Friendly Storage

We purchased a medium sized unit from Friendly Storage in Owing Maryland on June 5, 2012. It was a reasonably priced establishment. We had our entire life moved in to this unit due to moving so abruptly from our previous home. We had found Black mold hiding in the celling of our basement apartment, and we had a New born on the way. Due June 21st 2012. The outdoor units looked nice. We felt confident that this was a reputable storage facility. Researching Friendly Storage in Owing Maryland we found no reviews, but we found that they had been in business for around 10 years. Making us feel confident that we were making the right choice. We signed a lease, and moved in. We started looking to buy a home of our own in June 2012. We found our home, and started the process of purchasing it in October 2012, and the settle date was February 15, 2013. We had until the 6th of February at 8:30 am to be gone or we would get charged the full amount for the month of February. We hustled to move out by 9pm on the 5ht of February. This is where our "Nightmare Began" . We had moved ours, and our 12yr old daughters LIFE in to this storage unit!! We had faithfully payed Friendly Storage the monthly fee to keep our belongings Safe, In-doors, and expecting to get them back in the condition we left them. This was not the case! 65% of our belongings were DESTROYED! Our blankets, clothing, shoes, hand bags, couches, mattresses, jackets, pillows, child's toys, towels and ex...were packed in boxes, totes, and thick plastic bags. They were INVADED by MICE. Families of them!! I found my belongings with Feces & Urine on almost EVERYTHING. They chewed thru the bags, some how squeezed thru the tops of a few of our totes, climbed in the warped cardboard boxed, chewed wholes in our couches, and they made nests in a Great portion of what we owned. There were CARCASSES found in our belongings. A substantial amount of them along with the bodily fluids from them rotting in the heat of the summer. In the winter season when I picked my belongings up my belongings there was still a Strong smell being stored inside our belongings. The smell was UN-explainable, and horrifying. As if this was not enough we also received WATER DAMAGE from the celling /roof of our unit leaking. The owner says it had to come from the snow accumulation melting into my unit because their units do not leak from rain. This caused water damage to our mattresses, pillows, cardboard boxes warping, and allowing water to get inside a good portion of our electronics (Wii system, Apple IPod, Acer Laptop, Nintendo DSXL, and two tube TVs). The Warped boxes (caused from the leaky roof) also allowed the families of mice into the tapped up, and secure boxes. We feel taken advantage of! We feel used!! The items that I am upset about losing are my daughters baby blankets, toys, and I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS FRIENDLY STORAGE UNIT FACILITY TO ANYONE!! They will not take care of any of the damages I acquired from renting their unit, and they do not take care of their customers. They told me it was my fault because if would have gone to my unit monthly, taken everything out of it and thoroughly checked it for theses issues They could have fixed the problem. I feel like this problem should have never happened. The unit should never allow water inside of them, and should be rodent proofed. If I would have known what I know now... I would have NEVER put my Entire life's worth of belongings in their hands.