michaelmm
louisville,#2Consumer Comment
Tue, September 04, 2012
I have seen on several sites where Public Storage people lean on their heavy handed contract. They use it of coarse to defend themselves but it was clearly written to only protect themselves with nothing in it to protect the customer.
The insurance thing is a rip off too. You can insure for your actual value of what you are storing, the insurance which I did buy is terrible, it takes months to put in a claim and they do everything possible to avoid a pay out.
I too had extensive water and mold damage from storing $60,000.00 worth of our entire household at a Public Storage facility. It had leaks going for years, frozen, thawed, froze again, our belongings were all professionally packed and stored. It was packed floor to ceiling with no room at all to get in to move things around or see the damage. Our belongings were stored for 3 years.
We had reported to Public storage that we noticed water coming from inside our unit running to the outside, they claimed it was minor condensation. They did no roof inspections. We pointe out wrapping in the roof, damaged gutters, and broken down spouts. They did nothing.
When finally it came time to move to another state and move our things with us the movers discovered our damages. nearly $55,000.00 in damages. Public Storage only covers $5000.00 and only a portion of the value. It's a scam. They have written the contract so as to protect themselves, cleverly worded to deceive and mislead. It may be legal but it's still dishonest.
People rent space to protect their belonging. A basic service level is expected, not the scam the Public Storage puts out and they are so quick to fall back on the contract you signed, we provide nothing, you just pay us for basically no service, no expectation of quality, no responsibility to protect your stored items and no expectation that we will maintain or inspect our facilities. In short you could park your stuff on the curb and pay a homeless person to watch it and get better results than using Public Storage.
Dominick
New Orleans,#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, February 18, 2004
I am truly sorry that you had such a negative experience with Public Storage. However, it seems to me that you signed your lease without fully understanding what you were signing. We offer the opportunity for each tenant to purchasc insurance prior to signing your lease. This insurance coverage is provided only as a convenience to our customers by an outside insurance company not by Public Storage. It is Public Storage policy to explain this benefit to each potential tenant before a lease is signed. It is also Public Storage policy to explain that we are not responsible for your belongings that you store at any of the facilities in the event of theft, fire, water, etc. Also, you are required to sign on your lease if you are rejecting this coverage and it is also written in the contract that you assume all responsibility for any losses you may recieve if you choose to reject this coverage. If you chose not to spend the few extra dollars per month to insure your belongings it is not the responsibility of Public Storage or any one else to do this for you. Public Storage does have insurance which they do pay for, as most comanies do, but that is to cover losses suffered by the policy holder. If you had purchased a policy to insure your goods I am sure that the insurance company that you purchased a policy from would have compensated you in the event of a roof leak. Also, Public Storage has no way of knowing if a roof is going to leak. These types of problems, however unfortunate are unforseen and not the fault of anyone. It seems to me that this whole issue could have been avoided if you had simply insured your property. We insure our cars, our homes, our life, and it makes sense to me that you would insure your personal property even if it is in storage.