Rich, old, white guys I'm coming for your souls!

[The following is a letter I wrote to Public Storage today. I pay $91 a month for a storage unit and have for oh three years now (Well it used to be $79, then it was $83). Statusfactory pays that bill like clockwork every month so I was surprised to get a notice saying I owe $0 but they want a $10 late fee. I was angry. I put on my shoes because I wanted to go to PS and scare the shit out of whatever old man/woman they had working there. I shit you not, PS hires retired couples to staff their locations. I called to make sure they were open, they are unpredictably closed at times. In the ensuing conversation I got to be indignant on the phone and that calmed my ire somewhat. I didn’t drive over…but I did write this letter]

I received a letter today with a notice for $10 in late fees. It doesn’t say I owe anything else. Considering I don’t owe anything I don’t know how I could owe late fees. I called the location to find out what the problem was and the woman was unhelpful. She remembered seeing my check recently but couldn’t check in the computer as it had been down all day. (A not uncommon occurrence from the few times I’ve had to interact with Public Storage facilities) She anticipated it being down the rest of the day. She wasn’t going to be at work for two days after that and didn’t know when anyone would be able to look into the billing problem on your end.

These sorts of difficulties have created an inimical dread any time I have to deal with someone from your company. As Public Storage is driven by profit, and your staffing and equipment choices clearly portray a desire for cheapness rather than quality, let me make a suggestion. Replace the ineffective cheap equipment, and septuagenarian staff with a collection of high-end, remotely manageable computer terminals. You won’t have to pay any benefits. You can convert those on premise living quarters into more storage. You won’t have to worry about computers ever doing anything to bring on a lawsuit. Best of all you can continue raising rent arbitrarily, and padding your rich, old, white man executive pockets with profit. Also I won’t have to hear any more excuses.

P.S. If the automation goes well you should consider implementing it all levels of the company.

P.P.S. Your industry certainly isn’t the most incompetent. You should see the nonsense that comes from the cell phone guys. Listening: The Sheltering Sky - King Crimson Feeling: mad as hell