August 2025 by Lisa Owens-Hicks
When our Dad passed away in January of 2022, our Mum moved in with my sister and we, very haphazardly, emptied their condo into three units in Oxford. My husband and I were able to empty and consolidate the smallest unit quite quickly and Mum was given a pro-rated refund. Mum passed away in January of 2023 and the 2 remaining units were put in my sister’s name and on my credit card, so I’ve been paying @$546.00 a month for the two units. We never did a price comparison as we were in panic mode, so I don’t really know if the prices are fair or not. We have been ‘trying’ the last couple of years to sort through what was left. On July 7th of this year, my husband and I emptied the medium-sized unit. I sent the 5-day notice and the picture of the cleared medium unit and my credit card was issued a pro-rated refund on July 9th. On July 15th, my sister received an email stating that we had been ‘locked out’ of the last unit. When I called to find out why, I was told that it was because I didn’t pay the full amount and that I owed the amount of the refund I was given for the pro-rated credit on the closed unit. After an HOUR of not getting anywhere with the lady, I asked for a supervisor who said he didn’t know what the refund was for. When I told him, he said “upper management” (an oft-repeated phrase from this company, though I don’t know who “upper management” is) had not given approval for the refund to be ‘waived’ from the bill (who approved and gave me the refund?) and that he would take care of it and call me back. I never got a call back, but we had access to the final unit again. As we were working hard to get the last unit sorted and emptied, it became apparent that there was a leak in the back of the unit. Cardboard boxes of clothes, record albums, decorations, printer paper, etc., were damp and musty, with water marks and wrinkles dried into the cardboard. A shelving unit was covered in black mold, and remnants of the boxes stuck to the floor. I sent pictures. We didn’t really understand the extent of the damage until the lady I gave the record collection to texted me to tell me several of the boxes were a ‘hazard’ and were discarded. I sent the pictures of the damage on August 3rd along with the cleared out and swept final unit. The response included, “I’m truly sorry to hear about the water leak,” and to please ask my sister to call to get “specific move-out instructions and schedule your desired move-out date.” My sister was told the 9th. I sent the pictures again, three times, before I got the correct number of the many used for the company. I have now called at least twice regarding a pro-rated credit for August. “We don’t pro-rate,” “you didn’t have insurance with us” (regarding the water leak) and “upper-management has not responded yet” are all I have gotten so far. Very frustrated and disappointed overall. I would say that the pro-rated refund would be less than a claim on the ruined items, but I didn't have insurance with them to protect me from one of their units being faulty...
