Complain about a product or service

Public Storage

Deborah of Framingham MA (10/23/08)
On Tuesday, October 21, 2008 I arrived at the Public Storage office at 4070 Mt Carmel-Tobasco Road, Cincinnati, OH to pay my bill and $10.00 late fee. It was during this visit that I learned for the first time that the property owner will be cutting locks from delinquent units on Friday, October 23. The owner cites fine print in the renter contract which has never been enforced against any renter.

I believe renters deserve written notification and reasonable notice of the change in practice. Absent your help many unsuspecting renters will lose their property. It is estimated that as many as 20-25 renters routinely pay their rent in the last two days of the month in which payment is due. Will you help prevent such an unfair outcome? I look forward to hearing from you and thank you in advance for your assistance.

Kimberly of Haverhill MA (09/12/08)
I entrusted Public storage with my belongings after moving into a smaller apartment on a temporary basis. Among the things in the unit would be a one thousand dollar sectional sofa that was one year old. Photo albums from childhood until present time, king sized sheets, clothing, etc. I deliberated between two different facilities, and decided that Public storage was the right choice due to their climate controlled environment. I paid a little extra and chose them.

When returning to the facility to pick up my things six months later I was horrified at what I found. Mice or Rats had been living in my unit. My sofa is DESTROYED. There is rat feces and urine everywhere. There are holes in the sofa and it is pulled apart at every corner. There are rodent nests in every crack of the cushion. My Boxes were chewed open for RATS to urinate and defacate on my 100$ King Sized sheets and clothing. My photoalbums are chewed to garbage.

The staff in the store was rude and ignorant. Customer service was at the bottom of their list. When asking for a manager, everyone we spoke with replied I am the manager.. Right.. I had to take matters into my own hands and contact the insurance company and the district manager.

The insurance company is reimbursing me 250$ Unbelievable. And now this company is trying to tell me I have to dispose of my things myself, even though THEIR facility has rats. Whats best is when we brought this to their attention, they said We thought we had this under control. Meaning they had this problem and knew about it and neglected to call me. What kind of business is this? I feel like an idiot. PLEASE DO NOT CHOOSE PUBLIC STORAGE.

Ellen of Scottsdale AZ (08/09/08)
I called in advance to rent a unit. I was told when I called that I would need to show a photo id in order to rent. I was not told 1) I would have to purchase a lock before they would process the paper work 2) They would ask for my social security number - which I refused to give them 3) that when I signed a lease, I would have to give them permission to release my personal information for marketing or similar purposes I crossed out the part about authorizing them to relase my information and when I did Wayne threw his arms into the air and said, then we are done.

He continured to argue with me when I asked for the address of the corporate location and the address of the owner or manager. I asked for a refund of the first month fee I had just paid and also for the lock they made me purchase. Then I asked for the documents back which contained my personal information. Wayne told me he could not release the documents because he had to have proof he wasn't trying to steal money from the company. I asked him to black out my personal information, and again he refused. I called the owner of the facility, Dave and he has not returned my call. If I start to receive unsolicited mail, emails and phone calls about moving or anything remotely associated with knowledge that I rented a unit, I will know they released my information. I subsequently rented from U Haul and did not have any of these issues or demands.

Gary of Hayward CA (12/13/07)
I paid my storage fee for the month of Oct. I vacated the space Oct. 28th and notified the office employee that day. The employee told me they would close my acct. and there was nothing to sign or fill out. The balance was paid in full. I received a bill Nov. 7 for $35.69. I called the Public Storage office to reinform them I no longer rent the space. The employee named Marilyn mailed a copy of this bill with a note on top stating STOP COLLECTIONS ! and a note saying she will let the district manager know about this. She said to disregard this fee and it happens a lot around here. I was put into collections after Public Storage admitted error. The store manager, Isic, has not returned my calls (two in the last three days).

Linda of Old Bridge NJ (12/10/07)
When I rented the space over one year ago, the nice young gentleman selling me the space said, "Don't worry about hurrying to get us the Home Owners Insurance declaration since we will credit you back for your $8.00 monthly insurance rental." Well, apparently this young man left the company right after I rented space and now when I tried to get my insurance credit, Mr. Richard Windisch tells me that this is not our policy and he can't help me. When I asked to speak with his boss, he explained that the CEO's don't get involved with disputes and he has the authority for resolution.

I am a firm believer in quality customer service and Public Storage falls very short of any standard to do business with. I am presently looking for a new storage facility.

Lorene of Newark NJ (11/05/07)
My furniure was stored in his companys storage unit for close to 2 yrs, when I Decided to vacate the storage unit all of my belonging was damaged due to mice feces, water damager, and Falling plaster from the ceiling.

Eugene  of San Diego CA (11/10/06)
In early 2005 I rented a storage unit with automatic bill pay. Everything went perfectly until the expiration date on my credit card approached in September 2006. A couple weeks before my card expired, the local Public Storage office called and left a voicemail asking for my new credit card information. The voicemail said I had to come into the office, but when I called back and told them my credit was exactly the same except for the new expiration date, I was told that everything was okay and that I wouldn't have to come into the office.

The next weekend I went into the office anyway to have them check my records. Again they said everything was okay, but I offered my credit card to them so they could make a copy of it for their records, but they denied my offer. A couple weeks later I received another voicemail, but when I called back they said everything was okay. A few weeks after that I went on vacation and they called again. My family received the message and couldn't get in touch with me, so they went to the office and paid by check to prevent any further problems. Finally, yesterday, November 9, 2006, Victoria called and left another message, except instead of asking me to call back or coming into the office, she only left the phone number for their bill pay phone system. Today, November 10, 2006, I left a complaint with their online Consumer Complaint system and also left a voicemail asking them to call me back.

Several hours lost calling them back and visiting their office, and the time my family spent to visit them and pay, which should not have happened because they have my current card information and I have automatic bill pay, but they can't seem to put it together and pay the bill like they used to.

Leslie of Irving TX (10/13/03):
I rented storage for my move to Texas on May 30, 2003. I was on time for my rent up until September 2003. My late fees and all the necessary lien fees were applied. A final notice of payment letter was sent out to my mother's address. The letter was dated October 4, 2003. The letter stated that I had 5 days from receipt of the letter to pay on my storage or my lot will be auctioned.

I paid $100 on Oct. 10, 2003. I paid the money at a local public storage here in Irving and received a receipt. I called a customer service number and spoke with a rep by the name of Terri. She explained that as long as I paid the remaining balance, which was $113 my storage was safe. I called the office in Gretna to see if it was posted and Alice, an employee, told me I shouldn't have paid because they already threw my belongings away in the trash. My belongings consisted of home furnishings, a 19-inch television, an ab machine, a 100- gallon aquarium with stand, a computer chair, two boxes; one of which consisted of video tapes, video games, and some digital computer equipment. The other box consisted of pictures, my baby album, my keepsakes of my birth, my diplomas from high school, family obituaries, school books, medals and honors from school.

The property manager, Tim, explained that my things were dumped on October 7, 2003. I called the district manager David, who let me know they took inventory of my things and figured it was trash and dumped them. I asked him why would you take an inventory of something you were going to throw away. He went on to say that my aquarium was dingy and cracked and that my t.v. was a portable one. I explained to him my tank was dirty because I dumped the water right before I moved it and that my television was a 19-inch. He never actually saw my belongings. He called tim back to see if my things were still in a dumpster but they weren't.

I explained to him the date of the letter didn't match up with the date they claimed to have dumped my things. so David offered me my $100 that I paid, refunded and he was going to wipe the complete $213 debt away. I called Terri back and let her know what happened. She could not belivee that they disposed of my things after only being late one time.

Donna of Lancaster CA (3/25/03):
I presented to collect my vaulables out of two storage spaces. One was a 10x15 the other 10x20 on 2/27/03. I hired several movers who completed collecting items out of the 10x15. When they started to collect out of the 10x20 they came to a complete stop, reporting that boxes happened to be drenched from the heavy rains. The wet boxes had collasped into each other and all contents were soaked and wet.

I discusssed this problem with the manager who acutally blamed me for not checking on the roof and my propery from the rains. Most of my property remains wet, mildew discolored and damaged which includes mattresses, expensive clothing, sofa bed.

I have paid $113.00 and $295.00 a month for these two storage spaces since May 2001. I have paid through the nose to be treated in such a manner. On Sunday 3/23/03 I had to hire the movers again to repack and move my belongings to my new house. Currently the wet boxes are in my garage smellling of mildew. The manager provided me with boxes and allowed me to maintain my belongings in the storage area until the end of March.

Public storage should have some basic liability without extra protection. I think I can file a neglignce claim?

Leslie should go to Small Claims Court.

Johnsonette of Arlington VA (7/18/02):
I moved from my home in upper Marlboro Md to my present apt in August of 2000. Knowing that I was unable to put all of my belongs in the small apartment I chose to use public storage. I paid my account on time up until october of 2001 which I was receiving numerous phone calls about payment issues so on November 24 2001 I decided to go up to the storage area and obtain entry.

The young man took my paper work and walked away. A few minutes later he came back and informed me that my numbers were transposed and they didn't have the number of the unit that I was paying for in the last 2 years. I was fired up the manger came out to calm me but there was no excuse -- to have my entire house missing! All my life was in there -- all school pictures of my kids and family, all tv sets and coats, everything was gone.

Mr Mike H assured me that he would file all needed paperwork to file an insurance claim so that I may be compensated for all my personal and private things that I had lost. I repeatedly called and called, no return phone call at all.

I felt crushed. There is nothing I can do. All that time I'm thinking my things are safe and protected and they weren't. The question remains, how long was I paying on things that weren't there?

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