Extra Space Storage

Paola and Matt were really kind and professional. After discussing their Unilocal reviews with them, I understood the struggle. Santa Cruz is a heavily homeless/​unemployed struggling area. It’s inevitable that some customers may fit this description. This location although in the middle of it all, remains clean, organized, and secure. Good location, lots of parking, clean buildings and grounds.

Worst customer service ever. Matt is an idiot (he was asking my boyfriend derogatory questions and literally hinted at wanting to fight him (who does that??)) and Paola didn’t reserve my unit after she said my name was written down in priority over the unit that I needed. I didn’t end up getting a unit at all after looking at and reserving an 8×10 unit two weeks previous. Avoid at all costs.

I have stored my personal items here for a few years. This facility is safe, secure and clean. I’ve always received excellent customer service. I moved out today and Matt didn’t charge me for the first three days in June. I also spoke with him prior to my move and he provided accurate and very friendly service. I highly recommend this business for your storage needs!

The place has many options for size of storage. The staff member who was there was extremely helpful. I last minute had to switch to a bigger unit, and the staff member helped me immediately get a storage unit the correct size and not far from where I had been – so my move was easy. I really appreciate how helpful they are and how positive the experience has been.

We used this space for a short term project. The cost was fair and the storage was good. No issues.

I’m a seasoned public storage customer and had the need to venture out to extra space storage. I’m quite impressed with the reservation process, easy to reach, and quick follow ups. Their first month free is the perfect starting price for the month to month terms they offer. Conveniently located and the facilities are clean. Most importantly the service displayed by Matt is extraordinary and personal. Thanks for the solution extra space!

The worst experience with this place! Rat shit all over my stuff and when I moved or they wouldn’t prorate me for the 3 weeks I didn’t use it. I warned my friend who was planning on using this place for storage but he didn’t listen and after a year of travel he comes back to an empty storage unit. He’s been paying $ 197 a month and who knows how long is been since his unit was broken into and all his expensive music gear computer hard drives were all stolen. Of course the people working here are assholes who have no interest in taking responsibility. the worst place to store your goods ever!

We have been using this facility for just about a month now. The facility is clean and the staff are always friendly and helpful. We have not had any problems and are happy with service.

So far, so good. Easy to rent a clean, accessible space. The staff who handled my rental and gave directions was intelligent, articulate and courteous. The free first month promotion was a cherry on the top and the high definition monitors are a step above the last place I rented storage space.

Service was nice! I had all my questions answered and everything was clean when I walked in! All is good!

I had been a customer here for over 15 years, since before Extra Space Storage’s buyout of Storage USA. Unfortunately, the deterioration of the facility and the greedy rent increases have driven me away. They no longer provide a good value for the money.
PROS:
– They have 5 – 6 flatbed carts available to move large items or multiple boxes. Unlike some places, these are not under lock and key, which means you can still use them after the regular office hours are over. As carts wear out, they are replaced.
– The gate hours extend until 10pm every day. This is a great benefit if you work over the hill and need to visit your unit after work. Also, it’s helpful if you need some extra time on the weekend to move in, move out, or just get things done.
– Variety of units. It’s not one-​size fits all here. If anything, there may be too many choices.
– Security cameras. Granted these are only as useful for as long as you keep the recordings and to what extent you are willing to prosecute offenders, but they do have several cameras in prime locations.
– Friendly staff. There is high turnover in the front office, but of all the people who have come and gone, there was only one who was rude. The current crop of people are nice enough.
CONS:
– Repeated rent increases. Consistently, every 18 months, Extra Space Storage has raised my rent. If the increase was incremental, this might not have been so heinous. I get that inflation exists. But the rent increases are not just higher than the rate of inflation, they are higher than the rate of Santa Cruz’s already inflated housing market! Even my landlord doesn’t raise my rent by such a high percentage or so often! At this point, it’s cheaper per square foot to rent a bigger home than it is to maintain a unit here. Maybe it always has been, but it’s never been more obvious to me than it is now.
– The elevator! If you are in an upstairs unit, be prepared to spend a lot of time in this slow, wobbly, old elevator. That is, if you’re lucky. Three times in the past six months, the elevator has been out of service. Most recently, this was because they decided to resurface the floor during normal business hours. Really? Yes, this needs to be done, but you can’t do this after hours? Get a clue! Or at least send an email message about it so people don’t waste their time and energy. Taping a note up on site is not an adequate 21^st-​century notification! You send me spam, but you can’t send me a needed alert?
– The bathrooms! There are none. Well, that’s not entirely true. There used to be a bathroom and, in fact, it’s still there. But they no longer let customers use it! Not even with a key. No doubt some of the sketchier customers of this facility made it a cleaning nightmare. But come on, gas stations can make it work and they have way more foot traffic than you do!
– Oddly-​shaped units. If you made your reservation on the Internet, be sure to look at the unit before signing any agreements. If a unit seems underpriced, that’s probably because it has a slanted roof which effectively halves the storage capacity or because it’s trapezoidal and is a few feet thinner at one end than the other.
– Tight doorways. A distinct design flaw here are the tight doorways in the interior halls. If you are storing a large piece of furniture, you are better off getting an outside unit with a roll-​up door. Otherwise, be prepared to contort and twist it through the interior door.
– Poor maintenance. My most recent unit had a misaligned set of locking holes, such that I had to buy a thinner padlock in order to be able to lock it up. When pointed out to them, they tried to twist the hole with pliers, to no avail. (Here’s a thought, how about moving the piece that’s on the door up higher so that it aligns properly with the piece in the frame?) Another example: the pneumatic door closer on the first floor of the stairwell has been broken for years. (It slams shut.) I gave up complaining about it. Most recently, the lock on the side door by front gate was busted. Fortunately, this meant the door would stick in the locked position as opposed to be being broken open. But it probably won’t be long before the lock breaks completely.
– The «neighbors.» As some other reviewers have mentioned, there always seems to be a contingent of tweakers hanging out behind Farrell’s Donuts, sitting just on the other side of the fence from Extra Space Storage’s front gate. They may not be thieves, but it doesn’t fill you with confidence. I lock my vehicle doors in between trips inside the building.
– Wood construction. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve never had anything stolen (some might say I don’t have anything worth stealing), but I’m pleased that my new storage facility has walls made of metal, not wood.
– Rats. I’ve never seen one here. But there are now rat traps everywhere. Where’s there’s smoke, there’s fire.
All in all, this place isn’t as good as it used to be.

I guess… cheap service isn’t good and good service isnt cheap… got me, again? seemed
like good price, units inside, one way in and one way out, security cameras (the system
identifies me everytime, for gods sake), clean and very professional staff? but, I haven’t
even been there one month and my golf clubs r gone? I was told nobody can prove they
were in there (she never volunteered to use this high tech system to watch me bring them
in?)? and I am pretty sure, we could have found the person stealing my clubs?
oh well. 1. U r ur security 2. better take ur own pics? good luck.

Do not use this location. While here they locked me out of my unit and refused me access to my belongings. Even though I was current and up to date on my rent. Also when I went to pay the last month I was told I was being evicted and they wouldn’t except my payment unless I was moving my stuff out. I told them I wouldn’t have the money later and they still refused. So later when I went to move my stuff they refused to allow me saying I had to pay and that if not they were going to process it for auction. I had to take them to small claims to get my stuff back. I wasn’t able to get it back till 5 months later. They tried saying I owed 800 which was bs but thank god the judge saw they were just plain shady and believed my story over theirs. I got my stuff back in the end but should never have had to go to court to do so. Do not rent here, unless you would like something similar to happen!

DO NOT USE THIS EXTRA SPACE LOCATION!
This place is NOT SECURE & your possessions WILL BE STOLEN.
I had many, many precious family antiques stolen from my unit.
The management DID NOT REPORT a break-​in, even though it was obvious: my lock had been replaced with another but the lock mechanism was broken and crudely hanging; the door and wall had obvious and large crowbar markings; the door was slightly unhinged.
Since my lock had been replaced, I assume the thief was another customer who had regular access to the interior. Since the management did not report the OBVIOUS BREAK-​IN to me, I assume they DO NOT PATROL OR CHECK THE PREMISES/​DOORS/​LOCKS/​UNITS.
INSUFFICIENT CAMERAS: There are cameras for the parking lot and elevators ONLY. The interiors have ZERO cameras monitoring the corridors.
Employees and management don’t give a rat’s behind about your predicament. When I reported the theft, they nonchalantly hand me insurance papers and told me that I (QUOTE) «should have expected this because there has been a rise in storage unit thefts because of that television show, Storage Wars.»
Their insurance company (Beecher Calson) also strung me along for nearly two months, NEVER RETURNING MY PHONE CALLS, then finally, sending me a fraction of what my possessions are worth, even though they were insured for far more.
I repeat, DO NOT USE THIS FACILITY if you want to store anything of value.
UNSAFE, UNSECURE, UNPROFESSIONAL.

BEWARE. What good is Extra Space if its not Extra Safe?
I recently had several thousand dollars of stuff stolen from my Extra Space storage unit, here are a couple of reasons I recommend looking to store your stuff elsewhere.
(1) If there is a theft, the management will not report it to any of its customers. Wouldn’t you want to know if there was a theft so you could check YOUR unit to make sure everything is intact?
(2) All units in this facility are «protected» by cheap doors that can be popped off the hinges with a screwdriver. The units are more like closets than traditional roll-​up aluminum doors. I.E. YOUR STUFF IS NOT SAFE HERE, and the photos of the interior hallways depicting aluminum doors ARE FALSE ADVERTISING — walk into the facility and see for yourself!
(3) Junkies hang out behind the Ferrell’s Donuts right next to the Storage space. They have a constant eye on customers unloading their stuff into the storage facility from behind the chain link fence. Took me a while to notice this, and its creepy.
(4) The place is an ice box, freezing all of the time.
(5) The units are absolutely disgusting. Soiled wood panels and cheap materials. Half of the units don’t have lights. SEE POSTED PHOTO
(6) The manager is a fool. I told him about the theft and he literally responded by saying, «well, there’s not much I can do for you.» Um, actually, there’s a lot you could have done besides slide an insurance claims pamphlet across the table.
(7) Extra Space has one camera per floor, and the tapes are erased every 3 weeks. Should you check your unit every 3 weeks to make sure nothing has been stolen. Answer: APPARENTLY, YES.
For all I know it could have been an inside job. No one at the company seemed to take it seriously or care at all (including the regional manager).
— — — — — — -
Amendment to original post:
Just for the record the insurance company (Beecher Carlson) has agreed to cover my stolen property after their investigation because it turns out that there was evidence of forced entry (scratches on the door hinges indicate someone just popped it off), validating my second point above.

Used this place when in between moves. Was during safeway getting remodeled, and somehow some rats got into my unit, which destroyed a few thousand bucks worth of my stuff. Zero understanding from the staff or their regional manager, who wouldn’t even give me my last month free of rent after all that. The entire company seems to think they will never have any repeat business so they can just increase rents at will and provide no relief when their walls are breached by rodents. They won’t need to worry about the repeat business from me, that goes for any Extra Space. There are numerous other options in the area.

too bad the rate increase after just 4 months by the money-​grubbing corporate head-​office, the folks who run this place on-​site are real decent folks.

This location is 100% AWESOME! The manager Becky and assistant manager Keith both go out of their way to help you and to ensure you get the best value.
I arrived into Santa Cruz with an ocean container of stuff from Hawaii and these two people did everything they could to help me when life was chaos.
I would highly recommend this facility.

Units are made out of wood and are not air tight. Found Dead rats in my unit! They Chewed through my mattresses, shit all over my antique furniture and paintings! And the extra insurance that I actually purchased covered NOTHING!