Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  They have set office hours in which you can contact them, and a monthly bill for storage unit. Well I had them set on automatic payments and some how I was removed from auto payments. I had on record that I am to be contacted via phone or mail. Well they ended up sending me emails regarding the issue and claimed that if I do not pay they will charge a late fee of 20% of the payment, luckily I checked my email before the due date and tried contacting them multiple ways and days to pay the due payment. Yet they refuse to answer any way I try to contact them. Now they claim I owe the 20% late fee which is a substantial amount yet I still can't contact to make original payment.

  Business response

  03/10/2023

  We had actually been made aware of this customer's concerns prior to receiving this complaint because the customer had left us a ****** ****** review. I had already returned the customer's phone call before seeing the review, and called him back as soon as I read it, but was not able to reach him. I followed up with a long text response, addressing each of the concerns he had raised, and although I never received a call or text back, I considered the issue resolved due to the fact that he deleted his review soon after my text. I have attached screenshots of the messages, as well as a screenshot from our CRM that shows the recent call history between he and us. Lastly, I have included one screenshot that shows some of the numerous emails and texts that were sent to inform each of our tenants that we performed a system-update at the beginning of February and - for security reasons - any and all autopay information that we had previously saved on file had not been carried over, and that we needed to get that information from them again to re-enter into the system. (Note: there are a total of 4 screenshots that show all of the communications sent between February 1st and today, however I was only allowed to upload 1 to this message). The tenant did contact us on February 2nd, indicating that he had received those messages, and did not call again until the morning of March 8th; the date that he submitted this complaint and left the ****** review. I did miss his call on the 8th, as I was outside spreading ice melt throughout the facility and was unable to answer. I did, however, leave a sign on the office door indicating that I was onsite, just out of the office for facility maintenance, and left the phone number where I could be reached if the matter required immediate attention. I then called him back once I was back in the office where my laptop was, and the conversation was pleasant and to-the-point; in other words, there was no indication that he was particularly upset or concerned about anything, and he accepted my apology for having missed his call earlier without leaving the impression that he had attempted to reach me at any other time or in any other way (via email, online messaging, text messaging, or by coming by the office). After we hung up, I saw the review and immediately called him back, but since he did not answer, I addressed what he had put in his review in text message form. The review was, essentially, the same as the complaint I'm responding to here, which is one of the reasons I am including the screenshots of my response. But I will also quickly run through each of the statements in the complaint and address them here, too.
  Regarding his statement that he had "some how [been] removed from auto payments," that matter had already been addressed and resolved in February. As I mentioned earlier, we began sending texts and emails to all of our tenants on February 1st, informing them of our system upgrade and giving them detailed instructions on how to create their new online account and get back on auto-pay. We spoke on February 2nd, at which time he acknowledged receiving that notice and explained that he was not very computer-savvy, asking if he could instead just pay over the phone and skip having to set his account up by himself. Then in March, tenants are invoiced a few days prior to the 1st, and then receive text and email reminders a few times between the 1st and the 10th. Late fees are not charged until the 11th of each month. The reminders are friendly in their wording, and are clear in that the tenant has not been charged a late fee yet, and will not be charged the fee until the 11th. There was never any statement made to the tenant that they owed the fee. 
  I would also like to reiterate that there is no evidence of the tenant having tried contacting us in "multiple ways and days" to make his payment. He called once on February 2nd; a call I answered and our system recorded, and once on March 8th; a call I missed but returned a short time later. We have gotten no other calls, emails, or messages in any other form at any other time from this tenant. It is not only untrue, but pretty inflammatory to assert that we "refuse" to answer in any way, and that not only are we are unable to be reached, but that we have ever charged them a late fee. The fact that we needed to get their autopay information again was communicated clearly and frequently, as evidenced by the tenant's phone call on February 2nd. My text response to the tenant was and is sincere in that I take customer support very seriously, and make it a top priority to ensure that our tenants get prompt attention when they need it and that they are more-than satisfied with the level of customer service they receive. We do not guarantee that level of care simply for our reputation's sake (or solely to keep from receiving public complaints). It has always been the foundation of our business model and the crux of our company's culture and philosophy; that the customers' needs, expectations, security, convenience, and satisfaction are not only met, but are constantly exceeded. I am respectfully challenging this customer's complaint based on the fact that his concern was resolved within a matter of hours from the time we first missed a call from him, but also due to it being inaccurate and misleading to third-party observers. I think that the customer would agree at this point that the complaint, as it is worded, is not an accurate representation of what happened nor of how he feels toward our history of customer service and the ways in which we have treated him as a valued tenant. 
  Please reach out to me any time with any questions or concerns, or if there is anything you would like to discuss further. I appreciate being allowed the opportunity to provide my account of this situation and to address this complaint not only with you, but publicly, on your website. Thank you, again.

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