So, I received a call from the Police today (TF Related)

[Verno]

What is the storage shed companys responsibility in all of this? Surely they are liable for your goods being stolen/damaged etc when you are paying them to house them for you?

[GoktimusPrime]

I hate that awful, awful feeling of violation that comes after you've been robbed.

[Zippo]

Well I now have a list of everything that was stolen and need to catch up with the Police on Monday as I left the number I needed to ring at work (whoops).

Also need to catch up with the storage facility owners and see any other units were broken into and either find a new unit in the same facility or a new storage place. I don't trust my current unit with the hole in its roof now.

[1AZRAEL1]

I wouldn't trust it either, now that the thieves know what is stored in it.

[griffin]

If someone is familiar with a location and can easily break in, they are more likely to come back.

[5FDP]

Sorry to hear Zippo. I know the feeling of having someone break in and take what you have worked so hard for. Not only that, but the feeling of having someone there that shouldn't have been there; it's a personal violation.

[kup]

What is the storage shed companys responsibility in all of this? Surely they are liable for your goods being stolen/damaged etc when you are paying them to house them for you?

Yeah you are indeed paying them to keep your stuff secured.

[Lint]

What is the storage shed companys responsibility in all of this? Surely they are liable for your goods being stolen/damaged etc when you are paying them to house them for you?

Nobody would operate a self storage business if this was the case.

Unless the contents were stolen as a direct consequence of the business' actions or inaction (like deliberate theft or security systems not being up to standard) I don't think they are liable.

[griffin]

Yeah, it'd be in the contract that they are not liable for loss or damage. And since you are choosing a storage facility and signing up to its conditions, the facility can't be held responsible for someone breaching the level of security you've chosen and agreed to. They would only be liable if they did not provide the standard offered (like if they claim to have patrols and cameras, but then don't have them), because they have failed to provide the deterant being paid for.
It just means, that if you are storing valuables, you'd pay for a more secure, patrolled facility, if you can afford it.

It sucks, but look at it like long-term parking - if you pay for somewhere that guarantees security, they are liable. If you go somewhere cheaper that doesn't offer any security, they will usually have as a condition, that it is at your own risk.

[Zippo]

So I went into the storage shed, moved the stuff to another unit but left feeling very unhappy with the answers I received to the questions I had.

This is the email I then sent to the manager

Hi Phil
Its Brett here, ex occupier of Unit 429 – the one that was broken into and things stolen from.

I moved out of that unit this morning and into another unit, but I am not a happy camper

I had a chat with the receptionist, who answered some of my questions, but left me with more questions as well the needing answers for the questions she could not answer.

- Storage unit was access by the robbers cutting a hole in the roof and then they targeted my unit
- You have a 10 day window of possible time in which robbery happened
- All units of the size that I currently occupy have clear roofing material on the top of the unit
- Units are not individually alarmed
- Storage facility does not have any cameras, only motion detectors.

My concern is the clear roofing material used. If you gain access to the building, you can walk on top of the units and peak into each and every unit to see what it work taking. The stuff that I have in storage was mostly in computer boxes and you can tell the way things have been damaged and what was taken that the robbers were targeting electronics.

My second concern is that your website advertises Individually Alarmed Units and Alarmed Buildings.
Clearly the unit that I was in possession off, and the one that I moved into was not alarmed, based on the information that I have that you only know that the offense was committed in a 10 day window. An individual alarm would have gone off the moment someone accessed the storage shed and given you a precise time of attack.
Also, do your staff not check the roof for holes that have been cut in them each day?

My third concern is that you advertise video surveillance on the website, yet I have never seen a camera and the receptionist tells me that you have none. False advertising??

Another concern that I have is if the robbers were disturbed by the motion alarm and it activated the other alarm … did the security patrol that you advertise turn up? I am sure that that would also help in determining a more precise timing of the robbery rather than having a 10 day window.

My last concern is that the robber is actually someone who has a storage unit at the Roslyn Mill Storage site and is now storing the stuff they stole from me…

I will ask two more questions, as one word questions

Compensation?
Insurance?

I will, over the rest of the week and weekend look for another storage unit to store my items in as I have lost my faith that you are providing what I thought I was paying for at your facility.

I look forward to your reply, though I will follow this email up with a phone call in the next day
My contact details at work are in the email signature below, otherwise my home [private]

Brett

PS: Just thought about another question – why did I have to hear about the break in from the police (ie, why no contact from Roslyn Mill) and why am I the one that has to start the conversation about this??