North Park Self Storage

I was living in Germany working for the Army for the last 3.5 years and kept a small storage unit here. Shortly after I moved to Germany, they increased my monthly rent without notice. Before leaving for Germany, I had set up an auto-​payment with my credit card and was never late on payments until my credit card expired. I never received any of the letters they sent out nor the messages they left. I tried calling but no one ever picked up… it may be possible that I was calling when they were closed. Their website does not list their hours.
After returning to San Diego, I went to check on my unit and the woman who works there named Rachel is rude. I explained to her the situation and asked if they would waive the late fee. She refused and continued to give me attitude. With every request, she sighs and acts like you are troubling her to do her job. When I asked for my key they had stored, she gave me the wrong one. When I told her this, she treats me like I don’t know what I am talking about. I told her that she doesn’t need to be this way and another customer who witnessed this told me to deal with the other man who works here. I finally met the other employee named James and he is much more pleasant to deal with. I would like to give Rachel 0 stars. She should not be working in any job dealing with customers.
Eventually, I will consider moving my stuff out of this place, but until then I will try to avoid Rachel whenever I can.

Although this may not be the fanciest storage facility in San Diego, I highly recommend for the friendliness and ease of entry and storage. Also, the rates are cheaper than most in the area. The front office, particularly James, really does care about the customers and is helpful in every way. Also, is easy to bring your car into the area to offload items for the units. This is definitely «old school», but maybe simple is better. The franchises, such as Storage, Etc., care less about their customers and more about fees and revenue, but individually local owned businesses really do care. If they have open units, this is the place to store. The only down item is they close early and are not open on Sundays.

Get ready for the fine print. This place raises rates for no reason at all, with little warning, after you move your stuff in. The facilities are rarely cleaned either. The staff interacts with the customers in an abrasive manner. The only plus side is that they are located near my house.
When I moved out of the unit I was told that I would be charged for extra days because I didn’t give 5 days notice. 5 days notice??? What could they possibly need 5 days for on a 5×9 storage unit. When I questioned the policy I was told that I should have ‘read the contract policy’. The woman could not have been more rude on the phone.
My advice is rent anywhere else.

I found some of the comments and reviews funny. Here is why: When I first walked in to rent a unit, the lady at the counter was very short with me. And she seemed a little off putting-​almost rude.
Because I needed a storage near my apartment so I can move in as I packed my apartment, and I needed a first floor unit, I came here.
Like other reviews I wondered if something was wrong, so I sat down and politely asked how her day was, and that I had hoped I wasn’t interrupting her break.
Slowly she went from being almost defensive to cracking jokes and telling me about her day. And having to deal with unpaid lockers (months later I would be one of those– more on this later).
Each day after as I moved in, I walked in with a smile and was treated with a smile.
And then I met James. The guy is a wealth of knowledge about bikes. So much that when I made a major bike purchase I called James at the storage facility to ask him which $ 700 bike to go with– «None» he said. (By the way he is loud on the phone and in person– always– don’t think he is screaming, his voice just carries) «Unless you need it right away save up another $ 500 and go with this other one ($ 1200). When I saved my money, I went in and bam! The season was over and the $ 1200 bike was now $ 899– he told me «Now get your bike a helmet, a heavy lock and lights with what you saved.»
All was fine until my three month storage plan suddenly became a longer plan for me, I had stories an entire two bedroom apartment and couch surfed for three months to open my business. At the end of my third month I lost my job and began to fall back on payments.
Now, I’m not one to ignore bill collectors. I learned that I felt icky and nervous and found my self saying «oh f*ck a bill collector» each time one called, so long ago I began to take their calls and even called them back! So when James called, I called him back and said– «I recently lost my job, can I make a small partially payment?»
«Absolutely» he said– «but know you may still get locked out if you don’t get caught up»
I went in, explained my situation and said I’d be back mid month. They locked me out– as they should have– but I paid my bill.
I struggled to pay for a while after that first month. But I always called them before they had to call me. I was open and honest and at one point even moved more things into my storage.
When I was struggling they helped me come up with a plan to pay partial payments from my bi-​weekly unemployment check so that I could get caught up.
I kept in contact with them, and I thanked them at every opportunity for not auctioning my things.
They were happy not to auction my belongings, I was happy my entire life’s possessions are safe and secure.
The site itself is clean, secure and gated. The hours are daytime only– so planning is a must. But it makes it so someone is always nearby to make sure shenanigans aren’t going on and your locker isn’t being broken into in the middle of the night– an issue I’ve had at larger, 24 hour places.
They have cameras, you sign in and sign out. They even have Dolly’s and moving devices to use free of charge.
If you think they are nosey, they are not– they are keeping the property safe and secure. Once when James noticed half of my 10×15 locker was half empty, he said– let’s save you money and move you to a smaller locker! I said– I need it to move more stuff in later this month!
I can go on and say more good things about this place. But like I’ve said– ITS SAFE, SECURE, CONVENIENT, if you COMMUNICATE with them when falling behind, they WORK WITH YOU to get caught up.
For everything I’ve described above– they get Five Stars in my books.
One last thing, well two– they are closed on Sunday’s, but you are told that when you first sign up, so I won’t dock them, for something they told me before I moved in. Finally LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. You can’t find anything more easy in Uptown.
I started getting calls from both James and

They don’t send you your bill everyone month so make sure you set a reminder or something else to pay. If you don’t pay your bill on time they assess a $ 15 late fee… and then call you to pay your bill. I don’t think that this is the proper way to conduct business and I would NOT recommend North Park Self Storage to a friend.

I picked this place because because I needed a few weeks to store my belongings before moving into a new place in the area. It was a good learning experience to never come back here… ever. I wouldn’t recommend this place at all.
PROS:
It was close to my condo and made moving easier.
James is a pretty cool guy and he is passionate about his job.
CONS:
The woman that works there (didn’t get her name) is probably the most unhappy and rude person I have seen working in a customer service role. She was off-​the-​wall rude to my father and me for no reason. This occurred when I moved the last of my belongings out. Whatever is wrong with her, is no little thing.
When I opened my boxes (no food in any of them) there were several German cockroaches. Luckily I resolved the issue quickly, but this is a huge con to worry about.
They are not open at convenient hours. This made my move impact work and was very stressful to plan. I guess the pro to this is that the place is «safer» but higher security then.
The 5 day notice is absolute crap. I had to pay prorated fee for an empty unit.
The Farmers Market every Thursday (which is awesome) blocks the entry to the facility quite a bit, making it impossible to get a large truck into the building.

Moved in June 2014 already a price increase. Really? Now keep in mind I have the smallest closet to rent. Homeless hang out in their units on site. Not air conditioned units. One must get in and out of their car to sign in and sign out. No access on Sunday. Luckily they hold you to a 5 day notice to vacate and not a 30 day. Going to be out before I have to pay another month of this ridiculous increase. People store your stuff elsewhere with a better set up all together.

We agree with Dr Beau :) James the Gate Keeper definitely has his eyes on you! And knows everyone that comes in and out. I am positive there’s no way some stranger could walk in and try to sign in to access our unit. James would know immediately that was OUR space. A stranger would never get past the Security Bulldog.
And he is definitely a Security Bulldog! When the main gates are open for customers, the doors leading to other areas, like where our space is, are locked unless they are being used by someone. When we check in to use our space he knows if the door leading to the section we rent in is open and unlocks it without being asked to. And I notice he goes and locks the access door up again when we leave, unless there is someone else using that area.
It took me about a year to remember the number on our storage space and you can’t check in without it. No problem, just asked James! The guy has a phenomenal memory, knows our space number, when we signed up, when it’s time to pay our rent again, everything.
We picked this storage company because they are so convenient to where we live and have never had reason to regret this choice. There were only a couple of storage spaces available when we first rented. James suggested our space based on how large a space we thought we would need, AND that it connects to the elevator! Guess he realized we couldn’t possibly schulp all that heavy stuff up and down stairs.
When we first started using the space we had some problems working the elevator, you have to do everything just so or it won’t work. On the one occasion James wasn’t there the lady wasn’t able to «fix» it. It seems like she mostly does the book keeping, she is seldom around. It turned out to just be a very small thing you have to do. James knew immediately what was wrong when we came back later and showed us how to make it work again :) So we only go when James is there, which is almost always so hasn’t been a problem.
Thank you, James!

Great place! James in the office was super friendly and helpful. Elevators always clean and working! Things that I’ve had trouble finding at other storage places.
Thanks for everything!!!

Calling to schedule a brief appointment involved a quick but efficient and kind conversation with one gentleman. Upon actually arriving to see the facility a woman slowly greeted me who seemed to be completely inconvenienced by my very presence. I expressed interest in a unit and that I had called the day prior. I had the unit size off by a foot from memory and she told me one wasn’t available and essentially waited for me to leave before I asked to at least confirm my name. She corrected my one foot difference with a level of indignant reserved for wiping dog shit off your shoe.
The units themselves — doors secured with basic home door hinges and external locks held onto the wall with minimal screws. I expressed a little concern that it appeared any of these units could be accessed with a simple screwdriver and she shrugged and told «it’s never happened before».
I wanted so badly to rent a unit from a neighborhood establishment — even at a price premium but between completely lackluster customer service and a completely ineffective security presence, there’s no way I’m coming back here.

James is very helpful and he really keeps an eye on the place which makes me feel that all my stuff is safe. Its very clean and well kept up. If you need storage in North Park this is pretty much the best place in my opinion.

I used this place for a few years. It was my first experience using a storage facility so unfortunately I didn’t really know any better. It was close to home and convenient but they continued to raise the cost on me so I eventually moved my stuff out.
Once I found a new place I realized how much North Park storage sucked:
–They don’t accept credit cards so I had to pay in cash every month.
–I was on the second story and there was no «freight elevator» as previously mentioned so I lugged my stuff up and down the awkward stair case.
–They kept the hallways clean at the expense of my storage area; all the dust and dirt and sawdust ended up in my space from under the 1 ½ inch space under the door and from the space next to mine (12 inch clearance between walls).
–They offer no dollies or carts to help you move (I would never have expected this but the CHEAPER place that I moved into after NPS offered this for free and I found out it’s kind of a regular thing.)
–The guy that watches the place was cool while I showed up to pay my rent. The second I notified him I was moving out, he was no longer cool at all.
I would not recommend North Park Storage to anybody I cared about.

I have always imagined storage units as if they were like the ones from Silence of the Lambs or X-​files… SCARRY. So I decided that it was time for me to move that pile of books on wood (bookshelf since college) and put them in storage. My office has a unit there so I thought I would investigate. My first impression was a bit tarnished by «James», the Gate Keeper and Bull-​dog Admin Guy, but after a few minutes of warm up and figuring out what questions to ask, I grew fond of him… plus he seemed to know everything about everyone that was coming in and out. The unit is large and easy to access. It is secure and James has is eyes out on you… no one gets past this guy. My books are safe and I am happy with my new relationship as a tenant there! Check them out!

I’ve had a storage space here for the last eight years (maybe longer). The hours are convenient, the grounds are spotless, they are on top of security, the staff is friendly. I started out with one of their smallest rooms (about the size of a janitor’s closet) and now my space is pretty big. It’s upstairs, but on the side of the facility that has a freight elevator. I don’t know how their rates compare to other places, but it’s not like I would go anywhere else just to save a buck or two. My apartment is small enough already; I don’t need it to be cluttered with all my tools and extra bicycles. This way I have convenient access to all my stuff without having to trip over a pile of camping gear every day.