Date: Mon, 2 Apr 2018 12:57:50 -0400
From: Whitney Beers Schmidt
Subject: American Self Storage Protection Plan
We have been a customer of American Self Storage off highway 64 between Pittsboro and Siler City for a little over a year. The location is good, storage unit is fine, no complaints about the facility.
In April of 2017, the first bill after our initial payment, I noticed a $9 fee for a “Protection Plan.” I’m not big on these types of plans for a number of reasons, but mostly because our homeowner’s insurance easily covers anything in storage as well. I checked our contract, which indicated that America Self Storage is not liable for any damage to items in storage, and that they offer a protection plan for my convenience, and that to cancel this plan, 10 days written notice is required. The contract also indicates that the email address that I was using would serve as a conduit for communications. The cancelation item in full reads as such:
*7. Participation Termination: Participation in this Protection Plan may be canceled by you upon ten (10) days written notice to Owner. This Protection Plan may be canceled by Owner upon thirty (30) days written notice to you (unless terminated earlier by rent non-payment). *
No other requirements for cancellation are set forth in the contract.
I have now asked for this to be canceled a total of 7 separate times, and the charge remains; in fact, they have told me they would not cancel the protection plan unless I gave them a copy of my insurance stating coverage. This is NOT REQUIRED in the contract. I spoke on the phone to Carrie, who was very pleasant. I explained to Carrie that there was no requirement in the contract for me to present my homeowner’s binder to American Self Storage in order to have the Protection Plan canceled, and that I had complied with the 10 day notice requirement multiple times since April almost a year ago. She indicated that this was not the first call they’d had about this, and that generally they find their customers don’t actually read the contract.
SO what I’m wondering is how many other folks – if anyone – have had the same problem?
Whitney.