Stonegate Self Storage

Location

2772 W Covell Blvd.

Just east of Lake Boulevard on Covell

Hours

8 AM - 5 PM Monday through Sunday

Equipment pickup until 4 PM daily

Phone

(530) 758-5625 Storage

(530) 757-2274 U-Haul rental

Websites

http://www.uhaul.com

locations

Stonegate Self Storage is one of the local businesses offering temporary storage services and U-Haul truck/equipment rentals. Truck rentals are cheaper from Sunday through Thursday when people are less likely to be moving out, and a rental on August 31st should be reserved as soon as possible, preferably months in advance. August/September are pretty hectic but the rest of the year you can pretty seamlessly get storage space, rental trucks and a good variety of moving equipment and supplies for your move to or from Davis.

Comments:

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I used this place to move last year... I drove a total of 11 miles in the U-Haul truck—from Stonegate, to my apartment on Covell, to Harrison Storage on 2nd street, and then, before returning to Stonegate, to the gas station/Jimboy's to fill up the gas tank—it ate up almost $30.00 in gas before I said, "This is bullshit!" and stopped the pump! It seems a little fishy to me that even a U-Haul would get less than one mile per gallon. — ss

SS- Rental agreement is to replace the fuel you use (needle is indicated on contract), so unfortunately you may have simply added more fuel than you used.

Be carefull when ordering from them online or off. My girlfriend and I moved, reserved a Uhaul in Davis a month before moving day, we were guarnteed a truck on August 31st. 3 days before the move we get a call telling us that we need to go to Sacramento to pick up the Uhaul. Turns out they overbooked Davis for the 31'st like they do every year. We got stuck with the 40 dollars in mileage and 30 dollars in gas. We're trying to get the mileage reimbursed though. Movers be warned, you may wish to look elsewhere for a moving truck. — CharlesGeorge

The same thing happened to a friend of mine on August 20th. Another time, it took 40 minutes to get a truck after we arrived. And we were the only customers there the whole time! cjb
CG- We always recommend reservations DIRECTLY through us, an independent dealer, rather than online, and 1-800-GOUHAUL, which will take a reservation at a 'preferred' location providing trucks are available. If I can make a reservation here, that is your best guarantee a truck will be available to you.

2005-09-24 20:40:30 My girlfriend moved from Reno to Davis in September 2004, and we were scheduled to drop our U-Haul off at this place. What happens? The place is of course full, and then we have to travel all the way to Sacramento, and then find a ride back to Davis. I would NEVER use these guys as a U-Haul drop off, because they are always full. —JeffStuart

JS- August and September are understandably our busiest months/periods..the ability to store trucks simply becomes an impossibility after the first 25, and we cannot accomodate the hundreds that show up during this busy period. Believe us when we say we empathize with our customers on this issue, it's a huge inconvenience with no practical solution.

2006-08-09 08:42:13 Be careful if you ever rent a storage place from these guys too! They do not give reciepts to if you mail in or drop off a payment after hours and I've asked for an address change three times and they still don't have it correct. At last, they said they needed an official address change form to make the change, but can seem to figure out how to mail it or fax it to me. I live in Oakland now and it's going to take two and half hours out of my time to deal with these completely inept people. —JenniferHeelan

JH- After reviewing your records, the Change-of-Address was completed properly and FAXED to us. We apologize for any inconvenience you experienced from this process. Receipts are available only during regular business hours.

2006-08-21 19:36:40 BEWARE! These people are totally rude and obnoxious. When I returned the truck I asked if I was all set to go 3 times and got totally no response from the old man. Custemer service did not only not exist but they were down right terrible. Rented a uhaul for a move. Returned it 2 hours late as sometimes happens. They charged me an extra 100 dollars in late fees as well as charge for an extra day! They even told me that if I didnt have it back in less then an hour they would report it stolen! Sometimes people get there uhaul in late especially poor students who may not manage there time well.. but even though I WAS 2 hours late 130.00 dollar charges + terrible service + threatening to call the cops = Never EVER rent from this place. F- —RyanMiller

RM- The truck you rented had other customers expecting to get their truck after you, and when you inconvenience others and exceed your agreed rental duration, there are penalties: typically this is another rental period ($19.95), late fee ($25.00), plus $10 for every hour the truck remains in your possession. If a renter is late, CONTACT US as Uhaul considers a non-returned truck to be stolen if we aren't notified of its tardiness.

I once had to rent a couple of hand dollys from this place because the UHaul store in south Davis didn't have any left. The people in south Davis called over the reservation and I went to pickup the dollys. When I got there they were totally unresponsive and then asked me how long I needed the dollys. When I said I needed them for the day they got all upset and said that their customers needed the carts. I was paying to rent the things for the day. They weren't giving me a discount for only having them for a couple of hours. I ended up telling them they were terrible business owners and went to All Star Rents. JimEvans

JE- I have no idea what this is about, as dollies are available for rental almost always..the exception being when there are only a few in stock and were already reserved for 1-way outgoing trucks. There are no variable rates for their rental...flat fee only.
I think my posting was pretty clear. I had the dolly reserved and I was going to pay for a full day and the couple (I don't know if that's you) wanted it returned after a few hours despite me paying for the full day. And they were very dismissive and rude. —JimEvans

2007-07-05 14:21:03 This place sucks. The younger guy was helpful and polite, but the older lady and the older guy are rude as hell to every customer. The lady at the desk needs an attitude adjustment, and the older guy who brings people's trucks in and out needs to stop mumbling and look at customers in the eye instead of being a total prick. Instead of trying to help people move, they are in the business of adding as many surcharges as possible. Moving sucks for everyone and they need to be in the business of helping you move instead of hindering it. They had a dozen trucks sitting on the lot and wouldn't give one to the guy who came in before me because his reservation was for the day before (the lady at the front KNEW he could barely speak english in the first place when she made the reservation the previous day, so she was basically taking his $50 no-pickup fee right from the get-go). Why would the guy even make a same-day reservation? STOP BEING GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE AND START RUNNING A RESPECTABLE MOM-AND-POP BUSINESS! DO NOT GIVE ANY MONEY TO THESE PEOPLE! THEY DON'T DESERVE IT. —GarrettGallegos

GG- Thanks Garrett for bringing this to our attention. The trucks you may have viewed on the lot are either on reservation already, or strictly local-only trucks (Uhaul policy). In the summer, our trucks are almost always going in and out, even if you seem to see them sitting still in between rentals. Yes, a no-pickup fee exists and is rarely used. If one reserves a truck for 8AM and calls at 1PM saying they need to cancel, we can charge a late fee at our discretion, depending on the demand at the time.

2007-08-30 18:19:10 Last week I dropped my Uhaul truck off at Stonegate Self Storage. There was an older man working behind the counter and though he clearly saw me enter, he said nothing for quite some time, just sat there, chewing with his mouth closed but never swallowing. Finally, I said, "I'm returning a Uhaul Truck..." He looked up, very slowly, and asked for my name. When I gave it to him, he said, "Is that German or something? "It is," I informed him. He stood up with a very mean expression on his face and said, "Germans killed my mother." I tried to explain that I could hardly be blamed for something that happened to his mother. He was an old man, after all, and his mother had probably died long before I was ever born. "I'm afraid I need to charge you a late fee," he said. "But I brought the truck back 2 hours early!" I protested. "Explain that to my dead mother," he said with the most evil look I've ever seen on anyone's face. I didn't know what to say. I tried to talk to some reason with him, but the old man wouldn't have it. Eventually, an older woman came into the office. She started sniffing the air (swear to God, this is exactly what happened) and finally said, "Do I smell a German?" The old man nodded eagerly. "Smells kind of like an old smelly sock, don't it?" he added. She nodded her head and said, "An old smelly sock with shit in it." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'm not making this up! It was the most incredibly thing that has ever happened to me! My advise is don't rent from these people if you're German, else you'll get charged a late fee. —MrHofstadt

I'd highly suggest filing with the Better Business Bureau since this is discrimination. You can file a complaint at http://www.bbb.org/complaint.asp. If everyone of these individuals filed a complaint, action will definitely be taken.

MH- Mr Hofstadt..return the truck on time to avoid a late fee. We would never charge a 'late fee' for an early return..we encourage an early return. Indeed, our system will not allow us to charge a late fee on an truck returned ON TIME or EARLY. This story of yours, while a very interesting take on events, is PURE FICTION. Lastly, my mother is ALIVE (87 years young), HALF-GERMAN herself, making me QUARTER German. I'm proud of my German heritage, as I am sure you are too, but it is unacceptable for you to make such defamatory statements against our character, just because you were unhappy you were charged a late fee. Really! (swear to God).

2007-09-13 16:31:12 THE PEOPLE WHO RUN THIS PLACE ARE HORRIBLE! Please, please, please, do not do business with them. They would always tell me contradicting information and then blame me for their awful communication skills. One guy told me, in all seriousness, that I was becoming a pain in the "butt butt" because I called to ask if I could get in to my unit. Find another option! —DanSchoen

Schoen, is that German? To be serious, when you see an edit on this page you just know its going to be another comment about how terrible these people are. They should team up with the couple at the Marketplace UPS Store.
DS- Normal gate hours are 6AM to 9PM, 7 days a week,365 days a year. There is NO ACCESS beyond these times, the gates get locked. You had an upstairs unit, and the same access as everyone that rents a unit here at Stonegate Self Storage.

2007-10-20 12:48:41 Yeah this place has horrible customer service it's disgusting. I don't work for Streng Self Storage in Woodland but I'm definitely going to suggest it. I rented a 5x5 for only 36 dollars a month. No deposit. No admin/misc fees. No minimum stay. Open 24/7. There's nothing better in the area as far as I know! —Devon

Devon- There are many storage options outside of Davis. Streng is one, but our facility is in Davis. Were you truly a customer at SSS?

2007-12-06 13:01:00 All I can say here is u-n-b-e-l-i-e-v-a-b-le!! Rude and Nasty owners! Have witnessed the man (Bob) actually yelling at customers on 2 separate occasions and making a young lady cry right in the office after screaming at her (yes...really!) - Do not use this business if you don't have to... the worst customer service and customer appreciation I have ever seen! *I've heard that they treat their U-Haul clients even worse than their storage clients. —marabella

MB- The one lady that was crying was getting her locker sold at auction, and was desperate to save her property despite being more than 70 days in arears, and was pleading to make a partial payment. I checked with the owner, who refused partial payment, and the drama that followed is what you witnessed. Stuff like this unfortunately happens.

2008-01-12 14:30:20 Just went there to go rent a small unit, and the guy in front of me was attempting to rent a truck and pick it up the night before the move. The old guy working there said that they closed at 4 pm, to which the rental customer remarked in disbelief "4 pm!??". The old guy then tried to convince the man who wanted to rent a truck that no Uhaul place stayed open later then that. I chipped in that I just rented a truck in Vacaville that was open until 8 pm a week and a half ago. Don't think I need to rent a storage unit from anyone that is going to lie to their customers. —Chad7

Chad- ....all uHauls *IN DAVIS* do not stay open later than 4PM. Minor detail left out of the story.

2008-01-29 15:01:14 I found out that the owner of this busness is Simmons Real Estate here in Davis their phone # is 753-5638, call them with your problems! —austin

Austin- Good man, Austin..this information is correct!

2008-03-14 12:27:52 I've got trucks for these guys 4 times and am getting another from them this weekend for my move out of Davis to San Francisco. Bought lots of boxes from them also. Never had anything but good customer service. Spent ten minutes talking to the old guy about my girlfriend's 80cc Honda Scooter last time I was there. Seemed nice enough. Maybe its cause I'm not German. *shrug* —ZacMorris

Zac- Thank you Zac, I'm glad I also got to thank you in person!

2008-03-22 15:20:33 I have rented two separate units from this business for the last year and had nothing but exceptional service each time I have needed assistance. My job requires that I have a storage unit that will sign for deliveries. I literally called every self storage business in both Davis and Woodland and the folks at Stonegate Storage were the only ones willing to sign for my shipments. Additionally, Each month when I need to collect my receipt it is consistently printed in advance and waiting for me. Bob and Charlene have only treated me with kindness and respect and I have never seen them treat another customer poorly; and I visit my storage unit at least two times every week. —HHWEST

HH- How refreshing to finally hear a customer praise our efforts! We try day in/day out to give the best service possible. :)

2008-06-03 12:08:40 I went in today to rent a 5x7 storage unit for $59 a month and I was very satisfied with my experience here. —AmandaE

2008-06-04 10:29:52 We visited them yesterday; they were a little brisk, but when we found out they didn't have a unit large enough for us (the largest was 5x7), they offered to call another storage place and see what was available. We ended up going to the other place they recommended (South Davis Storage) and they were really nice about us renting from another business. —ElleWeber

2008-07-05 13:19:07 I am the owner of a local moving company, The Graduate Movers of Davis. I have had many great experiences with these people with regard to both storage and U-Haul rental and I refer a lot of my customers to them. As a small indepeendent who has had to get accustomed to U-Hauls practices I can see how a lot of the glitches and inconsideration in the U-Haul sysem can be misconstrued as local problems at a U-haul rental location. The truth is that most problems my customers (and Stonegates) have with U-haul are not problems with us but problems with the U-Haul website or 800 numbers customer service which is sub par.

If you book a truck with Stonegate over the phone Charlene or Bob will take care of you, guaranteed. If you call 1 800-go-uhaul they will guarantee you a truck for that day but they could send you somewhere inconvenient to pick it up or drop it off and sometimes they can't tell you where until the day before.

None of my moving customers have ever expressed any negativity about their experience with Stonegate and I am appalled by the ignorance that this Wiki page is fostering about them. It is a testament to their honesty and commitment to Davis that they have chosen to respond to all of these comments instead of simply deleting the obviously malicious and dishonest ones.

I know that summers get crazy in the moving business, and I know very well the stress involved in your move. But give these folks a chance and know they are ten times busier than you, as they are trying to help a LOT of people come and go from our great town and I think they do a hell of a job doing it. —taylorpope

2008-09-04 18:35:28 My girlfriend and I just moved out of Davis to Santa Cruz, and after reading all the negative comments on all the Uhaul rental places in Davis, I went here about two months ago to reserve a 14" truck for Aug. 27th. The lady who helped me was very friendly and considerate, and gave me a lot of good advice about boxes, moving, and the truck. They called me two days in advance to schedule a pick-up time for the truck, which they confirmed was indeed in Davis, and Moving Day came and went smoothly. I had no trouble on the other end either, in Santa Cruz, but that's neither here nor there. :) Thanks for the wonderful service, Stonegate Self Storage! —EugThinks

2008-09-10 09:14:59 They would not rent to me for some reason, I asked they said nothing I was just trying to rent a truck and they refused and I was very friendly. I called uhaul to complain and I hope people stay away from this place very unfirendly —Brians

2008-09-23 14:34:29 I'm horrified by some of the comments on this site. I've rented trucks from Stonegate, and I've rented a storage unit from them for several years. Since I always pay my rent in person, I'm in their office once a month. Bob and Charlene are very sweet people, and I've never seen them mistreat anyone. I assume that "MrHofstadt" was trying to be funny. He failed. —SueWJ

2009-06-28 20:41:33 I've rented a unit from SSS for nearly two years and have never had a problem with the owners or any of the staff. They have been friendly and helpful every time I've had to go into the office. —tmalex

2009-07-01 10:01:41 I had the moving experience from hell and if it wasnt for Charlene I would have gone crazy. I had to rent two trucks in one weekend from Davis to San Francisco and Charlene went out of her way to accommodate me. She even listened when I vented about all my drama. She treated me like I was her own daughter...I have been to many Uhaul locations in California and I have never received such exceptional service! I feel like most of these negative comments are about Uhauls policy that they cannot control, they have to follow Uhauls rules. Read your contracts. Charlene thank you so much! —AngeliqueT

2009-07-01 14:47:26 I just came across this page and I was astonished to see the criticisms of the mom-and-pop owners here. When I used this local U-Haul for an in-town move they were extremely friendly and helpful. They even went out of their way to make sure that we were charged less money... advising us that we didn't really need a dozen blankets (as the website recommended) and gave us a cheaper truck when one became available. My only complaint would be that they don't really have enough staff to deal with busy times, so there can be a wait. Allow plenty of time to transact your business. —CovertProfessor

2009-07-01 15:41:49 I agree with Covert. The couple that run this place were nice to be too, although I think they spend a great deal of time every day dealing with people who haven't read their contracts, and thus are surprised when they are charged for things that they didn't realize they would be charged for, and become upset after that. You definitely may have long wait times if more than one person is in the office. (I think it took me over an hour to get a truck checked out or returned one time!) The couple is also not particularly technically savvy, so some things that would take a very short time with other people can take quite a while. It definitely would help if they had someone else behind the desk, because whoever is working there often has to handle issues by phone and in person while checking information on the computer as well. Plus they have to deal with the trucks and dollys and storage units as well. So while it would cost them something to add another person, they could probably improve their customer service quite a bit if they did so, and make up the costs in increased business. —IDoNotExist

2009-07-05 12:45:19 I just moved to Davis on a one-way and the staff (Charlene and probably Bob) were really nice and they were very accommodating. It almost seemed as if they didn't need the 14' I dropped off but they took it anyway. That of course was a big relief with the exact 1/4 tank of gas I had. I'd definitely return if I need any further services. —RyanMikulovsky

2009-08-07 22:55:02 Just because some people have had good experiences with this place it does not mean that those that have had bad experiences are "ignorant" or "haven't read their contracts". And I hardly think they should be congratulated for not "simply deleting the obviously malicious and dishonest ones". —JimEvans

2009-08-07 23:39:21 Jim: From what I saw, a lot of people indeed did not read their contracts, because they were arguing over things that were clearly spelled out in the contract, such as charges for fuel. It's quite common for people, when faced with a lot of legal fine print, to just go ahead and sign a contract without reading it. When things don't go the way they expected, they are surprised, but legally, they had fair warning. That doesn't meant that the contract terms are particularly fair towards renters, or that they aren't one sided. But if you don't even read it before you sign, you're much more likely to have a problem. —IDoNotExist

2009-09-11 13:49:43 The folks that run this place seem truly unbalanced in addition to their jaw-dropping rudeness. I'd take business elsewhere. —C.A.