I justed wanted to share with you all what I learned (the hard way) about selecting a public storage facility. I left the US in August 2005 to travel and work via my laptop. At that time I downsized giving away a huge amount of my goods to the Salvation Army (the old stuff that had been stacking up). I kept only things that were sentimental, heirlooms, valuable, etc. I was able to fit these contents (from my 1 bedroom apartment) into a 5x10 self storage facility, I was very excited to save a lot of money.
Nearby there were two storage facilities right next to each other. One was brand new and the other had been there for about 8 years. The older one offered the first two months free since they were trying very hard to compete with the curb appeal of the new facility literally next door. I took the deal and started to move into my new space. Towards the end of moving in I realized I had some more goods to give away and the person working at the facility said they had a unit dedicated for donations to the local battered womens shelter, so I gave them the last of the stuff I no longer wanted. I told the guy how excited I was to leave the summer heat and head to Buenos Aires.
My storage unit was on the top floor of a 3 story climatized building. There was an external gate to the property where you needed a code that included part of your SS#. Then on the building there was a push code lock that was shared by all tenants.
Well when I went home at Christmas I went to my storage to get a few things. The lock was still on as I had left it but to my surprised, when I opened it up, 90% of my things had been stolen. The only things left were a box of photos (thank god) some random clothes and a few other odds and ends. It was a horrible feeling to open up the storage unit and see that your most prized worldly belongings had been stolen. I was shocked.
I called the police and they came out and wrote up a police report. I gave them all the details of what was inside so they could check with the local pawn shops and that was it. They never found anything and it took me about 6 months to get over the angry of thinking about the whole episode, it still hurts a little.
So what did I learn? A lot. Here's the scoop on how they did it and what to look for in a storage facility.
The way this scam works is the thieves sign up for the free rent. They use that to get access to the facility and a temporary storage place to hold your stuff until the monthly cycle of the surveillance tapes lapses. They pick the locks of units, move the stuff to their unit and then wait until the tapes have been erased before they move the stuff out of the building.
Here is what you should look for in a storage facility.
Always find one that has alarms on individual units. These are usually going to be newer and maybe a bit more expensive, it's worth every penny. They will give you a code for the gate to the facility (once again with the last 4 of your SS or something like that). Then you use the same code on the door (not shared codes like the one I was in) then you have to type a code in the elevator (which will only stop on your floor). This prevents people on the 2nd floor wandering to the 3rd floor. Finally when you put your code in at the door, that disables the alarm on your individual unit for a set period of time (a couple hours I think). That way when you go to open the unit no alarm sounds. The great thing is that all the other units are constantly monitored and have alarms. So if a person next you tries to break into your unit then an alarm will go off and they will likely flee.
Also, the newer facilities that have the advanced alarm systems also have better surveillance systems in place to watch more strategic places and often have digital archives of the cameras that they can store on DVD. Ask the office what their retention policy is.
One last thing, is something very simple. DO NOT USE YOUR OWN LOCKS. I had one of those big round locks that are marketed at looking solid and hard to cut through. It did not matter, all they did was pick the lock. For a criminal, picking a tumbler lock is very easy, so it's like not having any protection at all. Alway use a cylinder lock that inserts into the door (see attachments). I have been told the only way to get into those is to drill the core out with a powerful drill, so it will not be picked or cut open.
One last part to my story is that some drug addicts got a hold of one of my check books that was stolen with my stuff. The woman had stolen another ladies purse (stolen identity) and was writing checks from me to this other victim to cash them while on a road trip through the Texas hill country. They caught her at a hotel (when they did not have money to pay for the hotel) and the staff called police. The man with her fled the scene but the police took her into custody. She had my checkbook in her pocket when she was arrested! The police informed me she had some priors for amphetamines (a junky) and would probably post bail, at which time her man would come pick her up and would probably not go to her trial. Boy did I want to track her down in order follow the trail to get my stuff back. The banks put the stolen money back into my account very quickly but it was still difficult to deal with once I was trying to bring closure to the robbery.
So be aware to not store checks or anything that can lead to identity theft.
One of the people working at the facility that I became friends with while moving in would open the unit for the battered womens shelter. I kept telling him about how excited I was to go to Argentina. He even said, send me a post card from down there. He told me he was originally from the town of Cleburne, Tx. That also happened to be the town where the first check was written from my account. So I also suspect that it could have been an inside job. He would have known every vulnerability in the security system and cycle of the surveillance tapes. I could not prove anything but it was definately suspicious. So be careful with what you say, don't tell them you are going away for along time or anything like that. It might even be better to say something like "we will probably be coming by each week for something or other"
I hope that did not scare, self storage is a great and cost effective option but get educated and select a high quality facility, their worth it.
Wow, who knew?!
