Store Space Self Storage — Local services in Hillsborough Township

• Note: I wrote this review about my experience with Extra Space Storage in 2022, and this facility appears to be under new (hopefully less greedy?) ownership as of early 2023.

Pros:

Clean, secure, well-lit, climate-controlled, comfortable space.

Usually there were carts available, I only had to go hunting a few times.

Accessibility was pretty painless even on the 2nd floor. Multiple entrances give options in case an elevator is down (never happened to me) or all the parking or carts are in use near a particular door (only happened a couple times).

Online rental process was seamless, and other that a couple little “gotchas” (see below) the check-in and move-in process were smooth too.

On-site staff was pleasant, on the two occasions I went to the office (to move in and to move out).

Started out pretty affordable, we were very happy with the price until they raised it (see below).

Cons:

You should budget for a significant (about 20%) rent hike after a couple months (for us, it was 4 months). We have used another Extra Space location in the past, and they did the same thing; maybe it’s just how this company does business. In their response to my original review, the owner admits that they “…adjust our customers' rental rates on a 4-9 month basis…” so that is about how long you can expect to pay the rate you signed up for. We are lucky that we just needed the space temporarily and had room at home for our stuff, so it was good motivation for us to empty the unit. If they hadn’t raised the rent, we would probably still have our stuff there, so their greed actually saved us money. If you need long-term storage, be sure to factor in the rent hike when you’re budgeting and comparing this place to other facilities in the area.

Minor annoyance, but they use a cylindrical vending machine style lock, so you can’t just use one of your normal padlocks that’s sitting in your junk drawer from all the other lockers and storage units you’ve had over the years. No, you have to buy a new fancy special one from them. They of course present this as an enhanced security upgrade, but it feels more like a forced upsell when you go to move in. The upside is that when you move out, you’re the proud owner of yet another $20 lock, except you can’t use this one anywhere.

Lastly, when I moved out today, I was informed that they would not prorate for the unused week of rent I had paid. He said I would have had to inform them 2 weeks before my move-out date in order to get any prorated rent. Since I was making little trips with my car when time allowed, I didn’t know the exact move-out date 2 weeks ago, so that wasn’t feasible for me. I haven’t dug up my paperwork to see if the 2-week notice thing is actually in there or if they just made that up to keep a bit more of my money, but either way, it was kinda annoying. It was a small enough sum that I would have just let it go, but then they sent me a text asking for a review before they would send my move-out receipt, so, welp, here it is.

So there you have it. If you’re only renting for a few months and you plan ahead and read the fine print, you’ll probably be happy. If you need long-term storage, or if, like me, you’re in the thick of moving your family, you’ve called 7 other places that are all full, and then you see Extra Space and their advertised rate and go “hey, not bad” and you don’t have time to read all the fine print… well, now you know the rent’s gonna go up, probably by a lot, within a few months, and there will be other little “gotchas”. They don’t tell you that when you move in, but the owner was at least honest about it here, to their credit.

For what it’s worth, Raritan Self Storage on 202 by Spain 92 is a way better deal and they seem way less greedy/corporate. Unfortunately they were full so Extra Space was the next best option we could find.

Hope this...

THIS PLACE IS A TRAP!!!

Most of these five star reviews are clearly incentivized…

I’ve had my unit for less than 2 years and the price has gone up every few months. Just in the last year it’s gone from $60 to $80 to $90 and I just got an email that it’s being raised to $116/m. I have one of their smaller units.

It’s borderline criminal how they hold your belongings hostage unless you either pay them or pay to move all of your stuff within the month.

Their entire business strategy is predatory. I couldn’t imagine what someone less capable like a senior would do in a situation like this besides pay the more than double price increase.

Not to mention they tried sneaking in additional “insurance fees of up to $20/m” and auto charging your card with the unauthorized increase. EVEN though your unit is already covered by your renters insurance. Taking out a second insurance policy on someone else’s belongings and making them pay for it without consent is absolutely diabolical.

Their business practices...

Was running late between running loads of furniture during our move into our new home. We were from out of town and arrived at Extra Space Storage with a fully enclosed trailer full of our last bit of belongings that did not fit in our rented pod. We met Ray at his personal vehicle, who was locking up after hrs and he proceeded to open back up. He gave our daughter one of the toys he had in the back seat of his car from one of his kids to keep our little one occupied. He seemed to sense my family and I have had a long day with traveling. He designated an area where I could park and disconnect our trailer and set us up for the paperwork to complete first thing the next day. He stated the trailer would be fine there for the evening and that there was no sense pulling it around until we found a hotel. After we had parted ways in the parking lot again, he pulled along side of us and gave us extra pointers on local hotels and eateries. Friendly, courteous staff. Clean facility. Thanks...