It was a dark and stormy night on the eve of July 3rd, 2017 when I got locked into this location.
Yes, gate hours are from 6am-10pm but with this being the 21st century and all, I thought the automatic gate would surely let me out of the gated area where the storage units live after 10pm, it just wouldn't let me back in... right?
Wrong.
When I tried to leave at 10:50pm, the gate denied my code and displayed the message "Denied - No Late Exit". I was aghast. I mean, seriously?! I expect more customer-centric service than this from the robots living inside of automated gates.
As I was about to sink into the depths of despair brought on by this surprise imprisonment, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel: An emergency help line!
Clutching my phone like I was Tom Hanks in Castaway and my phone was Wilson the volleyball, I called the emergency help line.
And was sent to voicemail.
So I waited.
And waited.
and waited...
Until I fell asleep and left when the gate robot woke back up at 6am.
Two and a half weeks later, I have still not heard back from Stor'em. For all that emergency help line knows, I am still foraging for scraps in other people's storage units, using my car's trunk to gather drinking water during storms.
However, as the temporary inhabitant of this Stor'em location, I must say I felt quite safe and slept in my car with the windows rolled down. If a slightly rude gate is the trade off for Stor'em's cheap monthly rates, it's worth it. read more