Our problem with this company started back in January of when we realized they were raising our rates without notifying us. We were told that our contract (the one we signed) did not guarantee our rates and that we worked off of a month to month basis, but they didn't require a new contract each month. We went in to dispute that, and ask how they got away with it. We were told that that's just how they work. We dropped that issue after realizing quickly that we weren't going to get anywhere, and immediately had another issue. We were being charged constant $1 fees for them to mail us a bill every month (we'd asked them to stop doing this several times) and on one particular bill, we noticed that there was an $85 foreclosure fee on there. (the foreclosure fee, we're told, is an $85 fee they charge to cut off your lock in order to gain access to your stuff for auction.) Although our payment had been late, it had been MUCH later than this before, and never had a fee like this on our bill. Also, we paid the bill far before the auction date, so there was no reason for them to cut our lock and enter our storage unit (although they did that also.)
We called the 1-800 number that they gave us, and tried to get in touch with a district manager. We were given his voicemail, where we left a message and were informed that he'd call us back. Several days later, he finally did call us back, only to tell us that he really didn't have an answer and that he'd have to do some more research into it. More than a month later, we'd not heard from him. Around the 6th of February, I received a paper bill from them that I believed to be more than I thought it should be. We decided to just go into the location and find out what was going on rather than try to get someone on the phone and be given the run around. So we walked into the location, where the site manager, Lee, was on duty. We told him that we had a question about our bill, and also asked him why they were still sending us a bill (after we'd asked them several times to stop, because they assess a $1 charge every time they sound out a bill to us). He explained to us what the deal with our bill was, and it made sense, so we decided to go ahead and pay it. My fiance asked me for my debit card, because he didn't have his. As I'm reaching in my purse for my card, I tell my fiance' that I still want him to call the district manager back and find out what the status was on that $85 fee, because I still didn't believe we owed it. At this point, Lee turns around and says "You don't tell me what the f*k to do." I looked at him with an obviously confused expression on my face, and said to him, very nicely "I wasn't speaking to you, sir." He continued to yell and curse at me, telling me he was tired of my attitude (the one that I wasn't even giving him). Previous to this day, I hadn't spoken to him, he'd always dealt with my fiance.
My fiance put in a call to customer service, and asked to speak to a manager, while Lee continued to yell at me. We, again, couldn't get in touch with the district manager, and they told us we'd get a call back within 48 hours regarding our complaint. After 48 hours had passed, and we still hadn't heard from him, my fiance began calling again to find out what had happened and why we still hadn't heard from anyone. We finally got a call back from the district manager, Kurt, who listened to our story, and then proved to be just as rude as the site manager. He told us that he'd known Lee for 8 years, and that he didn't believe that he did what we were saying he did. After that, rather than just ending the call, he hung up on us, and after that, wouldn't answer his line, or take our phone calls. After that incident, we decided it was a better idea to just call corporate. Surely someone there would be concerned about the way the people at this Tempe location were treating their customers.
We got in touch with the corporate office, where we told the receptionist that we needed to file a complaint, and talk to whomever was in charge of the district manager of the Tempe location. She listened to what we said, and said she'd transfer us to the right people. She transferred us to a woman, who said she was the supervisor of Kurt, here in Tempe. Come to find out, she was just a customer service rep at the call center, and had no authority over ANYONE! She was at the BOTTOM of the Extra Space storage food chain. So, we called BACK to the corporate office to try to get in touch with someone again. When they answered we asked why they transferred us BACK to the call center when the call center couldn't do anything for us, and she apologized, said she'd get us to the right people. Again, she transferred us to the call center. When we tried to call back after that, no one would answer the phone, and didn't for the rest of the day.
To wrap up a long story, this establishment is one of the WORST I've ever dealt with as far as customer service is concerned. I have NEVER been yelled at in a store while trying to give them MY money, nor have I ever been called a LIAR by a manager who's job it is to resolve these types of situations. To make matters worse, when we finally paid them (all the money, even the fees we didn't believe we owed) and got into our storage unit, we found that our broken lock was in the INSIDE of the unit. Which means, not only did they cut the lock without reason, they went inside of our storage unit, which they had no right to do. Also, there was about an inch thick layer of dirt on all of our stuff.
I would recommend going to ANY other storage unit besides this company. They raised our rates, the customer service was terrible, and when you have an issue, corporate blows you off. Go to UHAUL, save yourself the hassle, and the heartache, and use a company that was built on customer service, because this one sucks.
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