Welcome to another Grateful Heart Monday, a reflective time for me to express some gratitude to start my week off on a positive note, which for today is for finally taking the time to migrate my stuff in storage to a much better location. While I know at first glance this probably doesn’t seem like that much of a big deal, that being a move from one storage facility to another, for me it most definitely was.
All this began back in 2013, as I prepared to move my life from Boston to Toledo. I knew I was going to need a storage unit for some of my personal belongings that wouldn’t be able to reside in my partner’s small home. I also knew I’d need it to be climate-controlled to keep a few of my collections safe from the weather extremes that tend to occur in this area. Unfortunately, there was only one place nearby that had climate-controlled back then, but thankfully a unit was available within it at the time. When I officially moved to Toledo in February of 2014, I filled the 10×10 climate-controlled unit I had secured with them almost to capacity. For $109 a month plus tax, my stuff would remain in that unit without seeing the light of day from then on forward. It simply became a receptacle to hold a part of my life for the unforeseeable future.
When my first-year anniversary arrived, along with it came a notice that my rent was going up by $5. The facility had already let me know about this initial increase when I first moved in, so I was ok with it. But little did I know that the rate would continue to increase every year after that as well, and not by a few dollars here and there either. In fact, every year when my anniversary rolled around again, I’d get another rental increase letter of at least $5.
After this happened for two subsequent years, I began calling them to discuss their ever-increasing rates. Sadly, I’d fail in each of my attempts to get them to lower the cost, but being that I was so overwhelmed with my health issues, I’d cave in and just accept the increase, begrudgingly. Yet, when I got that rate increase letter once again on this year’s anniversary, I was told the new cost of my unit was going to be just shy of $140 and finally had enough. Given that I had once stored a vehicle in a far larger storage unit in the greater Boston area for about the same price, I attempted to convince both the on-site manager, the regional manager, and even the head honcho who actually sets the pricing to reduce my rate. I even pointed out to them that I had been a loyal customer who has always paid on time and never had any issues. Unfortunately, none of that held any weight with them. So, I had a choice. Give in again and let it go for another year, or take a look around in the area to see if there were any other options. I opted for the latter and wouldn’t you know there were plenty of other climate-controlled locations now available. But even better, they all were asking for around $109 a month!
On a last-ditch effort to avoid the hassle of moving, I informed the regional manager of my discoveries, only to be told that there were plenty of other customers who would pay their prices, that a move would be more expensive than if I just remained there, and that I’d be missing out on the fact that they felt they were the best storage facility in the area. While I’m sure most people don’t move because of the hassle involved, I thankfully was smart enough to leave about a week later.
In the end, the move cost me about $80 overall, about three hours of my time, and the assistance of three others (Thank you Chris, David, and Les!). I was given a new customer rate of $95 to start and after mentioning to the managers of the new facility the yearly gouging I had endured, they promised my rate would only increase in the next few years by a dollar or two and that loyal customers actually meant something to them.
So, I have a lot to be grateful for when it comes to the move I just made from my original storage facility to this new one. Not only will I be saving over $450 a year now, and even more with each successive year, I can safely say their property is equal in quality to the previous one and maybe even slightly better. Honestly, I wish now I had looked into moving several years ago, as I would have definitely saved a few thousand dollars. Hind sight is 20/20 of course, but I have much gratitude for finally pushing myself to do the research, to discover I was being taken advantage of, and finding enough strength to actually make the move elsewhere, as I’m a much happier camper now because of it.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
