Public Storage

So when Public Storage converted my credit card payment into a check, they knew it would be returned because no such account existed. They then charged me late fees and a return check fee for a check I never wrote. This is clearly a fraudulent practice. 2) On 12/10 in an attempt to pay said late fees under threat of having my unit auctioned I went online to pay by credit card $196.80. I was then duplicate charged by Public Storage. I did not know this until I received my statement on or about 1/1/19. Without my knowledge, Public Storage then claims to have credited my account for the duplicate charge. I called my bank to investigate, and apparently the bank reversed one of the charges.

When the bank reversed the charge, with no notification to me, Public Storage then claimed I was again delinquent, because now what had been a credit on my account was now a delinquency and charged $88.30 in delinquency fees, even though I had no knowledge that the chargeback occurred, nor did I authorize duplicate payments for the $196.80. First, I called the facility and was told that the district manager Fatima had called and left me a voicemail about it. This is patently untrue. I never received a voicemail from her. I then called and left her a message. She never returned my call. I then had to go to the location in person.

Fatima was rude, unhelpful and condescending. She refused to reverse any of the aforementioned charges ($140.10 total at this point) and threatened to auction off my unit if I did not make a payment right then and there of $285.10 which included purported rent of $185.80, Insurance of $11.00, a late fee of $26.80 and a Lien Fee of $61.50. Thus a total of $239.40 has been stolen from me by Public Storage. These business practices are unconscionable. I suspect that the "website" often makes such mistakes and then it is blamed on the customer and fees are incurred. Having no recourse because their storage unit has now been taken, people are forced to pay these ridiculous fees. T

There is no possible way this is an isolated incident, every post on the Facebook page is a complaint, one star ratings on everything, tons of disgruntled customers. It appears to be, based on the manager's quote "we never refund late fees or charges. It is company policy" and the other employee's comment that credit card payments are "automatically" turned into check payments, a consistent business practice of the company. They have also blocked me from their Facebook page for suggesting to all the other disgruntled customers that they also file BBB Complaints and contact the media.

The site was very clean, orderly, and secure. A great experience, with the processing of the paperwork, setting up insurance and auto-payment plan. I will be traveling extensively, but, I feel very comfortable leaving my few items with Public Storage at the above location. Very career oriented people are in charge! I could not ask for more, as the prices and lock you can purchase, together with storage supplies, fits my needs. Great times to enter and to exit, right in a great location for gas and city bus. Highly recommend.

So when I received notification of the late fee, I immediately paid the rental fee and asked to have the late fee waived. I was told NO, even under the circumstances and that I would need to pay it. I called the District Manager and left several messages and even asked the front office to have him call me and he refused to (Justin ** is the name they gave me). I paid the 20.00 but I can't wait to get my stuff out of here. These people have NO heart and are not Human with no compassion. It wasn't even about the 20.00 to me, this was MY MOM and she was dying and I told these people why I was late and they did NOT care! DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. THEY ARE EVIL!!!!

I inquired about the late fee and she proceeded to tell me that in the state of Maryland the late fee calendar date had been changed to the 6th of the month. I told her that I never received notification of that change and she insisted that the notice had been both mailed and emailed. I asked her to show me what she alleges was sent to me, but she claimed that she couldn't pull it up online. This young lady's demeanor was negative, borderline disrespectful and void of compassion!!! The only mail that I ever got/get from Public Storage are my receipts. I never got an addendum showing any kind of 'late fee' calendar date change(s). I called the corporate customer services and they in turn gave me a number to the District Manager. I called the number I was given and absolutely nobody has bothered to return my call. Thank you for allowing me to vent. Be Blessed...

They cut my locks (2) off. I wasn’t 30 days late. I am under doctor's care cardiologist, orthopedic and more. They call every month almost like harassment. I paid my storage bill every month. I do not understand nor know in depth why they keep calling except for me to put my own lock on the storage or else I cannot open it without them in the office opening it, well I knew that I have the insurance on my storage therefore perhaps if anything is missing my insurance will replace it. To tell the truth I have not found a place to move into and my doctor hasn’t released me. I would like it if they would not call me as much. The storage is my stuff and my stuff and my stuff. I will not forget to pay for it nor will I forget the address where it is located.

My only issue was with the hours closing at 5 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. on weekends. For the amount of money that I was paying I decided to seek out a 24-hour place or one that was at least open until the evening. I thought I'd found it when I read the ad for Public Storage saying convenient hours of access 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. but I missed the small print that read "May vary by location".

When I came into the office they did the standard procedure of asking me what I was going to be storing you there. I told them musical equipment at which time the other man that was working there in a condescending way said, "You can't access it all the time. We can't have a whole lot of in and out. This is a storage facility. We can't have people loitering out front." As if to suggest that I was Indigent and planned on living in the space.

When I told them that I was almost certain that I had read on the website that they were open till 10 p.m they were very dismissive. Said, "Absolutely not." I fumbled around with my phone trying to find the website where it is said they're open till 10 and another potential customer came in. He was a clean-cut strait-laced businessman type. They asked how they could accommodate him. He said in what and what would he be storing. He replied that it was paperwork and documents boxes mostly business stuff but he needed access to it all the time or a lot. They assured him that that was not a problem. So my point is employees in this company treat people different based on what they look like, how they dress. I'm friendly, polite and articulate and it doesn't feel good to be treated like a second-class citizen because you have long hair. I'll spend my money somewhere that is not prejudiced against rockers.

Again today I called and left a message. It was returned this time. The manager blamed the snow pile on their snow removal vendor. Upon asking about my 24-hour access revocation without notice, the manager said I never had it. Public Storage took no responsibility. You might think they would value a long-term customer who tolerates their annual ~10% cost increases each year. Sadly no. If you are a business, I would strongly discourage you from considering Public Storage. It is not worth the risk to your business.

The personnel there do not clearly explain their procedures and policies with respect to unit ownership vs. authorized users and never explained to me that I would be putting any items stored there in the hands of this "Friend" forever. After having many of my belongings in a unit that a friend who happened to be staying in my home at the time set up for me as the personnel at Public Storage suggested (something I would not have done if they had not suggested this) and still being listed as an authorized user, the personnel there denied me access to the unit (despite having a code and key).

I explained that things had changed. I was now the victim of domestic violence at the hands of this "friend" and that I wanted to transfer the unit to my name or simply retrieve my property as I had a protection order in place protecting me from the "friend" who set up the unit. (This friend per the protection order was not allowed to contact me and I was advised by counsel and the police not to contact him). All I wanted to do was get my things and move them elsewhere so they were out of this abuser's control and I would not inadvertently bump into him.

Not only was the woman completely inattentive and uncaring (despite knowing the "friend" and me from previous dealings), she was harsh towards me and told me to get the police if I need to. I requested the police come to do a civil standby and to deal with me retrieving my things (which is commonly done when protection orders are in place in order to retrieve property).

While the police were there, the women stated she had to contact the "friend" to make sure I was still authorized. The "friend" never had expressly unauthorized me and never changed the lock to suggest I should not enter the unit -- she apparently went out of her way to make this harder for me even though the police were present and could see I had a key. I confirmed his email and his phone number with her. He did not answer; she continued to be rude to me while the police were present. She told the police I was not welcome on her property and that the unit was not in my name. I asked what would happen if the unit wasn't paid for, she stated that the items would be sold at auction. I left without my property in tears.

For weeks a third-party tried to deal with both the "friend" and public storage to retrieve the property. This third-party told me they continued to contract this "Friend" to no avail. I continued to receive emails from Public Storage addressed as, "Dear 'friend's' name." Despite their insistence that I was not the unit owner, could not access my property and wasn't welcome on the property. To make matters worse after the first missed payment on the unit, they called (a number that they knew was mine and not the "friend's"), leaving a message saying, "Hi 'friend's name'. We need to talk to you immediately." I immediately called back (no answer) and left a message stating this was not "friend's name's" number, that I believed they knew this and that I find this to be inappropriate given their position towards me. I received the same voicemail the next day again addressed to "friend's name."

I continue to receive emails to my email address (despite clear communication that the email address they are using is not the email for the unit holder). I feel that Public Storage Unit stole my property from me and went out of their way to make a very difficult experience worse. I have rented other units with other persons at other facilities in the past without incident. There is no need for Public Storage's rigid policies that are not clearly explained to customers. I am not sure how these people stay in business.

I have been calling the customer service line since the beginning of December with a return call on my voicemail saying call the customer service line back which is repeated when you call back. When I answer my phone they hang up right away. I have called the district manager for my location several times with no return call. I called the corporate office and left messages for the customer relations, Debra or Deborah again asking for return calls with zero callbacks. They charged me a late fee since I could not get the online service to work. They will charge you $20 to do it over the phone with them and $10 if you do it on the automated line. So not customer service oriented although that is what their slogan is about, if you expect a return call for issues and you ask for supervisors then forget it and they have business hours to respond not business days. Horrible place.

So I called the police who tried codes they had. None worked. He talked to them and spent two hours punching in codes to no avail. No one in that company told me of any plan to get me out of there. At around 11, I parked my car in the back and the police drove me home. The next day I called Public Storage about 20 times. Literally. I was nervous about my car being towed while I was working. At about noon I took Uber and got my car from Public Storage. When I got there the alternative gate was opened because the normal gate was malfunctioning like I told them. I went inside and told the employee that I had to leave my car overnight. Her response was “Oh, so that is why your car was there this morning” I was waiting in line to talk to her about how I had to take Uber and how I believe the company should pay for it. She then said to me “So what do you want?”

Stunned at her unempathetic response, I just left and got out of the line. It was so rude. When I went home I wrote a review both on their Instagram page about what happened to me and them on Yelp and Google. The Public Storage Instagram blocked me. The next day (Thursday) I got a call from Public Storage District Manager Jillian **. The very first sentence out of her mouth was “how do you feel?” Bewildered by that question, I said, “I feel fine.” Second sentence was to tell me that she called me because she saw my review and then told me to delete it because it would hurt her performance. Taken aback by the same apathy I got from the woman when I picked up my car, I said, “I would think about it.”

I didn’t think they did anything to justify me removing the bad review. Because to me, if I knew someone got stuck in a facility I was in charge of and I couldn’t find that person, especially a woman, I would call that person ASAP to make sure they are okay. She didn’t do that. The other ‘manager” who supposedly checked up on me didn’t do that. The woman working at Public Storage when I picked up my care couldn’t care less as well. Jillian also told me she talked to me that night I was stuck. So she knew I was stuck there. No excuse why she waited till a negative review to check up on me. She then went to tell me she had someone come to check on me two nights prior. She never told me of this person that night that I called. In fact, I left that place believing no one would come to open the gate for me and that Public Storage, including Jillian **, shrugged their shoulders and left me there.

Later when I got home, I saw a self-gratifying email District ** Jillian ** sent me where she said things to the tune of ‘I am sorry I tried so hard to help you and you couldn’t be helped’, ‘I am sorry that I sent someone and when they came you were not there’ “I…, I…, I…, I…”. I emailed her back and asked her why she never told me that she sent someone to help me? I got off the phone with her thinking no one would come and that they didn’t really care. I got off the phone with them STILL accusing me of leaving late, and still giving me new codes to put in the access system, after telling them multiple times that the gate was malfunctioning. She emailed me back saying she told the police officer she was going to bring someone.

I told her, “Why would you tell the police officer and not me? It makes NO sense. I am the paying customer of this storage facility who happened to have gotten locked inside because of a malfunctioning gate. But you tell a third party, who never told me, that you are bringing someone. I am a woman stuck outside of a gated facility that has NO lights, pitch dark and I’m frightened. Also the police officer told me himself that I should call them the next morning and let them have it.”

I told her I won’t remove my review to help her work “performance”, which I took to mean her BONUS check would be affected by me leaving a bad review. Her response to me was to tell me that her boss knows everything and sat there with her during her phone call where she told me to remove my review so she could get a better performance score. She also told me she has tried time and time again to apologize and make my experience pleasant. In the same email she told me about a man named Dilraj who “who left his 6 month old BABY at home with his wife to drive to the property.” And I found that comment about the baby to be not only laughable but asinine. REALLY?

I felt like she was guilting me by saying he had to leave his 6 month old to come get me. He is a manager doing his job. I am sure he doesn’t take his baby to work. And I’m sure Jillian doesn’t take her daughter to work. I don’t take my kids to work. No one does. That is how it is. I never complained to her about leaving my family to be stuck, nor did I say how when I went home my family was asleep. Because I never blamed her nor Public Storage for being stuck there. Because I know it was a mistake. When you are a manager you are responsible for unintended problems that arises. That is what Dilraj and Jillian ** signed up for. She then told me she offered to pay for my Uber fare because she felt sorry for me, but she can tell that cannot turn my experience around.

No you should offer because you are LEGALLY responsible for paying it. You are not doing me a favor. I sent my receipt to her MULTIPLE times with NO reimbursement. I have tried calling her, because I felt her emails to me were her self-serving way of telling her bosses what she did, instead of conversing with me. She doesn’t pick up. In fact she stopped communicating with me. Half her emails were also about how “my boss knows everything” “I am forwarding this to my boss”. Which tells me she never meant to pay me back in the first place. Her whole purpose in contacting me, which she admitted to when she first contacted me TWO days after the incident, was to make sure I remove my review, for her to get a lucrative payday. When I didn’t her boss and her obviously came up with a plan to ignore me, because they were going to lose money due to a bad performance review.

Jillian ** knows better. She worked at Target as a team leader for 3 years after working there for another 4 years, and knows customer service. I’m sure having a degree in English from Stony Brook University didn’t help much but she has worked in customer service enough to know that you don’t dodge a customer for 7 months. I didn’t know how to go about it because it was obvious she was upset, but why should I remove a review for a woman who did nothing but SCOLD me about someone leaving their BABY at home to take care of a customer who was stuck at a place for 3 hours at night? Having been a manager before. I would have made it right with my customer. And made sure to follow up. She hasn’t contacted me, but I have made attempts to contact her. To me she is retaliating by ignoring me.

Please do not use this company. Jillian ** is a horrible District manager and the worst manager of ANY company I have ever dealt with. When I left Public Storage, my items had water damage ALL over them and also water was all over my items. And there are BUGS. I called them about that several times, and they never pick up. Public Storage directs phone calls by if you are a current renter or not. If you are not people will pick up, if you are good luck getting someone. Once you are a customer they don’t care. Jillian needs more training in being a manager. She has failed big time.

This company has put this traveler in a very tough spot. I have a flight booked and nowhere to store my travel trailer and truck. When it was brought to my attention that I no longer had a storage spot I thought they would work with me to resolve the problem but they refused to return my calls until I made a formal complaint and at that point, after 6 voicemails they were still unable or unwilling to help. I should have read the reviews on this company first. So I learnt a valuable lesson myself. Read reviews. This company is not worth it!! Even with their teaser rates to get you interested it's not worth the aggravation.

I decided to call them and after 30 minutes, I finally reached a live person. As soon as I stated the reason for the call, the call was disconnected. I never could reach a live person again. I decided to take it to Facebook. I posted my dissatisfaction on their page and was told they were looking into it. 7 hours later, no reply. Now the holiday weekend has started so I doubt I'll hear anything until Monday. Even at that, I'm not holding my breath. Shortly after I rented the unit, I actually asked what would happen if I paid in advance and an increase went through. They said not to worry. Increases are usually only 10 - 15%. Riiight. So now I have a storage space full of stuff and a bill that is nearly double what I signed up for. Ridiculous.

In August, I was made aware that ALL of the items in my storage unit were sold, unbeknownst to me. Because I was in the process of relocating, EVERYTHING that I owned was sold. My furniture, appliances, electronics, clothing, files containing sensitive information, photo albums, etc. I have documentation to support the fact that Public Storage made a SERIOUS error in selling my items. I am enlisting the assistance of an attorney to file a major lawsuit, if anyone else has experienced a similar issue with Public Storage, please contact me. A Class Action Lawsuit can be initiated.