Extra Space Storage — Attraction in Mountlake Terrace

Summary: This facility is not properly secured and has experienced at least 3 break-ins within the past year. I would strongly suggest AVOID RENTING FROM THIS LOCATION (and possibly all Extra Space locations) given the poor response to repeated break-ins and their obvious "profit maximizing at the customer's expense" approach to running their business. Top issues:

1.) The company refuses to more broadly share the fact that break ins are occurring at this location with renters, even with the high likelihood they were impacted(e.g. I had to discover my unit was broken into myself, they didn't notify me in any way. I also happened to randomly tell another renter who was on his way in to visiting his unit, and he also discovered his unit was broken into...so these events have had larger impact than they either know, or are letting on and in either case, they have offered no proactive response to their customers). (IF YOU ARE A CURRENT RENTER GO CHECK YOUR UNIT!)

2.) They will not commit to improving the security in any clear way...only vague non-helpful statements like "we're looking into it." In speaking with the district manager they have also confirmed they won't be making any affirmative or public commitment in the future...only that they will do "something." That manager also mentioned adding a security guard "won't happen" (which I don't think she meant to share so honestly, because she later walked the statement back to a more moderate "we'll evaluate all of our options...".). The staff also basically ruled out that they won't be adding camera's because "(paraphrasing)renters don't want their privacy violated by additional cameras"...which is confusing to me because (as a renter myself) I also don't want my stuff broken into, damaged and stolen....so this honestly just felt like an excuse to not invest in more cameras

3.) They are not particularly helpful in providing remediation in case your unit/property is impacted by break-ins/theft, beyond providing a free month and "offering" you to change units at your own expense. Oh and they also replaced my lock which was drilled out by the thief.

4.) They overly burden their local individual running this location to handle all of the issues with this local store (including break-ins) and provide almost no additional support. The local manager was tasked with reviewing the entry/exit camera footage for each of the reported breakins, trying to track down the specific date and time of entry, which she had almost no time to do in addition to focusing on her other responsibilities. And according to the Police officer who took my report, the company has not been particularly cooperative with sharing the footage with the police. This is not a criticism of the local person running the location, she is doing her best, but she is not set up for success by the broader company.

I want to give an honest and fair assessment of this facility (and perhaps extra space storage in general). While the rates and move in process and pre-sale customer service were all fine, the problem with this facility doesn't emerge until you move in and have your unit broken into. Sure everyone you speak with is nice enough, but that doesn't really matter if the company and its policies don't really stand behind providing a good quality,/safe storage experience. Everything I have heard from the representatives of the company in response to this incident and my concerns confirm to me that they really don't care about their customers' experience or the safety of their property. It's a huge PITA to change storage units, so I might be stuck here for a bit, but if you have not chosen to store your stuff here, do yourself a favor and CHOOSE SOMEWHERE ELSE!

UPDATE (7pm): I called the number from the response below, which was an unhelpful waste of time. Don't be fooled by the meaningless corp speak from ExtraStorage. I provided detailed explanation of the problems and their response is a joke. They don't care about customers or your property at all. If my experience changes I will update...

DON'T STORE HERE! Our unit was broken into (apparently this happens often) and the response we have had when calling in to report it has been FAR from encouraging.

There are no cameras on the actual units, and there's only one person there to look at film so all we're left with is "I'll let you know if I find something" but there's zero sense of urgency or alarm that this happened.

When I first called I was told another person had reported a break in close to our unit. The lock we bought from them had been cut, and if we're close to another break in- this is likely something that happened at the same time and should have been discovered if anyone had checked. They don't even offer a free lock to replace.

When we opened our unit we also find something that wasn't ours.. which tells me someone inside is potentially breaking into multiple units and may just be transferring stuff. Again, no sense for any concern on their end or an attempt or follow up on who the missing item belonged too-- which doesn't inspire any confidence in finding the items that belonged to us. And likely means they're still in another unit inside somewhere. Which they won't do anything about.

When you ask why they don't have video footage on the units, we were told they used to have them (pretty sure that's a lie) but that customers were complaining that it felt like an invasion of privacy as they could see what we were storing.

This of course makes zero sense as they have cameras on the entrances so they can see what you bring in regardless. And im 100% sure if you talked to the people who rent here and have had stuff stolen everyone would happily lose the privacy for some ACTUAL security.

Complete waste of money to pay to have all your stuff disappear. And frustrating the only real "security" is to pay them extra for insurance.. which just means paying more with no increased peace of mind your stuff will be there when you get back.

Disappointing to say the least. The rest of our experience had been just fine but now we no longer...

I am Seriously Disappointed in this Storage facility. When I went there the first time, it seemed like the Best Option, but I came to realize that they are using techniques Against those Who are Keeping them in BUSINESS, and that's a Bad idea. 1) They LOCKED the Trash Container - for those who use their facility - they LOCKED THE TRASH CONTAINER, Can you believe it ?!!!!!!!!!!!!! at a Storage facility!!! Now, if you have trash; TAKE IT WITH YOU - they don't even Respect for their customers who don't even live in a residential facility (homeless) and those Who don't have a Vehicle; who may Not find a Container where to drop their boxes and trash; they go to the Extreme in order to SAVE MONEY on the trash pickup!!! Thanks ABUSE against those who Run their Business; the CUSTOMERS, I almost had an accident because I had to transport things from their facility into another location in my Small Vehicle and because they don't want us; the CUSTOMERS who keep in BUSINESS; to dump our empty Boxes and other paper items or trash that We don't need to be taking with us in Our VEHICLES; I had No Choice than to put it in the Driver's Side under my feet, and that almost caused an Accident for me. 2) They used to KEEP this Place CLEAN; and they practically have abandoned this facility; more like they are NEGLECTING IT; just go use the toilet and their Restroom; and you'll understand...