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After repeated break-ins, storage business silent despite complaints from customers

2 years 1 month 6 days ago Friday, November 18 2022 Nov 18, 2022 November 18, 2022 6:41 PM November 18, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - A CubeSmart storage facility that was burglarized last month has been revisited by thieves multiple times.

The place is an absolute mess. It's like a bomb went off, and an explosion of people's belongings are scattered in the aisles, left behind.

"It looks like a junkyard. Like everything's been ransacked and gone through," said Steve Shaffett, a storage renter and victim of the October burglary.

Since then, thieves have revisited the opportunity there several times.

"They're probably still coming back," Shaffett said.

Shaffett had been renting here for three years storing work supplies. Now, the lock of his unit has been cut off, and all of his belongings are gone.

"From generators to materials for houses — all that stuff is gone," he said.

There are cameras all over the storage facility, and signs claim there's 24-hour surveillance. But police say they weren't able to get any video.

Shaffett is pretty upset about the whole thing, from losing his things to not hearing back from CubeSmart — until last week.

"I got a phone call last week from them stating that you needed to come check your locker because we had a string of break-ins. I was like, 'well, that was over a month ago,'" he said.

2 On Your Side has had a similar experience. Since the initial burglary, Brittany Weiss contacted CubeSmart by phone and email at least a dozen times without hearing back.

More calls this week went unanswered until a district manager texted claiming they couldn't discuss anything, and our requests would be forwarded to the company's media and legal departments.

Shaffett says he isn't renting there anymore, but he still got a bill.

"They were trying to say I was late on my payments even though I closed it out Oct. 6," Shaffett said.

He says he valued his belongings in the unit at about $14,000. He had insurance, but it won't cover much of that.

"They need to put up something to help everybody else with their losses," Shaffett said.

According to the CubeSmart contract, the owner is released from any claims if the cube contents are lost, stolen or damaged for any reason. But even so, Shaffett is still waiting for the company to hold up their end of the bargain and keep the place secure.

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