BEWARE new self-storage facility near Charter Schools
 

As a local charity we made a presentation to the regional manager of the new self-storage facility that recently opened near the Charter Schools, explaining exactly who we were and the nature of the persons with disabilities whom we service, gave them considerable print material, and they promised us a unit.

We were told that we would be called on a Monday morning with a unit number, just to bring a lock for it. We spent the weekend loading up three vans of stuff to store to be put out at a later garage sale (which will be held next week, April 17-18; see posting under "Garage Sales").

Monday came, no call. We called and left a message, without the courtesy of a callback. Tuesday still no callback. Called again and left a message again, and still no courtesy of a callback. Even contacted corporate headquarters, to no avail.

We were unable to use our vehicles which were loaded to the gills with stuff to go into storage in preparation for the sale.

Finally got a call a week later. "We've changed our minds. We're not interested in having you in our facility." No explanation, no apology, no courtesy, no interest in our community and our charity, no nothing. Apparently this is what it's like dealing with a large corporate entity with zero commitment to our community.

On the other hand—and for the opposite experience—please see the posting about mom-and-pop owned Oxford Self-Storage on US Hwy 301 just south of CR 466. What a world of difference!!!

In all due respect to your fine charity, people and businesses have a right to choose whether to contribute to a noble cause or not and I think the word "beware" in your title is unfair given the situation.

I think it unfairly demeans the business.

People and businesses can choose to whom they contribute.

If other businesses think they would be publicly criticized for not helping your charity or changing their minds about helping your charity, it won't be a good selling point in getting further contributions from other business or those who identify with business owners.

I think what might have happened is that a person who had not enough authority to say you could have space said they could give you space. And someone with higher authority nixed the deal. In fairness to businesses, they are deluged with requests for charitable contributions and assists.

When your charity was refused help... then the charity continues on and in an emergency rents the space they need and takes the rent out of operating expenses or downloads the stuff to their own garages? Or finds another willing place to help you which you did, but it doesn't help to complain about who didn't help you. Charity is a gift, not a responsibility and people can choose to give or not and to whom to give or not.

Here is a link to your charity in case anyone wants to contribute .

http://mariontherapeuticridingassociation.org/

Excellent reply Gracie. Every single point you made was spot on.

I think you are wrong in trying to speak bad about a business that did not give you something for free. As stated above, it is their choice. I realize that you were caused an inconvenience which may have been a communication problem, but it is not fair to speak badly of them. You are a charity doing good for others yet you discredit someone who does not do what you wanted?

You had to be extremely upset that you went to so much work thinking you had a storage unit and finding out, due to a communication breakdown, the unit was no longer available to your organization for free. How fortunate to have found another one so quickly.

For business purposes, I hope those reading this forum can overlook the negative review of the company initially contacted to supply a free storage unit. They have not been given an opportunity to explain their side.

People using the point??? I got one am so tired of the rudeness of people just because they can. Doesn't take much to pick up the phone and inform the charity you changed your mind. Free or not. Bad business.

BEWARE?
Because of inadequate communication?

I have to agree with graciegirl on this one.

In support of the OP I do think that she was dupped and put in a lot of effort for no outcome...

.....But as Judy Judy always says....GET IT IN WRITING.....

This is EXACTLY the point I meant to make. If I wasn't clear, I apologize. The regional manager (who said that he had the authority) made a commitment, knowing (as I had explained) that we would be preparing vehicles over the weekend to unload as soon as we received the call with a unit number on a Monday, as I had been told would happen, and to bring a lock for it.

Absolutely businesses can choose what charitable causes they wish to support or, for that matter, can choose not to support ANY charitable causes. But once a commitment is made, the least that could have been done, having been told that we were preparing to utilize the unit starting immediately on that Monday, was to let us know rather than leave us hanging for more than a week with filled vehicles that as a result could not be used for other purposes.

Fortunately it worked out well, as can be seen in the "BRAVO" posting. I agree with PJUCTH (quoted above) that operating this way is, in her or his words, "rude" and "bad business." We are a community that deserves better, and sharing the experience is one of the purposes of this forum. We are not just being negative; we also praise highly when that is appropriate....

Evidently I was not clear, because Cobh521 missed my point completely. It was not that they "did not give [us] something for free." I would never mention the names of two other self-storage facilities that said outright that they simply could not do it. It is that it was promised and the promise subsequently broken without the courtesy of a phone call for more than a week. Forget that this is a charity; to use the words of the other poster, it was "rude" and "bad business."

The entitled attitude of the o.p. makes me want to call and rent a unit from them right now.

We've rented units many times while moving ourselves or our college kids. I would never load a truck without first having the lease signed and in my hand and keys for the unit which I've already opened and know I can get into.

No business owes a "charity" anything. Charity is a gift and business owners have to be very budget conscious of revenue compared to expenses.

With so many volunteer groups in TV, they probably get 10 requests per week for free storage! They have bills to pay and the construction and startup of commercial real estate in a location like that costs a fortune.

Of course somebody should have called back, but when they didn't, it's the customer who needs to call elsewhere. "Beware" as though they're a rip off is poisonous.

Misunderstood
 

I believe the significant point is being missed here and it defaults to the most obvious that a business has the right to decide how it will spend their revenue, use their space, etc,etc. Of course they do. But there is an old
saying, "it is not what you say, it is the way that you say it". Since the people requesting the help felt abused then either they did not want to accept the rejection or the communications were poor. I would probably vote for the second as most people are receptive when they are treated with some dignity and with respect. The key word being respect. :)

I don't know how to make it any clearer that the issue was not the rejection but the way it was done—initially promised and not being told for more than a week of the breaking of the commitment.

I guess gone are the days when a handshake meant something, and ignoring that we're a charity, being treated "with some dignity and with respect. The key word being respect" is pretty relevant in terms of silence for over a week in spite of several messages being left while we were left hanging. It makes me feel really old. Then again, I am really old!

Would there have been more "dignity" and "respect" had we been a paying customer who showed up and was then told, "Oh, we rented the unit to someone else"? I don't know....

I cannot help but notice that we offered high praise to a different self-storage unit in another thread—to which only one person responded, at least the last time I looked.

P.S. "Of course somebody should have called back, but when they didn't, it's the customer who needs to call elsewhere." The "when they didn't" call back sounds as though we should find this kind of business behavior acceptable and that the responsibility lies solely with the customer. Sorry, there is no way I can agree with this. But as I said, I'm pretty old and perhaps come from a different time (and also perhaps a different place) than other posters. And as pointed out in our "BRAVO" thread, of course we called elsewhere and were treated very differently. Gratefully!

I'm on your side. I "get" it. :agree:

People these days (seniors, in particular) are far too willing to reward businesses that have poor business ethics. I do not care for the live and let live attitude.

Customer service is the most critical part of any business. I can promise those generous souls on here that are criticizing the OP, any business that exhibits the poor communications skills and "soft" ethics of this one, will do so repeatedly. You may be fine as long as you have no unique needs, but why fool with it?

There are many mom n pop facilities who will bend over backwards to just plain help you because that is good business.

:agree:

Thank you for your understanding!

And thank you too for your understanding! While it is a pleasure to deal with—and be supportive of—a mom-and-pop business, there are major corporate businesses who practice "good business" as well. I could not agree more that "Customer service is the most crucial part of any business [emphasis mine]."

[QUOTE=Quixote;1043112]And thank you too for your understanding! While it is a pleasure to deal with—and be supportive of—a mom-and-pop business, there are major corporate businesses who practice "good business" as well. I could not agree more that "Customer service is the most crucial part of any business [emphasis mine]."[/QUOTE]

THAT is very true. And diplomacy and patience is part of customer service. As the person who represented this charity the OP did not show those qualities. A charity is a business. Using the word "Beware" is unfair. It would have been better to praise the one who gave you space then tell that another newer business inconvenienced your charity, because that is what they did.

No one owes anybody anything when it comes to charity. Beggars can't be choosers. It would have been better to not say anything negative about the one who disappointed you, and praise the person who helped you and then give a connection to your charity so those inclined would drop a check in the mail.

Least said, soonest mended.

Gracie - how many times can she explain she was promised a service by a district manager and wasn't even given the courtesy of a phone call. Of course we all realize a business has the right to do with business as they choose (unless they are applying Christian values), but this business went back on a promise. I don't know that BEWARE was strong enough.

This seems to be going nowhere...........................

BEWARE was definitely overkill.
And revenge shaming by a "charity" is certainly not Christian.

I guess I'll give my two cents for what it is worth. First point get it in writing. Second point get it in writing, and last get it in writing. While I agree a business has every right to say who and what they will donate too, they also have an obligation as good business practice to communicate well with the would be customer. The only thing the business did here is not communicate in a timely fashion the fact that they changed their mind. Not a mortal sin.

You can not expect a high level of people experience from certain positions in this world. Everyone needs a job, and thank heavens there are those jobs available that are NOT brain surgery, or international diplomacy, because not everyone can be that skilled. This clerk apparently screwed up, but that is all that happened. I still would use the business if I needed the space, just as soon as I would use the business who gave them the space so kindly. I don't need compassion and understanding, when I seek spaces to rent to store stuff.


In this world, some folks will give you more than you expect, and some will give you less. BUT...You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar. AND THAT goes both ways. In fact, that goes ALL ways.

Clerk? A district manager of a national company is not a clerk. Without knowing the OP, I would think one should accept his/her explanation as being truthful. You can defend a business all you want, but the lack of a courtesy phone call is indicative of how proper communication has fallen to the wayside in the past decade or so.

You are absolutely right. But I would be less skeptical if the OP hadn't used the word "BEWARE".

That's true; an unfortunate choice of words. Still, I tend not to discount the whole story... sometimes one's outrage overtakes a better sense of how to put something.

Have we not all done that to some extent? Replied OH STOP! Or something like that. I'm guilty.

So what have we accomplished with this post?

I would not count on a regional manager making verbal commitments giving away inventory that the local franchisee/owner/manager knows availability on and has to pay for.

How does anyone know whether the regional manager even gave the message to the local franchisee/owner/manager or not?

And when no call back came on Tues., Wed, Thurs etc., maybe the local owner/manager could not get the regional manager to respond! And maybe that regional manager was making promises the local owner/manager could not meet or afford.

Without a contract signed by both the local storage facility and the tenant, I wouldn't count on anything from them.

And as for the mom and pop shop doing better, maybe it went better because for one thing, THEY, THE OWNERS --who know their inventory and ability to float the costs of a free rental--were contacted directly! They were in a position to speak for themselves, whereas the local franchisee of the first company was not.

With regard to real estate if it is not in writing and signed by the parties it is not binding. Period! There is no contract.

Why did you not ask to sign a comped lease for a particular unit while you were there? You would have had a done deal.

Where did you speak to the "regional manager", at the facility? Did he or she happen to be there? Within the self storage industry a regional manager employed by a corporate entity is normally a person overseeing perhaps 10 - 20 facilities individually managed by site managers. On the site managers' days off relief managers are used. Might you have spoken to a relief manager, not a regional manager?

It is too bad you feel you were verbally promised a unit and never received one but based solely upon your statements I would chalk it up to the person you talked to not having the authority to make you such a promise, if a promise was indeed made. Are you certain a promise was actually made? Or were you under an impression a promise was made? Most likely the fault lies with the person to whom you spoke not being clear, not the company. Miscommunications, misunderstandings happen all the time!

I have been involved in the self storage industry for over 40 years. I cannot begin to count how many times people/companies/organizations call or come in and tell us they want a unit. They tell us they are going to rent it so hold it for them. Then...guess what...surprise, surprise...They are no-shows! This happens daily, sometimes multiple times in a day at each site. Yes, even on an occasional complimentary unit to a charity. They, too, change their minds, can't get their act together or whatever and are no-shows for a unit we could have rented for real money to a real customer.

The way my managers handle it is when a customer shows up, signs a lease and pays the unit is theirs, and not before. Same for a comped unit. We still require a rental agreement to cover the legalities.

Final thoughts ...
 

I just did a quick search on TOTV of the word “BEWARE,” which seems to be a major issue for some posters. I looked at only the first four out of twelve pages that came up in the search and quickly found these titles: “Beware Pegasus Water Systems,” “Beware of Stone Creations,” “Mattress Firm – beware,” “Beware of Cash for iPhones,” “Beware of Scammers on Zillow for Rent,” “Beware of Corban Construction,” “Beware of Comcast, a Personal Opinion,” “Beware Mid-Florida Heating & Air trying to sell Surge Protectors,” “Buyer beware – tru landscaping solutions,” “Beware bonded leather,” “Beware of The Villages Urgent Care if you have UHC The Villages HMO,” “Beware Flea Collars!” “Beware Flea Collars” [two separate threads with the same title], “Beware of Magnolia dental,” “Scam, Beware of ‘FREE Android Tablet’,” and “Beware New ‘Phishing’ Scam,” “Beware Paying Property Tax online Sumter Co.,” “Beware of Jewelry Design,” “Buyer Beware – City Furniture,” “Beware the e-mail for Credit Scores free,” “BEWARE – T Shirt Thief at Charlotte Pool,” “Beware of the RMD,” and “Beware – Precision Aluminum – stay away!!!”

I did not read each thoroughly, but a quick glance told me that not a single poster expressed criticism of the use of the word “beware.” There were many threads that must have included the word “beware” in a posting if it came up in the search, even if not in the title. Granted not all pertained to local merchants. However, none involved a charity, which may say something about negative feelings that some have about charity in general. I certainly agree with those posters who said unequivocally that no one—individual or business—is obliged to be charitable. However, I am grateful that I was not brought up feeling this way.

Yes, I definitely spoke to the regional manager (not a minimum-wage clerk), made an appointment with him, met with him on an agreed date and time at the office of the self-service facility, explained exactly what our charity does, and presented complete documentation of the charity in print format, which he kept.

Yes, he made it clear that I would be called on a Monday morning to be given a storage unit number, at which point we could bring our loaded vehicles to unload into the unit and to be sure to bring our own lock for the unit. Hew even discussed the size of the unit.

No, the call never came. I called several times during the next few days and left messages each time, while our vehicles were tied up filled with merchandise, and never received the courtesy of a callback until over a week later, at which point the very same regional manager I had met with told me he was reneging on his offer of a unit.

Yes, I acknowledge now I made a major mistake by not taking into account what has sadly (to me, anyway…) has become completely meaningless in today’s world: a handshake and a verbal agreement. I am grateful that I grew up in a different time and, though an old person, am not too old to learn that this is considered, even by some of my contemporaries, acceptable business practice. To me, how sad; to others, business as usual, I guess.

I reiterate again that this was the third self-storage unit I made the request of this charitable donation that can be written off as exactly this: a charitable donation. I have no problem with the first two that said apologetically that they simply could not do it. I had a major problem with one that made whatever one wants to call it—a promise, a commitment, an offer, an agreement—and then reneges in an untimely manner—more than a week later.

I was accused of lacking diplomacy and patience. In my dealings with this company, how was I undiplomatic? I did everything I was asked to do. I waited more than a week before I finally received the courtesy of a phone call in response to many messages that the offer of the unit was withdrawn. How does waiting over a week during which time vehicles were largely unusable make me impatient? I will not sit in judgment of some posters who sat in judgment of me, and again I express my thanks to posters with values like mine who saw the point I was making without smoke-screening it with tangential, unrelated issues.

In the one and only response to my “BRAVO” thread about our gratitude to Oxford Self-Storage, the poster had the following as part of his or her signature: a quote from Robert W. Service: “A promise made is a debt unpaid.” Evidently so many people—even my contemporaries—think little of the meaning of this quote or might even scoff at it. Also sad to me.

My reason for this thread was to share my experience, not to convince anyone of anything or change anyone’s minds or attitudes. Anything beyond this is beating a dead horse….

I think the point is "customer service", a concept apparently abandoned by far too many businesses today including, apparently, this particular one. All that Gracie said is true but common courtesy and "customer service" dictate timely communications of your changed decision or whatever to the other party. Don't be pulling a 'Halderman' and leave them hanging in the wind - exercise some good customer service.

I very much agree although I don't know what a "Halderman" is.

They were not very responsible or nice to not call the OP back, BUT.... if you are asking for something for nothing, you must keep that in mind..

And this world is a cruel one sometimes. AND businesses are deluged with requests for money, free services and products. I have been part of asking for those things for charities in the past. You have to have a tough hide and you must be a realist when you are asking for things for a "good cause". Businesses cannot give to everyone. AND they can choose WHO they give to. But that said, they should have had the decency and courtesy to call the OP back.

Just to try to help the OP again, here is a link to their charity.

http://mariontherapeuticridingassociation.org/

I agree with the poster that said the person did not have enough authority. With a new opening, there are probably a lot of things going on behind the scenes getting set up, not to mention being inexperienced in a new community. When did we start not allowing for human error and mishaps and giving some slack? Things happen and everyone has oversights and bad days. When did we become quick to blame and quick to destroy someone's credibility. Yes they did this...yes politely point it out. If there is a pattern, we will see it and make a decision but let's not tar and feather others right off the bat.

When you are the person asking for a donation, you have the same responsibility for courtesy as the business. In my opinion, It would have been wiser, to publicly thank the people who gave you free space and just ignore the person who did not help you. It isn't just how the business presents itself, it is how the charity presents itself when it comes to image in the public eye.

Many of the businesses who may be candidates for future requests for help read this forum too. When you come hat in hand, it puts you in a different situation than a "paying" customer.

Or as I have heard so many times before;

For Free, Take.
For Buy, Complain.

I took your original post exactly how you meant it, simply as a disappointment, and chose not to read anything into it or rip apart the wording you used. Perhaps you have learned several valuable lessons here...whatever everyone wanted you to learn about how as a charity you should not complain or expect simple consideration because you ARE a charity (I don't get that), and that by continuing to try to explain yourself you only fuel the flames on this forum. You have been judged, get over it and move on...you have nothing to prove on here to people sitting on their butts judging you while you are out working with your charity. All the unkind remarks trying to devalue your Christian morals, are just as un-Christian, and on any given day someone is raked over the coals on here. Know that you are doing something worthwhile, and leave the debating to the accusers. You did nothing to harm contributions to your charity, as suggested. Someone inclined to contribute still will. Anyone suggesting otherwise, was never going to anyway. Good luck!!

I feel you used the forum for one of its intended purposes and am sorry you got raked over the coals so badly. I firmly believe in giving credit where credit is due, but I also see nothing wrong with letting it be known when a company/person/service provider does you a disservice, as this company obviously did. Why should it be left alone? You approached them in a professional manner, and they ultimately dealt with you unprofessionally.

Lots of companies pay attention to this forum. We had one company who did an excellent job for us but in the process wrecked something in our kitchen. I would never put that on the forum because they immediately took steps to make it right. They knew I was on the forum and thanked me for not saying anything. However, if they had not made the situation right, I would have said something. "Beware" to me simply means take care when dealing with XYZ.

You can say what you feel here, and others can take that into consideration when making their decisions about things. In my mind the term "It is what it is" was conceived by people too accepting of the way things are. One can effect change, and I see nothing wrong with making the attempt.

clunk, clunk, clunk. (That's the sound of me climbing off of my soap box.):spoken:

Un-Christian? Did we read the same thread? I believe there was a miscommunication. That doesn't make it right but it was a miscommunication. I believe a commitment is a commitment and everything should be done to honor tbat commitment. At the same time, don't use your charitable organization as a means to believe you are entitled. On another thread a person wants to buy storage containers at a low price because it is for a charitable organization. I have come to the conclusion that Villagers are, per capita, among the most charitable -- time, treasures and talent.

"And revenge shaming by a "charity" is certainly not Christian."

Yes! the same thread...this is where I got that, and I never read that she felt she was entitled. She SAID (on the same thread) that several other storage facilities were unable to help. She didn't name them, berate them, or even mention them. Her issue was with the treatment after the fact, after the promise THEY made.
And, the other thread you speak of has nothing to do with this poor lady being raked over the coals.