Storage Company Accidentally Sells Woman's Stuff

And they're not sure if they can compensate her for that without more documentation.
www.lehtoslaw.com

[@robertnelson4755]

I had some tools stolen from my storage locker, and got the same question " you need to show us the receipts" . They picked the wrong person to ask that question about receipts. My wife is a receipt horder. She has receipts meticulously stored Alphabetically by the store name, year, month, date, day, time, and going back at the time over 15 years. She made an excel spreadsheet with the tool, the store it was purchased, the date it was purchased, the time of day it was purchased, the item number, the tax paid, and the total for all the tools. The final number was over $20,000.00 by the time she was done. I think the insurance company was pretty angry that she was as good as she was.

[@deathlis]

As an adjuster, I would have loved her to pieces. Contents pricing is a pain in the a$$.

[@uncledadcan]

I bet they added a 10% deprecation value for every year to his claim for the contents thus lowering the value of the claim.

[@deathlis]

@@uncledadcan Generally depreciation is based on expected useful lifespan. For certain contents we'll have a flat rate manual, for contents where this isn't established it's a basic % of retail based on the type of item (example being electronics). This is based on both age and condition, so not just age.

[@CoryRwtfyt]

My cousin rented a cheap (no security at all) outside storage unit across from her work. Since it was visable from her office window she up up a security camera looking that way. Stuff went missing within a week. The owner and his family were the ones stealing stuff.

[@palacespot2]

Fortune cookie reads: " never rent storage unit near trailer park"

[@need100k]

So were they prosecuted?

[@coop5329]

@Cory R I'm with Just Me--what happened to them and did she get her stuff back?

[@CoryRwtfyt]

Owner was charged, and they sold the business off. None of the newsapers mentioned what the outcomes were. Then again they don't like to report on crime due to the local college. Edit: nothing was recovered, the cops in that town are beyond slow.

[@skaterlover1999]

Oh hell nah!!! Folk are crazy and this actually pisses me off!

[@AeroGuy07]

I rented a storage unit in the early 2000's after a move forced us into a 2 bedroom apartment. The first thing they did that pissd me off was put their lock on my unit. I showed up one day and there were two locks on my unit, mine and theirs. I went to the office and they wanted to charge me $10/month for the lock I didn't want! I won that battle, but every month it seemed like I'd get a letter from them saying that my bill was going up because of some new tax or change to the law regarding storage units. What started at $70/month was $110/month within a year.

[@jedstanaland2897]

What you experience is fairly common and it's extremely common to happen with military storage.

[@HappilyHomicidalHooligan]

If the 2nd lock and associated Charges isn't in the Contract, what they did was Extortion and you should have called either a Lawyer, the Police and/or the Ministry of Consumer Affairs (or your Countries equivalent) and make a complaint/Sue them for it...

[@peterdurnien9084]

@@jedstanaland2897 The military has plenty of land, maybe they should have their own storage facility on a base?

[@-yeme-]

@@HappilyHomicidalHooligan in my experience, with storage companies the contract is very often only a month long, and renews when you pay for another months storage. so if they give you a months notice, they can put the price up, so they do, relying on the fact that you dont want the hassle of moving your stuff. the best thing to do is say fine, I wont renew then, I'll be back before the end of the month to take my stuff to another storage company, and of course they tend to back down and say ok just for you we'll continue at the previous price. the version of the lock scam I saw a couple of times was that they insist on a certain standard of padlock for their insurance to be valid, they inspect your padlock and tell you that unfortunately its not up to scratch. but guess what? they have insurance approved padlocks for sale, how convenient, only twice as much as they usually cost elsewhere. so of course to get round that you show up with the mother of all padlocks that puts their overpriced crap to shame and theres not much they can say.

[@idahofur]

I heard horror stories like that. When I rented a unit for a while. They just required certain type of locks. If you didn't have one. You had to purchase one. They even had a wall display of acceptable locks. Very friendly owners and never had an issue.

[@tomparker9966]

I rented a mobile storage unit that sat on my property while I was building my house. 4 years later I was still paying monthly rent of $65. I looked inside and realized I had spent more on rent than what I had paid for everything in the storage unit. Spent a dollar to save a dime.

[@equallawandorder5393]

Same here as I spent $85/month/6 years. $6k to store tools, saws, routers, fridge. Divorce situation. I gave everything away when moving to a better part of town. Now retired and living the full time RV life and have even less stuff. 😊

[@PickledHam]

Sometimes its better to just stop paying rent and let it go. I firmly believe that storage units are a waste of money. I also believe paying airline check baggage fee is also a waste of money. Several years ago I spent 3 weeks flying around 13 countries in Europe with just a backpack. No checked baggage. Simple secret. Buy cheap clothes then throw them away. Example: a$6 shirt, $12 paints, $18 shoes just isn't worth paying checked baggage fee.

[@scottmcshannon6821]

thats the case for most storage units. unless you have a LOT of sentimental items its never worth the cost.

[@markbernier8434]

You also paid more than the container was worth. Better to have bought it and kept it for whatever you want and then you can sell it probably for more than you paid for it.

[@jsivco3sivco785]

AND you're an Obama and Biden voter! (I can tell.)

[@Oriphiel15]

The confusing part to me, is why isn't the storage facility in trouble for stealing all this from the customer and selling off stolen goods?

[@coledrevenj]

Because it wasn't intentional. They are still financially responsible though.

[@anthonyb.9336]

@@coledrevenj theft doesn't require intent (maybe criminal theft does). If the person that bought the stuff at auction was tracked down they would have to return the items without compensation because the items were stolen goods.

[@coledrevenj]

@@anthonyb.9336 Not how the law regarding storage auctions work. Storage auctions are LEGAL auctions that are defined and controlled by an entire set of laws. If the laws were followed, the buyer has legal title to the goods, and any dispute would be with the auctioneer. I know it's boring, but read the laws on these auctions. It's the law, but it doesn't make it right.

[@craigg4925]

I had renter insurance once, and in the policy, they asked for pictures for all items in the apartment, and to assign a value to the items. I thought that was a good ideal. until someone broke into the apartment and stole some stuff, they only gave me $25 for my tv. that is when I found out about replacement value.

[@chrisk1944]

Same thing happened to me. I rented unit 22. I'd go almost daily to get tools, as I couldn't carry every tool for every job. One day, my gate code didn't work. I went in to the office, and saw a framed Bo Derek Playboy poster I owned, in their office. Turns out that Unit 2 hadn't paid, and when they sent the clean out crew, they sent them to 22 by mistake. Dumpster in front of the door held much of my bulky big tools (engine hoist, etc.) But most was gone forever. And, yeah.. they wore me down until I dropped it.

[@carlanderson5068]

Depending on where you're at, even if you'd been more than 90 days late paying they'd have broken the law. You could have at least filed in small claims court to get the money value. They might not even have shown up, and then you get to tell the county sheriff to collect via seizing whatever they can find through a writ of execution, or getting their bank to transfer funds to you directly (if you can figure out who their bank is). I had a friend that went through that with a former company that owed him money from a loan he bought specifically for this and it was an interesting process. He got the money in the end.

[@need100k]

No way. I'd wear THEM down, or my attorney would. I'd also file criminal charges.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@need100k Wear them down with an angle grinder! . I have an aggression problem.

[@knerduno5942]

That's dumb. I would of worn them down until I had to keys to the whole business.

[@richardtoms9161]

The tornado lady’s case is a perfect example of how far a company will go to avoid paying a claim. We want your premium but you better not need to use your policy because we will go to the ends of the earth to avoid paying a claim.

[@robertsmalls3513]

That’s why all of the property insurance companies are leaving Florida. They don’t want to pay all of the hurricane victims

[@richardtoms9161]

Here in northern Illinois a small town was wiped out by a tornado several years ago. Almost all of the buildings were insured by 1 company through a long established agent. The company cut ties with this agent of 40 years plus and the underwriter because of the losses. They claim that the agent over exposed them even though the year before they gave him a award for outstanding sales performance.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

That's why you don't buy insurance from a shifty duck. Nobody has a baby zebra around.

[@coop5329]

@Richard Toms Doesn't make any difference what caused the claim; all insurance companies do everything and anything to get out of paying legitimate claims. Insurance is a racket. I used to drive past a burned out house every day on the way to work. For more than a year. The owner finally spraypainted "I own a piece of the Rock" across the front in 4 foot high letters. My brother's house was crushed when a couple of big trees fell on it in the worst snow storm in that area in 30 years. Took over a year to get the insurance company to pay up. In the meantime, obviously, my brother had to pay up front for contractors to repair the house in the middle of winter.

[@patrickm3534]

Our car insurance denied a claim on my daughters car because my other daughter had moved out of the house for more than 30. They only found out because I had called in to figure out what to do like your supposed to. Not only did they deny the claim they cancelled all our insurance policies on 5 cars. I was a 15 year client and never had a claim. The claim for the car in the accident was only going to be around 3000.

[@jmac3934]

I had 2 units in california packed with everything i cared about sold by accident. The manager had some mental issues and was allegedly on meds. There is an unpublished opinion in the 9th circuit that i am basing my case on. The precedent is that gross negligence trumps a contract. Reimbursement comes from IIED, not receipts.

[@AFloridaSon]

If I was to ever need storage, this would now be a serious fear for me.

[@cericat]

It was a concern the two times I had to, but good business in my case and never screwed me, can't say I haven't known plenty of others with bad experiences.

[@N7uy66u]

If they don't want to pay out, they should not have sold her stuff. I'm dealing with a problem between a company and the post office currently, and it seems like they are giving me the runaround because of a problem that the company made and continue to make

[@barmanvarn]

Don’t leave us hanging Steve. What happened to the client that lost her house?

[@henrynelson9285]

Ditto. What happened?

[@markthebuilder9837]

What was the outcome of your case?

[@davidm1575]

Ditto!! Did they have to pay your "Reasonable Fees" also?

[@matjustice4515]

When I put stuff in storage years ago, I photographed everything. Didn't need it but made me feel better and forced me to sort through and get rid of alot of it. My cousin had the roof of a storage unit collapse from rain and ruin all her stuff.

[@DeronJ]

I agree. Nowadays it is really easy to take photos or a short video of your stuff just in case.

[@yunofun]

I did this when I had a storage unit. When my unit was broken into they tried to dismiss it saying it was "Only proof that you put that stuff in there, not that it stayed in there" Fortunately their insurance was a bit more reasonable and cut me a check that was probably close to about the right value.

[@phazekiller5701]

This is actually the best way to save yourself, my stepdad taught me to do this when I first rented an apartment encase they tried to charge me extras when I left. Didn't ever have a need for it but it was a good safety net. It's so much easier for people to save receipts now with the Iphone notes scanner too so you can save your receipts at the parking lot before even leaving.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

She should say all her receipts were in the storage locker.

[@imbalancedstatus8824]

Of course they were in that safe box they sold

[@apumpkinsmom]

My husband worked in the storage industry for many years. He directly managed a few before becoming an area manager for a company that oversaw many different privately owned facilities. The reason they tell you to not put valuable items in storage is not only the possibility of theft, but because of damage from rodents and water. Most facilities also require you to carry insurance on the contents. Also, storage reality shows are a crock. In the 15 years my husband was in the industry, only twice did he see units that anything of value in them, and it wasn't anything like what you see on Storage Wars. Most of it is complete junk.

[@Fred-mv8fx]

Could the judge compel the person arguing the, "you must have receipts for everything you own," to produce receipts for everything they own?

[@davidtsang4949]

I remember riding my bicycle around in the middle of the night (I worked weird hours at the time) to pass the time. A cop stopped me presumably because it was odd for a person too just cruise around town at those hours. I forget most of what he was saying at the time except for one thing. He asked if I had a receipt for my bicycle. Now this was an old $100 bike that was well worn. I kind of just stood there looking at him puzzled. Eventually, I asked him "Realistically, who is saving their receipt for their bicycle? Especially one that is obviously been around a block or two." I don't think he got what I was trying to say. He did let me go eventually but him asking that was laughably absurd...

[@tomhenry897]

Work 2nd shift and try going Jogging

[@UmmmmmmmWhat]

What, you don't carry reciepts for everything you are wearing, carrying, or using at all times? Boy, what a weirdo...

[@boblamb8421]

You are really lucky it was not escalated. In Mesa Az where I live there would have been 5 cops there for your incident and you would have definitely been detained probably in cuffs while they violated your rights and searched you and your possessions and if they wanted to be real A-holes like many are in Mesa you would have gone to jail with a tacked on charge of obstruction so when the other charge was tossed you are still found guilt of something by Mesa's messed up courts even if it was only for riding without a light. Cops stopping a person riding a bicycle obviously are bored and are fishing. Best to speak as little as possible to the police. You do not have to investigate for them. People have the right to remain silent but lack the ability to do so.

[@francisseidel8014]

Intelligence is not a requirement for wearing blue...

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@boblamb8421 Heck, they'd probably cut the bike apart looking for the drugs you were smuggling in the tubular frame.

[@PaleoCon2008]

So many companies are administered by incompetents. About two years ago, my bank merged. The bank made a hash of issuing new debit cards. I was registered for auto-pay on the storage website and they had my name, email, phone and address. But when the card was disabled by the bank, the storage company never called. The did send a letter a few days before they were going to break the lock and auction off my storage room contents. They didn't really seem to care about contacting me. I spent the next several months getting auto-pay set up again with the new card. For some reason, their website made it incredibly difficult to turn on auto-pay. Last month, I moved all my items out of the storage space and installed new overhead storage in my garage. Oddly, moving out, ending my agreement and turning off auto-pay was utterly painless. Over 8 years, the rental fee went from $40 to $99 a month. Storage rental fees are a horrible ripoff.

[@carlanderson5068]

Agreed. They may make sense for a known, short term case, and certain business cases, but most people shouldn't use them. Downsize your stuff instead (sell, donate, or junk).

[@mrchrislatino]

I had a workshop/shed in my yard the burned many years ago. The insurance adjuster said they'd pay for the building but I needed proof of the contents. I didn't have receipts but my wife had pictures of me and my son working in there. Most of the tools and contents were visible in the pictures and they paid the claim. Moral of the story: take pictures of everything.

[@coledrevenj]

Or even better, if you have a rich friend, go take pictures of his stuff-lol.

[@almostfm]

Funny thing about receipts. My former BIL was an IRS auditor. At the time (mid 1970s) we had a lot of first-generation Americans who'd come over from "The Old Country" and became, as they were back there, farmers. They were used to doing everything on a handshake basis, so they didn't keep good records. One year one of the guys got audited, and he came in with a book that had some basic transaction information in it. It looked like his quarterly tax payments were about right for the amount he reasonably would have earned, so they let it slide, but they emphasized that in the future, he had to keep receipts to document what he'd spent and earned. They told him that he could hire an accountant, or he could even just bring in the receipts to the IRS office and they could calculate his taxes. Fast forward to March of the following year. The guy came into the office, along with his son. Each was carrying a gunny sack full of receipts. He told them "I no wanna cheat nobody. Here's all my receipts. You tell me if I owe anything and I'll pay it". Former BIL said it took a couple of agents several days to go through it all. They said "save your receipts" and he saved _all_ of them. If he'd bought a toothbrush in the previous year, there was a receipt for it. Gas for his car? Had the receipt. New socks? Receipt right there in one of the bags. Turned out that he'd overpaid by a couple of hundred dollars. So they explained that he only needed to save _business_ receipts, and to please use an accountant. But they made sure he never got audited again.

[@scottmoot2969]

Years ago a kind stranger bought my Sister's unit. He found a clue in pics and gave back all photos etc. Bless that person.

[@terramarini6880]

Jeremy Hales does that. He and some other storage unit bidders call it "Restorage the love" and they try to get important/sentimental/personal items back to people whenever possible.

[@PickledHam]

This opens up a loophole to get rid of all of your worthless junk. Just get a storage unit, drop off the junk then stop paying. Could be cheaper than paying junk removal company to take it to the city dump. I did that very exact thing way back in 2002. Best $40 spent in getting rid of 92 CRT monitors and other junk. Some advice. Always lie on the rental application. Do not give your correct personal contact information. BTW, this also works for cell phone companies as well.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Ben between the "Today Will Be Awesome" sign and the 71 car. Steve's LHS.

[@MikeBrown-ii3pt]

I used to rent a 30x40 storage unit that I used for an auto repair shop. There were also a bunch of smaller units attached to it that others ran small businesses out of, including the building owner. In the 5 years I was there, the rent never increased and the only time a unit was ever sold was when the renter passed away. The persons family held the sale and there was some pretty cool stuff. I actually bought some antique (hex drive) socket sets to add to my personal collection of odd but still usable tools.

[@frozencanary4522]

How badly did the storage company screw up the account information? Sounds like she never was sent any notices of back rent or a judgement so the contents could be seized and auctioned off. She should get a total refund of all money's spent with interest without question. I don't know where this would stand as far as negligence is concerned.

[@Masochist4Melons]

I live next to a public storage. Mail mix ups happen all the time. I've gotten checks in my mail box that were addressed to the public storage.

[@adriennefloreen]

Steve, just before the Covid pandemic I got a phone call saying my storage unit hadn't been paid in months and was about to be auctioned off. Turns out the storage facility had been bought by another person who hadn't actually sent anyone bills for months. So, I tried to pay it and they ultimately did let me, but it was at the last second and I was already there with a friend who buys storage units at auctions to re-sell the stuff, who had hundreds of dollars in his pocket in case he had to buy my unit for me at the auction! Steve, a huge amount of stuff in my house including furniture, books, clothes, and even paint on some of my walls has come from this friend who buys storage units and ends up with a huge amount of surplus stuff. At one point he bought my deceased friend's unit without knowing who's it was and left burned CDs labeled in my friend's handwriting that said "Adrienne Floreen's Pictures" on my doorstep, and I also have all the clothes that were once owned by the director of the movie "Humboldt County" and his wife, including shirts that say "Humboldt County Movie Director." I have CDs of some band that was deported from the US to Jamaica that were never released, random artwork on my walls, antique toys, all kinds of shit. I recommend befriending one of the people who buys storage units, they often have all kinds of cool stuff that's valuable to someone or interesting, but not easily sellable. Some of them throw most of the stuff away and others save it in organized boxes. My friend is the other type, who keeps all the stuff organized to give away to anyone who needs anything.

[@TheSiriusEnigma]

Sue anyway, the “fine print” clause is to tell customers that there is no insurance in case of the unit being stolen or destroyed. Like a fire. This is malicious. Here are few thing they can be sued for: -Fraud, they collected payment after the unit was auctioned off. -Conversion, that’t theft of a good put in your care for safekeeping. -Emotional damage, always. -Unlawful enrichment, they didn’t throw her stuff in the garbage. They sold it and kept the money. -Breach of contract, obviously. This is also linked to fraud since they collected payments during the period they auctioned off the locker. An important part is that the damage is irreversible. And we made a mistake… so what?

[@rlmiller007]

This almost happened to me after I changed units because the door broke. After several months I went back to check and the doofus in the office hadn't changed it in the computer. They had my new unit red tagged and had cut my lock.

[@idristaylor5093]

Question for Steve: how did your tornado woman's case resolve?

[@ShawnD1027]

I was hoping to hear that myself!

[@pistolwhipped7714]

I am sure there was a gag order on the settlement.

[@MrLouie75]

This is what I was going to ask also!

[@idristaylor5093]

@@pistolwhipped7714 That was my assumption when Steve said he thought "Crazy Town" would end in 1 of 2 ways, and it ended in a 3rd way that he can't tell us about; but this is not that case.

[@CharacterMatterz]

Revenge is in order for the lady, not just for the clerical error, but for the lack of contrition or apology for their error.

[@loschekell]

I have had experience with storage lockers. Some of their managers are ex convicts and they can't be trusted for anything.

[@cowanthegreat8966]

As the losing house contents, my agent told us years ago to take photos of everything we own and put it in a safety deposit box. We haven't done that. Most of our stuff is crap since the auctioneer that sold most of our stuff in our previous city went bankrupt right after selling our stuff and we had no money to buy news stuff. We have money now but gotten used to living the spartan life. BTW, the auctioneer was a friend of my wife's, I never let her live that down.

[@AlanTheBeast100]

Not your wife's fault. Leave her alone.

[@knghtbrd]

In before FBI finds out about safe deposit box's existence …

[@Mysdia]

@@knghtbrd Maybe better to just take the photos digitally with a smart phone and back the photos up to 2 or more cloud providers, then keep the phone on you, and not in the storage locker...

[@Michael_Courtney]

The surprising thing is how small things add up. Yeah, my garlic press was $10, but I have 100 things like that in my kitchen. Add up every tool, electronic, towel, item of clothing, etc. and it really adds up. I spend thousands a year on Amazon and most of the stuff is under $25.

[@ecospider5]

My grandfather broke a craftsman hammer purchased before 1950. He went through his files and grabbed the receipt. Went into sears and said he wanted to warranty his hammer and handed them the receipt. They were so impressed he had a receipt from more than 50 years ago they told him. Feel free to take any hammer we have on the wall.

[@roxcyn]

When we had a storage unit we didn't actually log in their site with the unit #. It was either email or phone #. However, what I do know is when we were in the account it did say the unit number. This situation is definitely the storage place's fault as they made a clerical mix up.

[@jolenewitzel7919]

Why would I want to keep my old couch safe and secure but not my heirlooms?

[@chadbloomfield3510]

I am one that sent Steve this story and we discussed the clause in the contract. I said, "Who in the world would pay to store things with no value??"

[@IowaKim]

Thanks Steve for this video. I am going to go through my house and video everything I can and make sure it is uploaded to the cloud. Might be a good thing to do once a year-so putting a reminder on my calendar. Best way to document everything and also as an aid in case I ever need to list items of value.

[@TheCaptainmojo1973]

Mr Lehto should represent her in her action against these scammers and document the case for his audience, and even record the court proceedings whenever allowed.

[@Bobs-Wrigles5555]

Ben licking the Today Will Be Awesome plaque, Steve's RHS

[@theprodigalstranger5259]

Bens' day is awesome as he's up a $100. I work in self storage and that is completely the fault of the office staff. They should be checking the name on the payments as well as the unit numbers. Let the sackings commence! Nothing too valuable should be kept in storage as there is, at least here, a $5000 value of limitation on storage units. If the value exceeds $5000 the customer must sign a value of limitation waiver and provide us with evidence of insurance for at least the claimed value of the items being stored. Unfortunately for this lady insurance does not pay sentimental value.

[@chadlampson]

Steve, ya never fail to bring us the good ones... keep up the great posts.

[@abfutrell]

Was the Storage Manager receiving a double payment on 1168 and failed to catch it (or didn't care)? Or maybe the rightful content owner for 1168 was delinquent on dues, but was mistakenly assigned to 1167?

[@gregdennis3523]

Being in the military, we move a lot. One thing they tell us is take pictures and videos of your stuff before you move. Seems like that is a good idea before putting your stuff in a storage unit.

[@starhawke380]

It might be a better idea to take the photo after putting everything in the unit, that way there is proof it was in there at least once. I do a video walkthrough of my entire house every time I go on vacation in case I need to show it to an insurance company later.

[@gregdennis3523]

@@starhawke380 That's a very good idea! Sort of building a chain of custody.

[@TSD4027]

Judges should heavily punish companies for these tactics in lawsuit awards.

[@francisseidel8014]

This is gross negligence in my opinion. They should be held liable for everything in the unit.

[@BenLeitch]

Ben is leaning against the 71 Car

[@gpslightlock1422]

When we have a big storm coming we video all assets prior to the storm and protect the file from perils. It makes a great reference post disaster. SW Florida here. Others may want to do similar with storage units or just your own home in case of fire. Shoot a 10 minute video every 5 years just for record. It costs nothing but a little time. Keep the file in a fireproof/ watertight apparatus.

[@chrisreed26]

I'm in Tampa Fl myself and right before a big hurricane I try to remove any valuable items from the storage unit in case it was to be destroyed. Plus my Public Storage who sucks btw, always closes the complex for a storm and sends the notification email a day AFTER they do this! Public Storage has the worst record!

[@francissobotka8725]

I hope she sues the he'll out of them .They have that exemption to cover their asses.

[@WoodUCreate]

I want to hear more about that case from the 90's where her house was destroyed with receipts.

[@noosphericaltarzan]

Shouldn’t the lack of documentation argument be flipped around back on the storage company? They illegally broke into a unit they rented out, stole the property in question, and auctioned it off. If they did not create an inventory of the property they seized and auctioned off, then that is their fault and that makes them look like criminals.

[@BruceS42]

I recently got notice from one of our storage units that they require insurance on the contents. You can either provide proof that you have such insurance, or pay them for their insurance. Since we have no fixed address, it's hard for us to get renter's insurance on a storage facility. So we agreed to let them charge us, in addition to the rental fee, insurance for the contents. When we return to that area, we plan to try to cut back yet again on what we have stored, between that and another storage unit, to the point that everything fits in the other unit. The whole thing is a scam. If their highly-touted security is any good, we shouldn't *need* insurance on contents! They should have video not just of someone breaking in, but even on what is stolen. AFAIK, when we first rented that unit, there was no requirement for insurance.

[@RajaniIsa]

We once nearly had that happen. Thankfully my mom went in while it was secured but before it was auctioned off. In our case the past three checks had been applied to someone with the same last name at the same place. They fixed it when she brought in copies of the cleared checks.

[@frankmosses9121]

My son had a similar problem with insurance and he had a toy collection even though he had proof of purchase and amount they depreciate the value. F the insurance companies they cost him almost $100,000 and he couldn't even take it off his tax's!

[@greggweber9967]

Judge should double it to $10,000 at least for that attempted defense.

[@Seethenhagen]

"Do not put valuables in the storage unit" So is this just a place to store trash? Why would someone pay money every month for something to be stored in a locked container under CCTV, if it wasn't valuable? You might as well buy a sound system that voids its warranty in the event any audio is played through it.

[@robertsmalls3513]

She needs to find out when the unit was sold. They owe her a refund on all rent paid after her unit was sold, as well as the monetary damages for improperly selling her stuff

[@jesstreloar7706]

I sent in a coupon for a rebate. One of the requirements was the 'original' receipt must be submitted, no photo copies. I got a postcard back telling me that I had not included the receipt and that I still had time to resubmit if I still wanted to receive the rebate. I sent back a letter, "If you are not going to honor the rebate, don't send me a postcard telling me that I am incompetent." as I no longer had the original receipt because I had sent it in. I did include the photo copy of the coupon and receipt side by side. I got the rebate about 2 weeks later.

[@littlebrookreader949]

How deplorable that the storage company looks so completely inept and stupid, and yet they give the runaround anyway. Thievery. Out and out thievery. Evil. Wicked.

[@toupac3195]

I lost my grandfather's medals from WW2 Pacific including 2 purple hearts along with my grandparents belongings. After they died, my mom couldn't keep up with storage payments. I was a teenager then and didn't realize it would be lost forever. The heirloom clause seems plausible to me. My mom passed in 2005. She was their only child. My sister and I are still trying to recover anything possible.

[@captianmorgan7627]

Purple Heats are named to the recipient. Hopefully You'll be able to find them.

[@ThatHomelessScrubbalo]

If a business has loopholes like this (wanting receipts), climb out and leave

[@blue39503]

I once took a ride with a state construction inspector, and he had a storage unit set up with his specialty machines and equipment used to measure density of collected samples and whatnot.

[@ecospider5]

With insurance companies it’s a good idea to flood them with high quality documentation when you first contact them. Sometimes this makes them think you can’t be scared away. When I broke my tooth on a rock in rice I saved the rock. Plus gave them a very accurate timeline from breaking my tooth to when it was fixed. They sent me a $4000 check even before sending me documentation to fill out.

[@dashy9482]

I'm so afraid of this happening to my storage unit

[@vas4739]

My treasured “stuff” is from garage sales, Goodwill, Salvation Army and SOME is passed down from previous generations of my family. I have no receipts but I have SOME pictures…the only “thing” I’ve bought new is my mattress.

[@lowermichigan4437]

Sounds like theft to me.

[@ShawnHamm]

You would think the storage company would have been required to inventory and list everything that was being sold out of the locker.

[@danlewis6157]

Friends had their house burn to the ground. Insurance paid for the structure and temp housing right away and balked on the contents. They had the receipts and cash in a fire safe. They presented receipts for 1.5+ times the contents coverage. Insurance said they didn’t have all that stuff: no such central stereo - here are the burnt speaker frames and the amplifier chassis. Etc, etc. we were able to sift the ashes for the wife’s jewelry, all high-end stuff, and found some pieces. It took YEARS to get a settlement, and they still got screwed. You really can’t beat them!

[@marknesselhaus4376]

Back years ago when I did rent a storage unit, it was before they were climate controlled. I learned the hard way that the summer heat and humidity could and would allow mildew to mess up a lot of things. So that could also be a reason that various units might say not to store artwork and such things as well as theft or outright selling the wrong unit.

[@blacki4268]

I recently worked in a storage place (quit in 2018), and yes there is a valuable clause. Hell management even tells you to mentioned it during the contract signing. Thankfully that never happened to me. The lawyer is 100 percent right with everything he says about the receipt and the proof the tenant needs.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

I hope she gets more than fair compensation.

[@leighanneboles6609]

First! I'd hate to have this happen to me...I've watched those shows, and I've sometimes wondered about the heartbreak those people must feel...I still have my late son's and mother's things in storage....and if you cant store valuable items in storage, what's the point?

[@joshuagibson2520]

Absolutely not first and absolutely no one cares if you were.

[@gordonshumway7239]

Sometimes I wonder what business these outfits are actually in. Storage, or liquidating people’s stuff for profit.

[@SeanBZA]

@@gordonshumway7239 Both, first selling them storage at a profit, then eventually they stop paying, and they first open the unit, "inventory" it, which means taking the valuables out, then lock it up and let it go at auction. Then rinse and repeat. Basically it is good if you need to keep stuff for 6 months while moving, to get it later on at cheap rates, but long term not good.

[@knghtbrd]

I hope you sued that scumbag insurance company and took them to the cleaners, Steve. Hope this woman does the same with the storage company.

[@FlexDRG]

It does help to have photographs and or video of the contents in your house that shows your properties. Have them online somewhere or off site backup.

[@samuelplyler1511]

At this point I say that the woman can sue for damages done to her not just in physical loss but for the emotional loss and the fact that this place did technically defraud her even if it was accidental. This company essentially violated her rights and broke the law against her through illegal conversion of property.

[@madmaximilian5783]

@Samuel Pyler these storage companies have insurance for such situations just like this. Public exposure of the company and their sleazy business practices should warn others to not do business with them.

[@rickeykreutzer2087]

What about the damage to her reputation by claiming she tried to defraud them?

[@samuelplyler1511]

@@madmaximilian5783 The law was still broken and it was not confirmed that they do have insurance for this.

[@madmaximilian5783]

@@samuelplyler1511 they are required to have basic insurance coverage for a storage facility for damages due to theft, fire ,water damage that's why it's always good to take videos or pics of your property.

[@samuelplyler1511]

@@madmaximilian5783 Not saying that it is a bad idea to have pics and info on them, just that the storage facility is still liable for this issue. Also, the insurance can refuse to cover the claim if the issue was caused my negligence on the part of the storage facility, leaving the company on the hook for the whole cost.

[@o8thman812]

No valuables? Junk only. Hoarders dream!

[@josephfrechette9916]

I saw a case where a ladies house burned down. Her insurance was upset they presured the police to charge her with arson. After a lengthy trial she was found not guilty. Her insurance refused to pay again because "she waited to long to file a new claim.

[@natehill8069]

In this day and age with everyone having digital cameras, seems like every time you were about to shut the door, you'd take a picture of it.

[@kingforaday8725]

Had a friend that after a divorce stored his half of their stuff in a storage unit. One day he ask to to help him move a few things out. I looked at the items. Mainly a washer, dryer, and furniture. The kind of furniture you buy and put together yourself. He had told me how much he was paying for rental storage. This was two years after the divorce! Just kept my mouth shut. Didn't have the heart to say you could have bought new stuff several times for what you have spent on rental fees. He was a very intelligent adult man. Figured maybe there were sentimental memories.

[@MrTeff999]

I want to know about unit 108. Was the storage facility getting double payments for 108? Was 108 vacant? Or was 108 in arrears? And shouldn’t the storage facility call its customers or sent a notice before auctioning people’s stuff? Totally inexcusable.

[@cowanthegreat8966]

I'd be pissed if they did that to me. Put stuff in a locker when I moved cross country (Canada) and been paying for that locker for 15 years, probably spent over $10k on it, for about $2k worth of stuff. Yeah, stupid but at this point, don't want to lose it.

[@petervansan1054]

incredibly stupid since moving it would be cheaper

[@tomparker9966]

Cut your loss. It only hurts once. Not once a month.

[@Jezus42]

Oh to be a hoarder

[@tomparker9966]

@@Jezus42 I know I'll need this widget one day then I buy new widget and find one I kept. Throw it away today, need it tomorrow.

[@Jezus42]

@Tom Parker you mean garbage it's across the country how are you using it? If it was actually important or needed you wouldn't have lived for 15 years without it. You garbage hoader

[@zzasdfwas]

storage company should be required to inventory something before selling it.

[@chrisreed26]

I have a unit with Public Storage in Valrico FL.. I have been on Autopay for YEARS! Never late as it's an automatic payment from my card. Well I get a call saying my lock was about to be cut off!! What? I always have paid!!!?? What is going on?/ They said a chargeback for a credit card payment was done months ago! I called my bank..No chargeback! No returns of payments! Only payments! I said I need proof! They said either pay $165 until we figure it out or we cut your lock! Fine..I trust you will make this right! I paid $165 in cash and all future payments are also cash now..They have yet to fix this!! I have tried for nearly a year now to get proof of the chargeback and to tell me the last 4 of the card that was chargedback ro see that it's not my card! Home office must have made an error but nobody cares! I have had rats pee all over my stuff 3 times, water leaks, bugs etc..HORRIBLE place to store PLUS they raise the rate every 6 months!!!!

[@billrehm3590]

The state should have a dollar amount per square foot of storage space in a rental unit. If they make a mistake and sell your stuff in the rental unit , they pay a certain price and make it high enough they won't make that mistake. If your loss is above that amount you have to sue.

[@leighanneboles6609]

Agreed, I dont have receipts for my heirlooms from the 60s ....who would?

[@susanepp2707]

I live in Hawaii. I had all my stuff, my moms stuff and my grandma's stuff in a storage unit in CA. The man from the storage called me to tell me there was huge water damage in my unit and i shouod comd to CA and go through the unit. I couldnt go to CA and sometimes i cry because i think i lost all my memories. I've contacted my cousins to get copies of family photos. That's it.

[@duanebuck193]

Sadly, I think one thing is proven by storage facilities, and that is to take pictures of everything that you are putting into them and keep the camera memory card elsewhere as a backup. It's a sad situation when you have to second guess every action that you take when you are in situations like this.

[@audreymuzingo933]

Someone else in the comments said they did that, then it got burglarized, and the owners didn't care about his photos, said, "Just because you put the stuff in doesn't mean you left it in."

[@pxn748]

I don't what state this is in, but I was a storage facility property manager in SC. In that state you can't sell a unit until it is 90 days late and you legally have to try to contact the tenant multiple times via phone and email and US mail, you have to advertise the sale in the local paper twice, and send them 2 notices via certified mail. Unless she moved and changed her phone # without informing the storage company of her new contact info, she was ignoring them!

[@imbalancedstatus8824]

They had that exemption because they know they are not going to protect your stuff..

[@VitaNocturno]

These storage facilities seem prone to making money off "misfiled paperwork" and should be put under some severe review, imo. If you pay for a "secure" storage unit, that should mean that they shouldn't be permitted to do *anything* to the effect of removing property from paid-for and even delinquent units prior to properly notifying the person whose name is on the contract.

[@carlanderson5068]

They generally are (depending on state). The problem is often that people are using the units in times of transition (moving to a new mailing address) and a certified letter may not get to them, and, those less of a problem now due to phone number portability, phone numbers would often be different, too. The backup, required by law, was to put these notices in the local newspaper. That was ridiculous in the late 90's when I managed a storage facility as even then no one read the paper anymore. I'm not sure what the law requires now, but its probably the same. If they didn't cross all their t's and dot all their i's then they are on the losing end of a case.

[@uncletaylorify]

I never understand why companies can't understand how bad press is far worse than the small amount they would pay off for their mistake.

[@coledrevenj]

Because there isn't any real press anymore. Just politics and fake news.

[@jilbertb]

Sue for pain and suffering, sure nothing was "valuable" but the sentimental value is greater...

[@grugnotice7746]

Instead of renting a storage unit, I just did a rent-to-own on a storage building. Cheaper and nobody is going to steal my stuff. Also, it is actually insane that we insure contents in such a way as to invite fraud on both sides. Policies should be for a set cash value agreed upon beforehand and if a given room is destroyed or damaged, it just pays out. Even if the room is empty, it should still pay out. The only fraud that should be possible should be on the side of the insured, and that would be if they intentionally damaged their own structure to get an insurance payout, something that is more easily and non-arbitrarily determined.

[@angieritchie7585]

I would be very curious to know about your suit involving the client whose home was destroyed by a tornado and her contents coverage was denied for not being able to provide receipts. There has to be more to the story as that usually does not occur unless there has been a proven material misrepresentation present (at least in the eyes of the insurance company). I would love to hear deals of that case and what the resolution was.

[@booterone1]

Steve left us hanging for the rest of the story 😂

[@markcolorado240]

Sounds to me like a case where the insurance company would definitely NOT want to be in front of a jury!

[@billposer9951]

I would think that the storage company would have the obligation to inventory the contents of the unit before they sold it.

[@michelleayres5608]

In case nobody ever says this, I appreciate that you aren't "trendy".

[@jeromethiel4323]

Nobody looks at checks, they get sent to a check clearing house, and the check clearing house doesn't know or care what the check is for. Hell, the clearing houses don't even verify the amount! If the number is different from the written out amount, then (because this is done by computers) they use the number amount, which is incorrect. The written out amount is the determining factor. But since nobody actually deals with checks anymore, you end up with stuff like this happening. The real issue here, is why didn't the storage place contact the woman and ask to get paid? Auctioning the locker is the wasteful option.

[@thebigdawg61]

I collect watches and have a couple hundred of them. I don't have receipts for most of them but I have a photograph, front and back, of every one of them. I have an add-on to my insurance to cover them. The receipts don't really provide any useful information because they are insured for current value which is going to be more or less than what was paid. Value is not static, every week your belongings are worth a different amount.

[@hugokatz]

I'm betting their weasel clause, won't stand up to their incompetence.

[@theunaimedarrow4903]

I would think that a company legally seizing a customer's property would create a reasonable list of the contents. Similarly, I think it's on the insurer to prove that the customer committed fraud if they are going to deny an entire claim based on that.

[@barmanvarn]

I hope to never have to use a storage unit again. Wondering if there is some kind of renters insurance a consumer can purchase for this scenario.