Stor-Age Gardens: Billed for an extra month despite my best efforts

Item: Stor-Age Self Storage
Rating: 1
Author: Michael F

I am deeply annoyed with the lack of customer orientation at Stor-Age after they debited my bank account R1500 for an additional month despite the unit being empty. 1) I moved out my Storage Unit on 1 April 2016 and then gave notice on my storage unit on 4 April 2016, well ahead of the 14 day notice period; I got a confirmation on the same day with a comment "remember to remove your lock" 2) I did not remember to remove the lock that my movers had unfortunately left in place. My simple excuse is that there is a lot of detail in a move and I was bound to overlook a thing or two. 3) On 19 April I get an Invoice for an additional month. I query the invoice on the same day. On 20 April I get the reply that "the invoice may be ignored" 4) On 30 April I go to Stor-Age to drop of my magnetic access disc. 5) On 4 May , my account is debited R1500 for an additional month. I initially thought this was a clerical error but after much hounding was told that this was because "your lock is still on the unit, and this is the reason you were charged for the month." The time to tell me this is *after* debiting my account? Not when I queried the Invoice? Not when the admin staff deciided not to cancel the debit order because there was still a lock on a cancelled unit? Stor-Age now claim they reminded me to remove the lock when I originally gave notice on 4 April. That was not a reminder, it was simply telling me an action was required. Stor-Age have now ignored me for 5 days straight and appear to have no intention of sorting this out. Having debit access on a bank account is a privilege to be exercised with respect - not an opportinity to score an extra month because of a small detail/oversight on the part of the customer. I dealt with the following people: Chien Kevin Jacobs (cc:d) Michael Crowster (cc:d) I am simply appalled at the lack of customer orientation at Stor-Age: happy to get you in, but if there is an opportunity to make an extra buck on your way out, happy to do that too.

Helpful (0)

Replies (2)

Stor-Age Self Storage's replyOfficial

13 May 2016, 05:35

Hi Michael

Thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately as your unit was locked and thus occupied we could not rent this to anyone else and have therefore lost income. All though we did provide a reminder to remove the lock it is not our responsibility to do so. Our terms of rent are clear and the lock should have been removed from the unit.

Stor-Age Self Storage's reply13 May 2016, 05:35

Official

Hi Michael

Michael F's updateReviewer Update

13 May 2016, 07:21

Thank you for taking the time to reply, and at least Stor-Age is consistent in their lack of customer centricity. I need to clarify two things: 1) the only time there was mention of a lock was when I gave notice. There was no reminder. 2) I queried the invoice from you 10 days before the end of the month, and was told all was fine. No mention of the problem lock 3) If somebody had wanted that unit and the lock was found in place, I would have removed it on a minutes notice, I had no intention of preventing Stor-Age from re-letting the unit (which is why I gave you 4 weeks notice). But it's ok, keep the R1500, my review stands, and hopefully some people read it and are made aware of the pain of dealing with your company.

Michael F's update13 May 2016, 07:21

Reviewer Update