Extra Space Storage illegally sold my stuff
Extra Space Storage in Columbus Ohio on Innis Road stole and sold all of my stuff illegally. I have had a storage unit at Extra Space storage for about a year. Covid had hit hard and I was being evicted. So, I got a storage unit to keep all of my stuff, my kids’ stuff, etc. I put EVERYTHING that was important to us in there. It was filled to the top. Now, ya all know me. Ya all know that I have a ton of stuff for resale, my kid’s stuff, etc. I am a mini hoarder. (Yes, I admit it!) We fell on hard times and were being evicted. We put EVERYTHING that we could in that unit. Ended up getting a second unit to fit the rest of our stuff. We finally found a place, but then the van started acting up before we could get all of our things out of the storage unit. I fell behind on payments. I spoke to someone in October. Then spoke to the area manager. Everyone told me, as long as I had my unit paid before November 17, that my stuff would NOT get sold at auction. I paid for it on the phone with the girl. She told me that she would give the information to her boss because she was new and was not sure what the next step was. But that the lock would be removed by that Tuesday at the latest. NO BIG DEAL, right??? WRONG.
This storage unit sold my unit... sold with it all of the information that they would need to steal the identities of MULTIPLE people.
Now.. how much is this costing me? Well, the IRS is auditing me. The information that I needed was in that storage unit. So as of now, these people are costing me my ENTIRE tax refund, the stimulus checks that we never got, as well as the CTC and so on. I talked to them yesterday several times. The lady (Tina) told me that they had talked to the person they sold my unit to and that they were bringing my things back. They still aren’t back. So, what? These people are picking through MY things. Taking what they want. They probably threw all of the papers away, thinking they were trash. My babies' pictures, documents, clothes, memories. It’s all gone. Our Christmas tree was in there. This was going to be the first Christmas in about 3 years that we have enough room for a Christmas tree... And well, it's gone. We had bought things earlier in the year and put them in storage. We had some of their Christmas presents in there. Christmas gifts for my grandkids were in there. So they told me yesterday that when this person brings my stuff back, (if they ever do) they want me to go up there and look through it and see if I can identify what is missing. How am I going to have a full inventory of what is missing????? Second of all, I do not have a vehicle that I can drive. I have a van. BUT it needs brakes and tags. The TITLE to the vehicle was in my storage unit, signed and notarized. Just not flipped into my name. Well, looks like I will not get that back.
I am a mess. I cannot believe that I worked my butt off. I worked for 16 hours a day to be able to have the $435 to pay them on 11/6/2021 to keep my stuff from going to auction. The auction was set for November 18. So, my husband and I busted our butts. We worked our butts off and did what we needed to do to keep our things. We fell behind on the payment for August. They charged $40. September, I knew that it was coming up on another late fee, plus the 140 in auction fees. I called to see if I could just pay the 141 that was past due to keep from getting that auction fee and hopefully stop the auction process. They said that I could not do that. The AREA MANAGER told me that if I paid $435 before November 17, 2021, my stuff WOULD NOT be sold at auction. I paid on November 6, 2021, at 10:59 am. They sold my stuff anyway.
So Today, November 20, I spoke to them again. Tina informed me that she spoke to the people that bought my unit. They had donated a bunch of stuff to Goodwill but said that Goodwill was giving them everything back. THEN she had the AUDACITY to tell me they kept everything but the drugs. EXCUSE ME WHAT????? I said uhm someone is lying there. I don’t do drugs. She said that the people claim to have found needles in the unit. Wtf? Someone is clearly lying here. I can barely afford to put food in my kid’s belly, let alone buy drugs. I barely have the money most of the time to buy the natural supplements (like Valerian Root, Devins Claw, etc) that I use for my fibromyalgia. She (Tina) said hopefully that I will have my things back there today, but that I needed to come up and look at everything to make sure that it is all there. I do not have a vehicle to drive up there. This is crazy. I have no idea WHO went through my things. Someone was LOOKING at MY PERSONAL stuff. THEY KNOW ALLLLL there is to know. This company has violated me.
Supposedly I will get my things back. SUPPOSEDLY the people that bought it are going back to Goodwill and Goodwill is going to give them back all of the things that they donated. This is crazy. I paid my bill and they sold my stuff anyway. I feel lost. Completely lost. Like I am tired of always being crapped on. I am sick and tired of getting the short end of the stick. Like, come on… CAN I CATCH A BREAK????? What did I do so bad that warranted 45 years of torture and pain? I have lost things before, and that was my fault. This time, I tried to keep my things. I tried to make sure that my kids did not lose everything. I tried. I really did. And now look… a MANAGER of Extra Space Storage sold my unit when it was paid for. I am not rich. I barely have enough money to pay my bills every month. I have a job working with a close friend doing digital marketing, websites, and graphics. My adult daughter and my husband work with me. Together the 4 of us build beautiful websites and amazing graphics. I am trying to get ahead in life. I am tired of struggling every single day. I am tired of being poor. I am tired of busting my butt to do right by my kids to have someone completely go behind me and screw it up. I can screw things up on my own. I certainly do not need some national storage company ruining things for my kids. I tried to do right. I tried to make sure that we didn’t lose everything. As of 12:59 on November 20, 2021, we have lost everything. Their offer? To refund the $435 that I paid to keep my things out of the auction.
Moral of this story? Do NOT trust Extra Space Storage.
