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Do NOT Use Public Storage!!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

EDMOND, OREGON -- I DO NOT recommend Public Storage. They suck you in with the cheapest rates and then you will get an email about 4 months later saying your rates are going up. I rented a 10 x 10 unit for $47/month and received an email from corporate 4 months later that I'm now going to have to pay $55/month. When I spoke to the office manager they said corporate is who decides on rate changes so I called corporate to complain. The lady on the phone listened to my compliant and told me to hold because her manager wanted to speak with me. I waited 2 more minutes for her to transfer me back to customer service!! I was so mad and ended up getting transferred to someone's voicemail which I NEVER got a returned call. I will be cleaning out my unit and letting everyone know how they do business. What awful customer service!

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Tamika, Myrna, Rachelle, Derek, Cofill Are Unethical Liars. This Is A Horrible Company
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA -- This company is engaged in unethical practices as they lied and kept sending invoices yet failed to ever send any notices or email or phone messages that there was an auction. The company improperly raised the storage fees and my father who was a disabled veteran had many of his possessions there for over 20 years. He was in the hospital and passed away. The company called to workout something on Tuesday November 15, 2016 and when we replied they never responded.

They send an email on Wednesday morning November 16, 2016 stating that there was an upcoming auction but failed to provide any date, time, etc. Then an hour later their customer service email that the auction had already taken place. This company owes us $1,000's of dollars as the items sold have high value along with many personal items. The company is full of thieves that take advantage of disabled army veterans on their death beds at the VA.

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Account Management
StarStarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 3/51

PINEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- I previously posted a review under the same title on 9/06/14. I was able to get in contact with the district manage by going to his boss. He called me right away and promised to take care of the problem. My credit card would be credited with the $71 overcharge. That was done but then was re-charged. Huh? It turns out Public Storage paid my next month's payment (the $71) in advance.

When it came time for the auto charge the early payment was applied and I have a $3 credit towards the next month's bill. So, bottom line, it was fixed the way I was told but the problem was fixed. That is what matters. And my stuff wasn't auctioned off as threatened. I have to give Public Storage credit for (eventually) fixing the problem. Better late than never.

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Account Management
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- The actual storage facility is good and the staff are helpful and courteous. But pray that you don't have any problems with your account. I was overcharged $10 on one month's rent. It took me 3 months and many calls before I was finally able to get a refund from the district manager. It was a $10 credit to my account. But with auto pay it was never applied to my bill. I cancelled autopay for one month and sent in a reduced amount hoping the $10 would be applied. Not. Then started the threats to pay my account in full or have my contents auctioned.

Customer service was able to apply the $10 and have the overdue warnings removed. But I still received a letter saying my balance was $0.00 and my contents would be auctioned off. Customer service again had that removed and assured me everything was ok. Then the next month, on autopay, I was charged an extra $71 which included a lien fee and a late charge.

The only way I can get a refund is to contact the district manager. The same guy that took me 3 months to finally get a response from for the previous refund. The first refund is what started this whole mess. If I had known this would have happened I would have forgotten about it. The administrative side of this operation is a nightmare.

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Dishonest Rent Increases, Horrible Service & Maintenance
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SOUTHAVEN, MISSISSIPPI -- I am SO disgusted with Public Storage... ever since they have taken over from SHURGARD it has been a hassle. I have 2 large (garage size) climate controlled units since they opened that location in 1998. After they took over, they raise the monthly rent once or twice a year. They are nothing like SHURGARD, who was fabulous. When I complain, they will take a few dollars off one unit??? I have asked them to help me find a unit in the same hall, so that I can get my 2 units condensed down to one. They never have in over 8 years.(even though I was promised this courtesy more than once). I am on a fixed income & now have serious health problems.

The last two years when they've had increases, I have begged them for a break, they do not care, basically they told me I could move out to another place, knowing that this is nearly impossible. They just hope they can keep all the contents & auction off if I don't pay. There is absolutely NO reason for these constant substantial increases! I've gone over there & the temperature was way above climate control (that damages stored items!).

There was also a nest of dead baby mice & rat poop everywhere, also some chewed, damaged items in my storage unit! I just got yet another $20 rate increase & I'm sick of this. In 16 years, I've never missed a payment on TWO units & I'm usually a week or two early with my payment! It's unfair & ridiculous NOT to reward customers like me!! Someone needs to put this greedy corporation out of business. I despise them & their practices & attitude.

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Deceptive Business Practices and Horrible Dispute Resolution System
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

EDMONDS, WASHINGTON -- I strongly caution anybody considering using this company, at this location (Hywy 99 in Edmonds) or anywhere else. The on-site facility managers (at least at this location) are pleasant enough, but they do not give accurate information about the financial end of things and/or are not themselves supplied with up-to-date information, so that you may easily end up with substantial unanticipated expenses, and good luck trying to get anybody at their billing or collections offices to handle the situation.

Last November, I took over a unit from a family member who had allowed it it to become seriously delinquent. I was told how much was owing on it, and assured that if it was cleaned out by the end of the month, there would be no further charges on it. In fact, I was told that if it was cleaned out by the 6th of the following month, all that would be owed was a proration on December's rent.

I paid the balance and cleaned it out by the end of the month (the 29th, actually). I went in to the office to let the on-site manager know it was now vacant and unlocked. I asked him if there was anything that needed to be signed to confirm that, and he assured me, not once but three times, that everything was complete and there would be no further charges. On the same day, I also emailed the contact email address from the company's website, again confirming that I had vacated as of the end of November.

In early December, I received a bill for December rent. I called the local office and left a detailed message confirming I had vacated at the end of November; I asked for a call-back if there was any question about it. I assumed that perhaps the December billing had gone out before the November 29th vacancy had been recorded, and when I didn't hear anything back, nor receive any follow-up billing, I assumed it had been taken care of.

Then in January, I received a call from a collection agency, saying the December bill had been assigned to collections. From there, it has been an ongoing hassle. The first live person I was able to reach said I had been charged because of a "slow" vacating. But she couldn't explain how vacating completely in November could result in December charges. The next person I spoke with said that the unit was a "pay at the end of the month" unit, so the very substantial amount I had paid earlier in the month had not included the charges for November.

Of course, this is directly opposite to what I was told by the on-site unit manager when I came in to pay: He assured me several times that the $800+ in charges I was paying covered everything through the end of November, including all delinquencies, and he even waived a part of one of the late charges, and assured me that if I vacated by the end of that month, there would be no further charges.

So either he lied or the collections office is lying, or one or both are incompetent, but so far I've spend almost two hours on the phone trying to get this resolved, with absolutely zero progress and a likely serious hit to my excellent credit score. The collections office number isn't answered by live operators, and invites you to call customer service for "immediate assistance."

After spending 15 minutes explaining the situation to customer service, she said she couldn't do anything about it, and offered to transfer me to the collections office, which, of course, still had no live operators. After leaving a message, I did get a prompt call back, but another 15 minutes of explanation was met with the bizarre story that what I had paid in November, supposedly all charges through the end of the month, didn't include the November rent, and I'd have to talk to the District Manager. Calling the number she gave me got me a staff directory that did not include the name she gave me.

After calling back three times and choosing three random names from the directory I finally got a live person who said he was in a "different department" and promised to email the district manager to call me, but claimed not to have his email address and was going to have to get it from somebody else. One run-around after another. If you need storage, be aware you are taking major chances with your wallet, your credit score and your schedule by doing business with Public Storage. My advice: Don't do it.

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Unethical Practices by Public Storage
By -

CALIFORNIA -- Upon going to a public storage facility to set up storage for my household belongings I was somewhat taken back by their ethical practices or lack thereof. When initially meeting the site manager he showed me the facilities and the sizes which was OK. However, he took me to what seemed to be the worst storage unit in his facility. It was old and musty and smelled of mold. He seemed pretty unhappy when I asked him if he had any other units for rent.

After finding a unit which fit my needs and didn't smell of must we began to fill out the paperwork. To my surprise the first month was only 1 dollar. Being that moved in at the end of the month he prorated the current month and only charged me 1 dollar for the second month. However, he had done the same and stated to me that Insurance was Mandatory as well as having to purchase their over priced locks which they have for sale. I reviewed the contract and asked him specifically about the requirements for moving out. He simply stated that I just needed to give him a 48 hours notice prior to vacating the unit.

After a few months of using the unit I move out on the 12th of the month ensuring that I give the manager his 48 hours. I showed him it was clean and ready for the next tenant. He takes me to his front counter, gathers some information and done. I ask him about a refund since I am only using the unit for half a month and that they prorated my first month moving in so they should prorate me for moving out.

Of course he says he cannot give me a refund and that if I had informed them on the 1st of the month they would have prorated my rent for that month and given me a refund. Well that didn't sit well with me considering that he specifically told me that all he required was a 48 hour notice in order to move out.

I was furious that I was losing out on the hard earned money I had worked for just so that they can keep it. So I called customer service and informed them of what had happened and they referenced the contract which I had signed that I will contact the public storage on the 1st of the month if I plan on terminating service so they can prorate my payment required for that month and that failure to do so is a forfeiture the left over amount.

I believe that Public Storage managers need be tested for ethics as well as properly informing their clients of the move in and out procedures. To me what this manager had done was very shady and unethical and probably occurs to other consumers as well. Also, if they can prorate the rent for my moving in to a storage unit then why can they not prorate me for moving out? Seems like a crime to me.

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Unauthorized Withdrawals - A "Mafia" Organization: Public Storage Inc.
By -

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- The following is the verbatim version of my video clip on YouTube I'd posted and placed a link yesterday. Several years ago I started to rent from Public Storage Inc. Shoreline, WA. Along with my household, family heirlooms, my birth certificate, my art and art supplies, keys to my home, my address, my signature, my social security number, the title to my car, private medical documents, practically my life.

I put everything into storage to focus on my health. My bills were paid as initially arranged by the 10th of each month. On a few occasion I was late. I always paid all of the late and lien fees, even when they caused them. I was too sick to rebuttal w/ a large company like that. This time I am determined to "defend"€ myself. I hope w/ this video clip to reach others out there who either had the same or similar experiences w/ Public Storage Inc. and united our complaints lead to an investigation of Public Storage Inc.'€™s punitive, mafia or camorra like business practices and someone levies heavy fines against them in the thousands upon thousands of dollars.

Here is my last experience w/ Public Storage Inc.: On September 1st I noticed at my bank that my negative balance was caused by Public Storage Inc.'€™s UNAUTHORIZED withdrawal of funds -of an already paid unit for the month of August 2009- I almost got a nervous breakdown. On August 27 they took amounts $254 & $267, causing not only 2 fees of $ 35 for each amount, but subsequently additional fees like for charges for 5 Lattes, now each at ~$40, and the fees of other places I drank or ate. The bank's assistant manager called the PS's national telephone contact number on my behalf because I was too distressed.

A female voice told us apologetically that there was a computer glitch in their system that caused the withdrawals of numerous credit cards and I have to contact the District Manager ** to get the charges reversed. We immediately called that # she gave us and left a message urging the amount to be immediately reversed. I called the following days on several occasions w/o being able to reach the District manager in person.

5 days later I received a call from District Manager **. He offered no apology, additional explanation or proper customer service. Instead I was receiving conflicting answers -no he was attacking me verbally! I began to inform District Manager ** that I incurred additional fees to the ones Public Storage Inc. had caused but he interrupted and accused me of having made the payment online myself. I told him that since <5 yrs I make my payments on the 10th latest on a regular basis.

He then attempted to explain "cookies" to me, insisting that "€œcookies"€ (!) in my computer are responsible for the payment!! Was this a joke? His attitude and demeanor stuck me as rude, and extremely un-professional. I stated to District Manager ** that if no valid explanation as well as a reversal of the amount they unauthorized took and the fees they'™d caused could be provided then I would be contacting his Superiors. He laughed.

I added I would also talk to the Seattle Police Department and my Banks Fraud department. District Manager ** then said, "€œMaybe if you paid your bills on time, then you would not have this problem."€ Instantly I felt humiliated, disrespected and embarrassed at his utterly ridiculous and offensive comment. I tried to hold back the tears that began to form... when I stated to District Manager ** that he was to never comment to a customer of their timely payment in that fashion. He then offered no apology again, and repeated the offensive comment for the second time!

Adding the possibility of my property being auctioned off. Above all, District Manager ** does not have any insight into my personal or financial stability. I have NEVER been so embarrassed and mortified by an individual that works for a business in which I am paying for services.

The next weeks I spend making calls to contact numbers published or given to me by the national telephone contact # 1-800-688-8057. Many #s were consistently incorrect and then all I got were various additional #s and very limited voice-mail menus. There's no way to reach a person, #s had changed, names I was given were not in the Company'™s directory, that specific office I was trying to reach had now moved to Oregon etc. At one point I started to leave my complain and contact at every phone# I was directed to.

On September 25 @ 9:52 I received a call from a female voice @ Public Storage Inc. that they will return $ 254 back into my account. My questions in regards to the fees they caused were not only ignored but she just hung up the phone on me. On September 28 2009 Public Storage Inc. returned $ 254. I was left w/ not only the fees to pay at my Bank, Starbucks, and OliveYou but ironically accrued additional fees for the storage units I am renting from Public Storage Inc.

Time was of the essence here, because the rent is due latest by the 10th of each month to avoid late charges, lien fees etc. Instead Public Storage Inc. handled this matter in particular w/ extreme time delay, no responsiveness and thus using their punitive practices to their benefit, while trying to bury the fact of unauthorized and untimely charges they initiated and being able to do so when de facto w/ the CORRECT option of "œone time payment" (which I regularly used) they should have never be able to do.

On October 8th The Fraud Department of Chase Bank informed me as long I am still customer of Public Storages Inc. they cannot investigate it as fraud. Go figure! Seattle Police stated I am watching too much CSI and they would not check or compare IP-addresses of who instigated payments and since my debit card was used to pay my storage unit, it is more of harassment than crime. They suggested going to small claims court instead.
. Something is very wrong here! Since over one month I am drowning in fees I didn't cause, surviving almost penniless and now @ the risk losing everything I have, while having wasted valuable time focusing mainly on Public Storages Inc. to get this last matter resolved the right way. I was hoping that once my treatment is completed successfully I would reunite w/ my belongings. They are all what I've left from a healthy and happy life.

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Public Storage
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

HARWOOD HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS -- I called them today to let them know I was moving out on August 8, 2015. Asked the representative about pro-rating for the month and she told me that I had to pay for the entire month. She told me "after the 6th you have to pay the full month". What a load of crap! This is robbery as far as I'm concerned. How many people are they doing this to? I would never recommend them to anyone. They seem to get away with it. Is there anything I can do?

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Public Storage Employees in Austin, TX Helped Couple Take My Car From Behind Secured Gates
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Today, May 21, 2012 at around 9:55 in the morning, I went to Public Storage at 13675 N US Highway 183, Austin, TX 78750 location. The reason I was going was to close out my account (in excellent standing - I paid my dues each month just fine). I was also going there to let the buyer of my vehicle through the password-protected gates to get the vehicle I sold him. Mind you the title of the car is in my name and the vehicle is paid off with no liens or anything on it. It's a clear title.

Public Storage had no recollection that I was in the process of selling my vehicle so their actions today cannot be justified in any way possible. This was complete disregard for customers property stored at this particular location. And as of now, all customers property is at risk of being stolen due to the employees currently working there today. I don't know when their shift ends but they were there at 9:55 this morning. The place opens at 9:30am. Please read on.

Upon arrival at this Public Storage location, I noticed the buyer had a big truck (I'm guessing a F1 something -- one of those models) and he had already gotten my car out from behind the gate. I'm assuming using his truck. I was annoyed at seeing this because I specifically told him that he was not allowed to get the vehicle until I let him in. So I know I didn't give him the password to get in nor out. So since I knew I didn't let him in and out, I wondered if the staff let him in. So I did inquire.

I went in and asked the two employees working if they let the man and his wife in the gates. And the African-American (or ** American or however she prefers to be defined) female stated they followed her in. She then used the word "snuck in". That's not possible if you're seeing them right behind you. She didn't bother to check to make sure they were customers. She just let them in.

Now the thing is with the protected gates is that you not only need a code to get in, but you need that same code to get out, otherwise you're stuck. So the question came up, "Who let them out?" And the Caucasian-American (or ** American or however he prefers to be defined) male spoke and said he let them out. Now if someone doesn't have the code to get out, then that must mean they aren't customers. So why did he let them out?

He had no idea who they were nor could he safely assume they were customers because customers have the code to get out. I looked at them and said, "that's my car they have". And they looked like they didn't hear me. So I repeated myself. I said, "That's my car you let them take. I told them I'd meet them here so I can let them in." After all, my transaction with the husband was not complete. Had I shown up too late, my car would have been gone and that would have been a huge lawsuit against Public Storage.

I can understand if a person misspells my name on a document, but to let people in passed secured gates both in AND out -- people who are not customers -- this is a serious problem for the company and current customers who have their things stored at this location. What is the point of having secured gates if Public Storage employees are going to let anyone in AND anyone out?

Their decision threatens the company and customers because those two people could have EASILY (with the help of those two employees) taken any other vehicle that was on the premises if not just robbed the storage units. And they would have done this again with the help of Public Storage employees. The employees just let these two people come and go without asking for identification whatsoever.

Again, my transaction with the couple was not complete, which is why the vehicle was still behind the gates in my paid for parking space on the Public Storage premises. I am disturbed greatly that such reckless employees are working for this company. This isn't even a case of being a "honest mistake" or a slap on the hand don't do it again type of thing. This is a huge threat for all of customers who currently have property at that location. Such a huge breach in security should result in firing them. They are clearly not responsible people and are a financial threat to customers and Public Storage.

And to top it all off, they sort of chuckled about their error and did not even bother to apologize. Can you believe that?! It's a good thing I've closed my account today. Again, we're not talking about a small item being taken, this was a VEHICLE in broad daylight and they let non-customers behind the gates and then let them OUT of the closed and secured gates without question. If they didn't have the code to get out, why in hell did he let them out?!

There was a reason I did not give these this couple the code myself and that reason I've given in this message: the transaction was not complete until I showed up with the remaining paperwork. But transaction or not, what in the world were these two employees thinking to let people in who are not customers? And nobody can rightfully say they didn't know because in order to get out, a person NEEDS the code otherwise the gate will NOT open. And Public Storage employees today, not only let them in without any sort of identification of who they are, but they ALSO helped them OUT by putting in the code so the gate would open.

Had the employees checked the names of the couple in the system, they would have seen that no such customers by either name exists in the system anywhere. And they should have immediately called me to let me know someone is trying to take my vehicle in addition to contacting the police. But they did none of this, instead they chose to help the couple remove a vehicle from the property, that they had no right to remove at that time until I showed up with the final paperwork and the transaction made complete.

This was beyond reckless and sloppy. This was just lack of concern for the security of Public Storage customers' property and also shows a lack of concern for the financial risk they've caused their employer (Public Storage). These two people don't deserve a second chance. This was unthinkable. I was lucky I arrived when I did, otherwise Public Storage would be facing a huge lawsuit that they'd easily lose.

If you have property at this location, then I would strongly recommend you get it removed immediately until the two employees have been fired. I don't even know their names, but if Public Storage would make a public announcement to let everyone know of this firing then that would help customers a great deal in putting their trust back into Public Storage. As of now, I don't trust them. They will not get my business ever again, until they fire them. I will not store my property at such a company who have careless employees working who help non-customers in and out of the secured gates to take other people's property without question.

Remove your property if you don't want to be a victim of such carelessness. I got lucky I arrived when I did. But will you be as lucky as I was? Is it worth testing your luck just to see? There are other storage companies in the Austin area. Uncle Bob is pretty good from what I hear. But there are so many that you can chose from to secure your belongings with a staff that doesn't let any old person behind the secured gates and doors. Why take the risk when there are many storage companies in the area?

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Public Storage Rating:
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2.5 out of 5, based on 61 ratings and
101 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Public Storage
P.O. Box 25050
Glendale, CA 91221-5050
1-800-567-0759 (ph)
www.publicstorage.com
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