ComplaintsforSmart Move Moving and Storage, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  10/25/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Long story short, I was made the Personal Representative of my ******** estate including all items in the storage unit at Smart Move Moving and Storage in 2020. This has led to me getting a court order from the Pinellas County Courthouse to gain access to said storage unit. Today when I paid the bill (overdue fees from the delays in this process due to a malicious third party) I went to get the materials out of the shed and was summarily kicked out and barred from the property and doing my court appointed duty because I notified the owner of her lying to me. Her husband then tried to escalate the situation as I was leaving per their request. Per my lawyers request, I had a GoPro running during the entire altercation including the husband of the owner getting in my face, insulting/intimidating me and reaching for his waistband frequently (can provide a link if needed).I left the facility and notified my lawyer of my being barred from my court appointed duty to inspect and inventory the storage unit I had just paid $723.85 for. They indicated that I should try going through the BBB in order to receive a refund and get the remaining items delivered to my address. If this fails, we may need to proceed with further legal actions. The unprofessionalism, threats/intimidation and barring me from performing my court appointed duty is too much to go unchecked by the BBB. As I have already been through enough dealing with this, I would simply like to be refunded my money directly back to my card, have them deliver the contents of the storage unit to my home address..

  Business response

  10/25/2022

  Please see attached.

  October 25, 2022

   

  The death of a loved one is a very emotional time. When the probate courts are involved, and assets are divided among family member, emotions can run high. And we are sympathetic to that. You must understand that as a storage business we simply can not give anyone the keys to a storage unit that is not in your name. Per company policy and court order we must wait until said order has been received designating a personal representative. At that time we can hand over the keys. Im sure you can imagine the liability involved with giving just anyone who comes in claiming that the owner has passed and requesting a key to someones unit. In September when the judge called on conference with yourself and our office manager you were made aware of the amount due on the unit of $723.85. All parties on the call were made aware that we needed a certified copy of the court order designating personal representative and payment prior to access to the unit.

  On Friday, October 21 you called the office and stated that you had just obtained a court order to gain access. You stated that you only wanted one thing from the unit and that you werent prepared to pay the unit in full if the one item you wanted was not there. You asked to come and look through the unit and then decide if you wanted to pay. I stated that the monies due must be paid prior to you obtaining access. I did however, per your request, offer to go and look in the unit (off premises) and see if I could see anything in the unit and said I would call you back. Friday was an extremely busy day and I did not get to it that day as I did not have a warehouse person in office that day. We are closed on Saturdays and Sundays. You reference in your complaint that I lied to you. Nobody lied to you. You asked if I could check the unit and I said I would. Less than a full business day had elapsed before you came to our office in person on Monday October 24, 2022.
  

  On Monday, October 24^th just after noon you came to our main office visibly upset. You tossed down your card and court order on our managers desk. Our manager brought the court order and paid receipt to me and I authorized access to the unit after taking a photo ID. You asked to speak to the owner and I informed you I was the owner. You stated that you had yet to receive a thank you for the payment. I thanked you for making the payment to gain access to the unit. You were visibly agitated as again I am sure it is an emotional time. Because the unit was delinquent, a lockout device was placed on the unit. I escorted you to the unit, cut off the lock and opened the unit.  You became very agitated again and stated there are no family heirlooms in here. This is just mattresses and furniture You pushed a large piece of furniture across the hallway and began to repeatedly say that I lied to you. You stated at one point how angry you were that what you were looking for was not there. You began pumping your fists and becoming more visibly agitated and the situation seemed to escalate very quickly for you. You said you would call your lawyer, write bad reviews, etc. At that point you were asked to leave the premises.
  

  Your grossly sensationalized version of the events that occurred are highly inaccurate. We have nothing to defend as nothing was treated with anything other than professionalism and sympathy. We have several high-resolution cameras (as you can imagine) as well to protect our facility and the people in it. I too would be happy to share the entire footage from both buildings. I stand 100% behind our decision to ask you to leave once I felt unsafe. You were nor are you barred from the property. You were asked to leave that day due to your behavior.

  You are not owed a refund. Im sorry that what you were looking for was not there but we are under zero obligation to refund you or deliver your goods. You paid an invoice for storage that was owed.

  You have paid for the unit through 10/29/2022. You have access to the unit through that date plus an extra 7 days free of charge to remove the contents. We request that you respect our staff and property in the process of removing the contents or you will be asked to leave again. You must notify our office by phone when you wish to come and remove the contents and a temporary code will be provided to you.

  If you have anything further, please contact me in office at ************.

  Thank you
  

   

   

  Customer response

  10/25/2022

   
  Complaint: 18306641
  
  I am rejecting this response because: They violated my right to do my duty per the Pinellas County Court. If a refund is not received, I will be forced to file an Ex Parte Petition for Contempt of Court for both owners. I do not feel safe being at their facility as the respondent and her husband forced me out of the facility prior to completing my inventory. Additionally, they told me not to return or else they would call the police. The response from the owners is contraindicated to what they yelled at me onsite. If they will not comply with the BBB, they will comply with a Judge.

  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Business response

  10/26/2022

  The customer is upset and requesting a refund because what he wanted in the unit was not there. The unit belonged to his late step mom and not his dad. He had hoped to find something in the unit that was not there when we opened the door. He would have had no knowledge of exactly what was in the unit because it did not belong to him. As I stated in prior correspondence he was required to pay the past due balance prior to gaining access to unit. Now that he has paid and does not have what he was looking for he is upset and wants his money back. No refunds are issued. We have not violated any court order. We are happy to discuss and share the evidence of that day to the residing judge with whom we have already reached out to provide video evidence of the events that unfolded that day. 

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