Public Storage Reviews

I first started storing items in a 10' x 13' unit with Public Storage in Oct 2013, with an initial rate of $171.00 from their advertising. What their advertising did not mention is that the $96.90 was listed in their system as a discounted rate, but with a higher rate already in their system. Since this time, I have had my rates increased progressively over the years I've been with them to a current rate of $161.00 per month, and a late fee that increased from the one listed in the contract of $0 to the current late fee of $37.20. The only notification of increases I've ever received from them on the increases to rental rate have been by email, and no notifications of an increase to the late fees until they've come up.

It is possible that this lack of notifications is because of some break in their system. Perhaps there is a flaw that doesn't update the mail address for notifications, even if you update it in their system. If so, this is still a problem. I've called a few times on their corporate line just to make sure my information was current. It is, but this has made no difference in receiving any sort of notifications.

To give you a better idea of just how much of an increase this is, I have had my rates on the rental go up by over 100 percent since Oct 2013. This is 100 percent increase over 1 month. The late fees have apparently also increased since 2013, though in this case, the increase is a little over 80 percent. All told, I'm paying 80% more than when I started this thing, all because Public Storage felt they could get away with charging it. When I checked other companies in the same area, the rate for the same size storage unit is currently between about $$95-$155. None of them came close to what Public Storage claims is market rate. Public Storage claims that market rate is somewhere around $178.00 in that area, even though they list a lower rate for new customers.

Public Storage figures they can increase the rate each year, as they figure most people will just pay the extra rather than dealing with the hassle of moving their stuff back out. And for those that can't pay the increases, well, Public Storage has some hefty lien handling and sale fees that they add on as well, taking those and the additional rent and late fees they'll also charge on the items that can't be recovered until they get paid. Those fees come out of the proceeds they get by selling whatever is in that storage unit. If for some reason the sale doesn't make their total of fees, Public Storage will still charge you the additional amounts, too. What this means: If you are late in paying, and you are unable to catch back up, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR ITEMS, and you will be charged more for the privilege of letting them sell off the contents of your storage unit for them to collect on those inflated fees.

Short form of this, stay well away from Public Storage. They are a greedy company out to gouge you for as much money as they feel they can get out of you, with a particular target painted on long term customers. If you've been with Public Storage for years, they figure you will pay whatever they insist is the rate rather than moving.

This is why I got behind my payments and what they have done to my storage right now to the day of May 30.14. My keys were misplaced. I have health problems and we were unable to pay the bill first back in. The death of my fiance was why I had to put my stuff in storage. I was homeless when I move back home for 4 mos. Was terminated from my job. I got a lien letter stating a lien was placed on my account and that payment had to be made in full by April 28th. My whole life is in there, including my grand-children's toys, clothes, memories, EVERYTHING. However, I was always in contact with the people at the Public Storage location to let them know what was going on.

Public Storage claims to give 30 days written notice of increases of the charge and any fees, but I have only ever received notification by email very shortly before that increased charge was due. On top of this, if you do not pay the increased amount by the 6th of the month, they will lock you out of the area where your items are stored until you are up to current, including any increases to charges or late fees that they have made in this manner. In short, you have lost access to any of your items past this point unless you pay their increased charges.

I first started storing items in a 10' x 15' unit with Public Storage in February 2009, with an initial rate of $96.90 from their advertising. What their advertising did not mention is that the $96.90 was listed in their system as a discounted rate, but with a higher rate already in their system. Since this time, I have had my rates increased progressively over the years I've been with them to a current rate of $161.00 per month, and a late fee that increased from the one listed in the contract of $20.40 to the current late fee of $32.20. The only notification of increases I've ever received from them on the increases to rental rate have been by email, and no notifications of an increase to the late fees until they've come up.

It is possible that this lack of notifications is because of some break in their system. Perhaps there is a flaw that doesn't update the mail address for notifications, even if you update it in their system. If so, this is still a problem. I've called a few times on their corporate line just to make sure my information was current. It is, but this has made no difference in receiving any sort of notifications.

To give you a better idea of just how much of an increase this is, I have had my rates on the rental go up by over 66 percent since 2009. This is 66 percent increase over 5 years. The late fees have apparently also increased since 2009, though in this case, the increase is a little over 58 percent. All told, I'm paying two thirds more than when I started this thing, all because Public Storage felt they could get away with charging it. When I checked other companies in the same area, the rate for the same size storage unit is currently between about $90.00 to $130.00. None of them came close to what Public Storage claims is market rate. Public Storage claims that market rate is somewhere around $178.00 in that area, even though they list a lower rate for new customers.

Public Storage figures they can increase the rate each year, as they figure most people will just pay the extra rather than dealing with the hassle of moving their stuff back out. And for those that can't pay the increases, well, Public Storage has some hefty lien handling and sale fees that they add on as well, taking those and the additional rent and late fees they'll also charge on the items that can't be recovered until they get paid. Those fees come out of the proceeds they get by selling whatever is in that storage unit. If for some reason the sale doesn't make their total of fees, Public Storage will still charge you the additional amounts, too. What this means: If you are late in paying, and you are unable to catch back up, YOU WILL LOSE YOUR ITEMS, and you will be charged more for the privilege of letting them sell off the contents of your storage unit for them to collect on those inflated fees.

Short form of this, stay well away from Public Storage. They are a greedy company out to gouge you for as much money as they feel they can get out of you, with a particular target painted on long term customers. If you've been with Public Storage for years, they figure you will pay whatever they insist is the rate rather than moving. If you must use a storage place, do not use Public Storage. Stay far clear of this company for your own good. Tell your friends to stay away. Tell companies to stay away. Share this message on social media, in your email lists, on your corporate newsletter. Let Public Storage know that they cannot treat customers like this in the only way that they will listen to, by reducing their profits. Take away their paycheck, because they certainly haven't earned it. Don't rent with them. If you are already renting with them, find a way to stop using storage, or go to another storage company. It will be worth it. Stay with them, and you'll find yourself wondering why you didn't listen.

I paid march 2 my account would not have been delinquent until March 3rd. When I called they told me no lien was on my account as of March 2nd when I made the payment. So I couldn't understand why I got a letter of a lien if I wasn't delinquent yet. On March 31st however, I finally became delinquent and they are still auctioning our stuff on April 28th. Our whole life is in there, including our children's toys clothes, memories, EVERYTHING. I offers to pay $50 if they could push the date back another 30 days then I would pay it in full with my first paycheck from the job I just started. The guy I talked to said he could do that, but then today they told me he doesn't think they can do that because Delaware has strict laws. I find that hard to believe because the last time I had 60 days and this time I got 28!

As soon as they told me I was behind on the rent of the unit, I tried for an hour to pay online and it wouldn’t allow me to pay. That was actually on New Year’s Eve at 11am and I left a message that I needed them to call me immediately so that I could pay. No call back that day and the following day was a holiday. I admit that I forgot about it mainly because I figured they would call back wanting their money. Due to the fact that they failed to call, all kinds of charges were added to my account. I was unfortunately very ill for both December and January, but I still called Public Storage figuring that knowing I was keeping in touch, they wouldn’t continue to add charges to my account. I was wrong and the next time they told me my balance, I didn’t have the money to pay the enormous and ridiculous fees that had been added.

I didn’t think that telling people I didn’t know what I was putting in storage was a very good idea. However, it never even crossed my mind that without giving me any chance to pick up my things, they would auction all of them for undisclosed amount. The amount of rent I had fallen behind amounted to 106.00. I was at no time told that they would be bold enough to go into my unit and go through my things when they had no reason to think that I wasn’t going to pay for the rent and late charges. It simply wasn’t right and more importantly; I don’t believe it was legal.

I should have been given the opportunity to pick up my things. There was an additional lock put on my unit to prevent my access after 30 days. I spoke with the manager the morning of the auction after they had left me a message just the previous day. I told him that I would willingly pay the ridiculous charges on my account on no later than 2/20 (one day) if he would not auction my property. He said he couldn’t promise, but he would do all that he could. Knowing that there was nothing forcing him to sell my things, I thought they would be there the next day. I called to pay on the 20th only to find that they had supposedly sold 18,000.00 worth of property for $200. I literally almost fainted! I thought he was joking. He wasn’t and I know they made a fortune on my things!!!

I was verbally told the auction would be at the end of February. The 19th isn’t actually the end of the month. Nothing came by mail!! Although I believe that suing people is somewhat cheesy, I have to sue these idiots. The best part by far is that they sold every piece of spring/summer clothing I own in addition to every pair of spring/summer shoes. The whole thing is a complete scam and there is NO customer service. Next I'm going to file this with the Better Business Bureau!

She said they do NOT refund and can only credit for the next month. I told her I had a bad experience with public storage and was moving all my things out - the credit was no good to me. She refused to give me the information I requested about my account, nor would give me a contact number to someone else who could help me nor her superior. She talked over me, raised her voice, and kept repeating my name as if she was disciplining a child. VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE and NO RESOLVE...

I found one rep named **, to be a liar and a thief. The last time I received any communication from him was on Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve, in my phone record. I wondered why he was calling so late at night, I had just paid Public Storage $350 on Dec. 11, and was still behind. He said I would get a late fee on Jan. 1st and wanted to let me know. I said okay, fine, as long as it is not going to auction, please let me know so that does not happen. He said no that is not the case. When I called to pay my bill in Jan. he said my unit was already auctioned off a month ago. That means he lied to me on the phone.

I was not notified by mail, email or by phone of this auction date. I was in shock when he told me and wrote an account summation and story to the district manager asap. I am now pursuing a lawsuit. I had over $45000 worth of my home items. Framed and unframed art, mirrors, antiques and a full unit of home belongings. I would have rather suffered through a tornado, or natural disaster than to know that heartless human beings stole my belongings. I have hope that the law will be on my side as the company is only supposed to recoup their rent not thousands of dollars in my life's belongings. I welcome any help at this time in support of justice.

The drama beginnings, lo and behold there is a lock on my unit without my awareness. My movers are waiting in the cold, my kids and the car cold and hungry. I run up my gas trying to keep them warm due to the inconvenience of public storage had placed their lock on my unit without a move in. Therefore the additional fees starts with the moving company as applies anything after my allocated hours of move is 89.00 + 75.00 storage cost + addtl 15 mins wait + 49.00 gas charge for having them to come back the next day of 02/05/2014. So, I proceed to call the office thinking its an emergency transfer it was not. Then I called the district manager number that was list Phil ** @ ** left two messages, I left two messages on the main office line also @ 972-251-1479. No answer.

I proceed to call the 1-800-688-8057 to see if I could get any turn around result the customer rep stated that she has called three different managers to contact me. However, the customer service rep did a great job! She then explained to me the policy. She stated that if I didn't purchase a lock from public storage then I should have been placed. My lock on the unit before I left the premise. Advised that Ericka had not explained these procedures to me, and if I would have known this I would have place my lock on my unit by end of work day, and there was not a courtesy call to my phone regarding to my unit not having a lock.

Finally I received a call from Phil ** @ 7:38 pm from # ** stating that "he is located in California at this time on a meeting for a week, and since I didn't purchase one of their locks they are not responsible for my Unit." They will not reimburse me of the additional fees that I have inquired. Advised that this was not professional and not acceptable as a customer. I was not explained the policy that I needed to place a lock on my unit since I didn't buy their standard lock and after business close they will place their own lock on the unit to secure. My reaction is WHAT AND THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPLAINED TO ME THEN I WOULD HAVE NOT OCCURRED ADDTL FEE OF $199.00 IN MOVING EXPENSES. I DID ADVISE MR. ** THAT I WOULD BE CONTACTING TRACI **, AND HE PROCEED TO BE RUDE, WITH SECURENESS, THEN I TOLD HIM "THANK YOU. HAVE A GREAT NIGHT. I WILL GET THIS RESOLVED."

I WOULD LIKE A REIMBURSEMENT OF THE ADDITIONAL FEES of $199.00 DUE TO THE NEGLIGENCE, INCOMPETENCE OF THE WORKER NOT EXPLAIN THE DETAILS AND MR. ** RUDENESS FOR HIS WORK NEGLIGENCE TO EXPLAIN TO ME. ALSO NOT HAVING EMERGENCY PROPERTY MANAGER AVAILABLE 24-HRS AS STATED. I FEEL THAT PUBLIC STORAGE IS HUSTLING CUSTOMERS TO BUY A LOCK FROM THEM AND ITS NOT FAIR. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

So, because of the racketeer late fees added one on top of another and their refusal to set up EFT, which I suspect is on purpose to collect more money for compounded late fees, I have a reminder set up to mail my payment by the 23 of each month. The rental unit I speak of originally was a different company and the facility is much better than Public Storage's usual setup. However, after a few years with the original company, a notice from Public Storage stated they had bought the facility and payments were to be remitted to them. Once I got the notice that Public Storage had taken over my storage company, I knew the quality of service would decrease and the monthly rental would increase.

I am now paying 85% more than I originally paid. The cost increase is not peculiar to Public Storage.... Many services and consumer goods have increased prices during these past few years of bad economy. It is just that Public Storage does not seem like a quality company and seems to use racketeering tactics to collect more and more money from their customers and, as far as I know, still does not have EFT set up. Twice I paid on their internet site and was told by the office clerk when visiting the site that they wanted me NOT to pay on the site. This was well before the late fees and EFT fiasco. Public Storage is not customer oriented!

I immediately called the office. The guy came down to look and admitted that the guy in the next door unit mentioned the same problem. I told him that I'm sure it has happened before and he admitted that it has. How do they get away with this?! Their contract states they are not liable for their negligence, but when does it become fraud and illegal? My personal insurance covers my property in case of theft, fire, tornadoes etc. But they do not cover a defect from the storage unit.

This is crap! How did they get to be such a large company with the way they treat their customers? People need to speak out about this!!! I am outraged right now and feel the need that something should be done. It appears that this type of neglect and fraud happens frequently. To say the least, I feel people need to come together to form a class action law suit against this company. If not to recover some of the money they lost, then to help people in the future. Nobody deserves to have their personal effects destroyed because Public Storage doesn't do their due diligence of notifying their customers of potential issues or keeping up on their property. I paid very good money for the rent of a climate controlled unit so that my stuff would be safe. Not so that the AC Unit that was supposed to help my stuff could end up destroying it.

I felt bullied and extremely distraught after moving. I did not budget the money she was demanding I spend. I felt completely trapped. When I left after not agreeing to the contract and not signing the credit card receipt - I told her I was going to call customer service and find out if what she was saying was correct. She also told me there was no one I could contact above her. I found out there was a district manager named Josh. On my way to a different location, I made reservations with a Public Storage consultant explaining what had happened. He told me I should not go back there and they would honor the special at a different location. I felt much more comfortable.

I called the Parkland location and told her to cancel everything, that we did not wish to rent there and would be renting at the Puyallup location. She said she could not refund my money unless I signed her paperwork. As we arrived to Puyallup before I could even get to the counter, the gentleman said everything was rented, that ** from the other location had called and I could not get a refund or rent in any other location. He said he showed no reservation for me even though we had just made it. They made this as difficult as it could possibly be, everything was NO. Just because I was uncomfortable with the other location and how these folks were handling this situation. I had a load of things I was trying to get into storage before storage with a 10-month-old baby and 3 and a half hours later and a minute before the office closed we finally got the district manager sort the situation out but found errors in everything we were doing.

I was so frustrated and now my things are in a storage where I just do see will end in any good result. However, as an exhausted mother, I just didn't have the time or energy to go anywhere else. And what's more frustrating is my help had to experience all of this with me. Pay the extra money and go somewhere else. These folks in Washington are playing bait and switch!

We were treated as if it were our fault it happened. We have also been made aware of multiple break-ins on the property by former employees, research with the local police department and speaking with other tenants. There has been nothing done by Public Storage to stop these break-ins or to help those tenants that this happened to. Their famous response seems to be, “Get insurance and it is your responsibility to ensure your items are safe, not ours.”

The management also raised the rent without properly notifying the tenants, but claimed they did. Apparently that is all they have to do is claim they sent something. I paid our monthly rent then realized a week later I have a $20 late fee due to a $10 balance because of this rate increase we were never notified of. Spoke with numerous other tenants and they also experienced the same thing. Management refused to remove the late fee or the $10 increase until proper notice received and agreed upon.

The customer service has always been poor to nonexistent from on site to the district manager (**), even the 1-800 reps. The unit we are currently in is starting to have structural issues including the same ceiling issue as previous unit. Management has been notified numerous times and still hasn't lifted one finger to do anything. The property itself is in shambles, interior and exterior. The current property manager (** - may be misspelled) will tell you she is documenting your account but then never does so later on; it is as if it never happened and your documentation means nothing to them.

I have also spoken with several employees that left the company due to the shady dealings the company was asking them to take part of. I was enlightened on some amazing things - ways they get out of paying insurance claims, not pro rating move outs, raising rent without notifying tenants or signing new leases with increase, that they don't patrol property or maintain property as explained to residents then when incidents happen it is put on residents, there are more break-ins then most know about, the issues with accounts purposely not being documented, they look through people's units more than they should during "routine inspections", and they also help themselves to items when people move out or are evicted which is clearly against policy.

Items are supposed to be auctioned off during the event of an eviction. Items after people move out are to be thrown out, not taken by employees. I am currently waiting for a call back from the supervisor (**) above the district manager to call. This is only after 3 months of calling and emailing with no response from anyone else. My last contact with the district manager I was basically told to stop calling. I would no longer receive any help, as if I was the one bothering them for asking them to do their job that I and many others are paying them to do.

They are not providing a free service. They are being paid to provide safe, clean, and rodent-free structures for our belongings. We are also trying to get our stuff out by the end of this month. Apparently, you have to have your things out by the 6th of the month or they charge you for the entire month, which is another battle I am fighting because I was told by the site manager, aka **, it would be prorated based on the day we moved out regardless of what day that was.

At this time Public Storage said they have two reports that stated that I caused the problem?? Public Storage is refusing to provide me with any documentation of their findings so that I can provide that information to my insurance company. Public Storage is stating that I caused the damage by how the unit was packed. I find this to be a shady comment on behalf of Public Storage because of the fact is that the furniture was fine for the last 13 years located in the same storage unit without any prior problems. I checked the furniture this last March and it was fine at that time.

I checked the paperwork from them, and there's no mention of this. If anyone else has had issues with condensation inside of storage units and gotten them resolved, I would certainly like to know. In the meantime, I would not recommend storing ANYTHING at a Public Storage brand storage unit. There is also a really bad smell down there, which has permeated all of my belongings. This is not covered in my homeowner's insurance nor would it have been covered in the insurance they sell. I asked them to find out what is being stored in close by units (their response) so I could find out if it could be remedied using ozone (only works on natural things, not chemicals) and thus far no one has found out for me.

Luckily, we have private insurance because an insider told us the insurance that Public Storage rips you off and doesn't cover flooding. The District Manager, **, is an idiot and I've found enough complaints online to verify that most of the management consists of idiots. They are lazy, ignorant and have ZERO customer service skills. Slumlords of storage = Public Storage. RUN from this place.

Within a couple of days, I returned and signed a paper to cancel. I was under the impression that I would receive a full refund, but instead was told I would receive a check for $.58. Yes, that is fifty-eight cents. After going back and forth with the local Public Storage for two weeks, I finally filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in New York, which they transferred to the Los Angeles BBB because that is where their headquarters are.

Today I was notified that they never responded to the complaint after it was sent to them twice. Not really surprised. I wound up paying $32.00 for something that was supposed to be $1.00. There was the $22.00 administration charge (whatever that is supposed to be), the original supposed to be payment of $1.00 and the $9.00 insurance. Something I neither wanted or needed.

I asked for another parking space and/or more time because I needed to go to the DMV in order to put the registration and plates back on my car. He gave me until Saturday (1 day). In order to move my car from their lot, I had to pay for tow truck to move it from their property and park it somewhere else. The tow cost is $200. I am disgusted with my treatment from this company. I cannot believe they can rent a space then ask you to move your items that day at their convenience and not offer time or even another available space. I addition to poor customer service, I received a notice telling me my rent was increased from $125 per month to $200 after 6 months. The only thing they did do was cancel my automatic payments, therefore, I was not billed after I towed my car out, although the rent increase would have been another issue altogether. I will never do business with this company again.

Their staff is completely incompetent and rude once you have signed on the line. They charge extreme late fees. Their insurance is a sham. They have no interest in treating their customers well. Once you are signed up, they just look for any opportunity they get to take advantage. It's really a business based on constantly raising rates, late fees and auctions. They even try to scam the people who show up for the auctions.

When I first moved my property into this unit in Columbia, SC, within a few hours, fire ants had also moved in and were totally infesting all my items. When I reported this to the office, they handed me a can of ant spray and told me to go treat my unit. Very unprofessional. I did not rent from them to have ants get into all my personal items. They then tried to sell me one of their special padlocks that cost $17, stating that they have had some "break-ins" and the regular locks are not as secure as these. My thought was "great sales pitch using a threat break-ins on your customers to sell that ridiculously expensive lock!" Hmm... using scare tactics to sell an expensive padlock! I did not buy the special padlock - I refused, stating I am not going to be there much longer. The one I have seems to work fine, and I will keep the basic padlock I have - thank you.

Now, just yesterday, after going online to pay my monthly bill as I do on the PS website each month, I encountered problems on the website once I got to the "review your payment" page. After several attempts to complete the transaction with cc online and the page not clearing and going to the payment confirmation page, I was forced to call Public Storage's 800 number to speak with a representative to try and pay my bill. I was utterly shocked and appalled when she told me she would be charging me a $20 fee to pay my bill by phone! Are they kidding us? I have never encountered a company that charges you to pay your bill by phone! Sounds to me like this company may be in financial trouble and about to go belly up with all the crazy "extra" fees they are now trying to make customers cough up at every turn.

Public Storage in the past has been a good company to rent a storage unit from. However, this experience in Columbia, SC has been a total nightmare! I have found this Public Storage here to be very unethical and unprofessional at best and the experience horrible. I would advise anyone considering renting from Public Storage here to look at the other companies, such as U-Haul Storage, which does not require you buy their insurance and does not require the extras like the specialty padlocks and $20 charges for paying your bill by phone!

It is so gross in there - with maggots everywhere and eggs; I do not even know the extent. But it is 50 yrs. of family memory and I cannot discard, and it would cost about $150,000 to replace, and much of it never can be replaced. I can only move and then I guess I'm supposed to pay expensive movers and exterminators for all this. I do not know what to do, maybe file with govt. agency and let them investigate. Obviously, there are so many complaints against them. I cannot afford whatever it will be to fix all this and they are totally oblivious and non-caring. They just assume they can get away with it - throughout the whole facility - 3 stories, hundreds of units.

When we brought this up with management, we were told that all the units are built this way, that the units are exactly as they were when Public Storage bought the building 8 years ago and we are of course the first ones to have ever had this problem! Willis, the insurance company, immediately denied any claim as the lock is intact and there is no visible evidence of forcible entry. Of course, neither Public Storage or Willis wants to answer as to how the property was ever certified and accepted for insurance when, according to Public Storage, every unit is like this and they have been like this since they bought the property 8 years ago.

Bottom line is that all Public Storage will offer is a canned "We are terribly sorry for your loss, if in fact there was one, but we bear no responsibility! Maybe we can cut a little off your rent going forward." Public Storage policy is clearly that your neighbors can steal from you and Public Storage and their insurance company bear no responsibility. There are far better, far more professional companies out there! Find one before you make the same mistake we did. We had over $3000 of clothing stolen and Public Storage has absolutely no interest. I would not be surprised if it was an inside job as surely the employees knew about the gap and from the number of similar theft complaints that I have read, it seems to be quite a racket that they have going.

Facing this, I decided to hire another place where to park the cars because they had no date when the maintenance will be finished. Also, they then charge me the entire month plus the next month without any notice. I told them that I was willing to pay just for the right thing, which was 1 month, even though I took the cars out on 25th day! It was unfair to pay 2 months if I didn't use it. The manager was very rude and told me that this was the policy, and he could do nothing about it. So he sent me to a collection company just like that. This is not fair with your clients. Never use Public Storage.

I am suspecting it’s an inside job. In fact, I'm suspicious of the manager based on comment he made as well as his demeanor when being questioned. What he said was the customers that get robbed will lie to the police and insurance company about what they had in their storage bins. He gave some examples of the lies he suspected the victims told. Now, my curiosity was raised because if he wasn't involved himself, then how does he know they lied that those items were or were not in their storage containers? He also appeared disinterested and typed the entire time I was there making my complaint to him and my report to the police officer. They also lied to the police about their policy. They told the police that customers will put their own store bought locks on the bins instead of purchasing them from the company. They claim they can't tell if store bought locks are the process the thieves use to tag the bins that will be burglarized. This is untrue because it is public storage policy that you must purchase their locks for approx $20 and you are not allowed to put your own store bought lock onto your rented unit.

So this is how the process the thieves go about to steal at public storage: First, they cut off the public storage provided lock and scope out the bins. They tag the lockers by putting a store bought lock onto the unit. Then they come back and take everything and they leave it empty or almost empty and leave it unlocked and unsecured. The facility employee will then notice the lock is gone. They put another lock onto the unsecured unit then notify the customer. They don't open the unit to check and if they did, they would notice it empty and a cut lock on the floor inside the unit. The notification I received was very ambiguous and non-urgent. They told me someone tampered with the lock and so they put a secondary lock onto my unit to secure my property. They didn't say the lock was removed completely or cut off or it was missing or that my bin was nearly empty and my property stolen. They didn't say there were dozen or more units that also had tampered locks. They didn't tell me a number of police reports were being made for the units that got burglarized.

However, they did continue to call me for payments and accept my payments for a nearly empty bin. When I found out I was a victim, they did not offer any refund; not even an apology was offered to me. They've been collecting my money to keep my belongings safe and even after they knew I was a victim of theft, they still took my money for a service they already failed to provide to me. The police officer has been there over a dozen times since November. They did not even provide a complete list to the police department about what bins are still tagged with store bought locks waiting to get robbed, or what bins still have the secondary lock that the company put on after they have been robbed. And there are still paying customers unaware they are victims of burglary that are paying for a service that the public storage failed at but are still demanding payments from unsuspecting victims. Public storage did not provide complete account of all the units that were burglarized to the police; however, the police officer urged them they must do an inventory and provide a list and make better effort to notify the customers. People are paying for units that have been burglarized and will keep paying it until they come to collect their belongings and if it’s months or years later, they will have paid money for nothing.

They don't give refunds. Public storage sells the illusion of security. They use video surveillance at the entrance gate with a lock code pad. When I asked the manager about how they view video to help identify the crooks, he said its thousands of hours of video, and it’s too much video to figure out who the suspects are. He did not care that his customers are robbed of their property nor does he offer to be useful to help the investigation. I wanted a refund for paying for an almost empty storage unit but he was not offering refunds to me or anyone that got robbed. In fact, he had been collecting and will continue to collect payments on burglarized storage units, because not all the customers have been told they are victims of theft. If they notify customers of this problem, then customers will stop paying them and some will leave unless they do more to protect people’s belongings. They stand to benefit by not doing the right thing.

The officer who had been responding to these burglaries at the Alsip public storage is Officer **. The phone # **. My police report # is ** but there are about a dozen more police report numbers he had written down on his pad. He warned public storage manager his business is looking very bad and encouraged him to get a complete list of other units that got robbed but not yet reported. The officer said they will add the additional units to my report number so that they won't have to do separate reports as victims become aware that they are victims.

I do not know if this is only occurring at this Alsip public storage property located at 4849 w. 115th street or if others nearby are also being hit. But based upon my internet research, it appears to be a problem at other locations. Some blogs indicate that police have caught the perpetrators and they were inside jobs. Somehow, the criminals were related to employees or had been past employees. The insurance they offer is a fraction of what I was robbed of. I will only receive $2,000 for a bin that contained about $50,000 of valuables. The max amount of insurance they offer is only $5,000. I stored my property there in beginning of September 2012. I moved out of a 2,200 sq. ft. home into a 700 sq. ft. rental property. Now, all of my belongings are gone and I paid public storage to keep my property safe. I will only receive $2,000 to replace it. All my furniture, major appliances, my memorabilia, my children's toys and electronics are all gone. My refrigerator that is gone was valued at $2,000. Public Storage did not tell me I was victim of burglary.

They did not beef up security when this problem began. They did not add additional video surveillance to catch criminals in the act. They failed to secure my property. They did not do anything to stop the thieves from coming back to empty my bin. It was tagged to be burglarized one day and three weeks later, it got robbed and they knew it was going to happen. And it's going to keep happening because they don't care to stop it or to notify their customers that they don't provide a secure place to store your valuables. They want the money so they tell nobody. It’s a major problem that is going on at that facility. Nothing can replace what I lost. Many of my memorabilia have been taken and all of my valuables are gone. They left me a few boxes and bags of clothes basically are all that I have left. This will continue to happen more unless someone intervenes and brings light to what has happened and is still occurring and make the general local public know they are at risk of losing all their things that are stored at the public storage in Alsip and other storage facilities.

I wonder if the thief is stealing from units then they store stolen property into another unit(s) at that same location. My stuff could still be at that property locked up in another unit rented by the thieves or until they sell it and profit from stolen goods. Video surveillance and records should be able to identify who comes to their storage frequently and for how long they are there and how often they come. A pattern may be obvious if they cared to look into it but they don't care. They are not looking into any possibility. It’s too much video footage they said. I think it’s very reasonable and would not require too much effort to determine how the burglaries are being done or who is involved.

Please do a news report and warn the general public that their property is not safe or secure at the public storage, and that customers are still paying for burglarized units, and unsuspecting new customers may become victims if they chose to store their stuff there. They will not be reimbursed for the units they paid for that was burglarized not even after theft occurs, nor will anyone be compensated through insurance claim for their actual loss because they don't offer adequate insurance. It's minimal what you are allowed to purchase for insurance. They told me in September it was unheard of that anything would happen to my stuff so I purchased the minimum amount of insurance. I wonder if that was a lie. They said nothing ever happened there to other people's stuff. You may call me if you need more info or an interview.

On 10/5/2012, I wrote to the Public Storage unit in Ronkonkoma that I actually rented the unit from. Two weeks later after receiving no reply, I called to inquire about my answer to my letter and was told by the woman who answered the phone that it was either forwarded to CA headquarters or it went in the trash. I then called again to get the address for the main office that handled complaints and sent another letter to them on 10/19/2012. I just received a reply on 12/01/2012 stating that I signed an agreement that states no refunds are ever given. I am out $24.39 from paying my fee a week earlier than required but unable to get a refund for paying ahead of time. It is poor business policy and false advertising on national TV. I do not have images but I do have the initial agreement and copies of the two letters written to them and the one reply.

I went back on the 1st, at which time I was told he would not remove their lock until I paid that month's rent. It was due on the 1st. I told him I would move my stuff out. He wanted $1.41 for that day. I gave him $2.00, told him to keep the change as I didn't know that they were in that much financial trouble. When they finally opened my locker, I was shocked as my camping stuff was still there but the DJ equipment was missing including the CD case and to add insult to injury, they used my dolly to remove it with as that was gone too. I contacted the so-called manager, who called the district manager, who wasn't of any help. I then asked about the insurance, at which time the lady in the office threw the insurance brochure to me on the counter. I called and conveniently they cancelled the insurance when I went to be scheduled for auction.

This is a Mickey Mouse operation, they do not care as I have spoken with their VP and he told me, "Sorry, but oh well." I have to replace my DJ equipment at about $1,500. When you put your stuff in a storage, you expect it to be secured. They told me their cameras only go back 7 days. I was in the storage at the beginning of September (the equipment was there then). Why they break your lock off is a mystery to me, then secure it with theirs where anyone can get in it. This is a rinky dink operation, that does not care about securing your stuff or your satisfaction. I wish I knew of ways to get back at them legally, not illegal, like they are. I want to be made whole again, my equipment back or paid for it. I'll take care of the CDs, etc.

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and they responded saying that they don't have to refund the late charge they hit me with. This company needs to be blasted on the television news. They are thieves. I did what I was supposed to do and the computer shouldn't state that a confirmation of payment was made if, in fact, it either wasn't or that they don't accept the form of payment, etc. Instead, they wait so they could charge you a late fee because they know your stuff is in storage and they use that against you - whatever excuse they need to charge extra when they want to.

I immediately went to the Property Manager and demanded to speak with his Supervisor. I was directed to Mr. ** who is the District Manager for this location. Mr. ** apologized profusely and assured me that Public Storage would do right by me and would compensate me for all the items that I had lost to the mold damage. He also said that he would immediately stop charging me for the unit and would provide me with another unit (free of charge) to store the other items that were not damaged by the water and mold.

I provided him with photos of all the destroyed property, as well as an itemized listing of everything destroyed with approximate replacement value per his request (a total of over $27,000.00). I waited to hear back from him for approximately 3 weeks and then finally received a response from him this past weekend.

Mr. ** sent me (via electronic mail) Public Storage's settlement offer along with a release to sign if I were to accept their offer. The total amount they are offering me is a measly $5,000.00; however, they also state in the offer that they are offering me $5k minus $637.20, the cost for rental of the two units from 8/4/2012 to present which were promised to me free of charge by Mr. ** until this matter was resolved. I am a single mother of three children and there is absolutely no way that I can afford to replace a whole house of furnishings with $5,000.00

I did some research on the Internet and apparently this is a common occurrence with this company. The have over 700 Better Business Bureau complaints against them and there are horrible reviews about this business all over the net. This company takes total advantage of people by saying that they are providing you with a climate-controlled space where you can store a whole house worth of furnishings and belongings, yet want to limit their liability to a maximum of $5,000.00. How is this legal?

I would very much appreciate someone contacting me as soon as possible regarding this matter. My children and I are sleeping on air mattresses and eating dinner at a picnic table in our Dining Room. I thank you in advance for your time and attention to this matter.

I went to my unit and the entire floor smelled of the insecticide used to spray for carpenter ants. I know the smell well from when I was a child, my parents had the house sprayed frequently. I then opened my unit and looked around. I found packets of rat poisoning that must have been thrown over the top! I called the district manager for the Public Storage facility and he backtracked and admitted they do put rat baits in the units. This cannot be legal. Shouldn't they be using an exterminator and the enclosed baits rather than just bags of poison? I now have lost one cat, the other is in critical condition and the total loss of everything I had in the unit. Not to mention I paid them monthly rent for all this! What in the world do I do?

When I had called previously, the rep was incredibly helpful even though it was me calling and not my husband. I don't get it. Anyway, I tried bridging my husband on the line (he had stepped out) but he hadn't taken his cell phone with him (I could hear it ringing in the next room). So I told her I would have him call when he returned and asked her if my credit card would be credited after he called. She even refused to answer that question! So then I became angry, told her this was ** and asked for her supervisor's name. First, she told me she didn't know who it was, and then she told me he wouldn't take calls. What? This is absolutely insane. She was downright condescending and the most useless customer service (ha!) person I have dealt with in a long time. I will have my husband call as instructed to get this mess cleaned up, and then I intend on writing a letter to their CEO, Ronald L. Havner, Jr. I hope that woman gets fired.

Yes, my storage unit has been robbed to the tune of approx. $15,000 of equipment. Upon being contacted by the adjustor of their supposed insurance company, it was obvious the conversation was really all maneuvering to find what policy loophole would work to avoid any liability of compensation for my loss. The reprehensible business practices of Public Storage may be more acute in densely populated metropolitan areas. I am speaking specifically of a facility at 21321 Vanowen St. in Canoga Park, CA.

The unoccupied and unlocked storage unit next to mine was used to break through the tin...er...yeah, right...metal wall between units. My storage unit may have been exposed and readily accessible for as many as 30 days ("the tenant in the unit next to yours moved out about a month ago"). Unbelievable. And yes, as others have mentioned, they did hand me a rent increase that is completely unjustified. But that pales in comparison to the other despicable events that have transpired. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Public Storage unless you like rolling the dice with your personal property.

I moved out on the 9th day of this month and the area manager would not refund any of the days I am not there. They can rent that unit I paid for and get twice the rent this month. The rubber is old at the bottom of the door and mice got in. The wind blew so much dirt that everything had to be washed and that company could care less. They say they are committed to 100% customer satisfaction and I think this is false advertising.

Now that they have raised all their customers' rent, you magically have no option to speak to a customer service rep at their customer service number. The very unfriendly employees at the lot just tell you to call customer service. The only reason we have never moved to a different storage company is because we literally have our entire 1600 sq. feet house stored in our unit, so it is a huge pain to move. But now I really wish we would've dealt with the pain of moving to another place than dealing with the pain of this terrible company known as Public Storage. If you're looking for a really good storage company, do not go with Public Storage!

The manager was rude and insensitive! The district manager wouldn't even call me back! Their corporate office just gives me the runaround and no one will take the blame for their building being damaged and being the cause of my stuff to be destroyed! I am telling everyone I know about this place and never to use this company!

Do not rent here! Never use this company. They may be everywhere like a Walgreens on every corner. That doesn't mean they are any good?! This place is slummy and the company is just a bunch of slum lords!

At around 12 pm, ** called my phone leaving a message stating that the storage needed to be vacated and that I had only 20 minutes to get my things out of the unit because she had rented it to someone else. My husband showed up around 1:00 pm and Carmen told him that he needed to move the items from that unit to the other unit and stated that we had to have everything moved at 9:30 am that morning which was not the agreement. She also told him that she would have our things removed from the storage unit and rent the one that we currently where moving into, and have our things taken from the property and have us escorted from the premises.

We have been customers of Public Storage since 2010 and have moved our items from different storage units at the 305 S. Union blvd locations through that time. ** has poor customer service and something needs to be done and the policy on moving to a different unit should be followed. I have a message on my answering machine that she left that is rude. And when I talked to ** about the situation, she was very rude. I asked her for corporate number and she kept talking over me. She didn’t want to hear what I had to say. I am a paying customer. I enjoy doing business with your company but with managers like this, it makes me want to take my business elsewhere.

When I arrived at the Farmingdale facility, the paperwork showed $126 as the price and I was told to sign it and it would be corrected later. Next, ** the manager insisted I needed to purchase insurance immediately or he could not rent me the unit. He handed me an insurance brochure as he was insisting it was a New York regulation and the minimum was $9.00 per month for $2,000. I asked why I was not advised when I made the reservation of extra costs required; he had no answer. In the fine print on the brochure, it stated insurance is not obligatory and when I pointed this out, ** walked away. Public Storage claims the first month is $1.00 and I asked several times which month I was being charged for that day, the full payment of April or the $1.00 month? The salesperson kept evading the answer.

Finally, the contract was handed to me to sign showing that the rental was beginning on that very day, 3/10/12, and I stated my move-in date was March 28, but I came March 10 as a result of **'s constant phone calls to fill out the paperwork. ** replied I just had a price reservation, not a unit reservation, and the units were going fast. I insisted I was renting the unit as of March 28, showed her the email confirmation stating just show up on 3/27/12 and requested that ** the manager honor that date, especially considering all the errors they were making that afternoon and time I was spending. ** the manager said I would have to come back on March 27 to complete the paperwork if I did not want to be charged for renting the space as of March 10. I left extremely angry after spending much time and money on transportation, and not to mention having the experience of being swindled by the corrupt business dealings of the Farmingdale office.

I subsequently rented a unit at Aspaceplacestorage.com with Noreen ** (manager) and had a completely different experience. Over the phone, she also explained the details of the unit, pricing and confirmed with me my move-in date. On move-in day, everything went smoothly and I have not been overcharged or had any extras tacked on at the last minute. It was an honest transaction and Noreen fulfilled what she offered. Public Storage's website has this definition for what it means to reserve a unit: “We hold the selected unit size and price for you until you are ready to move in. We can make your reservation up to 30 days in advance.”

I did contact customer service (Debra) on 3/13/12 by phone and asked for corporate headquarters’ contact information and was told I was speaking with corporate headquarters. When I requested the name of the CEO of Public Storage, I was reluctantly told Debra **, but was refused the contact information and was instead given Agustas ** (district manager of Suffolk County) to contact. Agustas was prompt with phone calls and offered to rent me a unit at the Farmingdale location, to which I explained I did not trust the employees of this facility and would not risk storing my personal belongings there. He said there was nothing else he could do and I insisted that the business transactions at the facility are not honest and need to be investigated. He agreed and said it was an internal problem, but did not state whether he would resolve or correct the problems.

The business transactions at Public Storage in Farmingdale need to be investigated and the public needs to be made aware of what is required and what is optional so this situation does not occur again. I was fortunate that there was a similar size and priced unit available at A Space Place Storage or I would have had to choose between paying a higher price at another facility at that late date or be forced to rent at Public Storage in Farmingdale and be subjected to their corrupt practices. Please advise **. Thank you for your time.

I went to storage a day ago and found I was once again robbed. Their insurance stated that they will pay, only if I can show forced entry and that finding a different lock on my door isn't good enough. Then they should not be able to make people who rent a storage from them buy the no-can-win insurance. Because if someone sees you open your door to your unit and leave, they can cut your lock off, put another one on for the moment, and act like it's theirs. And the alarm locks do not reset till way later. So again, who needs to force entry into a unit?

Or like I stated, you can just wait till after hours, bring a screw driver, and have all night long to craw through people's things. Again, no forced entry necessary. Most people probably don't even know they've been robbed, because most persons only come once in a while and if they can't find something they are looking for, just think that they have just misplaced the Items or Item that they are seeking because of all the fake security they believe is in place. Also, others are probably out of state, etc.

What can I do legal-wise? If they read this, they will probably change their mode of operation. They charge a lot for no protection. I think they should be served a cease and desist on the fake insurance, be made to return all the premiums charged for the no-win farce insurance, and be held accountable for whoever's belongings are gone by theft.

I have always been late and they made a lot of money off me and even let me make payments because I was falling so behind and could not afford it. If I was late, they would call and ask when I could come to make a payment and that's what I would do and it worked out as well as it could. I have been trying to get my stuff out of there for quite some time now, and every time I thought I was all paid up, they would slap more charges on me. The famous one was when they said they noticed my locks were not on my unit and that someone must have cut them off. Of course, I had to pay for both the locks which I had to purchase from them! And every time I was late, they would cut my locks off again and charge $15.00 to $17.00 to buy the locks off of them because it is some kind of policy they have, just like the pro-rated policy that I never have understood?

I lost track of all the locks I had to buy from them. That's how many there were. So, I made a payment and still had a balance on it, which ** would let me pay on my next bill. I went by there to make a payment twice. No one was there. There on the door was the time they were to return. So I waited, mind you it’s my lunch time, 10 min. go by, then 20 min. go by, I got to go back to work. I called and told her I was waiting and she said she's sorry, she was running late, no problem!

Next day, I was on my way to make a payment and wouldn’t you know it, my tranny fell out of my car! Great, I worked on it for four days straight, then my girlfriend said “Jim, ** left a message saying it’s the 21st. James you were coming to make a payment today, let me know?” I went and called her the next morning and was told it's too late, they sold your storage?

I was so upset, I did not tell my girlfriend and she just found out and has not stopped crying! She would have made a payment on line if we only knew it was going to be like this! Everything, her whole life and mine was in that storage, all her pictures of her kids from infants to well now they are 25 and 29 years old. She just lost her father to cancer and was told he only had a week to live and everything from her childhood, pictures from her dad, was in there. She told me she don't even care about the material things like the moped, slot machine, brand new washer and dryer, antiques etc. It did not matter to her. She would pay anything to whomever to get her pictures back. Those can never be replaced!

We have been together for 11 years now and she is planning on leaving me because of this! I just don't understand why they just up and sold my storage like that. I may have been late but they always got paid and then some. How can I find out who bought our storage? I wish I could sue the hell out of them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Don't rent from Public Storage! You will regret it, especially the one on Marina Blvd in San Leandro, CA.

The letter said I had until 11:30am, and she tried her best to delay my pay! I am taking my things out and placing them in another storage where the manager can treat a customer good instead of calling me an irresponsible tenant! I feel that I was treated wrongly and unjustly, but I will do my best to let all not to rent where i rent because the manager rips you off!

We are buying a house soon so I've been constantly monitoring my credit only to find out that Public Storage sent me to collection for $150, because we did not remove the lock! I was shocked, but I do not want to go through hassles and willing to pay off if they can remove the negative from the credit report, which they refused. The lady I talked to was very tough and refused to remove the item from my credit report even when I offered to pay for the $150 I did not use. I feel being screwed and am very upset. Now I have to pay for some agency, $100/month, to help fix my credit and I'm not sure if it will work or not. I'm not sure if there's anything I can do. If there is, please let me know.

I am livid as I paid thousands to store my stuff that has sentimental value and practically everything I owned. I am at this point distraught with every PS commercial, storage wars, etc. If I have to go in my garage, I think of the items I lost all the time. I would like a class action law suit or an attorney to help me with this as it's robbery and theft. Please anyone or anybody that this has happened to, let me know and contact me or if you have any referrals for an attorney that will handle the case and a lawsuit. Thank you in advance.

Last year I had a major cancer surgery and was out on FMLA leave, then returned to work part-time while still in recovery. When I was released and ready to return to work on a full time basis again, to my surprise, I was fired! I am now being denied my unemployment benefits. The company stated that I engaged in inappropriate conduct.

The company released me on Dec. 19, 2011 and the policy as a resident manager is 3 days to vacate the apartment where I lived. They said that since it was the "Holidays" they would agree to give me till the end of the year. Wow! Weren't they kind?

The "said" inappropriate behavior was due to a $1 move in promotion given to a customer. Customer "A" sold her company. Company "B" did an online reservation to rent the unit that contained the goods bought. My District Manager said I should not have given the promotion and did a name change instead.

Company "B" got the current rate of $119.00 per month

As good customer service and the Public Storage "We Care" program, I felt it was the best decision to give the new customer the move in promotion.

I would advise any employee (especially on-site managers) to leave this company as soon as possible. Public Storage does not care about their employees in any way, shape or form. They are all about the "Almighty Dollar" for the company.

My grandmother had rented out a storage unit at your Davie location, in which, the general manager's name is Eduardo **. From what we understand, he is a Hispanic man, with a very short fuse, and an extremely hot temper, which we have been trying over the past few weeks to ignore, but this man has been so rude and disrespectful, not only to us, but to other customers as well, from what we heard today. Eduardo continues to leave the property throughout the day, to go take care of his personal business, or whatever he is involved in, and continues to lock us and other customers out of the storage, while we have to sit and wait for him to return for everyone to get into their storage units, and which, we, as customers are fed up with this unprofessional behavior.

On Friday, January 13, 2012, at around 4:00 to 5:00, we, as well as about 20 other customers, had to sit outside, and wait for nearly an hour for him to return from whatever he was doing, and this happens 3 to 4 times a week, since we have been there, but on that day, I had never seen that parking lot so full of cars. It was as if there was some kind of function taking place in that parking lot. There was no function. It was about 25 furious customers, extremely angry, and impatiently waiting to get intro their storage units, because this man continues to take off, and lock everyone out of the building every week. I ask that you review your video tapes of the parking lot on Friday, January 13, 2012, at around 4:00 to 4:30-ish, and look at these people in that parking lot upset, and having to sit there and wait for him to come back, and let us in. When you review the tapes, if your cameras record, you will see that parking lot full like I have never seen it before, and we, as customers, have had enough of this man and his unprofessional behavior!

I am informing you that I am moving out today, never planning to do business with Public Storage again, and I want to inform you that when I told the woman who was working there today this, she said to me, "do you know that 4 other customers are also moving out over this? That makes you the 5th". 4 other customers moved out today, over this man and his behavior. You had 5 customers move out today, over the rude and disrespectful treatment to us as customers of your business, over this man. We have heard him curse at customers, and throw things in the office when he gets mad. We have smelled Marijuana on him when he comes back from his trips. Marijuana? Are you serious? And this is the man you have in charge of your store? Yes, marijuana on him, then he quickly goes to the bathroom to wash his hands to hide the smell, as if we don't smell it.

We're not stupid, we know what marijuana smells like, but what took the cake is when I was getting a cart on Saturday, and I complained to him that there were no more carts, because one family is using all 4. He got extremely upset, and got rude with me, and I walked out to wait for the carts a ** gentleman that was standing there came outside, and said to me, "do you know he just called you a **?" The gentleman said, when I walked out, he said "yeah, get the ** out of here, **." This was around 4:00 Saturday, there was a ** man standing there in a grey dress shirt, review your tapes, and see it for yourself. I have never in my life felt so degraded as a woman by someone who would speak that way about me, after we are giving them our hard earned money to store our belongings. This man called me a ** in front of another customer? This is the kind of thug you have managing your store? A man who locks out his customers and goes on 3 to 4 lunches when ever he feels like it and comes back smelling like pot? Are you serious?

My in-laws were renting that storage, and I am letting you know we will never use your company again, because of the treatment of this man. The woman we spoke with, Precious, I believe, is a ** woman who works there only on the weekends. She said she told the management she only wants to work there when he's not there! Even his co-workers do not want to work on the same shift with him. He's cursing customers out, and from what we heard ,there is never anything done about it. Well you review your tapes of your Davie store on that day, and you will see it for yourself. 20 to 30 cars in that parking lot, a bunch of angry customers waiting to get in, because he always does this, but to call me a ** is the one that did it for us. We will never use your company again ever, after the treatment we have received from Eduardo ** over the past several weeks!

I want you to also know, that I am contacting the Better Business Bureau, and Fox News over this, and my attorney, and also contacting the corporate headquarters over this matter. Since you will continue to ignore our complaints as customers, we are going to also inform the public about this treatment at that location. Please expect a call from my attorney.

I had contacted their area manager, Chris ** many times via emails and phone messages to try to resolve these petty nuisances but I was told I have to pay the two ridiculous late fees of over $160, for a technical issue. All these contacts were done through the courtesy of the PS location manager, Al and never once I have heard from the former, except for his automated mails asking me to pay the two disputed late fees.

Meanwhile, they had replaced the locks preventing access to the storage unit. Any typical landlords would have been more intelligent not locking good tenants out of the apartments for a month of late rent, let alone the 'minor' disputed late fees.

I have read several complaints here, including one from the lawyer whom I will be very happy to provide more additional info. I have also filed a small claims case against them amounts to 1-year refund in full for the duration of the lock change which prevents my access.

I am a consumer protection lawyer and have begun a class action suit against Public Storage for its unfair and deceptive practice. Please contact me if you have had a similar experience with this company and are interested in also filing a claim.

I was an accomplished manager, loved by upper management and by my customers. I was all for the customer service but it also got me in trouble. I tried to help our customers, giving away pallets and plastic and refusing to rent units that we knew were damaged. The upper management forced employees to rent damaged spaces, knowing full well that the tenants’ belongings would be water logged and moldy by the time they returned. The company only cares about meeting goals, sell 100% locks every month, sell 95% insurance (that doesn't really even cover anything), keep stores at 94% occupied.

Otherwise, your job is at stake and you don't make a quarterly bonus. Just for the record, the base pay for the employees is right around minimum wage and only about 20% of the managers will make a decent bonus each quarter. These employees are so poor. They qualify for government benefits like food stamps! The upper management doesn't waive fees, doesn't hold units out of auction, and doesn't get repairs done to facilities. And that is so they can get their six figure salaries!

Drive by any facility after dark and most will only have a few, if any, lights working on the property. Most will have security cameras visible but you won't see a monitor or equipment to record because they aren't even functional. Check with your local police departments and they will be able to tell you how many times a property has been broken into, usually using the same holes in the same fences year after year. Even I fell victim as a tenant when I had bugs infesting my own personal belongings. Read the fine print in the insurance. It has more loopholes than Swiss cheese. For the record, if you live in the state of Illinois, all homeowner’s and renter’s policies are required to cover storage offsite minimum of 10% of the policy!

I have called and left a message for John ** every day, but I still have not heard from him.

Online account summary showed a payment but balance has never been adjusted and the payment has been dropped. I never had a returned payment in years, for anything. With Public Storage, I had two on two different cards.

Obviously, I will never use Public Storage again because it is a swindle. They are a bad company to do business with!

When I contacted my representative at my bank, she said that she was unable to give my personal information to him nor any bank information. However, he would like to talk to her or our department that handles the electronic payments he was welcomed to it. I called Chris ** back and he refused to call my bank and speak to my account rep, refusing to resolve the matter timely and efficiently. I have paid on time, with good intentions. However, he failed to see this and argued that they have reversed late fees multiple times in the past. This is not a late fee but a $25 fee assessed for NSF, which again should not be applied to my account which had money in it. It's a big headache. I would advise anybody who is thinking of doing business with Public Storage to think twice about this!

When I returned to retrieve my things last 10/1/11, my furniture was covered in mold and roaches scurried. As a master builder, I noticed the facility had not been maintained and after further inspection I have my suspicion it was not built to code. If the unit had been built properly there would not have been moisture coming through the concrete, through the block wall and water would not come under the sill at the door just from a drizzle. Their own door frame was rotting from moisture.

My homeowner’s insurance, Allstate, stopped covering mold while I had my things in storage. Allstate will also be cancelled after having them for 30 years! Public Storage should be responsible since they did not maintain their facility. They have offered me $1,500.00 which admits guilt. Of course they are guilty, but that does not come close to the cost of replacing my furniture, washer and dryer and belongings. I have notified my friends at the local news station and I am writing posts like this. I have written on Facebook. Next, I will have my friends at the local newspaper write an article as I am getting exhausted. Hopefully they will be professional.

As of yesterday, the Public Storage facility manager finally acknowledged the fee waiver, but said there's a new late fee due for October. I called the call center again. But this time, I was told that the 'two fee waivers a year' was misinformation. Now, Public Storage is saying it's one waiver every six months, despite the fact that I relied on the misinformation. Oh, and on a previous call, the Public Storage call center rep said that no supervisors were available for me to escalate my problem, then hung up on me. It's a good thing that I recorded all my calls to Public Storage.

I had informed the property manager that I was to vacate my unit on the 15th of the month due to the fact that my apartment would be ready on that date. She informed me that if I vacated on the 6th, the fee would be prorated at a rate of $18 but if I vacated a mere 10 days later, it would be a difference of $80 plus a late fee, which, to me, is totally unfair!

When we as consumers rent an apartment, the apartment complex doesn't charge us for a full month's rent, they prorate it from the day of possession. So basically, Public Storage is making double off of their storage unit because they are charging the current renter full month's rent if departing after the 6th of the month and charging the new renter a full month's rent whenever they take possession if the unit doesn't have a current special being offered!

This company is not consumer friendly at all and very money hungry in this poor economy! Beware of Public Storage and may God bless you at this time of need for one another!

On or around 7\28\11 I received a check from Public Storage for $300 with a receipt for "tenant refund". Thinking it was a check for over-billing or just a customer refund I deposited the check into my account.

On 9\27\11 I received a phone call from a collection agency stating that my account from Public Storage is in collections for $300. I never received a letter from Public Storage in the months leading up to this that my account wasn’t current, and having been told since my final payment that my account was current, I went on assuming it was. I tried to call Public Storage and they basically told me that it was an error on their part and that I owe the $300 again.

Now I have a blemish on my credit report for their bookkeeping error. I don’t feel that I am responsible to pay for an account I closed out in June 2011. Would small claims court be an option for me here? I have the receipt in which they sent me $300 and it says tenant refund.

We then inquired about a larger space and we did get a larger space, moved our belongings, all was fine when we moved our belongings. Sometime during this year, the units became infested with rats and they got into our unit and destroyed our furniture, hoses, and some boxes of other items we had in storage. We were never contacted to be made aware of this problem so we could have moved our belongings out of the unit to a new lot or took some type of precautions to protect our belongings. They continued to accept payments and choose not to say anything. Now they are stating, "This is not our problem".

When I went there, I found that they had drilled out my lock and locked it with their own padlock.

My contract with them had never been updated to give them permission to remove my lock. They just shrugged and said, 'We did it anyway.'

I paid the past due amounts, then they insisted I buy one of their locks, even after I told them I had brought a new lock of my own. The new lock I brought was an 'approved' cylinder type, but they kept insisting I buy theirs.

Finally, I asked them to show me a contract that I had signed which required me to purchase a lock from them. After that, they relented and allowed me to install my own lock.

First, they give a discount to newcomers, but no discount to other long-term tenants. They then, from time to time, modify the existing lease to raise fees, which causes a hardship for many and thus forcing an auction on the units.

Recently, they sent me two notices that my late fee would be raised to a certain amount. I paid the late fee, but then without notice, they decided it was to be more. They are never wrong. They merely sent me a letter basically "rearranging the facts" and trying to justify their mistake when I caught it. Public Storage is not consumer-friendly. If you try to pay online, beware. They would have it set up basically to cause you to pay a late fee by not being accurate, or your payment not going thru. It is done to cause a late fee for them to grab. Beware of their many tricks.

I, of course, knew that the rent for June was due but at the time this payment was credited, June rent was not late. They claimed they made attempts to contact me by phone but my voice mail was full. This was the case due to the fact that I was out of town on a family emergency. I received a check from the company postmarked July 7. Due to the fact that the company has increased my rent three times within the past year, I thought this was a refund of overcharges that I had been complaining about.

I am disabled and live on a fixed income. I went online to pay the bill and discovered that my unit had been vacated by lien sale. I was never notified by mail or even certified mail that my unit would be sold. My entire life and many personal documents were in that storage. Things that are not replaceable. I need to know if I have any recourse at all against this company.

monthly fee incorrect for 7/11 payment went to property 2 asked to have it corrected .

asked what move out police is was told pay month fee and move out . WAS NOT OFFERED A PRORATED FEE FOR A MONTH TO MONTH CONTRACT.CALLED PS CUSTOMER SVC ASKED HOW TO GE FEE PRORATED was told unable to do and very difficult.

moved out on 7/16/2011 asked mgr hgow i was going to be reiembursed for the damaged cut off padlock since cylinder lock was of no use except at PS he stated did not have authorization to reimburse for lock. i am now holding a worthless cylinder lock and am being scamed out of 16day rent that can, could, should be prorated they are immediately able to re rent my unit and i am out $$$$$$$ their $1.00 1st month may be great but in the end it may cost you huge losses. be ware of PUBLIC STORAGE

Further investigation revealed that in mid March there had been an auction of all the items in my unit! The auction occurred a few days before the invoice was dated. I RECEIVED NO NOTICE OF THIS AUCTION. No emails, certified mail or phone calls; on my account it was noted that certified mail was sent to notify me of the lien on my unit, yet I never received anything from Public Storage. The auction made a miniscule $200 from a 15x20 unit filled with my entire life. Things like brand new living room set, computer, vintage kitchen dinette, appliances, 3 vintage cameras, hundreds of books, clothing, shoes and purses, artwork, movies, and other various home decor. Not to mention years of my artwork, thousands of film negatives from my photography, 2 sewing machines, family photos, etc..

I lost nearly everything from the past 28 years of life; today I came across the March invoice and realized it was dated days after the auction took place and decided to finally take action. Like previously mentioned the invoice was still billing me for the full amount due with no indication of the auction and my unit being vacated. Public Storage has offered me no information about who or where my stuff has gone. I want some restitution for the thousands of dollars in belongings I had taken from me.

They received letter may 6th 2011, nevertheless I have not heard from anyone after all these years. I told them I would pay a fair fee but no word from them. I was paid there up to May 1st and paid again in Rochester May 1st or second and denied one month free rent promised on internet. So I paid $100 dollars since they have not responded even with my phone number. I must ask you for help. I have too many belongings to just disregard and sent them key to my locker.Thank you for any assistance you can extend in helping me resolve this matter.

The insurance company denied the claim in 4 hours, after the claim was submitted because the lock was still on the door. The door visibly shows damage and the drywall inside of the unit have been tampered. This type of burglary/theft has happened to several tenants dealing with PS. They still have not repaired the door or wall in the unit. The property manager didn't care to help.

On March 9, 2011 I called Public Storage to find out my balance and how to pay online I spoke to Hucal ** and he advised me how to pay. He was rude on the phone stating that it was due that day.

On March 11, 2011 I stared receiving text messages from Hucal's cell phone to mine with harassing statements. In the text messages he sends, he uses foul language and threatens my belongings that are stowed in Public Storage. He also requests payment through text using fowl language. Hucal also threatened my account at Public Storage.

On March 14, 2011 5:50pm, I called the corporate number for Public Storage, 1-866-719-9107. Tiffany, a customer service rep in the corporate call center was whom I spoke to the first time I called. When Tiffany answered the phone, I requested to speak to a manager right away. She asked me the problem. I explained and she said that there are no managers in the call center and that I would have to call the District manager or Regional Manager. I asked Tiffany to connect me to a manager. Tiffany was very rude and hung up on me when I was persistent asking for a manager.

I called Public Storage corporate number back again o speak to someone else. From the lady that got on the phone, I asked for the District Manager and Regional Managers phone number. This lady gave me the wrong numbers. She gave me the number to Kenneth ****, ***. This is not Kenneth's number. I left a message on the voice mail anyway. I still have not received a call back. I have not paid the bill that was due on March 09, 2011 because I do not feel safe, and I do not think my belongings that are stored in Public Storage @ 14950 Bowie Road, Laurel MD 20707 are safe either.

Well, Public Storage sold all of my things on February 8, 2011 without my knowledge. I have not received any other mail from them since I received the post card, and I was told today that I would be receiving a letter letting me know that my things were sold. I was told that an ad was placed in the Daily Commerce Newspaper regarding the sale, but, was not told the date of the ad. How can all of my furniture, clothing and other items be sold on the same day that a post card dated that day was sent to me telling me to make my check good? This does not make any sense to me at all.

Everything that I owned was in that storage space, along with all my important papers. I lost my home in 2008 due to foreclosure, and I stored everything in this storage space. I have paid over $8,500.00 to date for that storage space, and they just sold it, without notifying me. Something is not right with this. I am devastated.

My other unit, (I had 4 units) another close call. That location worked with me. Had me signed a release form, and agreed to move out at the end of month by closing time. Had to pay balance in full. Anything left after closing, it became their property. I managed that. Did not lose any of my possessions. That location also was understanding and worked with me.

My remaining 3 units. Allow me to share: All with same company, PStorage. The past 2 years has been most challenging. Had to come to rescue for my family members in a different state. Long story short, my brother was found in Wisconsin with a Stroke. My other brother had major legal issues that I had to incur for Legal counsel. My son's best friend was undergoing major legal drama where if his mother had not called upon my assistance, the results would have been devastating. I assisted each circumstance. It cost me a bundle, but I assisted. Had to take care of my mom, who was diagnosed with Cancer.

Through the financial and holistic support of assisting her and other outside obligations, my funds were reduced to beyond bare minimum. I found myself in a different state of reality: I've become the people I've assisted. Trying to maintain my storage units became a major threat of inevitable loss. My mother succumb to her final breath January 1, 2010. My world was at a standstill. My Storage Unit was scheduled for auction on January 7th. I am now in a state of putting together money to bury my mom and handle funeral arrangement. I tried to explained to the Manager there, they did not care. They sold my storage unit.

I was Num. But, from that period, life was not the same. I had 2 storage units remaining. Helping out one individual who came into my life 2 years prior resulted in a huge hiccup in my personal savings. My income is based on a commission structure. If I don't close, I don't get paid. So, my income was reduced to bare minimum where my monthly obligations could no longer be met. I lost my Home. It was only myself and my 2 dogs.

My son welcome me to his home, but he would not received my pets. (Wow) I told my pets, if you are homeless, so am I. The strain of being homeless, I don't even want to share that journey with you. No time to mourn my mother's death, or the fact that they put my twin brother in a nursing home, and I made a promised to my mother on the phone while she laid in her death bed in Chicago, that I would take care of the family.

One hour later, she passed away. I had a dream about her 3 days later, and when I asked her was she okay, she turn over in her coffin and said she was cold, but she looked at me and said, but things are not OK. Then she closed her eyes. I asked her what did she meant by that, but she laid silent. Little did I know, she was giving me a warning.

Because life has been! But, my journey was a difficult one. After losing my home, and moving my entire household into my storage unit, 2 months later, I lost my Dog where I had to put her down because of a disease that affects older animals. I had her since she was pup. That was a very emotional day at the vet office. It took me over 2 hours to finally let her go. I came there with 2 dogs and left with 1.

Getting off track here, my storage unit was up for auction in September. My bill was $900.00, I told them I only had $500 and if they would accept that, give me a week to raise the difference. They said no. Had to have the total amount. The auction was scheduled for September 6th. I told her that was a Holiday. Then she called me back and said, they're going to have it on the 7th. I told her she would have to put that in writing, but she said no.

I asked to speak with the DM, they denied me that right. They sold my things on the 7th. They sold my history. My complete Household and 25 years of Hollywood Collectibles, Mannequins and Memorabillia. Including my leash from my beloved Dog. All of my pictures, my History of 25 years of collectibles. It is not about money. There were sentimental items that can never be replaced.

When I asked what did it sell for and will my pictures and personal items be returned, they said I had to go to the nearest storage unit to get that information in person. PStorage stole my possessions. I am going to have pursue that one. But, I have 1 unit remaining.

Almost lost that one last month. But the employee at this unit was most gracious. She gave me the contact # to the DM. I spoke with him, explained that I am still incurring a hardship, he understood, allowed me to sign a Release form with conditions: I paid $300 now, and pay the balance in 2 weeks, otherwise I lose all rights. I agreed to the terms, paid the $300, and was able to pay the balance on the due date. I saved that unit.

I am grateful for their kindness and understanding. So, I do not understand why the other 2 units did not offer the same. However, it hurts my heart to think what I've lost. And then the employee had the audacity to call me and speak, I know you have another unit at our other facility that is up for auction. I told her that was not her concern and she should not be concern with my other storage unit. Then she called me in November and said that my pictures were returned but I had to pick it up immediately otherwise they would disposed of it. She is a witch.

And when time allows, I am going after her Legally. I think I have a case with that unit, as well as my unit that was lost in January, as I understand in the Spring, they put the cancelled all auctions for 3 months due to some form of a loophole in the contract and a legal dispute. So, my despair is almost over and I will have my life back, but to those of you who actually make a living off of other peoples Hardships, just think about what you are doing. You have no idea the history of those possessions. All you see is an opportunity to capitalized off of people's possessions and many of the storage units out there, it is also inside assistance.

I look forward to pioneering a law against this type of travesty for the sake of making a buck. In one the previous post, you speak, hard work no. You did not take the time to accumulate these possessions. You merely check the auction date and drove down to make a bid. Then you sell possession that do not belong to you. You want the truth, "You are thieves! Based on this experience, it appears that each storage unit has their own policy. I will pursue them. For what they have taken from me, does not have a price. The employee their by the name of Trina would not allow me to speak to the manager regarding my personal paperwork that was returned. She as an employee had no right to disposed of my personal paperwork. At my other unit where my things were lost, they said they retain personal there for 7 years. Trina says 30 days. Yet, when my things were sold on the 7th, I called them on the 8th and the 10th, and they said no one returned my things.

She then calls me a week before Thanksgiving and says I have to pick them up. I told her I could not get there that week and would be there in 2 weeks, she stated, we're not going to hold them that long. Public Storage - this policy they have of selling off peoples possessions, needs to change. I've loss 2 units with them. The one in January, something had to take place the months thereafter, as they put a stop to all auctions for 3 months because of some legalities.

My research is now beginning. I am not dismissing this. I look forward to a Legal Process with you and the Employee and Manager of that Location. You were wrong! What I don't understand, you can have a public auction and sell to a stranger at a price as low as $5.00, yet you are not willing to work with the tenants there, and allow a structured payment plan. And, if they pay only $5.00, you still have the audacity to send a bill for the balance still due. Thieves. This has to stopped. I can only speak for myself, as I've experienced 2 storage losses with Public Storage. But what about many others. I see the complaints. Absolutely devastating.

On the 13th the swing people came and removed the item and I took the lock leaving the storage unit empty. Again at the office I asked if Brian was there...he wasn't. Again I told Michelle to pass on the apology. A week later someone called from Bethpage and said I had to pay the rest of the month. I called back and spoke to Michelle who right away remembered me and wondered why I was not taken out of the system. She said she would speak to her boss and have it corrected.

4 weeks later on Nov 1, I got a letter from a Collection Agency looking for the 2nd half of Sept rent. It is difficult to get anyone other than the automated prompts but got there collection department. On Nov 8, 2010, I left a detailed message with Margaret and have not got any call back. I left a message today Nov 15, 2010 with Phillis the other collection person. The outside agency was also called and they received no update and the guy there said the clock is ticking on getting a hit on my credit. He gave me a number for Nelson the region manager of Bethpage.

I wait to hear from him. I can provide a receipt that Creative Playthings picked up the item at the storage and the workers can sign that the swing was the only thing in there. But why do I need to do this when Michelle the store manger knows I was gone? I am thinking it's a revenge for my rudeness which I did go out of my way to try to correct. Stay away from this place. If you have a problem, you have a better chance of reaching the White House then someone who can help you.

They were so cold and even made harassing phone calls after the fact because they said that I left a piece of furniture behind. And of course my claim was denied because the lock wasn’t broken on my unit. If anyone out there is thinking about using public storage think again because your belongings are at the mercy of the desk clerk.

However, when we got to my unit, it was a public blue storage lock and so I went downstairs and looked for Tiffany who was then walking down the hall doing her audits for the day. I told her that she needs to open it up because we don’t have any key. She had a master key and opened it up for us and what we saw startled and surprised us, my 15 boxes of properties is gone. What’s left was some of my photographs, ripped out box and lots of plastic bags. My unit was literally ransacked! I went down to the office and notified her right away.

My cousins who accompanied me that day even went to the budget rental office there to ask if we can refund the size 16 budget rental truck that we reserved and just paid. I spoke with Heather, a training supervisor manager, and according to Tiffany, because she was the only person that we were forwarded to. I asked for copies of my payment history, any ledger that confirms my storage unit was never on auction and also when was my insurance date covered.

Tiffany and Heather made it clear to me that they won’t be able to provide that info and that I should go online. I did as soon as we arrived home and there was nothing to print but payment history of 2009-2010. There is no option for me to click on insurance docs. We called the police and filed a report. This was done while we were on the storage facility. I need some assistance. I was paying the rent the whole time including late payments for a storage unit that does not have my stuff anymore. I was even told by Heather that I was covered with insurance until 2009 and that she claims that they changed the lock in 2008. I asked for documentation when the locked was changed but refused to give me one. It showed that they were the last person who accessed my unit before my stuff went missing when we went to vacate it on September 23, 2010.

When I spoke with a rep on the phone (Brian), he stated that they leave it up to the buyer to shred all of the documents they come across. I also asked what publication the auction was listed in and he replied that he thinks it was listed in the Bucks County Courier times (which I am researching now). The problem is that that paper is not in the county of my last known address or of the storage facility. Is there any recourse of action for me?

I am involved in a legal case involving the removal of a squatter from my property but all of my legal documents were in the facility as well as all of my clothes and belongings. I have nothing!

I called the regional manager on her work number yesterday afternoon. It's 12:33pm the next day as I write this so no one from public storage even bothered to call me. I just want to know when the elevator will be working so I can get my stuff out of there. I was lucky that I had a cell phone on me. If a 70 or 80-year old person or a pregnant mother had been in there without a cell phone, who knows how long they would've been in there. If there are problems with the elevators then they should put a sign on it or just say so. That kind of situation could put someone's life in danger on a really hot day like that.

I immediately went to the office and asked them what was going on; did they have an infestation problem and what were they going to do about my thing being damaged? The manager brought a can of roach spray to me and said that was all he could do! He said that they were not responsible because even though I did not have roaches or mice, someone else next to my unit could have brought it in with their items and it possibly came over to my unit. He could not do anything about it. He said I needed to pay for new Public Storage boxes if I needed it and he was not allowed to do anything about it.

I went back and forth about this with him and expressed how unfair this was and that my things were damaged. And I explained that I had to drive back to MD the same day and only had my sister to help me move my items that I could salvage. After that, he gave me 10 new boxes. My sister and I had to go through each and every box and throw out what was not salvageable and repack the things that did not have mice droppings. It took us 6 hours. I was devastated! It seems Public Storage was very much aware of this problem within their facility because when I was unpacking, we noticed that there was mice poison packets at the corner of the door of my storage unit which was not there when I initially stored my items the year prior. I have never had mice or rats or roaches ever!

Everything I owned was in this storage unit, and a lot of my items were damaged because of this. He offered to discard the damaged things. I took pictures with my cell phone of the tons and tons of large roaches that were in my storage unit and of the items that were damaged. It was horrific and disgusting! I was just starting my life over and I couldn't afford to get rid of everything and could not afford to replace everything either. I had to throw away half of my life possessions that had sentimental and financial value to me. When I left my belongings at the rented storage unit with Public Storage, my belongings were in pristine condition. When I returned I could not believe my eyes!

I will never, ever store my belongings at Public Storage or any storage facility for that matter for as long as I live. This experience was one of the worst I have ever had. I can't believe such a large, successful company as Public Storage would have facilities as such and do nothing for the customer in such cases. I paid a total of approximately $1,860 for the year to store my items! What a rip off! I lost a lot. I had to drive back to MD the same evening with the salvageable items and never could replace the items that I lost. I contacted the District Manager for this store and to date never received a return phone call, much less an apology letter!

I asked her to remove the insurance which was about the amount the rate went up. She said I had to go to the location to have it taken off. I told her I had asked several times and again I was told it could not be removed, so over two years I have paid approximately $170.00 over 2 years I did not have to pay. She told me she would note on the account that I was told the ins. could be removed. Now I have to make a special trip to have this removed. I also told her under the present economic situation I felt it was unprofessional to raise prices. She again said I was notified. The group is extremely unprofessional and sneaky with their extra fees for processing with the $1 second month. I would not recommend them or use them again they are crooks!

The items taken was big and heavy and they had to have a truck to be able to take this and not be able to carry this out. I asked the employees on a security system, they told me they did not have one on that end of the facility. I questions how can that be, my unit was the most expensive unit to rent monthly and with that I thought it was secured. The amount loss is way over 30,000 dollars and all they told me was I'm sorry. I filed a police report and I even notice my back door unit was tampered with and they didn't notice that when they do their daily security checks at the premises.

I even questioned that there was a time when there front gates were not working and was being repaired. They did not question no one coming in and out of the facility and their response was they don't have time to watch everyone. I am very appalled by the customer service, yet alone the security on the premises. I lost almost everything I owned and with no explanation. The economical damages was the monetary time I spent over 20 years of my hard earned money that is now gone, physical damages are they just trashed all of the other stuff and broke things just because.

I told them that I would vacate and they never called me on 4/15/2010. They called me on 4/19/2010 and told me I owe them $50.00 for four days. The consequence is that I am out of fifty dollars and they didn't extend a customer courtesy to me as a new client. I feel they were already trying to rip me off because they told me if I didn't vacate on 4/15/2010 and stayed until 5/1/2010, I would owe $90.00. Huh? I think they are ripping people off. These prices are quite ridiculous.

The manager of my local Public Storage was powerless to help: Rent increases are doled out by corporate, so she gave me the phone number for the regional office. I left two courteous messages with the district manager over the course of a month. I spoke to her once and she said she'd look in to it. Besides being snappy and vulgar (muttering "oh **" to herself when the computer was slow), she didn't call back, didn't resolve the issue, and didn't remember me. At long last, I got through to the regional manager who offered to reduce the rate to $81, but wouldn't reduce it to $73. Corporate would let her give no more than a 10% reduction. The only way I would have been able to get the advertised price was to move to another unit down the hall. Economic consequences are that I'm paying $100 more per year for my storage unit than a would somebody who walked off the street.

They neglected to notify the people with the affected units. I was not even able to get the manager to call me back, she instead had one of the clerks call me and tell me they could offer to put mattress pads over my things that are already covered in insulation! I think this is absurd especially because they should have done this before the work even started. It seems I have no legal recourse according to my contract but I at least expect the company to help me clean and hopefully salvage my things.

I have never been met with the level of disregard I have been shown by this company. I am going to incur a huge bill to get these items cleaned, not to mention the risk to my health for breathing in old insulation particles. They are unwilling to help me at all other than providing mattress covers after the fact. If I would have known what was going to happen, I would have covered the items myself.

I called the district manager and she assured me that no one else had my key and I was being silly for being extremely upset as no one was stealing my stuff. She also stated that she would credit me $100 for the month of October. I demanded my lock be re-drilled. When I was finally able to get into my unit a week later, to my surprise, all of my stuff had been stolen. I had a very full one bedroom apartment stuffed in a 5 x 10 unit. My unit was on the 3rd floor and all the way in the back.

So I started calling the regional VP., I called the Kathy ** but she was nowhere to be found. I even called the office in Maryland. According to the office in Upper Darby, they left a message September 1, 2009 stating my door had been tampered with. I checked my phone records and voice mails and I did not receive any calls from them on that day. My phone is always on.

So after speaking with the regional VP several times, he said he would look into getting me my $100 credit. So I went back the following week to collect the one bin and box I was left with. I asked the ladies in the office about the cameras and was told that "there are 3 cameras. One facing the ground, one facing the dumpster, and one recording the office." Really? And according to Jim **, someone rammed the gate and that is how they got in. But it is an iron gate and there was no damage to it. However, it had been left open on several occasions I had gone to my unit. I am convinced that it was an inside job and I still did not receive my $100 credit and they stopped returning my calls the moment I terminated my lease.

About a month later I received another phone call from a Collection Agency for the payment. I again contact the local Public Storage office and they told me it would be removed, to ignore it that it would take several weeks to be cleared. I checked my credit report two days ago on the $51.53 is listed as Under Collection and Past Due. I've called Public Storage and left messages without any success. Each time I've called they have admitted to making a mistake but have not cleared the payment. I have a collection on my credit report. I've had to purchase my credit report and waste time dealing with Public Storage.

They then got back to me about 2 weeks later to tell me that I did not have enough evidence and that my claim was denied! Okay, what type of evidence am I supposed to have? Did they think the thieves were going to leave the locks there for them to fingerprint? I personally think it was an inside job; however, I have zero proof. So I dug around on the net a bit and come to find out that this has become quite a habit with Public Storage and that they do not usually honor their insurance policies. I would be very interested in filing a class action suit against them.

So basically, every month, we had to replace a lock for no reason whatsoever. December came around, and we were getting calls from them again. But they had told me a week prior that they had replaced my lock with one of theirs. But this time, they said that my lock had been cut off and they replaced it with one of theirs again and that nothing was missing and everything was still in my storage.

When I came down to the storage to buy another lock. I discovered that there were tons and tons of things in my storage that had been stolen. The office was not helpful at all. They just told me to file a police report with the police. Then I asked about my insurance policy, and then they said it had been terminated. I asked why, and the lady said to me that the system had terminated it for being more than 45 days past due.

On my policy they gave me when I first got the storage, it says if you are 10 days past due, they begin to put a lien on your belongings and at the beginning of the next month, they will have a public auction. So if I was 45 days past due like they say I am, then I would not have my storage at all. They also have cameras around the facility, and they keep track of who comes and goes but were not willing to share the information with the police or my self to make a report. When it says that in order to rent, you must purchase the insurance. But she told me if we had homeowners insurance, then we could get our insurance policy back.