Founded in 1890, Hansen Bros. Moving & Storage the parent company of Portabox has successfully weathered many history-changing events including the Great Seattle Fire, WWI, the Spanish Flu of 1918, the Great Depression, WWII, the 2008 recession, and 9/11 among many other public crises. We are taking the current COVID-19 threat very seriously and will promptly adhere to any and all directives from local, state and federal government officials. Hansen Bros. and Portabox have been categorized as an essential industry business (moving & relocation) within the current mandate established by Washington State Governor Jay Inslee.

As essential services, we will maintain normal operations until such time as either company management determines we must close our offices or we are directed to do so by a governmental authority. We are taking extensive precautionary measures including the adoption of all CDC guidelines and the establishment of our own policies intended to minimize health risks for all customers, employees, contractors, vendors, and community stakeholders. We are proud to be able to support the needs of our customers during this crucial time but are prepared to quickly change course as required.

Stay safe together with Hansen Bros. and Portabox

The COVID-19 crisis is fluid and there are many uncertainties and factors outside of our control that may, with little or no advance notice, impact our delivery of moving & storage services. Please be aware the current crisis could potentially result in small inconveniences such as a delayed project start time or significant inconveniences such as the complete rescheduling of services.

Although there are many unknowns to be navigated, you can be certain that Hansen Bros. and Portabox will be timely and transparent in our communications regarding servicing your moving & storage needs, and our professional relocation consultants will work diligently to offer creative solutions in the event your project is impacted by the current health crisis.

Steps We're Taking:

  • Company-wide Implementation of all precautionary measures recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
  • Office staff and crews are being monitored daily for symptoms and/or known exposure by management and asked to go home, contact their healthcare provider, and self-quarantine as directed. Staff that experience symptoms and/or aware of exposure when not at work have been directed to stay home and notify their supervisor.
  • Office staff and crews are receiving daily briefings on precautionary measures and have been directed to follow them on and off the job.
  • Office staff and crews are being instructed to maintain appropriate “social distance” of 6 feet minimum between one another, customers, and all other people.
  • Office staff and crews are being provided with appropriate hand sanitizer and surface disinfecting supplies. They have been directed to disinfect truck cabs and moving equipment between each move to the best of their ability. These supplies will continue to be replenished as we are able, based on availability from retailers.
  • We are limiting visitation to our branch offices. If you wish to purchase moving boxes or supplies, please simply call in your order and we will happily deliver to your vehicle outside.

We are all in this together.  The team at Hansen Bros. and Portabox is proud to continue offering our services in accordance with the necessary precautions outlined above. We are here to make the process of storing belongings seamless & safe for you.

Pros and cons of renting self storage based on reviews

Step 1 of 2

MM slash DD slash YYYY

If you are looking to find a perfect self storage solution for your business or personal use, reading what previous customers have to say can be invaluable. Or it can be totally misleading based on how you interpret the information you find. Renting self storage based on reviews can be great if you make sure that you follow the proper procedures. But, as with anything else in life, there are numerous pros and cons to renting one of the business storage Seattle solutions by acting upon information from customer reviews. In this article, we talk about why you may (and may not) want to rent a self storage unit based on reviews alone.

Pros and cons of renting self storage based on reviews

person researching about renting self storage based on reviews
Before you start looking at quotes, you may want to do a bit of research first.

In a nutshell, learning about what other customers have to say about the storage service provider will provide you with additional information. Whatever you choose to do with this information is up to you, of course, but simply having it is a nice boon to have. However, not all reviews are reliable, which is one of the major downsides of customer reviews.

The fact of the matter is that many businesses depend on the information provided in these reviews, so some decide to fake them. To be able to find the best self storage Seattle solution, you will want to navigate your way through these reviews. But for now, let’s explore the pros and cons in greater detail.

Pros:

Here are the major reasons why you want to make a decision based on customer reviews:

  • Greater reliability
  • Customer experiences can be extremely valuable
  • Easier to find exactly what you need

If possible, always augment reviews with referrals. Having but one referral can give a lot of credibility to other reviews. But even without, if you take your time to sort through customer reviews, you will reap the benefits. Let’s see what exactly those are.

Renting based on reviews can be more reliable

When you don’t know absolutely anything about a storage provider or about their storage units, you can’t really make an informed decision. Yes, you have all that you get from the company in question, but that is heavily biased. That is why taking some time to read customer reviews can provide you with more information.

When you are in need of on demand storage Seattle, and you don’t have much to go on, reading reviews can make all the difference. Furthermore, the more you read, the more reliable your choice becomes. As you get more and more information, you can use it to get to the most optimal decision.

Learning about other experiences can be invaluable

two people looking at a laptop
The more you know, the easier your decision will be.

Besides reliability, reading about the experiences of other customers may be of immense use to you. For example, you may be able to find someone in exact same situation as you that has left a review. Granted, that does not always happen but it is great information when it does. The more you read and learn about the self storage option you are considering, the easier the choice will be. Some of these reviews can also point out very specific things.

For example, you may find a review that states that a certain facility has an issue with storing a particular type of item. If you happen to have those items and wish to store them, you will want to know about them. And that is just one example. The more reviews your read, the greater the chance of finding something truly useful.

By renting self storage based on reviews, it is easier to find exactly what you require

Most of the time, storage providers will all claim that their facilities can fulfill your needs. And the fact of the matter is that some of them will not be able to. The only way you can figure that out in advance is if you stumble upon a customer review that details a similar situation. If you do happen upon such a review, you can use the information within to your benefit.

Cons:

While there are not that many cons to renting self storage based on reviews, there are a few very important ones. And they are:

  • Fake reviews
  • Lack of positive reviews

Or lack of any reviews, for that matter. Sometimes, you will simply not be able to find any customer reviews. Especially if the self storage solution that you are looking at does not come from a well-known company. In those cases, you will have to “make do” with the information you do have. But for the most part, there are always at least some reviews to be found. Even if you are simply buying packing materials, you will find someone who was happy or not happy with them! However, there is one important factor to consider. And that is that:

The internet is full of fake reviews

person pointing at a tablet
Watch out for fake reviews!

Usually, there are absolutely no restrictions on who can post a review. You can never be certain if the review you are reading was written by someone’s employee or a real customer. Since companies “live and die” by their customer reviews these days, it is perfectly normal that they will like to create a good picture of themselves. What you need to do is learn how to figure out whether the review is fake or not. That is a really big skill in today’s world, and more and more people are starting to realize it. However, the fake reviews are getting more creative by the day, as well. False information is, by far, the greatest danger of fake reviews.

Positive reviews might be hard to come by when renting self storage based on reviews

The fact of the matter is that customers are much more inclined to leave a negative review than a positive one. While there’s a lot of information to be gained from negative reviews, it is still the side of a disgruntled customer. When renting storage based on reviews, you will have to get to grips with the fact that you will be working with information mostly from bad customer reviews. You may not even be able to find a real positive review in some cases, even.

Latest Posts