The Second Worst Decision I've Ever Made (What Not To Do With Abandoned Units)

Have you ever tried something new thinking in your mind it was such a simple yet perfect idea?  I am a huge proponent of researching marketing trends before trying new ones (not researching that can be very costly in the long run) but recently I found I had a dilemma of different sorts.  I had a unit that had been abandoned.  I couldn't auction it.  No one would bid, their responses were more of a snicker coupled with rolling eyes.  It looked quite possibly like a hoarder's unit. At the time, we had limited access to a truck here so I tried to auction it...again, but to no avail.  People would come back later and ask if we still had it, would take another peek and then ask how much we would take for it.  My suggestions went from $10 to pleading them to just take it.  I was sick of looking at it.  Even "free" to my storage auction experts was not cutting it. No one wanted to deal with this unit full of trash bags, piles of clothes and stuffed animals (and oh, there was much more).  And who could blame them?

So, I came up with this grand idea that maybe I should put it on Craigslist for free. Well,  I am a little accustomed to the ways of the Pacific Northwest, laid back, easy going, not forceful, I was never yelled at by anyone there.  Patience is most definitely a virtue in the PNW. People actually slow down to waive you in on the freeway instead of purposely speeding up so you can see them give you their salutatory sign.  I decided about two months after staying here that the ways of the PNW are decidedly different from the ways of the Midwest and my ongoing situation with this unit totally confirmed this. I posted on Craigslist that I would allow people access to this unit beginning at 2 p.m., first come, first serve.  I specified they needed to leave it completely empty and clean.  Well, was I in for a surprise....

People began lining up about an hour in advance.  For the most part, they were kind but some were a little aggressive and most asked for "special favors".  Their stories ranged from having a house fire to being unemployed to being homeless. I am not doubting their stories were true at all.  Each one wanted a special favor which entailed letting them in for a "sneak peek" before anyone else.  I knew that wouldn't be fair so I made everyone wait.  However, when we ran out of parking spaces here and across the street (a totally different business not belonging to us) I opened the door 5 minutes early.  People by the droves ran back to the unit as if there was a prized jewel in the midst of it all.  As I watched the people land on that unit like flies on potato salad, a woman walked up to me and cursed me out for allowing people in 5 minutes before the advertised time.  My "Hello, McFly" moment arrived in the middle of trying to explain to her why I did what I did. As her fist came a few inches from my face, I backed up and started to walk in the office. As I watched her storm off to get into her car, I turned to look at the crowd of people going in and out the unit with bags full of items. The evil cursing lady peeled out of the parking lot screaming "Witch! Witch!" as she sped down the road.  If it wasn't the holiday season, I would have thought it was Black Friday.

As the hour went on, there were still people arriving and carrying out items. I looked back and wondered how they continued to find more items after an hour.  Was there more hidden in a black hole that had eroded away beneath that heap of hoarder gold? I swallowed over the lump in my throat and taking a deep breath, walked to the unit.  I wasn't prepared for what I saw.  It looked worse than when I initially opened the unit.  It was as if a tornado had blown through.  I cleared my throat loud enough for all to hear and exercised my authoritarian voice and as I began to force the air out of my mouth, my voice cracked like a 15 year old boy hitting puberty, "Um, uh, don't forget you all promised to clean this out when you were finished". They all looked at each other and then continued with their pillaging and plundering while I stood there in disbelief looking like the village idiot.

As I walked back to my office, I realized that this was the second worst idea I ever had. The first being the time I climbed on the school roof in high heels during my high school senior year right after an ice storm.  I thought I had learned my lesson in bad ideas since then.  Apparently the years had wiped my memory clean of that one.  In any event, I knew deep in my heart this was going to hurt as bad as it did when I fell off the roof and into that second story window on that cold winter's day back in my days of being young and stupid.  Only this time, I knew I wouldn't garner the prestigious honor of being chosen the 'Senior Class Clown'.  There was no reward for this feat, only rotten tomatoes.

Two hours later, two women and a child were still in the unit.  I walked back there and one of the women said, "I'm really sorry, we're trying to put everything back the way it was".  I said thank you and again walked away knowing my brilliant idea had miserably failed.  It was a lesson learned and one that has not been repeated.  After that, we hired someone with a truck and we pay them to clean up the units that we are unable to auction. The truth is, I inherited quite a few unwanted and abandoned units when I began managing this facility which prompted me to quickly change the collections process.  As a result, auctions are now (gladly) rare here.  That still doesn't keep people from moving "most" of their belongings out and leaving behind what they don't want.

The culture shock still hasn't worn off but I have wised up a bit since that day.  I put nicer items on Craigslist, maybe one or two items at a time.  It makes it more manageable when there are only one or two items.  I give people a time limit and never leave my phone number on the ad anymore (yes, I had done that, too).  I don't do "favors" for anyone because then I could be holding the items forever.  It is on a first come, first serve basis.  If they don't show within the hour I tell them I will call the next person.  I regained control and have the upper hand now.  It feels kind of good.  Quite a change from the mass chaos that took place here a few months ago in that unit.  I know I'm not the only one who makes mistakes during the learning process.  Maybe I shouldn't be admitting to them at all.  However, there was a lot of humor in this sad mistake and if we can see the humor in our mistakes while learning from them, it might make us better people for it. And if it doesn't, at least someone has laughed.

Michelle Armstrong
Manager
Star Storage
816-765-7300