Public Storage
Burglary, Theft, Scam, Stolen, Break In, Horrible, Non Compassionate Service

Both of my parents passed away and I ended up unemployed so I moved everything I owned into Public Storage and moved in with some friends. At the same time, my best friend was having major health issues and he needed to move out of his place so I took the stuff he had put in boxes already and I moved them into the storage unit as well.

I rented and moved my stuff into the facility beginning November 1st and was told that I had to buy a public storage padlock. I was also offered rental insurance and was told that the maximum amount they would insure was either $2000 or $2500 (I don't remember now). I declined the insurance saying that my stuff was worth more than that and I would get my own renters insurance. They didn't seem pleased about this and made me sign a waiver saying that I declined the insurance but they ultimately did not require me to purchase their insurance.

Around Thanksgiving, I get a phone call from Public Storage asking me what kind of lock I had on my unit. I was out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday but as soon as I received the message, I went down there to find out why they called.

I was told that they had a few break ins and they found out that the burglars where putting their own locks on other people's storage units so they could possibly access those units at another time. When I went to my unit to see whether anything was taken, there were two locks on my unit and none of them were mine. I went to the rental counter and the rental agent called the District Manager and asked me if I could come back tomorrow or at the earliest in roughly 4 hours because the District Manager was the only one who could open my unit.

I opted for the 4 hours later because I was anxious to know if my unit was one of the units that was burglarized. I then leave and worry for those four hours because everything from my childhood including pictures and other sentimental stuff was in there. Then I go back to Public Storage.

When I arrive, the District Manager is in the office waiting for me. He makes me sign a piece of paper saying that the lock he is about to cut off is not my lock and then he takes me up to my unit. I remember telling him that I don't think my unit would be broken into since it was right next to an elevator and it would be a little too obvious. He says nothing but when he cuts one of the locks and unlocks the other one with his key there is nothing in there but a couple of empty milk crates and a plastic file box with misc papers I had in there. I'm really distraught at that time but he tells me that I need to move the stuff out of there including the milk crates which were not mine. I drag the stuff out with no help from him and we wait for the elevator so that I could leave.

We wait for what seems like 20 minutes (it was probably around five minutes) and he looks out the window and sees that some people are possible holding the elevator on the ground floor so he leaves and tells me he is going to free up the elevator for me.

I finally get my file box as well as the milk crates into my car and then go back to the office where I ask them what I should do. They tell me I can file a police report if I want to so I ask where the police station is. They give me an address and I go down there where I am told I need to go back to Public Storage and wait for an officer to arrive so that he can take my statement.

I go back to Public Storage and wait for the officer and he tells me that he has been there recently for other reports about the same thing. He goes inside the rental office and I find out that the cameras have not been working or maybe never even worked (I don't remember what the agent said) so they have no recorded evidence of who the burglars could be.

We are also told that the burglars left a record in another person's storage unit and that the record did not belong to the renter of that unit. We leave the office and the officer asks me if he can see the crates to possibly take fingerprints off of them. We walk back to my car, he looks at the crates and he determines that because the surface is uneven, he cannot get a good print.

I filed a police report and listed the stuff I knew was missing but I couldn't remember everything because my friend ended up passing away and I didn't know what items he had in those boxes and my parent's items were moved without going through everything because I needed to move them out when the house was sold. I also was not entitled to any kind reimbursement because I had declined the rental insurance and since I was there three weeks, I did not have a chance to purchase my own renters insurance.

I am just finding out that many hundreds of other people have been victimized at Public Storage (including Pete Sampras and all of his trophies) and they don't tell you that or the fact that their cameras are not working.

I just want to get the word out that this has been the worst experience I have ever had dealing with a business. There were no apologies offered by any representative of Public Storage and in fact, just the opposite... I was told by the agent that I probably put my lock on wrong and that was why they burglarized my unit.

On a side note, I was told by an insurance agent that renters insurance does not cover storage units in most cases anyways.

Company: Public Storage
Country: USA
State: California
City: Los angeles
Address: 6701 s. sepulveda blvd
Phone: 18006888057
Site: publicstorage.com

  <     >