CubeSmart Self Storage — Local services in New York

Update: 8/19/25 Seeing as I'm locked in with the company from hell, I figured I'd share an update. In my original review, I had mentioned that I was not given the unit I was told. After much effort, that was resolved. When reading the positive reviews, please pay attention to who is summarizing their introductory experience vs who is updating as a longstanding customer of the company. Most of the latter are bad and for good reason. Your rent will continue to go up. You will receive no notice, no communication and your rent can increase as high as 30%. They have made it impossible to speak to someone to get this resolved. Literally. Their customer service line is a text support app (you can't speak to anyone on the phone) and when it comes to inquiring about getting your rent decreased closer to its original price, they direct you to call a store manager who does not pick up their phone. You get locked into a contract that is impossible to get out of. I'm sure they're lovely when they try to get you to buy into their business but just be warned that in 6mo-1yr you'll find yourself in the same horrific situation that most longstanding customers are writing about.

This company is scamming clients through bait-and-switch practices. When you go on their website to book your storage unit, a list of features is provided under each of the unit options. The one I selected promised a unit on the 2nd level and my confirmation email even says Floor 2 (see attached images). I hired a moving company and called the representative at Life Storage in Clinton Hill to confirm my move date. I want to disclaim that the reviews are true when describing William as kind and patient. Unfortunately, my issue was beyond his control. Through William, I learned that my unit is in the basement. That's not what was advertised nor what I paid for, so I thought switching me to the 2nd level would be easy since this was an error on the company's end. Instead, I've been asked to purchase another unit on the 2nd level while still getting charged for the unit in the basement; I've spoken to corporate and no one seems to be any help there; I'm supposed to wait 48-hours for another rep in corporate to call me back even though my move date is in two days. All I've requested is to get what I paid for and what was advertised. Instead, all that's been accomplished is asking me to pay more money. I feel duped and couldn't recommend this company less. I haven't even moved in and am very much regretting...

Pictures speak louder than words: DO NOT RENT A UNIT FROM THIS STORAGE FACILITY. Ceilings leak, belongings completely ruined by mold, no help or recourse offered by management

I chose Life Storage because they advertise that they are a climate controlled, safe place to store your items and they have an elevator. The unit cost 242$ a month. I've been renting it for more than a year while abroad. I came back to collect my things, the unit was flooded, and EVERYTHING was covered with putrid water and mold from a leak in the ceiling. When I told the manager he did not seem surprised and did not even want to take a look at it with me. Just told me to file a claim to the insurance. I was told that this was a frequent occurrence in the basement units by another employee. I was told I have two days to move out before the next monthly payment was due, even though the unit is completely flooded - not to mention insects that have eaten their way into heavy duty plastic slip cover bags with zippers. On top of this… The elevator is out of order. In my unit I have incredibly heavy items that need to be moved to a safe place on wheels. It cannot be moved up the stairs. So I asked if it would be possible to move them to an empty unit until the elevator starts working. Staff member told me it was not possible, we had to empty the unit before the due date, otherwise we would be charged the total 242$ for our stuff to remain in the leaking unit.

So, to sum it up:

3146$ paid in rent Water leaks from the ceiling, completely damaging and destroying everything. Elevator is broken. Unable to evacuate the unit Told I have to CONTINUE to pay for the unit despite the fact that the unit completely wet with dirty water and mold and insects have eaten through all boxes and gotten inside plastic casings. No offer for a new temporary unit, no attempt to fix the leak, no recompense...

Total nightmare. The pictures speak for themselves. Even heavy duty air tight plastic bags were filled with dirty water, mold and insects from a leak in pipes above. Our belongings were totally ruined by the leak which flooded our unit and others around it. The staff has known about it for a long time (see past reviews) and a staff member said that if they had personally rented us a unit they would have told us to avoid the ones on this floor. They've done nothing to fix this. The freight elevator was routinely broken so we couldn't get our stuff out once we realized the basement was flooded. The management was not remorseful, provided no recompense for thousands of dollars of damage, would not even waive the next months rent and gave us an ultimatum of paying or leaving in only a few days. The only recourse is to submit a claim to insurance which involved 8 hours of taking detailed pictures of every single thing ruined before throwing them away which was a huge ordeal (everything was extremely heavy with water) and a health hazard because of the degree of mold. There are no guarantees of returning even a fraction the cost of what was lost. Would not have bothered to write this review if our situation had been met with any kind of decency, accommodation or...