Burglary At Public Storage

[JeffSavoie]

I have, or had, most of my worldly possessions stored at the Public Storage Facility, on Avalon Way.

On or about Oct 2nd, they had thirteen units on the second floor broken into, mine among them.

I was told when I came back from a vacation, around the tenth, that “only a couple” units were “tampered with”… but that they didn’t think anything was missing.

Upon inspecting my unit, with the manager, I found that was too good to be true.

I am one of those guys, that always gets insurance, when I rent something.

So I got it with my unit.

Unfortunately I was not informed I was getting only $2000 worth of coverage, or that I could opt for more.

My whole life’s possessions amount to considerably more than that…

Either that, or I felt I was buying into a “secure building” and didn’t feel a loss was likely to occur, at all, and money was extremely tight when I did so.

And now, much to my dismay, the insurance company is fighting me tooth and nail over my claim.

They want proof of ownership for every item I lost.

Who has that, for the entirety of their belongings?

Salting my wounds, my file box, which did contain the receipts that I would have, was part of what’s gone.

And much like when a wallet is lost, it’s really not the “important” stuff, that I will miss, it’s the sentimental… the antler from an elk, my grandfather shot, tools I inherited from his shop, and others handed down from my father.

How could one ever place a value on that? Let alone prove I owned it…

When I contacted the Seattle Police Detective in charge in the now inactive case, he said “he wasn’t going to do anything about it”… “a storage unit isn’t the kind of place that can be fingerprinted”, and the case was closed.

And… As if I didn’t feel bad enough, the manager did mention she thought I could fit what’s left into a much smaller unit, to save myself some money in the future.

I told her I was trying to be upbeat, but I didn’t appreciate that, at all.

Anyways, in the big picture, after the tough year I have had, this is just a drop in my river of tears, so enough of my sob story.

What I am really after, is I’d like to know if any other bloggers share my ill fate, or know of anyone who did?

I’d like to compare notes, know if anyone has contacted legal council or has any for me, and try to work together for the greater good of all involved.

Jeff Savoie

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[JanS]

Jeff, so sorry to hear this. And doubly hard, since they basically have dismissed your loss as inconsequential. Here’s hoping you hear from someone else who has gone through this, too.

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[MargL]

Jeff – Here’s someone else who was affected – post from about a week ago.

https://westseattleblog.com/blog/forum/topic.php?id=6874

They also apparently had a break in back in March (from another post I saw) – doesn’t sound like that place is terribly secure!

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