Thinking about getting a storage place? Go with Tuckitaway if you can stand what I am gonna tell below.
1. Faulse advertisement -free moving-
It has FREE MOVING on their advertisement. They only have free moving IN not OUT. (It's the first step to get you in without getting out ever.) They never told me when I moved my stuff into my station. I found it out when I tried to schedule a move out. They started to tell me that if I want to get the truck(like how I moved things in there), I have a 3 hours minimum to pay. If I want to have "helpers", they also have 3 hours minimum. That will totally make a simple 10 blocks away moving into a nearly 5 hundred dollar event.
2. Two months after my contract, they mailed me and told me they are raising up the price for 6 dollars more per month.
3. They called without figuring out why.
A. The first time I got a ton of calls from them when everything was paid regularly every month. I called them back and they told me that I have to pay 6 more dollars every month again. I asked them, "Is this even legal? You know, the rent control is makes the increase of rent so little. How can a little storage place raise 6 dollars up from 70 dollars per month only?" The person on the other side of the phone got mad at me and shoutted, "We have to live, too." I answered, "I am just asking. I believe that there is nothing you can do. I will find it out. Don't worry." So, I paid them 6 dollars more for a couple of months. The next time, when I was trying to get into my storage place, I realized that I totally forgot my key on my lock the last time. I told them that I need someone to cut my lock open and I need a new lock. They told me that I have "credits of 30 dollars in my account" I can use for the cutting lock and new lock services. When we walked to my storage place, the lock looked very different. It is their company policy if they find an unlocked storage place, they have to put on a new lock immediately in order to secure the place.
I realized that the reason they called me a few months ago probably was to tell me my lock situation. Instead of telling me so or finding out why when I called them back, they told me that my rent is going higher. I paid them more and it turned out that I didn't have to.
B. The second time they called me a ton. They left messages related to payment again. I thought they were gonna raise 6 dollars more again. I didn't reply right after. They kept calling and finally they told me that I missed a month of payment. I said, "wait, I clearly remembered when I paid. Let me get back to you in a few." I checked my online payment history through emails with my bank account history. They both indicated a payment was made to Tuckitaway already. I called them back and told them my payment number with the exact dates and detail. After 3 min on hold, they told me that they found the payment, and without showing any apologie, she hung up on me.
4. They don't have a good online payment system designed. First, they didn't sinc the data to online payment page. the customers have to type in all the information. When I change the address online, they never made any change in their system. I found it out when I finally terminated my storage place and they told me that they will mail me a check to my address. When I checked the address, it was still the address I used a thousand years ago. That was probably the reason they didn't know that they got my new payment already because they couldn't match the address and they never tried until I told them.
5. The people who work in the office never look pleasant. I found this part terribly annoying.
6. Try "terminate the contract"
A. They told me that I have to clean up my storage place first
I totally agreed, so I asked them if there is a place I can throw out what I do not need. They told me they do not own a garbage space and I can not do that. I told them that this is ridiculous because all this time I've been dragging out unwanted stuff out from my storage place every time I visited, and the stuff always disappeared without being requested. Does that mean that I should just keep doing things like this without being a responsible person? Then, a lady working in the office said, "if we had known that, we would have billed you." So then, I said, "OK, how much do you charge if I make you guys throw out my stuff?" Silence, dead silence.
And then I asked them if I could borrow a cart to move my stuff out and put them on the street somewhere so New York City people can pick them out especially it looked like a garbage day out. They told me that first I can't borrow the moving cart. Second, I can't just put them on the street. They told me the only way I can do this is to get a car to take my stuff out from my storage place. I said, what if I don't have friends here and I don't know how to drive. Should I just leave my storage place like this and just refuse to pay in the future. They said, "then, you will have bad credits." I said, "what if I don't care because my country does not believe credits system in the US?" I told them that I am trying to be responsible but I can't drive, I don't have friends here. I need some other way to vacade my storage place. They went silent.
I called 311 and decided to file up a complain about tuckitaway. I got the website. On the same day, I met two other women who tried to vacade their storage places with the same problems I was having. We wished each other luck and exchanged the info of the website.
After the phone call, my mind started to spin. So, in the next blog will be the journey of how you can deal with this situation if tuckitaway is your only choice.
