Prime Storage — Local services in Maynard

I strongly question the business acumen, let alone the ethics of this company. Immediately upon their acquisition from the previous owners they (Prime Storage) increased the monthly rent - without recieving notice. I also had not been receiving online invoices as I had in the past. I only heard about the change in ownership and rates form my neighbors, who had a unit at the same place, and chose to move once Prime took over and played games with their monthly charges. They too had discovered a rate hike, cut throat billing, and found they were "sliding fees" based on availability in the area.

After looking into it, and realizing I was locked out of my account (i.e.: invoices), not only did I find a rate hike, but late fees for an invoice not received. I had a hard time reaching a person to speak with. Eventually the manager left me a message, and agreed to remove the late fees. Unsettled by all this, I went to my storage unit this weekend. I WAS LOCKED OUT, and there was a RED PADLOCK ON MY UNIT! There was NO ONE on site to help, but there were 2 people moving OUT who were outraged, and with the same experience I was having.

Prime Storage was holding the contents of my storage unit ransom (I had a zero balance, and was never informed they would be taking such drastic measure for ONE billing cycle) Appalling... and questionable ethically at best. I had to leave with NO help, NO phone call back, and NO ACESS TO MY ITEMS!! This just is NOT acceptable business practice.

The customer (or FORMER customer) who was moving his things OUT said he was calling the attorney general's office, and encouraged me to do the same. Its not cheap to move out of a storage unit (especially considering the pandemic) and apparently Prime Storage is taking advantage of this, while preventing people access to their items at the same time.

The RED PADLOCK without notification, AND, on an account that wasn't even through one billing cycle is alarming, and unacceptable on many levels.

No wonder people are speaking poorly about this company, and moving out if they can afford to. RENTER BEWARE!

** UPDATE: SPENCER (PRIME STORAGE MAYNARD MANAGER), WAS VERY RESPONSIVE ONCE HE REALIZED THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION.

AT HIS RECOMMENDATION, I CONTACTED LOCAL STORAGE FACILITIES TO PRICE MATCH MY UNIT. (SPENCER REFERRED TO THEM AS APPLES TO APPLES STORAGE FACILITIES.) BASICALLY THEY ARE THE "BIG NAMES" IN STORAGE. AFTER LEARNING OF THIER PRICES BEING DRASTICALLY LOWER THAN PRIME STORAGE, AND RECEIVING AN OFFER TO HELP ME MOVE MY UNIT TO ONE OF THIER NEW "APPLES TO APPLES" FACILITIES IN SUDBURY OR ACTON, SPENCER PRICE MATCHED MY UNIT, AND HAS HONORED THAT PRICE MATCH.

THIS IS HOW A BUSINESS SHOULD BE RUN - ESPECIALLY A SMALL LOCAL BUSINESS. THANK YOU SPENCER AND PRIME STORAGE. I HAVE CHOSEN TO REMAIN A CUSTOMER...

Since the buy out by Prime Storage this place has been very disappointing. The prices have continued to creep ever higher, while the services available are continually reduced. Primarily the issue is the hours being reduced from 24/7, down to 16 hours per day. Other services such as remote access App have also been relegated. For some reason the customer service also became very hostile with the company change. The cost increases would be easier to swallow if the services had improved, or at least stayed the same.

Regarding my experience with customer service: After the company change, I needed to drop off newly signed paper work. I did so, and was told I did it wrong because I did not initial on one of the optional lines. They would not accept my paperwork until a manager stepped in about 5 minutes into our disagreement. I recently moved out of my unit, and started by removing all of my items. This was busy time for me, and I did not call to close my account right away. About 18 hours later I get a call asking if I had moved out, and I told them I had and was planning to call. Then I was told that I had done this incorrectly and was supposed to have given them 2 weeks notice. Although, they would allow me to do this because I had just paid in full for another month. I was (and still am) quite confused as to why I was not allowed to remove my items without giving them 2 weeks notice, but that is apparently their policy.

The building itself is as nice as when I moved in several years ago (under Maynard Storage). Clean, well kept, high security. Most everything you could ask for in a storage building.

If you are willing to pay their prices, follow the long list of rules, and work with their customer service then this is a fine place to store your items. However, I have no plans to use this facility or any Prime Storage facility again.

PS. I didn't really have plans to leave a review about this place, but after moving out I keep getting e-mails requesting feedback. So...

This was previously Maynard Self Storage and was a much more customer friendly establishment. Since the change to Prime Storage, monthly rent has increased but services have been rolled back, namely changing hours from 24-hour access to no-access after 10pm, and requiring renters to carry their own insurance.

Regarding the changing hours, there was what seems to have been a limited effort to notify customers of this change and I didn't see it noticeably posted on-site. My family and I were there one night in December and attempted to leave the facility shortly after 10pm, unaware of the change in hours, but were locked in. Our access code didn't work and we were unable to contact Prime Storage via phone. Ultimately we had to contact the Maynard Police to open the gates so we could exit.

I contacted the location and asked that a manager get back to me but have not had any follow-up from the site's or company's management.. Ultimately, we were inconvenienced for all of 15 minutes, but locking in customers inadvertently on-site after 10pm is a serious safety issue.

The facilities are very clean, well lit, temperature controlled, etc, but these were the same when it was still Maynard Self-Storage and not something I attribute to Prime Storage.

So, to summarize: Higher rent, fewer services, lack of forethought related to implementing changes, and poor...