- Report: #179611
Complaint Review: A American Self Storage - Inglewood California
-
Author Confirmed
Why?
A American Self Storage
10101 Firmona Avenue Inglewood, 90304 California, U.S.A.
Phone:
310-914-4022
Web:
N/A
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good?
A American Self Storage ripoff dishonest arrogant disregard for lien law handled my propery items lost Inglewood California
I was a tenant at the Inglewood facility for almost two years. I went into delinquincy, and finally lien status after an extended period of unemployment (following a surgery).
I was advertised to sell in th March 14th 2006 auction, however I was in constant contact with staff and management regarding my status.
I just did not have the money. As the auction date neared, I asked the manager Patricia Sorrells, if she could give me a move out deal. I was anxious to vacate BEFORE rent assessed an additional month + associated fees.
This is fairly standard in the industry. We agreed to an amount, & I came to the site Februrary 28th 2006 to vacate. I had been verbally notified earlier in the month by Ms Sorrells that my lock was to be cut. This is also standard prior to advertisement for auction.
I was not prepared however, for what I found. I had been on the property last in November searching for Christmas ornaments, & items i was giving away to lighten my load as I anticipated vacating soon.
I KNOW I left a mess. I had taken a boxcutter, and opened nearly every box searching for particulars. When Ms Sorrells assistant removed A American's lock, I saw an extremely clean, and much reduced space.
Everything had been handled, and centered in the space. unit looked swept, and there was rat poison in a corner. While I could not say at first glance WHAT was missing, clearly- this is not what I left in November.
I immediately went to speak with the site manager. She told me that at A American, they regularly opened boxes to photograph contents. (NOT standard) I asked her if she could pull my file, I would like to see these photos.
She responded that she did not have access to them. This would be the area manager (or someone else's domain/responsibility) I adamently explained to her that my property had been handled, she responded that of course, A American managers had the right to handle delinqent property.
In fact, I was "LUCKY" my things were still in unit C766 because it is also their ( A American's) protocal to RELOCATE delinquent items based on size of space and amount of contents. (????)
If this had ocurred she continued, she would have vacated me from the system. I asked her if she could double check, PERHAPS that is what occurred as so many items were missing? Could she check her company space please? Oh no, came her emphatic response - at that point she says " I would be involved, and I would know".
I told Ms Sorrells that I was not happy with this, and that I would be contacting her corporate office. I needed to continue my move, but I would stop by to ask for those phone numbers and contact names.
When I entered the office at 4:30 to ask for the information , I was told that the manager was at lunch.
Using my own resourses, I contacted corporate office for A American on March 1st 2006.I told the entire story to a young woman named Dorothy. I asked her who the DTM (Delinquent tenant Manager) was; she told me Cindy Weening. But she said I would need to speak to the area manager Blaine White.I left messages for both parties.
March 2nd end of day I called back, and repeated the entire story to a young woman named Larada. Again left messages for both parties.
It is interesting to note, that at the corporate level, no one identifies themselves - you must ask whom you are speaking with.
On March 3rd,Pat answered, asked me to hold, then shortly transferred me to someone named Claudio. Weary to repeat the whole story AGAIN, I asked Claudio his last name - Flores, and his position with A American. Mr Flores responded that he was the vice president.
OK! I reiterated EVERY detail ( except that I asked Ms Sorrells to loan me a lock, as it took two trips to move out - she declined, stating the the lock loan would make A American responsible for my unit!) I was a little emotional, and omitted that detail in the re-telling.
Mr Flores was very courteous, and professional, he assured me that the area manager would be in touch with me asap. Within twenty minutes, Blaine White did return my call. I went through the report again. At this point Mr White asked me if he could get back to me on Monday ,as the 3rd was a Friday.
I had no problem with that. As I have stated, I never call until almost end of business on a given day. If mr White did go to the property today as he promised, to do his investigation, he has not told me. I am posting this entry at 3:00 on Monday, March 6 2006.
Among my missing items were - boxed sets of matching books, bags of linen and clothes, an armless chair(that needed to be re upholstered) dishes, Christmas decorations, and one photo album that was a compilation of all items pertaining to my toddler daughter's funeral. Also, my sofa was present, but not the cushions. (?????! )
It is my position that whether someone was stealing, (dubious) or more likely, considered my items to be trash, they had no right to handle, clean, or dispose og my property.
The law is clear on this point. In my discussion with Mr white, he did not dispute this, despite his manager's assertions that A American could develope, and follow their own protocal.
Foul !!!!! I came with Cash two weeks prior to the auction, and these were the results. It is sad to have trust abused like this, followed by a formidable lack of contact. Why is A American so hard to reach?
Why, when you do reach them at corporate do they not identify themselves? Why in All of the site mailings, late notice, last chance notice , or any of the property stationary is the site's phone number not displayed?
I hope this will help get their attention, also potential renters,this was an abysmal experiance - and is NOT resolved to date. ps I did not submit before 3:30 3/6/06
Carilyn
los angeles, California
U.S.A.
I was advertised to sell in th March 14th 2006 auction, however I was in constant contact with staff and management regarding my status.
I just did not have the money. As the auction date neared, I asked the manager Patricia Sorrells, if she could give me a move out deal. I was anxious to vacate BEFORE rent assessed an additional month + associated fees.
This is fairly standard in the industry. We agreed to an amount, & I came to the site Februrary 28th 2006 to vacate. I had been verbally notified earlier in the month by Ms Sorrells that my lock was to be cut. This is also standard prior to advertisement for auction.
I was not prepared however, for what I found. I had been on the property last in November searching for Christmas ornaments, & items i was giving away to lighten my load as I anticipated vacating soon.
I KNOW I left a mess. I had taken a boxcutter, and opened nearly every box searching for particulars. When Ms Sorrells assistant removed A American's lock, I saw an extremely clean, and much reduced space.
Everything had been handled, and centered in the space. unit looked swept, and there was rat poison in a corner. While I could not say at first glance WHAT was missing, clearly- this is not what I left in November.
I immediately went to speak with the site manager. She told me that at A American, they regularly opened boxes to photograph contents. (NOT standard) I asked her if she could pull my file, I would like to see these photos.
She responded that she did not have access to them. This would be the area manager (or someone else's domain/responsibility) I adamently explained to her that my property had been handled, she responded that of course, A American managers had the right to handle delinqent property.
In fact, I was "LUCKY" my things were still in unit C766 because it is also their ( A American's) protocal to RELOCATE delinquent items based on size of space and amount of contents. (????)
If this had ocurred she continued, she would have vacated me from the system. I asked her if she could double check, PERHAPS that is what occurred as so many items were missing? Could she check her company space please? Oh no, came her emphatic response - at that point she says " I would be involved, and I would know".
I told Ms Sorrells that I was not happy with this, and that I would be contacting her corporate office. I needed to continue my move, but I would stop by to ask for those phone numbers and contact names.
When I entered the office at 4:30 to ask for the information , I was told that the manager was at lunch.
Using my own resourses, I contacted corporate office for A American on March 1st 2006.I told the entire story to a young woman named Dorothy. I asked her who the DTM (Delinquent tenant Manager) was; she told me Cindy Weening. But she said I would need to speak to the area manager Blaine White.I left messages for both parties.
March 2nd end of day I called back, and repeated the entire story to a young woman named Larada. Again left messages for both parties.
It is interesting to note, that at the corporate level, no one identifies themselves - you must ask whom you are speaking with.
On March 3rd,Pat answered, asked me to hold, then shortly transferred me to someone named Claudio. Weary to repeat the whole story AGAIN, I asked Claudio his last name - Flores, and his position with A American. Mr Flores responded that he was the vice president.
OK! I reiterated EVERY detail ( except that I asked Ms Sorrells to loan me a lock, as it took two trips to move out - she declined, stating the the lock loan would make A American responsible for my unit!) I was a little emotional, and omitted that detail in the re-telling.
Mr Flores was very courteous, and professional, he assured me that the area manager would be in touch with me asap. Within twenty minutes, Blaine White did return my call. I went through the report again. At this point Mr White asked me if he could get back to me on Monday ,as the 3rd was a Friday.
I had no problem with that. As I have stated, I never call until almost end of business on a given day. If mr White did go to the property today as he promised, to do his investigation, he has not told me. I am posting this entry at 3:00 on Monday, March 6 2006.
Among my missing items were - boxed sets of matching books, bags of linen and clothes, an armless chair(that needed to be re upholstered) dishes, Christmas decorations, and one photo album that was a compilation of all items pertaining to my toddler daughter's funeral. Also, my sofa was present, but not the cushions. (?????! )
It is my position that whether someone was stealing, (dubious) or more likely, considered my items to be trash, they had no right to handle, clean, or dispose og my property.
The law is clear on this point. In my discussion with Mr white, he did not dispute this, despite his manager's assertions that A American could develope, and follow their own protocal.
Foul !!!!! I came with Cash two weeks prior to the auction, and these were the results. It is sad to have trust abused like this, followed by a formidable lack of contact. Why is A American so hard to reach?
Why, when you do reach them at corporate do they not identify themselves? Why in All of the site mailings, late notice, last chance notice , or any of the property stationary is the site's phone number not displayed?
I hope this will help get their attention, also potential renters,this was an abysmal experiance - and is NOT resolved to date. ps I did not submit before 3:30 3/6/06
Carilyn
los angeles, California
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Carilyn
los angeles,California,
U.S.A.
Was Justice Served? We went to court
#2Author of original report
Fri, June 30, 2006
In ending my initial report, I was waiting for a reurn call from Blaine White. This guy took the week end (fine with me) to go onsite & investigate. When he did call me back, he said that he himself cut the lock, & everything was "fine" ????I asked him if he was the one that "cleaned " my space? - he maintained that no one cleaned my space, oh - and there was no couch. Hmmmmm..... ANYWAY, the end to this tale of woe was in small claims court, whwere the Judge apparently agreed with me that it was wrong to remove my items, but she had a hard time giving my missing stuff a value.I did not do my homework. My idea was that since the things missing were more of sentimental (my memorabilia book) irreplaceable (a botched set of matched books ) and inconveiant ( a sofa with no pillows !!!!) nature, that I could be restored by returning my rents paid. I sued for $2812.00 which was my accumulated rents. I also asked for punitive damages, again I did not do my homework- no punitive allowed in small claims.As I said the judge agreed to disagree, and she awarded me only $500.00 + my court costs. I hope they will not put anyone else through this, despite what amounts to a slap o the wrist.There was one person in the company that showed ANY type of finesse, or people skills - here's to hoping Vice President Claudio Flores can find his way out of the mucky company he now finds himself in.In summary - A American storage facilities are to be avoided, they are practising marshall law on their sites. Interesteing footnote * THEY NEVER PRODUCED THE LOCK CUT PHOTOS. Despite me asking repeatedly, they did NOT EVEN BRING THEM TO COURT. What does that tell you? The judge did not get the significance of that fact.Maybe I'll ask to vacate her judgement, and return, maybe I'll let it be - but for this forum The purpose is served. NOW YOU KNOW.
Larry
West Sacramento,California,
U.S.A.
Standard Practices
#3Consumer Comment
Thu, March 23, 2006
My wife and I have managed self-storage facilities for several years in both California and Arizona. Most operators, when preparing to auction a storage locker, make a point of not entering the locker or handling the contents. Since most tenants pay up rather than lose their stuff at auction, we do not want to be in a position that this operator is now in, namely being accused of pilfering someone's belongings. When we cut a lock, we have another person from off-site present for the cutting. When we are done, the locker is secured with a company-owned lock, a serially numbered tag that cannot be removed without breaking it, and a wire seal. The seals remain on the locker until either the auction or until the customer pays off. I have been advised by attorneys with the self storage association that it is legal to move a delinquent tenant's possessions to another locker. I have never done this myself and know of no one who ever has, but this would obviously require going into the locker and handling the contents. The only reason I know of for doing this would be to reduce the amount of space that I was not collecting rent on. State laws often require that the contents of the locker be described when the legal notice for the sale is published. To me this implies that I am supposed to take an inventory of the contents of the locker. In actual practice, however, we just stand outside and list those things we can see without touching anything inside. One problem with this approach is that we do not know what we are selling. Does that sealed box contain dirty socks or an Uzi submachine gun? Once again the attorneys tell me that I face no liability if I sell that Uzi to a convicted felon at a public auction because state law says this is the remedy for collecting unpaid rent. Even though it is not standard practice, the storage operator may lawfully inspect, handle, and move the contents of a delinquent locker. But you mentioned that your storage operator disposed of some of your property. Unless there was some immediate hazard, I cannot imagine what lawful authority a landlord has to do that prior to an auction. One reason for going through the auction process is that state law gives this as the remedy for failure to pay the rent and by doing so the operator is relieved of any liability for loss of the property in the locker. The landlord that takes it upon himself to dispose of a tenant's property will someday find himself being accused of throwing away grandma's heirloom wedding ring. This may come as a surprise to most tenants, but auctions rarely pay off for the landlord. The storage operator is usually required to go for a length of time without getting paid before he can initiate the auction. He must mail out a series of letters, including some by certified mail, and he must pay out hard cold cash for a legal advertisement. The average locker auction does not generate enough cash to pay for all the expenses and lost rent. In the event that a locker sells for more than the tenant owes, the operator must give the tenant whatever is left over after paying off the expenses of the sale. The best the operator can hope to do is to break even and that happens maybe only one time in five. I normally will try to make whatever deal I can with a delinquent tenant to avoid an auction.
