• Overpaid at ministorage.

    From micky@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 14 22:07:49 2024
    I've known for quite a while that Autopay makes spending money a little
    too easy.

    It bothered me how much I was spending to store a combination of my late mother's stuff, my stuff, and a little of my brother's stuff, in a
    ministorage.

    I finally compared prices and I've been paying 240/month for 10x10 with
    climate control that another branch of the same company just a couple
    miles away charges 99 for.

    I don't assume they're exactly the same price but if they were, that's 140/month overpaid, for at least 18 months. That's 2500 right there.

    What are my rights? Will they say, We sent you a receipt every month and
    you never objected, so you get nothing back. ??

    Knowing people as you do, is there any chance they did this by accident
    and theyll repay a year or two or more with no fighting involved?

    Small claims limit maryland is $5000, but what if it goes back 10 years
    and it's almost 17,000. Is that enough to get a lawyer to take the
    case. How much do you think would be? I'm not sure I can win in small
    claims. Does he have arguments I don't have?

    I knew it was more than when I started, but I figured, inflation.

    I'm embarrassed. I'm glad you folks don't know my friends.

    --
    I think you can tell, but just to be sure:
    I am not a lawyer.

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  • From Barry Gold@21:1/5 to micky on Fri Nov 15 15:15:56 2024
    On 11/14/2024 10:07 PM, micky wrote:
    I've known for quite a while that Autopay makes spending money a little
    too easy.

    It bothered me how much I was spending to store a combination of my late mother's stuff, my stuff, and a little of my brother's stuff, in a ministorage.

    I finally compared prices and I've been paying 240/month for 10x10 with climate control that another branch of the same company just a couple
    miles away charges 99 for.

    Just because one branch charges $99/month doesn't mean that another
    branch must also charge $99/month. There may be something more desirable
    about the one you're currently using. Better location. Easier access.
    Whatever.

    There are two self-storage places near my home. One charges $366/month
    for a 10'x15' locker, the other charges $396. Nowhere near as dramatic
    as your example, but these two places are only 1 mile apart.

    --
    I do so have a memory. It's backed up on DVD... somewhere...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Rick@21:1/5 to micky on Fri Nov 15 15:15:23 2024
    On 11/15/2024 1:07 AM, micky wrote:
    I've known for quite a while that Autopay makes spending money a little
    too easy.

    It bothered me how much I was spending to store a combination of my late mother's stuff, my stuff, and a little of my brother's stuff, in a ministorage.

    I finally compared prices and I've been paying 240/month for 10x10 with climate control that another branch of the same company just a couple
    miles away charges 99 for.

    I don't assume they're exactly the same price but if they were, that's 140/month overpaid, for at least 18 months. That's 2500 right there.

    What are my rights? Will they say, We sent you a receipt every month and
    you never objected, so you get nothing back. ??

    Knowing people as you do, is there any chance they did this by accident
    and theyll repay a year or two or more with no fighting involved?

    Small claims limit maryland is $5000, but what if it goes back 10 years
    and it's almost 17,000. Is that enough to get a lawyer to take the
    case. How much do you think would be? I'm not sure I can win in small claims. Does he have arguments I don't have?

    I knew it was more than when I started, but I figured, inflation.

    I'm embarrassed. I'm glad you folks don't know my friends.


    First of all, there is no law or even legal principle that every branch
    of a company has to sell items at the exact same prices. And that's
    assuming the $99 rate at the other branch isn't some kind of
    introductory special or for some slightly different offering. I can
    think of numerous examples of various stores like WalMart and even some restaurants in my area where prices are different at different
    locations. This is particularly the case where the other branches are
    owned by independent franchisors.

    You appear to have contracted to pay for a service at a set rate, and
    unless you can show evidence of fraud or some other illegality, I don't
    see how you would have any grounds for legal action per se to recover
    any part of those past payments. Can you sue in Small Claims Court?
    There's an old saying that anyone can sue anyone at any time for any
    reason, but that doesn't mean you will win. You will most likely lose.

    But the more important point may be why is your kneejerk reaction to
    sue? Why not just call the company, explain the situation, and ask why
    the pricing is so different at the two stores? See if you can get them
    to reduce the price to match the other place and maybe give you some
    money back for past payments. There's no guarantee this will work, but
    you never know. In the interest of keeping good customer relations,
    they may do something for you.

    And if worst comes to worse, just cancel your service and switch over to
    the other store, assuming that $99 per month rate is valid for your circumstances.

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