Access
The great thing about self storage facilities compared to ordinary storage operators is that they make things so much easier, you don’t have to let them know when your coming, you can visit, drop off or take stuff out of storage anytime you want, at no extra costs. No appoinments need to be made, you can come and go as you please.
Self storage is, like the words say, storing things yourself, at any selfstorage facility you like, whenever you like and excactly the way you like it. Self storage companies have blossomed into being the last decennia competing with eachother and thereby turning it into pretty much a buyers market. So it pays to shop around, compare prices, locations, facilities, extra’s etc. Take the time to look before you leap.
The first thing you want to look at is location, how far do you have to drive, maybe you don’t always want to drive, maybe you want things picked up instead. A vehicle may not always be available, your personel may not always be available. One of the latest trends in self storage is that these companies have recognized this and come up with the idea of mobile self storage. What’s that? Well, the company sends a truck containing a mobile storage container, you put your stuff into it, (or have their personel do it for you)
and have them move it to your storage facility. That way, everthing’s being done for you.
Of course when chosing this option there “will” be extra costs involved.
On the other hand, you’ll usually want to move your belongings there on your own steam.
These days a lot of self storage companies have “drive thru” facilities, enabling you to drive up to your storage unit, drop or pick up what you want and drive straight out many times without having to speak to a soul. It’s worth your while looking into whether the company and location of your choice have drive thru at your disposal. Some operators may ask you to park in a parking lot and charge you parking fees to boot.
Most self storage buildings have only one level, the ground floor made up out of almost nothing but storage units. There are exceptions to this rule, some do have multiple stories
and that means you’ll have to contend with lifts, you need to determine if these are big enough to suit your need and able to carry the loads you see yourself handling. How much extra work this will entail. Most self storage providers will have personel avaiable to assist you in getting your stuff in and out of your storage unit but not always without additional charges. Different companies have different rules and regulations, and different extra’s, such as:
Personnel to assist you in getting your stuff from A to B, both at the storage facility as well as at other locations. Some storage providers have a complete removal job on the menu,
packing up your complete household for you and moving it into your storage box. But again rarely for free and sometimes for full rates. They may have vehicles for hire, both small and large, sometimes they’ll offer these as a free service on the conditions that you rent storage space for a certain amount of time, or a certain size of space or both. You may also be required to post a bond in case of damage having been done to the vehicle while under your care. They may have trolleys and carts available for you to use, these are usually for free but again they may ask you to put up bond-money in case of impairment.
When you’ve got your belongings stored in their proper storage unit you may need to access them from time to time, you may need to take certain things out or add other things into storage. Accessibility in such cases is of real importance, you may want to check out their opening times before you make any real financial commitments. Not all are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, some close on bank holidays. A few will be open from for example from eight in the morning till eight at night but you can access your storage unit at other times by appointment.
Generally, no one but you can enter your storage box. A lock will be in place with you holding the keys at all time. A combination lock may be used with only you knowing the right numbers. There may be times however when you need to let someone else in. You should be able to give someone else your key or access code, sometimes you may have to give prior notice that you have given a certain person access, sometimes beforehand in writing, sometimes an ID check will take place before the person is let into the building.
These facilities will rarely ever let their own people into your storage unit, the only instances in which that may occur will be if you’ve failed to uphold your end of the deal by not paying your dues or in case of an emergency.
