My recent encounter with Public Storage on Rt. 38 in Maple Shade is by far the worst consumer experience I have had in several years.
My experience began as I looked online for a small space with external access for storing my motorcycle. A friendly guy there showed me the space and gave me the details. They would not grant extended hours access, so I decided to take some time to consider this limitation before renting the unit. I was able to complete a reservation online with my cell phone while there (the online rate is better.) The rep explained clearly that the two week long reservation does not guarantee the space, but if they have a unit of the correct size, the reservation guarantees the rate. The next step was to complete the reservation by the date in the confirmation email. This was the end of any positive experience.
I arrived by the date in the confirmation, but had not been informed during my earlier visit that I needed to provide a registration and insurance card for the motorcycle I wanted to store. The person on duty offered to extend the reservation to the next opportunity I had to come in.
When I next arrived, this same person took the necessary info along with my drivers license. After this paperwork, I was informed that I needed to purchase a special lock. My present provider allows use of one's own lock, and if needed charges about 50% of the fee Public Storage was asking. He then asked for my credit card, said he was charging $xx.xx dollars representing all move-in costs, and processed the transaction.
It is only after charing my credit card that I was presented with a rental contract. The amount of the monthly rental on the contract was higher than my reservation amount. I let him know about the error, and with an attitude, he asked me for evidence of the the lower amount. I quickly pulled up the reservation on my cell phone with the correct amount. He refused to honor the reservation, saying it was canceled unilaterally by them a week before the expiration date in the email confirmation. He said the cancelation was left in a voice mail (that I never received) and that this verbal cancelation trumped the written confirmation.
He then proceeded to lie and say the rep on my first visit told me the rate in my written reservation was not guaranteed. This was completely false. When I called him on his dissembling by asking him to read the note he referred to in his database, his reading was incoherent, fraught with pauses, hesitation, stumbling - apparently representative of his making stuff up on the fly as he read it. In the end he could not even complete the reading of it.
With the written confirmation in hand, I insisted on talking to his distract manager. He called the district manager who did not answer and he left a message. At this point he offered to refund the credit card in full. I let him know I was not ready to do this before talking to this district manager. Frustrated, I left as there were customers waiting behind me that had to endure our conflict and the delay.
Shortly after leaving, I decided that it made no sense to continue with this company. I could not discern if it was a corporate culture issue, or simply a bad representative or manager. Either way I wanted to avoid them and have no further relationship.
On the way back to Public Storage, I stopped by my current storage facility and completed the paperwork to downsize to a smaller unit, and to remain their customer.
When arriving back at the Public Storage office shortly thereafter, the same rep was there and I let him know I had decided not to do business with them and asked that he please process the refund to my credit card. At this point, something that could have ended with little additional drama took a bad turn. The contentious manager now refused to refund the full fee he had charged to my credit card just a few hours before. He insisted on holding back an administrative' fee.
He said that it is 'policy' that this administration fee is non-refundable. I asked him where it is stated, and he pulled out the contract that he presented to me after he charged my credit card. The same contract I refused to sign. "There it is in black and white!" he exclaimed. It was clear I was dealing with a mind greater than my own.
Of course I am going to refuse the credit card charges, and fight this unethical business. To some extent I feel lucky that I avoided becoming a client.
Potential customers might want to consider whether if it is worth paying a few dollars more for a company that has better personnel, better practices and polices, and a superior culture.
I'll end with reconfirming this was the worst consumer experience I have had in years. Not for the amount of money involved, but for the horrible attitude and contentious nature of the business and/or its personnel, the serial lying, and the unethical grab for money that was not earned or justified.
Caveat Emptor. read more
