Extra Space Storage — Local services in Los Angeles

I've never written a review but my experience was so bad here, it's warranted. I'm convinced all the 5-star reviews from the last month have to be from friends and family members of the staff.

I work for a production company that regularly moves equipment in and out of storage for events and the like. After a big event in the beginning of August, I arrived to find the elevator was broken. Mind you, our unit was located on the 4th floor. Rather than try to lug everything up four flights of stairs, I hauled all my equipment back to my office and stored what I could there. I spoke with the manager and asked to be notified when the elevator was back up. I also asked when she thought it would be fixed and she had no idea. Okay, fine.

After a couple of weeks, I truly could not continue to store everything at my office, so I moved everything I could up said four flights of stairs. At that point, I felt valid in inquiring about receiving some kind of credit or discount on our rent, as the elevator being down made the unit almost inaccessible for our needs. The manager I spoke with said she could "look into it" but that's the last I heard of that.

Fast forward to a month after that (so 1.5 months after the elevator initially went down, for those following along), I finally get a call from the manager saying the elevator is back. Great! I show up with my guys ahead of a project to get a bunch of things out of the unit and wouldn't ya know - the elevator is still, in fact, broken. I go into the office and ask the manager when she thinks it will be back. She has no idea. What, pray tell, are you guys doing all day??? How is it not the top priority to get the one working elevator for the entire 4-story building up and running?

Needless to say, I got my ducks in a row and planned to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. Logistically, the soonest I could get a crew and move out was last week (the end of October). I hadn't been back since the visit in mid-September. We show up last week to move out and - you might wanna sit down - the elevator is STILL not working. FOR THREE FULL MONTHS. So yes. My crew and I had to move an entire 10x10 storage unit of equipment of varying sizes and weights down FOUR FLIGHTS OF STAIRS. The ONLY source of pleasure in all of this was seeing all of the tags signifying empty units on our floor - clearly we weren't the only people to take our business elsewhere. We packed up our cars and drove our happy butts to Public Storage.

I wish I could use expletives to properly convey how angry I was and am but I won't because I want this review to stay up to warn other people. Hopefully Extra Space will use this as a learning moment if/when their machinery takes a dump in the future. For one, you need to communicate with your tenants when equipment is down. Showing up to a broken elevator when I have stuff to do is not fun and a waste of my time. For two, I know you're not technically in the hospitality business, but man - it would serve you to act like it. $385 a month for what essentially became a box in the sky, with no attempt to compensate or rectify with us, is insane.

I get that you don't have electromagnetic telekinesis and also probably aren't elevator mechanics/engineers, but the idea that you spent an entire quarter of a year sitting in the office doing Lord knows what - but definitely not getting the elevator fixed - really just gets to me. I'm very happy for you that I'm a nobody and this will be seen by very few, but just know I considered buying ad space to spread the word to avoid this...

I just got my storage unit this past weekend, on Saturday the 31st so it was pretty crazy there. Lots of trucks, lots of people and I still had paperwork to fill out. Thank goodness Hector was there, he took care of everything and everyone. Hector was working all by himself that day doing the job of at least 5 people. Most people would get pissed or stressed yet he was still one of the friendliest people I've met out here in CA. Even when the server went down and he couldn't process my paperwork, he still was able to keep calm and friendly while thinking quickly about how to help everyone who was waiting. Hector, you rock!

With this being said, this storage facility could really use some extra hands. As awesome as Hector is, there should probably be more people on staff to help everyone who comes in especially when there are people paying for movers and want to get their stuff in/out of the unit as fast as possible. I did wait for way longer than necessary to move in and I had even come in the previous week to speed up the process and fill out info before. Even without paying for movers, I wanted to get this stuff moved in fast and not wait around for long periods of time. If there were at least three people there the experience probably would have been a lot faster and more efficient for all involved. It's just ridiculous that one person is responsible for processing paperwork, showing people their unit, and helping others with any other need they have. Hector is great at juggling jobs but come on, no one can expect one person to do 4 things...

I came to Extra Space Storage the day before I needed a 10x10 unit to store prop and set dressing pieces for a film I just wrapped. I cannot adequately put into words how incredibly helpful Hector was in giving the whole breakdown of how Extra Space works. He answered every question I had respectfully and was so great to work with. He was able to give me the one month free discount on my 10x10 unit out of the goodness of his heart and that truly makes a difference when it comes to customer service. He gave me solid advice, was very easy to communicate with, and even took the time to get to know me as a person. When you stop by Extra Space, talk to Hector for whatever it is that you need because I guarantee that he will take care of you. My order was pretty last minute and I needed quick cooperation. Hector stepped up and gave me the best deal I could find (way better pricing and service overall than Public Storage...I compared rates, deals, and service between the two). I had never booked my own storage unit before and I feel like Hector was an angel sent from Heaven for me haha. Extremely courteous, cares about the customer, and is able to answer any question you may have. I haven't had a chance to talk to Ben much, but I know for a fact that you are in good hands if you talk to Hector. I don't see any reason why I would ever use Public Storage or any other business as I find it hard to believe that any other place would offer the competitive rates and extraordinary customer service that Extra Space...