The Leak, the Threat, and the Postcard
A rainy day exposed a leak in my unit that left my belongings sitting in water. There was no apology. The office offered me another unit away from the leak, and I moved my things. The leaking unit was then rented, still unrepaired, to the next person. Over the weeks that followed, that renter's belongings, and the belongings in the units around it, were ruined the same way. I saw a woman standing in that hallway crying over what she had lost.
When I told the front desk I would leave a review about what happened, I was told that if I did, I would have 48 hours to clear out every unit on my account, at every location. I couldn't move everything on that kind of notice, so I stayed quiet.
Weeks later, a small postcard arrived in the mail, the kind that looks like spam. It was a rate increase notice: my rate was nearly tripling. This from a company that runs an app, keeps my email on file, and reaches me electronically whenever a payment is due. I rented two units at facilities in different states, and both increases arrived on the same schedule after move-in, while both properties had empty units available.