Dear Public Storage
Kiss my Big Pink ASS!
Since 2007 I’ve stored a few things in a Public Storage unit in Dallas while I’ve been here in Korea. Not much, but just enough to be a burden to have someone stash it all for me at their house, in their garage or in a closet somewhere. But as soon as I can get home and find a suitable home for my things, Public Storage will no longer be getting any of my money.
When I first arranged for the unit, they charged me a mere $10 per month. Not much. I paid for a year in advance and things were just ducky. Once that year was up, they raised the rate to $18 – a 12.5% raise for themselves. No big deal, I told myself. Two dollars won’t break me. Less than a year later, they’ve raised the rate again to $21, a further 16.5% and a total of 31% from the original price of $16. That’s quite a jump. I was willing to pay that, but like Ginsu knives, there’s always more.
At some point in the past six months, they started charging late fees. Despite them having my email address, my physical address and even my Korean phone number they have neglected to inform me. I’ve always paid electronically and always paid for multiple months, but somehow, they charge me a late fee. How much of a late for a $21 bill? $10. More than 47% of the actual rental fee.
So, I tried to get on their website and how many times they’ve charged me this and if it jives with my bank record. I was able to create an account and check, and find out that the invoice they finally emailed me isn’t even correct. Their online invoice lists other fees they neglected to inform me of. And when next month rolls around and those wouldn’t be paid, I have no doubt they’d happily charge me another $10 for being “late.” But wait, that’s not all. There’s another Ginsu knife!
Having thought about it some, I went back to their website to check the history again and reconfirm some thoughts. No dice. The first time I logged it asked me for my account number to create an account. The 2nd time I want to go in, there’s no place for an account number, but simply a “username” for which I was not given an opportunity to create. I can’t go back in the same way, because to create an account again simply says that account already exists. But I have no way to get to it. Nice programming, you frickin idiots. Hoping they might have emailed a username after signing up, I checked my spam box – maybe it got caught there. Nope nothing but spams ads for penis enlargement or breast implants (apparently the spammers can’t quite decide if I’m a man with a small penis or a woman with small breasts)
So, now my only option is to call their “toll-free” 800 number which is anything but free for those living outside the US. I have to spend money to get them to open up my account to see how they’re not correctly counting my money.
Nope, that doesn’t work either. To get phone service, one enter the phone number used to open the account. Since I knew I was leaving the country, that wasn’t an option. I don’t have that phone number now and haven’t had it for three years. When I tried to call I got put on hold and then unceremoniously hung up on.
So, to recap: exhorbitant price hikes, outrageously high late fees which have been wrongly applied, hidden fees, an emailed invoice that doesn’t match their online account, an online account that is inaccessible once created and a customer service phone system that provides no service.
Public Storage: Kiss my Big Pink Ass!
Anyone want to volunteer some storage space for my stuff?
Themocracy
Man that blows. Nothing else to say on this topic