheless, is the post service start solicitation for a survey. The pressure to complete a survey is off putting on its face, but it's all the more puzzling when experiencing the other aspects of service at this location. I get they are fishing for compliments and statistics that they can then, hopefully in their own eyes, use as evidence of their great service. Thing is, the service is not great and filling out a survey after a subpar experience is a slap in the face given little, if anything at all, will come of it in terms of fixing the shortcomings of the facility.
7. Finally, the size of one of the units is not as advertised. It is near an entrance to the internal portion of a building and, as a result, that entrance area (size of a rectangle) looks to be counted as a part of my storage space when it is not within my locked space, but is the shared common entry space to the building.
Id consider changing this review should the management take appropriate and timely action to address the stated issues, but given my experience with Public Storage I'm not holding my breadth. read more
