Come to the Atlanta area and get a real Self-Storage Auction education. We eat thin-skinned people alive while they are gasping for air and spit out their bones leaving them with nothing but the tail between their legs when they go home too their spouse – LOL!

Just kidding of coarse -  

edit~just not worth the time~

Rockin’ and Hubby were rolling the dice all the way up to the point they found out the locker was not going to payoff. When they found out the locker wasn’t going to payoff they cried foul. The time to back out of the deal was when they were presented with the paperwork from the previous tenant BEFORE they did a closer inspection of the locker, period.

You weren't there and you have no idea how it went down and furthermore you don't know either of us, so quit trying to paint us with your broad brush.  Don did question it over and over before ever approaching the locker.  He was told the tenant was not allowed to go in and remove anything but personal items (photos, documents et al).  We found out later that was not the case and he went and removed other items just prior to the auction.  He was told the only difference was he would be entering a contract with the tenant and not cubesmart.  Granted the big mistake was signing the document, but what's done is done and we'll deal with it.

We're not crying foul because the unit is crap, we're crying foul because of the way the whole thing was handled.  Old-timers that were there are talking about how it went down and most agree that it was shady. 

Again, you don't know us and for you to be so condescending is getting tedious.  I'm sure you've never made any mistakes in your illustrious career, but people like you are quite rare.  Most have to learn by taking their lumps, which we are doing.

Okay~so.....we went to the auctions today with a different auctioneer.  I was very nervous to see who knew what and how......Immediately hit with questions, smart-assed comments and the like.  Seems we were the buzz.  Our whale said that he felt it was BS and that there would be repercussions, but as most pointed out we have little recourse.  Furthermore an old-timer (that I adore and has taken me under his wing) said that the last thing we want to do is proceed with a legal case as that would kill us at future auctions (even those not run by CS).

All in all it was very uncomfortable at first, but by the end of it, we were being backed as all realized it could have been them.
Don has been in contact with the upper-management and things are still progressing, but I truly believe we will own a pile of pooh.  I've pretty much resolved myself to that fact.  One interesting point and very disturbing is that one of the CS managers said we might have legal recourse against the tenant and suggested we could call in the police......I'm like HUH???

Was interesting to find out that the owner (tenant) was in the crowd and told a couple people that he had taken out all the welding equipment and such.....why oh why wasn't my husband in the vicinity at that time~

Oh well.....sometimes the best lessons are those that cause pain~

Well yesterday totally sucked!  Don and I again decided to divide.  He took Cubesmart (U-store-it) while I did the local popular auctioneer.  His crowds were minimal, while mine was over 100 by 8:30 am.  I bid on a few, but never won a unit.  Both auctions were sort of paralleling each other.  I took a break from my auctions to stop in and see my bro and drop off some musicians equipment for his buddy to evaluate.  While there Don called and said he had a unit that might run more than he had but looked to be good.  I was 5 minutes away and headed over.  When I got there he said he got it for $1000.

I waited outside the facility while he was inside paying.  One of the regulars (our whale) was there and said Don may get hosed as Cubesmart was selling this unit for the tenant on consignment.  I walked to the door and Don had just paid (cash) and was getting papers shoved in front of him with 3 woman saying just sign this and this and we'll be done.  He questioned them and they said he was not signing an agreement with Cubesmart but with the tenant.  It appears that they let the tenant go and remove personal items and the like then put it up for auction.  At no time was Don (or the other gentleman who was also duped) told beforehand this information.  When Don balked the gal who runs the auctions said "oh I guess I should have told everybody huh?"  while the store manager said 'this is something new we're doing'.  After a time we went to the unit to begin clean-out.

The doors go up and I start in and found that all tools were arranged to show value, when in fact 90% were either broken or incomplete.  behind the second door (it was a 10X20) was a particle board desk with a nice industrial shredder and vintage sewing machine on it, while right behind it were bags of trash and more broken items.  Don was devastated.  About this time the other gentleman walked up and said his locker was also staged (he spent $1600).  Both guys were grumbling and talking about fraud when I said 'just go up and take it up with the manager.'   They did.

I spent the next 10 minutes shoving things back in, shut the doors, locked my husbands truck up and went to the office.  The manager was frustrated as were both guys.  She said she (and they) would need to talk with the district manager.  Both parties agreed to put their locks and locks from the facility on the units so neither could enter without the other in attendance.

I left and hooked back up with my caravan.  Never did land a unit, but by this time my heart wasn't in it.
Later in the afternoon after not hearing from the district manager, I called the corporate headquarters in PA, explained the situation, was put on hold and ultimately transferred back to......you guessed it.....the store manager here in Tucson.  I was frustrated and she talked a good compassionate line.  I told her the other gentleman was talking about a lawyer and she said 'we talked with our legal department and we did nothing wrong'.  I mentioned misrepresentation and she clammed up.  I told her that it would be nice to hear from the district manager and she took my info.

Don called and left another message for him and an hour later he called back and basically said all sales are final.  When Don told him I had called the corporate office he kind of balked and said he would have somebody from corporate call us today.......we'll see.

I'm planning on taking a loss.  We can probably squeak $500-600 out of the unit, but I will not simply lie down for this.  They should never had told certain individuals about the consignment and not the entire crowd and they certainly should have said we were not going to have a contract with them, but with a tenant.  Shady practice and one that I don't think will last without MAJOR rethinking!

OK~rant over.  Now I have to finish typing up the timeline and then head out to auctions......

Sorry to hear it money~
We actually made it out this morning without the kids.  We got two spots (buying 3 units kinda forced us) and sold over $400.  Actually our best outing to date.  Sold another $60 on craigslist this afternoon, so we're approaching our goal of paying off our splurge.

I told Don I'd really like to make back another $500 before Tues as our auctions hit full stride ALL next week starting Tues.  Fingers crossed, but not planning on it.  Thank goodness we've yet to touch our tax return......insert diabolical laugh here...........


 

Good luck Rockin.  This month has been good to me so I can't complain too much except about the crowds.  Hope you score a nice unit.

Actually ended up with 3 units (2 for Don and 1 for me).  Total spent was right around $1000.  Crowds were relatively small and prices pretty minimal.
Just starting to dig, so let ya know more when I have a chance to breathe~

Don had the facility manager contact him and say that one of the tenants wants to buy back his stuff.....not even sure how we'll deal with that one....yet~

That sounds like a great unit - congrats.  If the various items are new you may want to look at doing ebay vs a yard sale.  Yard sale people are looking for good/decent quality at the CHEAP.  So instead of $10-$20 for an item they will only want to pay $1-$2.  So the crystal and such needs to be on CL, a consignment store, or ebay.

Good luck.

Agree!  It's amazing how differently I look at items now since I'm back to ebaying!  Soooo much nicer getting double or more than I would have at the flea.  My craigslist ads have dropped significantly too, as I found 'local' folks just don't want to pay.  Of course if I ever get another unit.......insert head banging on wall emoticon here, I will hopefully have some large items to craigslist, but until then~I'm ebaying it!

Congrats on the treasures newbie.....now quit being a locker hog and save a few for some of us 'regulars'!