Public Storage

I’ll list both pros and cons, but the cons have far outweighed the pros for me. Most are just unforgivable for something of this price (well, at any price).
Pros:
— The 2^nd (newer) building is in good shape and generally clean, *excluding* the unlocked areas (bathrooms/​entryway). All unit doors move smoothly. Temperature/​humidity seems to stay consistent. Elevators generally work. Parking is sufficient.
Cons:
— Carts are a must, but generally only available 25% of the time (whether peak times or not). Management says «We’re not allowed to buy any more — we’ve asked». Constant frustration for everyone.
— The bathrooms are often in terrible shape. They’re frequently out of order, or completely out of paper products (even the seat covers will be empty, as they have been used as toilet paper). This is true with or without the offices being open. They’re just not maintained with any regularity. The ones that I’ve seen inside the «secure» area have never to my knowledge been unlocked for customer use.
— As others have mentioned, there is a sizeable transient population using the facility (at least the bathrooms, but potentially living in units). I’m sure this contributes to the restroom situation, as the sinks are used as full body washing stations.
— The older building’s units are generally in worse shape. The one I started to receive had holes through the concrete wall (it was an end unit) and sharp screws protruding 2−3″ into the unit itself from the equipment attached to the outside. I cancelled that rental and went elsewhere.
— There is no lighting in the units themselves. The halls are well lit, but that doesn’t extend into the units, so you generally need a flashlight regardless of time of day. I keep multiple battery lamps in each unit.
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All in all, this is the worst facility that I’ve used in the area (out of 4). If it weren’t stuck there due to the sheer amount of boxes I’d have to move, I’d be out in a heartbeat.

I rented a storage unit and was told by the employees that I needed to purchase a cylinder lock in order to use a storage unit. It didn’t have to be their own $ 20 lock, just as long as I had a cylinder lock. I purchased my own for $ 9 and moved my things in. Today I got a call from them saying that they had thrown away my lock since it wasn’t the correct fit, and that I needed to purchase their $ 20 lock in order to access my things; until then I’m locked out of my unit. No where in the contract paperwork does it even mention a lock as an item needed to access your unit. So far no one from the company is contacting me back. As you can tell from my axe grinding, I’d recommend avoiding this company.

The storage was acceptable but they’re sketchy on contracts. I signed up for a 6 month storage and upon signing the facility said that my last month would be prorated based on when I moved out. During my occupancy they changed their rule to «full-​payment per month, no matter what» and didn’t inform current leasers. So when I moved out on May 2^nd, the building refused to uphold their original prorated deal. … They should be required to notify you of cost changes to your unit and current contract.

Ashley was great! Very helpful and knowledgeable. This was a good overall experience.

After spending the previous day traveling north on I5 for nearly 13 hours, and pulling into this Public Storage all weary and tired, a ray of sunshine greeted us at the Public Storage desk by the name of Lauren. Lauren is professional, courteous and super helpful. You immediately feel like your life possessions are in trustworthy hands. It is a pleasure to do business with her and I’m sure she is a true reflection of all Public Storage employees. 5 GOLD STARS for LAUREN!

Anthony was an excellent salesperson and very helpful showing me around and helping us choose the appropriate size unit.
The only issue is with corporate policy that requires insurance to be purchased on top of the quoted rate. However Anthony did tell me about this before any purchase was made.

Excellent professional service. Chiquita, April, Lauren and Deora all helped me with moving my things in and were very helpful. They appreciate military.

I have been renting a unit here for over a year and the facility has steadily gone downhill. The back gate was inoperable more than it was operable and now the gate is permanently shut down which makes exiting on Fairview nearly impossible during many hours of the day. There is a shortage of carts and more often than not, an elevator is out of service. The grounds are a mess and there no longer seems to be anyone trying to sweep or clean up the debris that is often left by the folks moving in and out. It was totally awesome when I first rented here and in the matter of a year, it is now a totally different place.

Very nice facility and Colin was so helpful! I would recommend to anyone.

I work for great northwest soup company and we are growing very rapidly. We decided we needed more storage than we had. The attendant that helped us did a wonderful job! She was able to answer questions and explain procedures in an easily understandable way. She went out of her way to make sure that we knew what we were getting and that we were comfortable with it. The unit was extremely clean and well maintained and I have no fear of access issues! Thank you public storage!

Awesome location. Easy to get in and out of, very clean and the staff is super helpful, especially Lauren.

Great location, spaces and staff. Everyone is very helpful and personable, especially Lauren, who guided me and took extra time to explain every single detail!

Clean, secure, great staff and competitively priced. The staff was great and advised us on a smaller unit based on what we had. We really appreciated their help and it saved us $ 50 a month.

Jeremy and Stacie have been awesome all year since we have moved in. They helped accommodate several unit changes and always with a smile. Thanks for taking such great care of us.

This was a really seamless experience Coquita was very helpful and knowledgeable.

Who would have thought getting a storage unit could be so entertaining and fun! I worked with Erin, Ray, and Lizza at this location (I call it the SLU location) but I’ve also worked with Ricardo as well. All of them deserve some sort of recognition because they all were great and I was at three different locations.
Moving from Belltown to West Seattle I needed to put my stuff in storage for a window of time. I googlized where the public storage locations were and instead of calling or making an online reservation, I figured it would be fun on this stormy day to just visit the locations.
I started off at the West Seattle which I think Ray was at. He was really polite and kind. They didn’t have a unit I was looking for so he referred me to I believe Lizzy off the Delridge location. We checked out one unit but it would have been too small. She then referred me over to Erin at the SLU location in which that was the best bet and they had great move in specials ($ 1 for the first month).
I kept running into the same people at different locations and really got a sense of the «Public Storage Family» which is a great thing and I am glad to be a part of it. I’ve rented at the SLU location before and they were helpful them but some how they are even MORE helpful than before. Whatever efforts the PS storage company has in place on training their staff and company culture, it’s certainly working.
I picked up some boxes on the LQA /​15^th ave Location and ran into I think Ricardo at that location as well. I think he likes to go to Monkey Loft and I like to go to Monkey Loft so we are ML homies.
I’ve always looked forward to coming into the storage facility. Does that sound weird? I don’t think so. The world we live in today we want great experiences in all that we do. I can’t imagine a better storage unit experience with Public Storage.
Great job team!

You get what you pay for with this place.
The rent on my 10×10 unit was inexpensive but that is the only thing I would consider positive about my experience in the 6 – 7 months I rented a storage unit there.
There was constant transient activity (usually just one or two but sometimes groups upwards of 7 people) from loitering to drinking alcohol openly on the street and inside the complex. I tried complaining to the staff there to no avail.
The rear gate broke on at least three occasions with one of those times leaving the rear gate inoperable for about a week.
The bathrooms on the individual floors we sometime locked up but the green indicator portion showing the bathroom was vacant was showing. When the bathrooms were unlocked the transients sometimes used them without locking the door or leaving it open.
I did not remove my lock from the storage unit when I moved out yesterday and just received a call from staff at this location. The message that was left for me was almost impossible to understand including the phone number to call them back at. I tried dialing the number they called me from but it went to what I believe to be a fax machine. I then looked the number up online and called the first one I saw which directed me to another number, and when I called that number it finally gave me the number to reach the office. When I reached someone at the office I had to repeat my last name numerous times and was hung up on by the staff after they asked me to come down and remove the lock without answering another question I had. The staff is alright in the office but I never had a pleasant experience on the phone.
When I initially checked into the unit I was not told about the monthly insurance cost or the fee associated with the unit lock. I booked online so this is more of an issue with the online booking. The charge for the insurance was actually more expense through the storage unit than it was from my insurance agent.
I would not rent a storage unit from this location again and would not recommend this location. I’ll put up with some inconveniences to save a little money which would’ve given this location 4 stars but once you factor in the poor customer service this is 2 stars location.

Lizzy Rocks! Super nice even after i expressed how unhappy i was about having to purchase a cylinder lock and insurance. Anyways traffic can be a pain but other than that the place was always clean, anytime i needed a cart they were always available. Other than the surprise charges mentioned earlier i would have given them 5 stars!
Anybody want a purchase a cylinder lock let me know, Real Cheap! ;)

I made a reservation online for the additional discount and met with George a few days later. He was very thorough in explaining how the storage facility worked. He made great recommendations based on my needs and was very courteous and informative leaving no questions to be answered. George possesses the qualities of a leader as shown by his passion for the company. I very much look forward to leaving my possessions at this location and would highly recommend the Lake Union Public Storage facility to anyone in the Seattle area.
Thanks!

I dislocated my shoulder so I was unable to move until my friends were able to help out. Turns out, 1 day past their last move out date is too late, even with extenuating circumstances.
At a prior storage company I was given 10 days, they arbitrarily pick 6 (who picks 6? It’s generally 5 or 10) and because my wife signed up, who has never gotten one before and didn’t know the rules, we were out of luck according to the manager. Which btw, was very crass on the phone. She was rude and didn’t even try to help me, just tried to get me off the phone. Not only that, I called the district manager and never got a call back, they don’t care about their customers at all.
I’ve had stuff stolen from a prior unit that public storage owns and I have only been treated poorly by these people. There are lots of storage companies in the area and I’m never renting from these guys again because they treat their customers like garbage and only think of them as a number spitting out money.