Complaint Review: Public Storage

It is unfortunate when ANYONE is victimized. These situations are especially sad because a large percentage of storage customers become customers through crisis. As a customer and then employee and now customer again with Public Storage, I've become more aware of what is being offered/agreed to. I was guilty of, and then witness to, the renting of a unit and NOT insuring the contents. Also, every unit that I have seen has the capacity for double locking. The problem is, people want to come in and literally pay $1 to store everything they own. When offered, no, strongly suggested to maximize the protection of items, employees become crooks for suggesting things that cost. Insurance is declined (which MUST be done with a signature), adequate locks are passed over in lieu of dollar store locks mass produced WITH THE SAME KEY COMBINATION, and often times units ARE left unlocked simply because people don't take the time to make sure it's correctly applied. Now, none of this means that anyone has the right to remove another's belongings, but be real at least with yourself, we live in a society that houses honest AND malicious people. These crimes, as I have experienced, are opportunistic. On a property with upwards of 500 units, what makes one unit any more attractive to a thief than another? The doors aren't transparent. Usually, someone KNOWS what is inside (i;e: relatives, spouses, people who helped move you, etc) or sees an opportunity ( weak/cheap locks, unsecured unit). The problem is, when one unit is hit, the thief usually tries a couple more (maybe to maximize on the cost of getting to the first). The companies could do more to identify prone areas (low traffic, dim lighting), but keep this in mind... I approached what I knew was a strange situation at my property and was confronted by an angry ex with a gun. My question to you is this: IS MY LIFE WORTH THE THINGS YOU COULDN'T EVEN CARE ENOUGH TO INSURE AND SECURE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT?!?
As for the issue of the employee stealing the items, Why would someone risk a job, possibly their cost free housing and their freedom, for the mystery of the contents in a storage unit? Someone that dumb probably couldn't properly present the rental agreement to you. I don't know that any settlement would really suffice for the loss of cherished items, but you may save a lot more to take your rental agreement to the free law library to get an understanding before you are twice victimized... by a lawyer who you'll undoubtedly be writing about on these very pages.

In close I will say, all the obligations of the company AND the customer are spelled out in the Rental Agreement. Like it or not, if you sign it, you agree to it.

READING IS FOR THE MENTAL...

First the original complaint;

Storage units are common targets for burglary. I'm not sure why you suspect that this is an inside job over suspecting that some criminals or kids from the outside got into your unit. You weren't very clear as to what led you to that conclusion, and as I suspect, your anger over the issue and wanting to project some kind of responsibility onto the business, to fault them in some way, is the real issue. If they won't pay for it, then they did it! Right?

A police officer stating that they've been called to that property multiple times, and not others, means little. It could be that he has been out there multiple times because it's a higher crime area. Or, it could be that he simply can't speak for every police officer that went to a storage facility over a burglary. Ask another officer, and he might tell you that he has been called out multiple times to the same properties, but never the one on Beck Avenue. Your analysis just simply isn't very thorough.

I'm very sorry you lost your belongings here. It isn't your fault that you lost them. It is also not the fault of the company. You are a victim of a crime. Plain and simple.

To some others giving rebuttals;
First off, yes an employee called the tenant an idiot here. And? They are obviously not at work nor are they the employee that dealt with this tenant. What in the world makes you think that someone gives up freedom of speech because they work for PS? Furthermore, WHY should the company care if this happened outside of business hours, and outside of their property? What makes you think that PS condones or condemns something that they don't even know about? You make it look like the employee here has the encouragement and blessing of the company to be rude to tenants on the internet. How ridiculous.

Next, insurance laws vary by STATE. Nobody can unequivocally and absolutely draw conclusions about insurance situations that can apply equally to all parts of the country. On top of that, this isn't an insurance issue in the first place. The question is whether or not public storage is responsible for loss, not whether or not insurance should pay. The answer is; the tenant signs a legal contract and initials in three places that PS is not responsible, that the tenant assumes their own risks, and they accept or decline insurance. This acts as a waiver for any liability on the part of public storage. Even if PS had some legal obligation to cover your losses (they don't), it wouldn't matter because you've waived that right through a legal contract.

All the disclaimers in the world stating that Public Storage isn't responsible for your items unless you purchase insurance isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Of course they are responsible. All you need to do is get in contact with the insurance commissioner of the state in which you reside.

It's amazing how fast insurance companies cut a check when the insurance commissioner breathes down their neck.

I know. It happened to me and one week after I contacted the insurance commissioner, Hartford Insurers sent a nice check.

Public Storage cannot be in business without insurance and dear one, that INCLUDES everything that's on their property. They are not entitled to the money from your loss because they have already been "considered" (paid) for their services.

The PS employee response to the customers complaint is typical. She calls the customer an "idiot". How many companies would tolerate calling a customer an idiot in a public forum, only PS. Her best reponse to the compliant here would have been not to repond at all. PS doesn't care a bit about their customers and her's is just example of the less than zero customer service PS provides. Her attitude of "not my fault" is a corporate guideline. Nice job, thanks for living up to the expectations set by PS

Storage units aren't cheap. A 5x10 size can cost $50. That's a dollar a square foot.

What do you get? A cement floor to put your things on. And a locking door. That's it.

Storage units have an obligation to keep the tenants property safe. Some do an exceptional job. Others don't give a d**n, as long as they get paid the rent.

Before renting, walk around the facility. Is there video surveillance that covers all areas? Are there alarms on all the doors? How long have the present managers been there? Do they live on site? Do managers monitor the video terminals? Do they go out and do a drive-around inspection from time to time?

If the managers don't seem to care about your property, it might be better to store your items someplace else.

Don't count on insurance. If you do have a loss, insurance will ask you to prove the item was there in the first place. If you are able to do that, they end up offering you whatever they feel is the current value for your lost possessions. Many times, you won't even get back the small amount you paid for the insurance in the first place.

I currently work for Public Storage and have for about 3 years now and I have seen the same situation over and over again. A tenant comes in to rent a unit and is offered insurance at the time of rental. They are informed that Public Storage is in no way responsible for the property they are storing. We hear anything from "oh I am only storing junk." to "I don't need insurance." The people that refuse insurance are the same idiots that come back when they have some kind of loss yelling and screaming that we are responsible and blah blah blah. Yes I have worked every property in my district and all of them have had break ins if any one of them say they have not they would be lying however if your an idiot and chose not to get insurance on your property then why are you waisting money on storage you might as well just pay a one time junk fee and the dump. To me if it is not worth insurance at the time of rental then it is not worth storing. The tenants that have a break in that do not have insurance always seem to be the ones trying to accuse the employees of being the ones doing the break ins. This is yet another way to make the customer feel a little bit better about being an idiot and not purchasing insurance because of what they stated was just junk anyways. This happens at every property which has a break in. I can guarentee you that any property manager that has had a break in has been accused by some idiot. Shoot we should all be rich by now.