Shurgard Self Storage - Portsmouth Avis 

Open letter to CEO of Shurgard, explains my experience perfectly:

Dear Mr Oursin,

In February of this year I rented a storage unit at your Portsmouth branch. I was very clear from the outset in my communications with your staff that I required a long-term rental.

Four months into the rental I received notification from Shurgard of a 23% increase in the rate for my unit. I requested on four occasions to know what costs to Shurgard have increased to such a level that this change could be justified. Of course there were none, and as we both know the rent increase is effectively extortion – leaving the customer in an impossible position. As you will be well aware the costs of hiring an external company to shift the large items I have in storage are astronomical, thus giving you the ability to operate a scam in which you impose enormous rent increases simply to fleece your customers.

I have tried to discuss this with the local manager, who lied to me by giving false reasons, and then rather smugly told me there was no complaints procedure I can follow as any contact with Head Office would be passed back to him. He also refused to pass my complaint to his line manager when requested.

Therefore, I write to you in the expectation that you can, and will, answer my questions below. I look forward to direct answers rather than a vague and generic PR exercise.

1) Is it a global policy of yours, or a local level decision to extort money from loyal customers, knowing the costs to them of changing storage company can be huge?
2) Is your lack of a complaints procedure for customers due to an arrogant belief that you are above doing wrong, or rather a demonstration of such contempt for customers that you have no interest in their views?
3) Do you find it acceptable for your local managers to lie about internal cost increases to attempt to justify nonsensical rent increases? For example, your local Portsmouth manager repeatedly claimed significant increases in the cost of electricity (untrue) and staff as justifiable reasons. In fact you made two thirds of the staff in Portsmouth redundant between my taking out of the unit and your 23% increase notified after four months.
4) Do you believe that any increase AT ALL is justified given the rundown facilities you provide? Your Portsmouth location frequently has the main door out of order, the vehicle access out of order, and lifts out of order. Indeed, when I visited on 27th July both your main door and vehicular access were out of order, and I was then trapped for an hour in a lift which broke down with me inside it. My next visit on 29th August found an even worse situation. The main door broken (it’s always broken!), and the vehicular access door stuck open two feet above the ground. Your one remaining member had staff had departed for the day. This meant that not only was the only means of access to the building was by lying on the floor and slithering under the door, but that absolutely anyone not connected to the storage facility could access in the same way. I returned two days later (31st August) to find the situation unchanged. Given the money you are extorting from your customers and the money saved by making the majority of your staff redundant, perhaps you could invest in ensuring customers can access their units, and unwelcome intruders can not?
5) Your local manager also attempted to justify the rent increase by claiming units were in high demand, and therefore prices were being put up accordingly. I understand market economics of course, but I ask you how you justify applying this to EXISTING customers - customers that are not in a position to shop around and compare prices. Indeed, they are with you because they had already done that. Do you reduce rents accordingly during periods of lower demand? If not then you are not applying market economics, you are simply ripping off your customers.
6) The 2015 Consumer Rights Act incorporates a requirement for all contract terms to be set and implemented such as to be fair and reasonable, and the requirement that a consumer may not be placed in a position by which they are disadvantaged or forced into accepting such terms. You are in breech of this. Do you disregard this law because you believe you are exempt, or is it a calculated gamble that your customers will not act upon your failure to comply?

Carmen provided excellent support in changing units, such a helpful lady.

Staff was very welcoming and helpful

Wendy had been absolutely brilliant, she explained everything in detail and I felt at ease and comfortable with her. I would recommend this place to everyone.

Having had some issues with account admin a few months back, Wendy was incredibly helpful over the phone. To my surprise, when having difficulty with payment today, I was serendipitously put through to her again (even though my storage unit is in London) and once again she saved the day. What a star!

Staff are always helpful, site is easy to use. All round great experience

Wendy is extremely helpful with my queries and helped us out alot.
Thanks for the coffee

Excellent service so easy to use ,staff very friendly and knowledgeable and if there’s any questions always someone there to help ,Wendy was amazing felt like I’d known her years which is perfect and just what you need when you don’t have a clue how these things work

I came in and spoke with Carmen and she was lovely , wonderful customer service and she took her time to explain everything that we might have needed to know. We will definitely be returning

My recent move to Shurgard went smoothly. I set my account up online, which was quite straightforward. When I had to call customer services, the managed my query very efficiently and professionally. They could not have been more friendly and helpful. They were also very patient in answering my questions. I visited the unit in person and met Wendy, who was able to assist me with the ID identification process and with the change in move date. Wendy was there on the day I moved in and again, was very professional and friendly. Nothing was too much trouble. I have no hesitation in recommending Shurgard for all the reasons given above but also as their prices are very competitive and good value for the service they provide. Everywhere was clean and tidy. I liked the App facility, which saves you having to key in the number each time.

Very helpful

Great for uni students, great prices and security. Wendy was very helpful and informative very friendly

Amazing service from Wendy especially very helpful thanks .

Great staff very friendly and helps as much as they can.

Very helpful staff - easily accessible / no worries about the rain/ weather.

Excellent experience at Shurgard Portsmouth! The staff (especially Kerry and Wendy and other ) were incredibly helpful and made the sign-up process seamless. The facility is clean, secure, and very easy to access via the app. Highly recommend for anyone needing storage in the area!"

Shurgard Portsmouth, what can I say?
Well....

The staff deserve a medal all very friendly, helpful and informative.

No issue is to big or too small and they are awesome 👍

I hope the company itself value the professional service this team provided.

We have had a unit in Portsmouth for nearly two years (from Lok n Store to Shurgard) and it has served us very well while we prepared our house for redecorating, sale and our eventual move.
Wendy and her colleagues are a great team and have provided us with excellent customer service, they are always helpful with a friendly smile.

Cheapest storage option in Pompey! After being let down by a competitor (adding extra costs after the initial "quote"), the difference in attitude with Shurgard was very refreshing. Kerry was great at answering our queries, and the signup process was seamless.

Easy access, good opening hours, and perfect location next to the motorway (Portsmouth branch).

Highly recommended. Thanks Kerry 😊

Friendly staff, explained exactly what to do, and gave me the correct size unit.
Had a follow up phone call, asking if everything was satisfactory. Couldn’t be more pleased, highly recommend Shurgard.