FROM “THE CONSUMERIST” BLOG

Kyle wrote in looking for advice after a storage company disappeared with everything they owned:

Short story: We had 8160 pounds of personal items in storage with Wright Way Moving & Storage of Kent, Washington (not a self-storage place, a pallet-style warehouse storage place). They stopped sending bills. We called to find out why. Their number is disconnected, and their building appears abandoned. We have 1) filed a police report 2) informed our insurance company, and 3) contacted the military to find out if they can help us.

Long story: My husband finished his Marine Corps enlistment September 28, 2007. We own a home in South Carolina, near his last duty station, and as of that date it was under contract for a closing date of October 24. The packers came on September 13, and the movers came to pick it all up on September 14. The mover arrived in Seattle on September 16 or 17, and turned our belongings over to Wright Way Moving and Storage, as we were not there to take delivery. Our intention was to arrive in Seattle, spend some time getting settled, getting jobs, etc, then find an apartment and take delivery of our items. We had savings to tide us over, and the military pays for storage up to 3 months, after which point you can opt to take over the storage costs, but the military is still responsible for delivering the items.

Cue the mortgage crisis. Our buyers backed out, due to the husband’s inability to prove his employment history. The house sits on the market still - we’ve recently buckled and signed a contract with a property manager to attempt renting it instead. Because the house hasn’t sold, we can’t afford to get a place in Seattle, so thank God we can live with my mother rent-free. And let me tell you, nothing tests your patience more than living in a single bedroom with your husband and 19-month-old son. His crib is in storage, so he sleeps on a foam bed on the floor. We thought it was a temporary solution - a few months tops.

In December our 3 months of free storage were coming to a close - we received a letter from the military giving us all the contact information for Wright Way, and I called and spoke with Ann, being sure to give her all of my current contact information - where we’re living in Seattle, phone numbers, etc and asking for an invoice for the partial month of December. I was concerned that they might claim they couldn’t contact us and sell our things, so I made sure to reach out. They sent me two invoices - the partial December and full January bills, both showing my current and correct contact information, so I know they have it on file. I paid those invoices in full, and have the canceled check to prove it.

Around mid-March, I realize we haven’t received any further invoices from them - even if they bill after-the-fact, I should have received February’s invoice in March. Life happened, and we didn’t end up calling to check up on it until last week. A couple of calls last week went unanswered - no voicemail, no answer. So today, my husband tried again and got a “number disconnected” recording. Very concerned at this point, he drove out to the storage facility to find the building basically abandoned. He came home and did some googling and was able to find that they canceled their business license in late March.

So, seeing all of my worldly possessions flash before my eyes, the first call was to our insurance company - we were smart enough to get Renter’s Insurance, but only for $10,000 - I figured that would cover anything that got damaged, I never imagined it would all disappear. USAA instructed us to open a police report, so my husband did so - they will be driving by this evening to see if there is a Property Manager to contact or a way to get in the building to confirm the items are truly gone. I have also contacted our military contact - the people who gave this company everything we own.

So this letter is for two reasons.

1) To warn others with items in storage to get LOTS of Renter’s Insurance - its cheap, and worth it.

2) To make sure we have done everything we can at this point. Any suggestions are appreciated.

We felt that Kyle was doing everything that could be done, so we said “good luck” and asked to be updated. The situation, though scary, seemed to be in good hands. We’re pleased to announce a happy ending:

I’d love to say that all’s well that ends well, but I definitely feel burned by the whole situation.

We had opened a police report with the local department, who seemed compassionate about our situation and said he’d go by the building Monday (4/14) night to investigate the status of the buildings and items inside - he failed to mention that his next day at work was Friday. Four days is an eternity when all you can think about is the handmade toybox your father made for his very first grandchild.

We learned that the Trade Commission would have jurisdiction over licensing and fines for such a facility, if we had our things there for less than 90 days, over that, its considered permanent storage and out of their hands. And let’s face it, the company no longer existed, so a fine isn’t going to do us much good.

The military contact in the office that had originally placed our items in storage knew that the company was undergoing bankruptcy in February. She coordinated the move of all military-controlled storage items at that time, but our shipment wasn’t flagged because we were past that 90 day limit and the military was no longer paying for the storage, so they essentially didn’t know our things were still there. However Karlene ended up saving the day for us. She tracked down the cell phone number of the man that owned Wright Way - when she called him at first he tried to pretend he wasn’t Jack Wright, but she was able to get him to admit it, and he stated he’d given any outstanding items to “SDS Incorporated”. She asked for the number and he said he’d get it “in a few days”. She pressed for a number by 1:00 that day (this was probably around 10am on Tuesday). By 3:00, she had confirmed that our household goods were safe and sound with SDS, and had two contact numbers for us.

When my husband spoke with SDS, he confirmed everything was intact, and that he actually had been an employee of Wright Way. When everything began to go south for the company, he decided to take control of the items in storage, moved them all to a new warehouse, and is still putting the business together to handle what he’s jumped into. We certainly owe him a debt of gratitude and wish we could continue to be his customer, but after this experience we’ve made arrangements for a self-storage place very close by where I can go visit my things. And as soon as the police report is closed, we’re upping our Renter’s Insurance. It was only 24 hours from start to finish, but it is not a 24 hours I would ever want to relive.

The moral of the story: Renter’s Insurance (and don’t move until your house is actually and truly sold).

We’re so happy that everything turned out well and wholeheartedly concur with the moral. Get renter’s insurance!

Renters Insurance

I’d like to borrow your ear for a few minutes to talk about something I believe to be important and much overlooked by most self storage tenants…storage insurance.

Most renters assume that they are covered in some way for loss or damage to the items they store outside of their homes. They believe that either their homeowners insurance or the renters insurance for their apartment would cover them in (the rare) case of loss. The reality is that most homeowners and renters insurance contracts have clauses since 9/11 which exclude self storage as a covered item.

In Massachusetts, once a tenant signs a lease for storage and puts a lock on their unit, the storage operator has no liability on anything that might happen to that unit. That is why it is so important for a renter to take out insurance on their self storage unit.. The cost can be as little as $8 a month for $2000 worth of coverage.

Loss, of any kind , is extremely rare at Medford Self Storage, but still, storage insurance is just that, insurance for the unforeseen and unexpected. To me it’s a small price to pay monthly for peace of mind.

Jay Comenitz
Manager

Creating A Storage Facility

When we got together and started thinking about how we could build a better storage facility we knew we had to get an education first. We started out visiting about 20 different storage facilities and made note of our likes and dislikes. Now we had to put our heads together and decide what we wanted our facility to offer.

The one thing we noticed was how many sites didn’t have truck level docks. That meant that people moving with a truck had to hand their items down off the truck to someone on ground level. That made no sense to us so first we decided we would offer truck level, van height level and street level bay doors. Now when a truck, van or car pulls up they are perfectly level with our facility to make offloading a snap.

The second thing we noticed was how creepy some of the sites made you feel walking through their hallways. Some piped music in to try to make it less foreboding but frankly it didn’t help. So we decided to make our aisles wide and very well lit. When you are in Medford Self Storage you don’t get the feeling someone is coming up behind you. The lighting gives it more of an open feeling which puts you more at ease.

The next thing we noticed was facilities that have as many as 700 units only had 3 carts for tenants to move with. We decided if we had ten carts there would never be a wait for one. As a matter of fact most people can take 2 carts just for themselves without it impacting anyone else.

The next item was security. This was something my Father, Brother and myself disagreed on. Most facilities offer gate access hours so tenants can come and go after the employees have closed for the day. Because it is so widely done my Father and Brother thought we should do the same. I did some research and what I found was some facilities that do this have had theft problems. My feeling was lets offer LONG operating hours every day BUT have someone working on site the hole time so the building is never without someone to watch over things. Yes this would send our payroll up but it was worth it. To add to the security we put in 9 security cameras throughout the building and numerous intercoms. I am happy to say that I won this argument and now I feel we have one of the safest facilities around.

I saved what I think is the best reason to store with us. We are a family owned and operated facility. I am here 5 days a week working the desk making sure all are tenants are pleased and making sure that the facility stays spotless. We opened in 2000 and I can honestly say the place still looks great. I have a great staff and we all pitch in to keep this place clean enough to eat off the floors.

Jay Comenitz
Manager