ComplaintsforSmartStop Self Storage

• Initial Complaint

  04/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 3/2/2024 arsonists and thieves damaged my belongings at Smart Stop. They told me my unit was a "total loss", but I can see that books, tools, photos, and other personal items survived.The problem is that they won't let me have access to my belongings, which are now exposed to the elements and being further damaged.I seed IMMEDIATE access to my belongings.

  

  Business response

  04/04/2024

  ****************, thank you for reaching out. Our District Manager was able to assist you with this situation and you were satisfied with the resolution. If you need further assistance, please reach out to us directly at ************.

  Customer response

  04/04/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  *********************
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/24/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I rented a unit on 3/20 When I arrived and was verified, i went to the unit and there was a lock on it from the previous tenant and not ready for me to move in. ******r stated he will have the lock removed. Called the next day and it had not been done. ******r was working on it. I called Friday the 22nd and this had not been fixed yet and his manager was going to be there so he can get it fixed. Stated i needed to move in on Saturday 3/22 I called 3/22 and nobody would answer the phone I called corporate and they said they would forward it to the DM DM never returned my calls. I called several times on 3/22 I never used the unit and they sent me a move out receipt with no refund I am attaching what i paid on 3/20 and the move out receipt from 3/24

  

  Business response

  03/27/2024

  Mr. ********* thank you for your time. The district manager has tried to contact you and left a voicemail informing you that your refund has been issued. You should receive it within the next 30 days. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Have a great day!

  Customer response

  03/28/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 21480600, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  **** ********
  
   
  

• Initial Complaint

  03/09/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I rented a 10x15 storage unit at the ****************************** location in September 2023 and signed an agreement for $242/month. Now six months later I received notice my rent is increasing to $367/month!When I contacted support, they stated there was a promotional period that had ended, and that prices are adjusted monthly to market rates, and they could not adjust my rent back to the agreed price. I never received any notice of this promotional period or price adjustments until this point. This appears to be a blatant bait and switch to get tenants settled then jack up the price.

  

  Business response

  03/14/2024

  Thank you for contacting us. Our district manager has reached out to you via phone and email with information regarding your storage unit. Please feel free to reply to that email if you have any additional questions. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  03/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My storage unit was broken into on the night of February 26th, 2024. No resolution was given to me other than to file a report with the police. They did not notify me other than me finding out on my own because I showed up on the 27th to move my contents into a smaller locker. They knew about the break in to the building before I found out about my unit being broken into but clearly did not know how many units were broken into yet. They did not offer any compensation on my unit, or any way of using their offered content insurance. This building has no security whatsoever, as anyone can walk in when the large bay doors are open. There is a long timer for when the garage doors are open, and they do not shut for 5-10 minutes or until you manually shut them which most people do not do. You need to keypad in, but if you go in without key padding in, your locker does not have an alarm system to set off an alarm, so there is no way to trigger someone breaking into your locker if they have not keyed into the building. If you are walking around after the time the building closes (10pm), there are no motion sensor alarms to trigger police presence, and when windows are broken in the middle of the night, there also is no alarm to trigger police presence. There is absolutely no security. The ceiling of every unit is also wide open, covered with wire, so anyone can see right into your unit if they are nosy enough, and if they bring a ladder and some wire trimmers, they can get right into your locker, which is what happened to my locker, and this is what happened to my locked, the other peoples lockers who were broken into, and everyone elses who were broken into over the last few years the exact same way. Our contents were stolen and bins of stuff thrown all over the place, contents broken, and absolutely no resolution or change to the building to ensure that this is being stopped or protected against future break ins.

  

  Business response

  03/08/2024

  Thank you for reaching out to us. Our District Manager and Regional Manager have tried contacting you and left you their phone numbers. Please return their call at ************.

• Initial Complaint

  02/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  09/04/2023 rental storage unit, 67 month as of 01/012024 . rental unit increased 50% to 129 per month. bate and switch .Smart Stop 7611 ************** ** ***** ************** mgr *******

  

  Business response

  02/21/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. Our District Manager attempted to reach you and left a message. Please return his call at your earliest convenience. We hope to speak to you soon

  Customer response

  02/26/2024

  the manager has not contacted me.

  

  Business response

  02/29/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. Our District Manager attempted to reach you and left a message. Please return his call at *************. We hope to speak to you soon

• Initial Complaint

  02/08/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  my storage unit was broken into, police report was filed. They sent me a letter that it wasn't there fault, but the lock was manipulated to open my unit. I want to speak further to the ***************** on their findings. I have been leaving messages since 1/26/24 for ***** in Claims about this and have not heard back.

  

  Business response

  02/13/2024

  Thank you for reaching out. Our claims specialist is awaiting additional documentation from you to review the case. Please send any supporting documentation to *******************************************. Once your documents are received, a claims specialist will contact you.

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Jan 31, **** beginning at approx 11:00, I was looking over my payment receipts and noticed one of my four units that I rent at the *********** location on *************** wasn't paid. I requested a payment link, per usual, to make the payment before midnight. I received the link and prepared to pay, when I clicked the link, the lead to a page that says there was NO information about my accounts. I tried several more times, sending myself the link and opening the link. (See attached email of me receiving the link) but was told that there was NO information about my accounts.So, I tried making the payment via phone FIVE times. Each time, I was told that there was NO information about my accounts. This caused my account to go into Lien status, making my payment more than double the amount. My checking account was hacked and I no longer use auto pay, but I called customer service again at approx ***** on ******, and the young man, who's name escapes me because he didn't repeat his name after I asked for clarity, he said that the system was down at the time I was trying to make my payments and he would leave a note for someone at my location to know of this.I called customer service THREE times just trying to get someone to get back with me regarding this issue to no avail.(See phone screen shots)I should not be penalized for attempting to make the payment on time. If the company's system.was down, per customers services...and or if the phone payment system was not accepting my payments as well.I tried the avenues available to me at the time to make good on my account.

  

  Business response

  02/05/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. Our District Manager attempted to reach you but has not heard back. Please return his call at your earliest convenience. We hope to speak to you soon

• Initial Complaint

  02/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  SmartStop self storage more than doubled my rent. That is exorbitant and there are other storage places for less. I assumed they enticed me with a lower price at first, but this kind of corporate greed is excessive.

  

  Business response

  02/05/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. Our District Manager attempted to reach you but has not heard back. Please return his call at your earliest convenience. We hope to speak to you soon.

  Customer response

  02/11/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:

   

  I spoke by phone with their mgr., *****, he offered a refund and monthly price reduction. I have not seen the refund on my cc acct. yet and I am waiting for that.

  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  
   

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  01/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This year I am back at it again thanks to this Storage Facility , which has caused my family a lot of time, thousands of dollars and heartache.A few weeks ago I sent my Son up to the unit to get my durable Medical equipment and my leg pupms (which belong to a Medical Facility, and need to be returned and are valued at over $3,000) out for me, he video calls to tell me it smells terrible in elevator, when he made it up the 2nd floor, he gagged and said is worse, as he walked closer to our unit he pushed his jacket sleeves tighter to his face, once in front of our unit, He opens storage and as soon as he pulls door there's a big dead Mouse, he lets's out a scream and starts saying Mother there's stuff moving in there, look here, look there, and it looks like something must've spill, in my head, am thinking nothing could've spill there's nothing liquid inside the unit. He shows me the floor,it was a big yellowish wet spot, I yelled at my son as he moved closer to try to get a closer look to stop and not take another step because it was rodent urine. I told him to back up and come out cause just smelling that could get him sick.I went to the office for help, when I said excuse me, it smells terrible, the deeper you go, the worse it gets, it actually hits you when you open elevator, lady said you must be on 2nd floor, are you near unit so-and-so, I said yes, she said yeah we know, but the tenant who cause this problem hasn't been located, we have been trying to get in contact with him, for weeks but have been unsuccessful. The exterminator has come out to treat the mice. I said it's not just mice, there are RATS in my units, there is p*** and urine everywhere, what am I supposed to do. She looks at the other worker and say well I don't know, call your insurance company if you have your own or if you have ours here is where to reach them, we are not liable nor responsible for your belongings, we can't help you, I asked why no one contacted Us if our unit is near the problem unit? So we could've checked on our stuff, they didn't have, nothing else to say.Management should've handled it differently, specially when it comes to rodents, a simple Call, text, email heck even one of them post cards they be sending out could've prevented the severe and irreversible damage to not only our stuff, but every one around.I believe they should be held liable and responsible if not all at least partially. This is negligence on their part. Because due to their negligence we lost thousands of dollars yet again. I f they would've warned us as soon as they found out and assess the problem weeks prior instead of brushing it off with the oh well, we not liable, it's on them, and try to blame us saying - you shouldn't have important, expensive or meaningful stuff in a storage unit, it's not our problem, and we are not responsible or liable for it.The only help they offer was a trash bag to put dead mice we find in. I asked what suggestion they had, because I wasn't going in there and I sure wasn't going to allow my children in there either, that's when she started telling me what will be charged if I don't pay for my unit, clean out and sanitize my unit. Which to exterminate, clean, sanitize, pull all my stuff out, sort tru it in keep, contaminated & trash, will have to bee done by a Biohazard professional, cheapest quotes $4,000...I was told that since it seems as I didn't want the stuff in my unit, that the unit needs to be cleaned out, disinfected and returned the same way they gave it, ready for another Tenant. In case I left the unit in the state it is, I will have to pay a lien fee, cleaning fee, moving fee, trash truck fee and some other fees I can't remember.They told me that, the only thing I could really do was to get another unit to move the salvageable stuff little by little while I clean, sanatize and go thru my storage , that trash couldn't be trashed there, I would need to take it to dispose it or rent junk truck. BUT I would still be liable for the rent fees for both units. They will request for exterminator to come back out and they would let us know when. For me to call around to see who offer rodent cleaning services.Some people are just plain heartless and don't have any costumer service sense nor skills. Good caring *** service would've been, MAYBE, I am sorry this happened to you, due to policy or what ever it is, we aren't able to... Or I can see what I can do to help you.Not just hand over a trash bag and expect us to go inside an infested unit with droppings everywhere and urine puddles to pick up dead rodents. I have cried myself to sleep many nights remembering everything we have already lost previously. To lose the rest of our stuff due to someone else's negligence. I just wonder why Management think/believe that they didn't have the need, honestly more so an obligation, to contact us (everyone near the problem unit) specially after many fail attempts to reach the tenant of the problem unit which is what Management told Me. To advise /warn us of a potential problem that could possibly directly affect us. That way it would've let US decide/choose, what to do, which in turn could've saved ALL or most of our property. Instead, they made the choice for us, and allowed our unit to be infested by mice/rats, allowed our property to get destroyed. How? When they didn't let us choose & decided not to do anything, make contact, ignore the problem and let the problem continue to spread and get bigger which in turn is making us lose our property we worked hard for and money. Now they are harassing us multiple times a day via calls, texts and emails because I canceled auto-pay. It should've been up to us whether we should come by and check on our stuff as a precautionary measure. They knew there was a problem, but just because they believed they aren't responsible or liable for the units after they rent them, they feel like they don't have the need or obligation to stop and/or prevent.Services wore NOT rendered:We paid monthly fees of over for over 3 yearsfor a clean, secure, climate control unit that supposedly have 24hr surveillance. They also claim that Our belongings are valuable and they help to keep them safe, clean and secure but have failed MANY times to provide the services they claim and stand by. The same day I spoke to the office about the problem, we went out to buy mask,gloves, and other items to be able to get close to the unit to look at the extent of the damage. They must've seen us leave and locked us out. We tried to enter our code to regain entry but wore unable to, I had to call costumer service since the Manager # posted wasn't answering. The *** was confused as to why the local office marked/block access to the unit, because it didn't have any notes attached to it, he said usually this only happens for non payment, or if there's going to be service done. He gave me an emergency access code which work.The Law...Contrary to the posts made by the storage owners, rat infestations ARE the responsibility of the storage facility. You are paying to store your goods in a clean, dry, secure space. This is the only service they are providing. They are required to maintain the space. By allowing rodents to incumber the space they are in breach of contract. Rodents carry a variety of diseases and can cause damage to personal property and health. This would deem the space as neither clean nor secure. The property management should be doing routine maintenance and repairs. If they fail to do this then it shows negligence on their behalf & are liable for the damage, no matter what. Even if our contract states they are not liable for damages & we were required to carry our own insurance they are still liable! According to m/nwa general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party. I interpret that to mean that you can not enforce a contract that waives your liability for a future matter. Therefore, their contract would be unconscionable & unenforceable.

  

  Business response

  02/05/2024

  Thank you for reaching out and expressing your concerns. Our District Manager attempted to reach you but has not heard back. Please return his call at your earliest convenience. We hope to speak to you soon.

• Initial Complaint

  01/29/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My monthly charges have suddenly and unannounced gone up by over 100% from just over $200 to over $317 ! There was no prior warning of that high an increase. I was advised that the initial rate would be changed within the year but not that it would more than double. In ******, I believe that large an increase is not allowed by any type of business.

  Customer response

  01/29/2024

  As advised online I am writing to have this attached to my complaint:
  
  This is a correction.
  
  Re: my complaint about SmartStop Self Storage
  
  When submitting my complaint and request for rate change and refund, I inadvertently typed over 100% when I meant over $100.
  Please attach this email to my complaint document to clarify the situation.
  
  Thank you for your attention to this matter.
  
  Regards,
  E.A.(*****) Canivet
  
  Sent from my iPad Pro

  

  Business response

  01/30/2024

  ******************, thank you for reaching out and providing feedback. Our District Manager reached out and reviewed your rental increase. As an act of good customer service, he agreed to adjust your rate from $269 to $219. We are glad that you are happy with this adjustment and that our District Manager was able to address your concerns. Please understand that rental agreements with SmartStop are strictly month-to-month; therefore, rates are not guaranteed for any specified amount of time. With regard to rent changes, SmartStop informs customers of rent changes by the method of communication selected on their rental agreement at least thirty (30) days in advance. SmartStop regularly reviews its rental rates and makes rental rate changes to align with current market conditions. Proper notice is given on all adjustments. SmartStop cannot guarantee rates will not be reviewed based on market changes. Thank you.

  Customer response

  01/30/2024

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
  
  Regards,
  
  ***************************
  
   
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩