Storage USA - all area locations

Review: My complaint involves the company policy . If one happens to experience financial difficulty and becomes behind in payments excessive fees are applied and a lean fee is applied to auction ones personal belongings . There isn't an option to pay down the balance to keep your belongings from being sold , one must pay the entire bill or none of the bill . This has caused me extreme grief as due to illness I was unable to keep up and experienced a lapse in payment . The fee continues to increase since I'm told partial payments are not accepted . I believe the company implements this policy for the specific reason of seizing ones personal property to sell for up to 10 times it's worth in public auction . I repeatedly begged for an exception to be made and was told no matter how high I climbed the corporate ladder I would be told the same thing . Pay all or none . My storage unit contains sentimental items that never can be replaced . The onsite managers did nothing to help in any way . I feel like I'm a victim of extortion as my things will be up for auction December 16, 2013 and my outstanding bill has skyrocketed to 495$. I believe company policy should be revamped to help customers retain their property instead of purposely try to make profit from it . I'm so distraught overThe possibilities of losing my belongings to complete strangersI've had to see a doctor for prescription medication to calm my nerves . Please help me change this ridiculous policy that's essentially stealing from those experiencing financial problems .

Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

The right to my belongings restored so that I may promptly move them to my own place of storage.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Extra Space Storage follows California state law in regards to all foreclosure proceedings. While customer satisfaction is very important to us, we cannot allow customers to stay in units without paying rent. Ms. [redacted]'s account is currently 109 days past due. Procedures governing past due accounts are included in the lease agreement that Ms. [redacted] signed.

California law prohibits storage facilities from keeping proceeds from an auction that are in excess of the amount the tenant owes. We do not make money on auctioned units.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

My belongings were auctioned.