Be very careful selecting a storage facility if you need to store commercial equipment. American Self Storage may not be accommodating of your commercial needs. The intention of this review is to inform other companies of a potential gotcha when selecting a self-storage facility.

In our experience with a Cincinnati/Dayton area American Self Storage location, the managers were very happy and accommodating upon seeing a new commercial customer come and fill multiple of their largest units with large commercial equipment. They were also likely happy to be paid on time every month the thousands of dollars for the rental of our multiple units. We were happy because the units were smartly designed in smallish buildings set at diagonals--allowing easy back-up access without blocking entry and exit for other customers.

When we arrived to remove some equipment, however, they were very dogmatic in pointing out contractual clauses that prohibit loading directly from in front of the unit. According to their policy, trucks may only be parked for loading parallel to--that is, alongside--the units. Unfortunately, oversized, heavy commercial equipment may be easily damaged the more it has to be finagled around to get it beside a unit and onto a truck. When we politely asked for a bit of consideration of the task before us and a 30-minute window to get the largest equipment loaded, the response was that if we so much as tried to back up to one of our units, they would call the police to have us removed and lock out our units.

We were big-dollar customers for many months. We intended to keep these units permanently as we do in our other market areas. Instead, we've suffered unnecessary damage and moved to a different facility.