Storage-mart

Warning

In 2015 a friend of mine rented a storage unit at the Storage Mart location in Elgin IL located on Rt 59. He lives in Asia. He returned in July of 2022 to do two things: First, he had a buyer from Ohio who was going to purchase about 50K worth of antiques he had stored there and Second, he intended to move the rest of his items to another location as the rental costs had skyrocketed there.

He was picked up at the Chicago airport by a friend and immediately proceeded to the storage unit to pick up the items and take them to his hotel. His buyer was due in the next afternoon. The items were wrapped in bubble wrap and in plastic containers. He had two lists of the agreed upon items for purchase and as he began to unwrap them and check off the list, he discovered about two dozen items were not in the containers.

He was totally freaked out and went back to the storage unit the next morning only to discover that he had been robbed. Someone had broken in to the unit. Close to 10K of the items on the lists were stolen and about another 10K-15K of antiques that he might have sold to the customer were also stolen.

The customer came in the next afternoon and was quite upset that the items she agreed to purchase had been stolen. It can be easily verified that this took place.

In addition to those items he estimates that another 10K-15K worth of camera equipment. Paintings. Indian pottery, golf clubs and a 3 piece stereo system plus other misc items were stolen.

He immediately contacted the manager of the storage mart and was told someone would contact him. Someone called him two days later and was told to fill out a loss form which he did. He was told someone would contact him again. No one did for ten days. A week later after no one had contacted him he reached out again and finally was able to speak with a rep of the company and was told they would get back to him.

In speaking with the person named Beka Doll he suggested that it had to be an inside job. She stated with no proof that that was not possible. Here is why in my view it is more than probably someone inside broke in to his unit.

First of all, in order to get inside the gate you need a code to punch in. No one except my friend had the code. The Storage Mart verified that no one used the code between 2015 when he rented the unit and July of 2022 when he returned from Asia where he lives. One would also have to believe that this person or persons who were on cameras walked thru the gate behind another car, then entered the building and took the second floor elevator, walk down four different aisles again all the while with cameras taping him and randomly chose to break in to the farthest unit from the elevator without having any idea what was in it. And with all the items taken he would have needed a flat bed to use which there are at least two on the main floor. Then he would have to take the elevator back down to the first floor, exit thru the garage door and he then would need the code number to exit the gate and then put all the stolen goods in his truck or car all the while again while cameras are taping him.

Does anyone believe this scenario? Of course not. My friend asked Ms Doll how many break ins there have been between 2015 and 2022 and she refused to answer. He asked how many employees left or were fired and again she refused to answer.

There is only one other possible scenario which on its face is also ridiculous. And that would be that the renters either side of the unit took 2 ten foot ladders (one to climb up and another to put in the other unit to climb down) and steal the items. The units are not covered so it is possible and renters need to know that the units are not totally protected. But again they would be on cameras and tape.

But here is the problem with the cameras. According to the manager the camera tapes are erased after two days. Wow. There are only two people who knew I lived in Asia. The manager he rented the unit from in 2015 and the current manager.

And you have to ask why bother to have camera's if you don't look at the tapes?

I think it is pretty obvious what happened here. But it gets worse. My friend left the US after one week but before he left he, along with his friend went to the office and told the manager that he was leaving for Asia the next day and that someone would be looking at some items that were left in the unit to maybe purchase but that all items would be removed by the end of the month. The unit was paid in full up to the end of the month because the manager refused to pro rate a daily rate. So the guy knew my friend was leaving the next day.

A few days later the movers he hired could not get in the unit because the manager had locked him out. They illegally put another lock on the unit. They were not asked to do so nor were they authorized to do so. They broke the law.

So the movers had to come back a second time. My friend left on July 12th and he thinks they put a lock on July 12th.

But it gets worse. My friend received a letter from the manager on September 15th in Asia. The letter was written on July 20th and sent on July 26th.

Here is what the letter says:

Dear Tenant,

"You are hereby given notice that on July 20th, 2022 your unit has been overlocked with out disc lock. In order to provide additional security. Stop in the office to pick up the keys.

Sincerely

Emil Goldowski

So, this guy knew my friend left on July 12th for Asia, waits another week to put a lock on the unit for no reason, locking the movers out, writes a letter to my friend on July 20th but waits until July 26th to mail it and tells him to pick up the keys at the office. My friend gets the letter on Sept 15th almost two months after the end of his contract. How stupid are these people? Clearly, not very professional.

I think it is pretty clear the thief/thieves knew my friend was not around to catch them in the act and that the tapes would be erased immediately. When you add the fact that the manager put a lock on his unit he knows there is a thief from the inside (or he is covering up the obvious). Either way renters need to know that their units are not secure, that there have probably been multiple break ins they don't want people to know about and by putting another lock on his unit they know the thieves are still active at that location.

By the way, there are much cheaper units in both Algonquin and East Dundee.