SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media to complain of a “terrible ordeal” when $16,000 worth of personal items she stored at Lock + Store Ang Mo Kio, including luxury items and clothes, were badly damaged after a year in storage.
On the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page on Tuesday (Feb 28), Ms YT Ong wrote that after she had sold her flat and was looking for a new home, she stored her belongings at Lock + Store Ang Mo Kio from January 2022 to December 2022, which cost her $4075.82.
She claims that the items had been damaged due to water leakage in the storage unit.
Ms Ong wrote that the wall of the storage unit was damp, the boxes where her possessions had been stored were so wet that they tore when movers brought them away, and that a stainless steel table placed against the wall had turned rusty during the time in storage.
“There were obvious signs of water seepage on the wall and condensation on my items,” she added. “I broke down when I saw the damaged contents. I was extremely distressed and cried upon this horrible sight.
All my leather products (bags, wallets, belts, accessories), which includes luxury items that I placed in the store were terribly damaged by mould. Even the dust bags holding the leather bags had disintegrated and tore.”
Even some items that had sentimental value for her, and that cannot be replaced had been damaged while in storage.
Her clothes and other items made of fabric, meanwhile, smelled so mouldy, that she “lugged everything to the industrial laundromat where I spent another sum washing 32kg worth of clothing.”
Ms Ong added, “As a leading storage company in Singapore, the storage units of lock + store should be in good condition to provide a safe environment to store their customer’s items. I am devastated that this is not the case for my belongings… I demanded compensation for the damage and loss of my items. However, I have not received a positive reply from lock + store that I’ll be compensated.”
Instead, Lock + Store gave her a $2,000 goodwill offer plus $500 to restore some of her items, which she said was an “insult” after what she had gone through.
“The reason for the offer above is because the contract that I signed upon renting the storage facility is iron clad, protects the company from all liabilities,” she wrote, adding that she will be filing a claim at the Small Claims Tribunals.
Ms Ong also appealed to COMPLAINT SINGAPORE followers for advice or help with the matter.
According to the storage company, “the mould in the non air-con unit was caused by condensation due to temperature changes and humidity conditions, and not water leakage, as confirmed by our insurers,” it wrote in a Facebook page.
While regretting that Ms Ong had a “negative experience,” Lock + Store added a reminder to “current and prospective tenants not to store valuable items such as, but not restricted to, jewellery, artworks and luxury handbags in their storage units, as was stated in the Terms and Conditions of our self-storage licence agreement. We would also like to reiterate our advice that tenants should assess the value of their stored items and are strongly recommended to purchase additional insurance coverage for their items should they deem the basic insured sum under the basic protection plan to be inadequate.”
The Independent Singapore has reached out to both Ms Ong and Lock + Store for comment.
Ms Ong told TISG that she will be meeting with the country manager of Lock + Store on Wednesday night (Mar 1).
/TISG
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