Moving Day: You've got a lot of stuff, and need somewhere to put it. Across America, Public Storage is the #1 mini-storage provider and growing annually at a ferocious clip. When we found Public Storage's reservation on the Internet - it was ultra-convenient. You could book a storage unit, just like a hotel room - and there were huge discounts too. We got our first month free, and the rent was very reasonable for the metro-Seattle (Bellevue) Washington area.
We trotted down to the Public Storage to pay for our reservation and check out the storage. That's when things went downhill - fast. At the Storage office, the staff seemed uneducated and clueless. They had no idea about the $1 deal - despite our "reservation" - but even worse -- they charged us well over 20% the rent on the reservation. We told them about the error, but they refused to change the rental rate and pressured us to sign a lease with the incorrect rate.
Repeated calls to Public Storage in Kirkland, Washington were ignored (they only occasionally answer their phone) -- so we followed up with a formal fax explaining the issue and documenting our reservation. It was easy enough for them to ignore the fax (with a print-out of our reservation) also. If you're looking for mini-storage, we'd avoid the website for Public Storage. The website "reservations" are both meaningless and ignored at the storage locations. We'd fall just short of considering this fraudulent - but it's pretty close.
Public Storage has done an excellent job of turning us from a fan -- into their most public detractor. We'd recommend you avoid them. The story does have a happy ending - we found space in our garage and canceled the entire contract with these bumbling scammers.
Update June 17: After speaking with the exact personnel who gave us the wrong rate (and we noted to them) - we finally received a 15 second voicemail from the "manager" that our rate had been revised. We also received a form letter (it is designed for rent INCREASES) noting our new rate. Looks like they're a little better on the rent increase side.
In the spirit that makes our country great - we showed Public Storage mini-storage the laws of supply and demand. We canceled our "$1 first month" contract within the first month so they turned a continuous annuity of $317 per month -- into just their wasted time. The same people were again at the desk when we canceled - they couldn't care less why we were canceling (they didn't even ask) - and had no questions / apology regarding the bait-and-switch rent rate tactics. Public Storage, we hardly knew ya....
You really keep me reading. I never know what you're going to write about next. Good work.
Posted by: Steve Tennant | June 19, 2007 at 04:12 AM
I saw a website that deals with Moving and Storage,here one get details about mini-storage provider. You could book a storage unit, just like a hotel room
To known more about Public Storage's reservation on the Internet click here:http://aaamoving-store.com/
Posted by: hkmarketing | June 16, 2008 at 02:21 AM