I've had my items in this storage facility since I closed my business over ten years ago to go home and care for my ailing, now deceased mother. Public Storage has been the bane of my existence ever since. It is the stuff nightmares are made of. Several years ago, my bank account was garnished in error, causing my PS payments to bounce. Of course, the garnishment was reversed and my money was replaced, but it caused my properties to go into default. The manager at the time, cut my locks, entered my units, took whatever he wanted, broke items and left my units in a state of complete disarray. I did not see the damage and theft until I moved back to Philly briefly and visited my units. When I opened the gate, I was in total shock! I was appalled by the mess that greeted me behind those gates. I informed the present property manager, to no avail. You eventually fired the thieving manager, but not before he did what he did to me. On a positive note, the girls working under that monster at the time were all kind and empathetic towards me. They made sure to call me each month to make sure I did not go into lien. They spoke kindly and seemed to genuinely care about me. I can't remember now, but I knew them all by name. They were wonderful and their kind words eased the pain I was going through.
The insurance representative said they could not cover theft or vandalism, thereby leaving me with no option. The initial rep explained to me what had probably happened to my unit when the locks were cut. She said something about the manager taking inventory, but it was much deeper than that! She said that is probably when the theft and damage took place. I sent the list of the items stolen or damaged to the Turnersville police detectives and they filed a complaint for me. But, with the insurance company not taking responsibility for theft or vandalism, there is no way I will ever be reimbursed for my loss. I never again spoke to the initial insurance rep and prayed they did not fire her for what she told me about the lien process.
To top it all off, I initially selected PS because the reasonable rates fit my budget. Unfortunately, once I was out of town and could do nothing about it, they kept raising the monthly rates. I eventually allowed them to be late, incurring a late payment on each every month, just so I could afford to buy food that month. Even when I found a less expensive PS unit online right near my own, rather than give me the rate for my existing unit, I was forced to pay two men to move all my belongings from one bin to another of the same exact size only several units away.
I can hardly wait to be able to full afford to move my things out of Public Storage. With any luck, it should happen by the end of this year. To my experience, Public Storage is heartless, greedy and non-empathetic toward it's clients. It seems they do not realize they are dealing with real live people. Honestly, some nights I have a difficult time sleeping because of this monthly recurring nightmare!
Regretfully, Novaline Tanksley
April 6, 2019
P.S. I had two but I recently lost one of my units that I'd let go late so I could buy groceries. I panicked when I woke up and realized I'd forgotten to pay it before the 1st of the next month. Then, I thanked God for doing something for me I never could have, let the darn thing go! read more