Storage Theft

[Mvander]

So I grabbed the TT for the Canada day weekend and while setting up discovered my LCD t.v. was missing. I always keep it under the quilt on the rear slide bed while traveling to stop it from being damaged.

This was a poor start to the weekend and had me thinking about it most of the first night out. I told my wife that I did remember "visiting" the TT at the storage lot and thinking I forgot to lock it up.

Through the night we had some noisy neighbours and I woke up to close the back window of the tt which wouldn't close the last inch or so. Then I had my epifany. I didn't leave the door unlocked! The thief jimmied the small window open and reached over to unlock the emergency exit and got in that way, probably tripped over my t.v. grabbed it and exited through the man door.

My question is has any one had a similar experience at a storage lot? This lot really advertises there "seecurity". Electronic gate, video, barb wire, etc. I know if I read the fine print they likely arn;t responsible for anything but I'm going to speak to them today and hoped someone had some advice from a personal experience with regards to compensation. The value of the t.v. and the broken window arn't worth an insurance claim. I'm pretty sure we arn't going to continue using their service.

[down_home]

One of the prime reasons we store our coach at a facility is security.
They have high fences, cameras, alarms linked to staff and police and it is stored inside and locked down.
I'm not going to pay for storage unless it is secure.
However the only way to stop a determined human is another human with a weapon on watch. Sometimes that doesn't work either.
that's the way life is. Count on yourself and be serious about what you do and oh well that's good enough.

[DiskDoctr]

Racerchaser27 wrote:
Doesnt just happen in storage lots, I had my travel trailer broken into right in my driveway. Went to work one day,and my wife called me to ask why I left my beer on the trailer stairs. I said "Now why would I do that?" I came home and went inside. TV, kids Playstaion, movies were all gone. The figured out that my wifes GPS, our CB, and a few other things were gone. The police called a few nights later to say they found our Tv. They brought it by and I ID'd it. The kid 3 doors up had stolen it and they found it there. When asked how they found it, the cop said "If you steal anything, be smart enough not to try to sell it online!" He was underage, and sold everything else, and because he was a minor and had no income, he wasn't responsible to pay it back.....and niether was his parents. Lost approximately $650 -$700 woth of stuff and my insurance deductible is $500, so it was pretty much a wash. Its all gone and he got off free and clear! $%^&*@!

Civil suit.... 😉

[JaxDad]

Mvander, you're certainly not the only person to have issues up there, a buddy of mine used to keep his boat in a storage yard up there to save having to trailer it in & out of the city since he usually fishes in Simcoe.

The cop who came to take the report after his boat was ransacked told him they're at that storage yard more than once a week, every week.

[jamarynn1]

subcamper wrote:

Racerchaser27 wrote:
Doesnt just happen in storage lots, I had my travel trailer broken into right in my driveway. Went to work one day,and my wife called me to ask why I left my beer on the trailer stairs. I said "Now why would I do that?" I came home and went inside. TV, kids Playstaion, movies were all gone. The figured out that my wifes GPS, our CB, and a few other things were gone. The police called a few nights later to say they found our Tv. They brought it by and I ID'd it. The kid 3 doors up had stolen it and they found it there. When asked how they found it, the cop said "If you steal anything, be smart enough not to try to sell it online!" He was underage, and sold everything else, and because he was a minor and had no income, he wasn't responsible to pay it back.....and niether was his parents. Lost approximately $650 -$700 woth of stuff and my insurance deductible is $500, so it was pretty much a wash. Its all gone and he got off free and clear! $%^&*@!

The intent of juvenile laws was to prevent a "mistake" made when you were young from hurting you later in life when you become an adult. Unfortunately, the kids know this and abuse the intent of the law. There are auto theft rings that hire juveniles to steal cars for them because they know there will only be a slap on the wrist if the kids are caught. The ones with parents that care will have to face the music at home, but some parents just don't care. Anyone with teens knows that sometimes they might do something stupid like that even in the best homes, but the parents should attempt some restitution through the kid, like making him get a summer job and repay the theft.

Steve

Good luck trying to get any reparation from a juvenile. My car was stolen a few years ago from the driveway by a 16-year-old. It was recovered two days later, but the little rat-bastid had disposed of everything that was in the car, including $214 worth of library books in a bag in the trunk that I was going to return on my way to work the next morning, my winter coat, my service book, a portable charger, all my CD's, and a lot else for a total of about $600, which my insurance did not cover. Insurance did cover the slight damage to the car. His mother declared herself indigent and he was ordered to pay his court costs (like THAT was ever going to happen....) but wasn't ordered to pay me anything. When the Victim Advocate's office called to inform me about the outcome of the trial, she said "in other words, you've been screwed TWICE." He got caught because he had left his CD in my player with his fingerprints on it.

[mgirardo]

Mvander wrote:
Heard back from them and they are willing to do nothing. Not really surprised.

Both storage lots we have used made us sign a separate form stating the lot does not have insurance and that damage would not be covered, etc., etc. And recommend that we have insurance for our RV.

Mvander wrote:
I guess I'll roll the dice on another storage place. I'm thinking a bit out of town might be better. I was thinking of adding a few signs inside the TT windows saying "valuables removed" to place when in storage or sothing like that. Can't hurt.

You are probably better off leaving the door unlocked and removing all valuables. That way they don't have to break anything to get in and if there is no valuables, hopefully they'll just turn around and try the next one.

Also, barb wire can easily be avoided by throwing a towel or sheet over it. When our trailer was broken into at the storage lot, the Police officer told us that she could easily get around barb wire.


-Michael

[Roman_Duck]

Locks make people honest, the better the lock the more honest they are

[Mvander]

Heard back from them and they are willing to do nothing. Not really surprised. I guess I'll roll the dice on another storage place. I'm thinking a bit out of town might be better. I was thinking of adding a few signs inside the TT windows saying "valuables removed" to place when in storage or sothing like that. Can't hurt.

[msmith1199]

They can fix the fence all day long and all a thief has to do is cut through it. You aren't paying to store your RV in Fort Knox. There is a clear risk in storing at a storage facility just like I told you the story of somebody getting into my RV in my own backyard while I slept 15 feet away on the other side of a wall.

[Mvander]

JALLEN4 wrote:

Mvander wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
The storage lot will not cover your loss unless the owner just wants to pay it out of his own pocket as a show of goodwill. There is no way in the world that any insurance company would ever write an insurance policy that covers RV stored in a storage lot other than your own individual policy. There is just way too much potential for fraud and even if such a policy existed it would be so expensive they would have to charge you a thousand a month to store your RV there.

I can assure you in your contract there will be language that says although they provide as much security as reasonable, they are not responsible for your RV or contents. Even if that language isn't in the contract (it will be) you would have to have a contract that specifically says they will be responsible for the RV and contents otherwise you have no case against them.

Im sure they wont cover my loss but i am asking for my three months rent be returned for poor service provided. I know i probably wont get it but i have free time this week and will remind them how prolific social media is nowadays and how i work in realestate in this town and how people who move need storage and how i know alot of colleuges who have alot of clients who need storage etc ect. We will see. Im calling the owner tomorrow. P.s. Those were not threats.

Exactly what kind of " poor service" did they provide? Did they sign a contract that guaranteed your unit would not be broken into? Did they not provide the security measures they told you about when you entered the original agreement?

The expectations of some people today are so unrealistic as to be laughable and they are constantly looking for a reason to blame someone else for anything contrary to their interests. A storage facility purchases land, develops it, fences it, installs security measures, pays taxes on it, and advertises it. They then rent space for an RV for $75 a month. All so that the customer can be outraged that an armed guard wasn't standing there 24/7 when something goes wrong.

I can offer this advice. If it was one of my facilities you were mounting a smear campaign against, the three months rent would be of little consequence when we were done. I wouldn't win but in the "social media" age, it is a two way street. Just defending one's actions can be expensive. PS, those are not threats but a word of caution.

Upon driving past the facility yesterday (approx 4-5 acres) looking at their fencing I noticed 3 places where the barbed wire was missing/mashed down.

Now maybe I didn't do my due dilligence by checking every foot of their fencing to be sure they were as secure as possible but if they are offering "secure" storage then not maitaining their security fence, that is poor service to their customers.

I have no plans in launching any campaign, smear or other wise. I also do business in this town and don't want the bad press.

I'm not the type of person who blames others for my mis-fortune, although upon discovery of the poorly maintained fencing I feel as though the lot did not provide all of the secutity I was promissed.

I know this could happen anywhere, and I'm not all red faced and steaming about it. Really just want them to acknowledge the issue, maybe appoligize and fix the issue so more of their customers don't have the same thing happen to them.

[JALLEN4]

Mvander wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
The storage lot will not cover your loss unless the owner just wants to pay it out of his own pocket as a show of goodwill. There is no way in the world that any insurance company would ever write an insurance policy that covers RV stored in a storage lot other than your own individual policy. There is just way too much potential for fraud and even if such a policy existed it would be so expensive they would have to charge you a thousand a month to store your RV there.

I can assure you in your contract there will be language that says although they provide as much security as reasonable, they are not responsible for your RV or contents. Even if that language isn't in the contract (it will be) you would have to have a contract that specifically says they will be responsible for the RV and contents otherwise you have no case against them.

Im sure they wont cover my loss but i am asking for my three months rent be returned for poor service provided. I know i probably wont get it but i have free time this week and will remind them how prolific social media is nowadays and how i work in realestate in this town and how people who move need storage and how i know alot of colleuges who have alot of clients who need storage etc ect. We will see. Im calling the owner tomorrow. P.s. Those were not threats.

Exactly what kind of " poor service" did they provide? Did they sign a contract that guaranteed your unit would not be broken into? Did they not provide the security measures they told you about when you entered the original agreement?

The expectations of some people today are so unrealistic as to be laughable and they are constantly looking for a reason to blame someone else for anything contrary to their interests. A storage facility purchases land, develops it, fences it, installs security measures, pays taxes on it, and advertises it. They then rent space for an RV for $75 a month. All so that the customer can be outraged that an armed guard wasn't standing there 24/7 when something goes wrong.

I can offer this advice. If it was one of my facilities you were mounting a smear campaign against, the three months rent would be of little consequence when we were done. I wouldn't win but in the "social media" age, it is a two way street. Just defending one's actions can be expensive. PS, those are not threats but a word of caution.

[mgirardo]

We never had anything stolen from our TT, but it was broken into twice when we first moved to GA. The first time it happened, we figured they were looking for valuables, which we didn't have. I had only locked the door lock and they easily broke in.

After that incident, I locked the deadbolt. The second time they tried they couldn't get in and they were not happy. They couldn't get past the deadbolt. They broke the glass trying to reach in and unlock it. They couldn't so they tried tearing the door open from the window, but didn't have much luck. They must have been pissed they couldn't get in, because they cut the plastic tether that holds the fresh water fill cap in place while filling and the cut the coupler lock.

I inspected the only other TT on the lot and noticed their lock had also been broken and their tongue lock (the kind with a hitch ball on it) had been broken. The police figured it was probably someone looking for a place to spend the night(s).

We removed the TT that night and found another storage lot. It's been there for 6 years without incident. I replaced the door myself for the cost of the door and freight, about $390. Unfortunately, the police didn't seem to care and nothing ever came of it.

-Michael

[Jarlaxle]

tatest wrote:
I was in a storage lot with electronic gate security and at least 2000 self-store customers in addition to the RV and boat people. Somebody broke in by climbing on the roof and pulling apart a vent. Nothing stolen, looks like they slept there.

Storage company says "not responsible, we'll ask the sheriff to send a patrol by more often." I moved to a storage lot where the owner/manager lived on premises. That made a difference.

Great, as long as they aren't renting out keys by the hour to the local meth-heads! (Someone got caught doing just that last year in this area.)

[Jarlaxle]

2oldman wrote:
If I ever have the misfortune of having to store my rig in a lot, I will remove everything of value and leave the door unlocked.

I would sell my bus and give up RVing before parking it at a thieves' market.

[msmith1199]

Mvander wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:
The storage lot will not cover your loss unless the owner just wants to pay it out of his own pocket as a show of goodwill. There is no way in the world that any insurance company would ever write an insurance policy that covers RV stored in a storage lot other than your own individual policy. There is just way too much potential for fraud and even if such a policy existed it would be so expensive they would have to charge you a thousand a month to store your RV there.

I can assure you in your contract there will be language that says although they provide as much security as reasonable, they are not responsible for your RV or contents. Even if that language isn't in the contract (it will be) you would have to have a contract that specifically says they will be responsible for the RV and contents otherwise you have no case against them.

Im sure they wont cover my loss but i am asking for my three months rent be returned for poor service provided. I know i probably wont get it but i have free time this week and will remind them how prolific social media is nowadays and how i work in realestate in this town and how people who move need storage and how i know alot of colleuges who have alot of clients who need storage etc ect. We will see. Im calling the owner tomorrow. P.s. Those were not threats.

Not threats? Sure sounds like extortion to me. Be very careful with how you word this or you may create litigation for yourself. And if you do create a social media attack, just make sure everything you say is true. People have been sued for things like this.