Is the self storage business a money laundering front?

[Rick Lee]

The Stor-All I used for the last year is located exactly seven miles from my house and both are located right off I-66. When they raised the rent by more than 50% last week, along with some other issues, I decided to move. Public Storage is within walking distance of my house and had the same size garage for $30 less per month.

So I rented one of their moving trucks this morning and estimated I would need 18 miles at $.79 per mile. I drove straight to the Stor-All, loaded up my garage contents, drove straight back to Public, unloaded the truck, went to get gas around the corner and returned the truck about an hour after I had picked it up. Clerk said 49 miles!!!!! I said I hadn't been gone long enough to drive that far, since I had loaded, unloaded and gassed up the truck. He pulled the record from the last rental and the odometer then read what it read when I picked the truck up. When I brough it back, it had 49 miles on it. Absolutely, physically, mathematically impossible!!!!! I drove 18 miles at the most, probably less. I argued for a while and tried to explain the impossibility of the situation and then he said he could give me 20 free miles. So I figured that was as good as it would get and I had to pay for 29 miles. WTF????? This reminds me of the overbilling scheme in The Firm.

[stomachmonkey]

I've noticed similar stuff with the fuel gauges on rental trucks.

Calibration seems to be a major issue working in their favor.

I've learned to make note of mileage before leaving.

Sucks.

[cashflyer]

Originally posted by stomachmonkey
I've learned to make note of mileage before leaving.

And I've learned to disconnect the odometer while using the vehicles.

[Joeaksa]

Have seen this before and have a cure. I go to mapquest (or use my MS streets and trips here at home) and run the route on the computer. Make a copy of it.

Then go and rent the truck or car and do the trip. Checkout and if the total mileage is not within 5% of what the computer said it would be I ask for their manager. Once had to threaten to take this to the local television station but they all have finally bought off on the computerized mileage.

Their odometers are all a bit slanted in their direction so that they make more money. Bastards...

[scottmandue]

Self storage is one business I would consider going into, looks like a gold mine to me... I could be wrong but seems pretty low maintenance. More than half the people I know are making monthly payments on a roomful of useless crap. If only real estate wasn't so f***ing expensive.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Even with a computerized map, you'd have a hard time proving that (1) that's the exact route you took and (2) you ONLY drove that route without any extra jaunts above and beyond.

Sorry, but it sounds like it's one of those "your-word-against-theirs" situations.

[Rick Lee]

The odometer numbers were as he stated. But the odometer had to be WAY off. I retraced my steps and figured I was in possession of the truck for 1 hr. and 35 min. During that time I could not have had the engine running more than 30 min. Remember, I had to load the truck, sweep my old garage up, check out of it, unload the truck into my new garage, went to shop for a mattress and gassed up. No way was the truck's engine ging for more than 30 min. So at 49 miles, I'd have to have been going 98 mph the whole time I had the engine running. I wonder if I should contact the state's dept. of weights and measures.

[M.D. Holloway]

Many of the public storage places are only temporary. They will put them in a location that they feel has a very good chance of developing into a profittable area in 10 to 15 years (sometimes less). The storage business holds the land while making money. They are easy to tear down then either sell off or develop. There was a company out of Germany that did very well at this. I can't remember the name but it was a cool case study done a bunch of years ago at HBS.

[competentone]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
I wonder if I should contact the state's dept. of weights and measures.

A state "consumer affairs" department, or state attorney general's office might be interested.

It also could make a great story for the local news (assuming the rental company doesn't buy advertising from the local station). Try to contact a reporter who you think might be interested in making it to the national news circuit; if their local story is picked up by the networks, they know they increase their prospects for career advancement.

It would be fairly easy to check the accuracy of the odometer for a given trip. If it was just one truck, there wouldn't be much of story, but if it could be demonstrated that a fleet of vehicles all had "rigged" odometers it could be news.

One note, on rental trucks, they'll often swap out the stock wheels/tires with smaller ones. It makes for cheaper tire replacement, makes the deck of the truck bed lower, makes the speedometer read higher than the actual speed (keeping drivers from speeding), makes the truck less likely to roll over if operated improperly -- all of which are "good" things from the renter's perspective. The increased mileage on the odometer does cost consumers more and should be compensated for if billing is done on a per-mile basis.

[competentone]

The title of your thread just made me think about a Charleston, SC self-storage facility. I was talking to the owner of it some time ago, he said the Secret Service had rented two units from him. He seemed to think that they were storing counterfeit money in the units! I told him that if they got behind on their rent and he had to open their units for inspection before auctioning off the contents, to be sure to call me! (I'll post pictures if that ever happens!)

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Even with a computerized map, you'd have a hard time proving that (1) that's the exact route you took and (2) you ONLY drove that route without any extra jaunts above and beyond.

Sorry, but it sounds like it's one of those "your-word-against-theirs" situations.

Nope. More than once I have gotten the manager and when he was being difficult I offered to pay for the truck for an additional 10 miles. He looked at me funny then I said "you and I are going for a drive. We go a known route using a GPS. If the mileage is off more than 5% in your favour then I am calling the police and district atty"...

Twice now I have been re-charged a more realistic mileage after doing this. You just have to be in the right, and be able to prove it. They know that the speedo/odometers are off and unless someone is going to stand their ground and be ready to call the cops, they will continue smiling all the way to the bank.

[Tervuren]

I'm wondering - does the truck log hours? Otherwise, nothing really for you to go on.

That said - he charged with mileage from the last rental contract, the truck was probably driven between the last time it was rented, and you took it out, which would account for the extra miles.

[Hugh R]

I attended a seminar once on investing in self storage places. What others said is very true. They hold the land. In many cases the buildings already have the concrete cutouts for doors and windows to turn into office space. Also, $/sq. ft. is high and no renters protection. You don't pay, they can pretty much auction off your stuff.

[Rick Lee]

I filed a complaint with Fairfax County's Consumer Affairs division. Yesterday a guy there called to talk about it. Today he had someone from the state DMV's Odometer Fraud division call me. We talked for a while and he sent me some forms to fill out and fax back. Looks like this is gonna get looked into.