CubeSmart Self Storage of Queens — Local services in New York

I rented two units at CubeSmart (215-01 42nd Ave, Bayside, NY), trusting my belongings would be secure and accessible. Initially, everything seemed fine. But on move day, what should've been a smooth transition devolved into a nightmare of mismanagement, hostility, and complete disregard for customer care.

The day before, I stopped by to buy boxes. The employee who rented me the units assured me they'd be open Sunday. On 4/27/2025, I arrived with a fully loaded 28-foot truck to find the facility closed, despite posted hours until 6 PM. At least five other customers were locked out. Corporate reps tried reaching local staff and the district manager. No one responded. A callback by the District Manager was promised and never came.

Corporate customer service rep found me a unit in Flushing, forcing me to rent a third unit I didn't need. My movers charged extra. I had to rent a U-Haul again days later, take time off work, and redo a move that should've ended that day, adding significant costs and stress.

I then returned to the Bayside location a few days later to complete the move, I had been unloading for over an hour when elevator access was shut down at 7:45 PM, despite posted hours until 8 and no warning. I knocked on the office door. The employee refused to look at me and said "We're closed." When I pointed out the access hours, she smirked and dismissed me. She refused to give her name. When I asked for help again, she became hostile and threatened eviction. Her complete lack of professionalism was staggering. Then she called the police.

The officers arrived. I calmly explained everything. They asked her to let me secure my unit before leaving. She agreed--until they left. She immediately reneged and ordered me to vacate over the loudspeaker. I called 911 again. Police returned 30 minutes later. By then, I had reloaded all my items into the truck. I didn't want to continue unloading--just to confirm the unit was locked. She initially resisted but finally allowed access with police escort.

Days later, I found a paper notice taped to my unit stating my lease had been terminated, with a deadline to vacate. No email was sent, violating the lease. It was clearly retaliation for challenging their behavior.

After weeks of silence, I sent a formal complaint to CubeSmart's VP of Operations. A few days later, the district manager finally called. She offered a partial refund--but only if I vacated both facilities and signed a release and NDA. I explained that my costs far exceeded their offer and relocating again would add even more expenses. She denied my request for full reimbursement.

Fearing further retaliation and mismanagement, I hired movers to clear out both units and transferred my belongings to a different company. My total out-of-pocket losses now exceeded $3,500. I followed up with another letter to the VP documenting everything. It's been weeks. No response. Not even a courtesy acknowledgment.

To this day, CubeSmart hasn't explained why the facility was closed on my move day, why their staff acted so unprofessionally, or why I received an unlawful termination notice. No apology. No accountability. Just silence.

I trusted CubeSmart with my belongings. What I got was stress, financial loss, and absolute negligence. Their disregard for lease terms, failure to communicate, and hostility toward a paying customer proved one thing: CubeSmart does not prioritize service, safety, or basic respect.

I strongly advise anyone reading this review to reconsider and not rent at this--or...

*UPDATE: CubeSmart had commented below, telling me to email them so they can handle it. I emailed them. They have not responded and it's been a week. I would highly suggest using any other storage site. Rodents happen, but not handling it, not getting exterminators, not cleaning up dead rats is a new thing that I have never, ever seen before.

I will be going there next week to check and see if the rat problem has been addressed at all and if the dead rats have been cleaned. Will update.

They have rats and mice in the units. I have moved around a lot and have separately used storage units for much of my adult life, in between periods of school and have never seen this. My family has been storing clothing and some furniture here while getting the house done. When we went back to get some clothes, we saw dead rats on the ground. The issue isn’t just the dead rats. Though that would be issue enough for most, we’re native New Yorkers and know how it can be. No, the main issue is CubeSmart won’t handle it. They’ve acknowledged it’s a problem in many units. Their included insurance doesn’t cover it. They haven’t removed them. They point us to manager after manager and ask us to escalate but don’t actually offer removal, pest control services, nothing. The most they’ve said is “come back when maintenance is here.” The lack of any accountability has been astounding and THAT is definitely new. No other company has ever been that way before. We’re trying to figure out affording to move our things out. The company simply doesn’t care. They’ve acknowledged they have a problem and have literally shrugged when asked if they’re handling it as a problem within their entire facility. Don’t store your...

THIS IS KIND OF LONG, BUT PLEASE READ THIS. IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING THIS LOCATION I highly recommend that you do not use this location. They raise your rates by $80 to $100 with no kind I've written oh, verbal heads up not to mention that is so-called manager is one of the most nastiest, rude person's I've ever encountered i went in there to make a payment and because we had a conversation on the phone on Saturday that she did not like the way it went. She hung up on me 4 times called customer service to complain about it. Her hanging up on me and treating me disrespectful and when I went into the store on 5/19/25, she ignored me. Refused to talk to me refused to take my payment for my units.. And when you complain to their headquarters, they tell you that their district manager a Mrs. Vasquez well get back i was told that on 5/17/25 on the 19th again i call they're customer service this time. I was told that the District, vice president would be calling me back but I'm not hold your breath as soon as I can make other arrangements, I'm getting my stuff. Out of there, so you know how this works when I started, it was $350 and in just 4 months they raised it to $440 and they tell you, oh, it's not our fault. It's corporate when you speak to corporate, they tell you it's the discretion of each store. It's up to the manager. How much they raise you so NO STAY AWAY FROM...