MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas – More than $10,000 worth of household items were ruined and a Magnolia man says it is all because the Public Storage facility never told him the climate stopped being controlled after Hurricane Beryl.
Cristian Rubio says he already lost much of his belongings to rodents at another storage facility and he specifically chose this one because it was supposed to be climate-controlled. He says the decision cost him pretty much everything he had left.
Off the bat, you could tell there was something wrong at the supposedly climate-controlled unit. Only the $160 a month Public Storage unit that Rubio and his family says they rented some six months ago was almost sweltering hot.
“It’s terrible,” Rubio said.
But the rancid smell and icky feel of the facility on Egypt Lane near Magnolia are the least of his concerns.
“Low and behold, again we lost all of the stuff,” he said.
An estimated $11,000 worth of goods.
“You can see our baby carrier for example, it reeks, it’s really bad,” he said.
All the belongings he says he and his family planned to move into their new house last month.
“One, two mattresses, the baby mattress,” he said.
Ruined. They had all been covered in mold.
“I’ve been having to finance mattresses so my kids can sleep on the floor at our place,” Rubio said.
Rubio showed KPRC 2′s Deven Clarke the rental contract he says notates the insurance premium he paid extra for. It should cover up to $5,000 in losses. But instead, he says Public Storage’s insurance only agreed to offer him $150 after a deductible. He adds the company gave him $50 as a courtesy.
While we were filming, a Public Storage employee called the police on us. We tried to use this as an opportunity for Rubio to get some solutions. The employee behind the wall said he couldn’t speak to us, but gave us a number to what he said was their legal counsel. We called the number only to get nothing.
“It’s one of those things that’s very unfortunate, I expected more from Public Storage,” Rubio said.
Rubio says he has started a GoFundMe to help pay for some of the lost items. A deputy who also showed up urged him to take the issue to small claims court.
KPRC 2′s Deven Clarke will have more on this story tonight at 10.