Archive for the ‘About ABC Selfstore’ Category

When you already have the most competitive prices – how do you add value?

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

It’s an out-and-out ABC Selfstore shout-about this week.

We know it’s not what we normally do with our blog – but we’re excited about some great news for customers at all three of our self storage centres – in Wandsworth, Southwark and Camden.

We’re constantly looking at ways to give better value to our customers. Our Price Promise and only pay for the days you stay guarantee already mean that we can’t be beaten on price.  We also go the extra mile to give our customers friendly helpful service that’s second to none (to see how we walk-the-walk have a look at what our customers say).

When customers are happy it would be easy to be complacent - but if you know us you’ll know that’s not our style. So we asked the people who store with us what we might do to improve our offer.

The result is that we’ve extended our opening hours at weekends.
You’ll now be able to access your unit from 8am until 6pm Saturdays and from 10am until 5pm Sundays.  And don’t forget late night opening until 8pm on Thursdays.

Of course – is that isn’t enough – 24hr storage is available on selected units at our Wandsworth and Southwark stores.

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Things you are unlikely to see after the election … Part 2.

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Okay, it seems that our early thoughts around an unlikely scenario post general election turned out to be not-so-unlikely. With the exception of Vince Cable becoming Business Secretary (rather than Chancellor of the Exchequer) we were almost spot on about the coalition government.

Maybe we should add Psychic consultancy the great list of customer extras you get in store at ABC Selfstore?  Somewhere the good folk of Camden and Islington, Wandsworth and Southwark can come to find out what destiny will bring them over the next month. We read runes for you would make a good strapline.

We’d have to adapt our methodology.  No tea-leaves or Tarot cards at ABC.  We reckon it’s all in the bubble wrap.  So what does therapeutic god of popping plastic predict for the coalition over the next year?

Well we’ve already seen the Daily Telegraph break yet another parliamentary expenses scandal – and a high profile cabinet member leave office.

“removal van for Mr Laws please… ”

It’s not just Iain Duncan-Smith that thinks he’ll be back though. We popped the plastic fantastic, beseeched the bubble-wrap and we think he’ll be back in the cabinet within the year, maybe sooner.

Stranger things have happened and you never know when the call will come.  So a sage choice in the mean-time would be to put the Law belongings into storage – preferably nearby at a convenient London location that charges by the day and has no notice on move out. That’ll be somewhere like ABC Selfstore in Camden then.

Come to think of it that goes for any Cabinet Minister with a yet-to-be-revealed-by-the-tabloids-skeleton-in-the-closet. If you’re worried you might soon be needing to ‘do a Mandleson’ and take a break from government for a while – then we’ll be able to help. We’ll even throw in some free Van Hire to help you save those expenses…

Posted in 2010 Election, About ABC Selfstore, Business storage, Free Van Hire, Household storage, Self Storage News, Van HIre | Comments Off

I f’awt I told you t’a stay in the vaaaaan….

Monday, June 7th, 2010

So you’ve got some things that need shifting and have decided self storage is the answer – the tricky bit is getting it from A to B. It’s too valuable for the dump, too big to fit in the car and trying to haul it down the stairs on your own would just end up with a you-shaped-Banksy-esque mural impressed on the hallway wall.

Once you’ve lined up your storage and roped in a mate (or two) you’ll need to get yourself a suitable vehicle.  Usually a white van.  If you’re really unlucky it’ll come adorned with the traditional dashboard fayre of the previous tenants: a copy of the News of the World, the wrappings of a McMeal, a half eaten Ginsters and an empty ‘grab bag’ of Walkers cheese and onion. And a fuel needle that’s below the red.

Then you’ll have to go and pick it up, get back through the London traffic to your pad, load up, drive to your self- storage centre,  drop the van back off at the van rental place and finally get back to your pad.   Or to put it another way – from A to B, back to A, then to C, then back to B and then back to A again. Six trips, minimum, all through van-loving London traffic.

There’s a far easier answer though.  You could just store with ABC Selfstore and we’ll throw in a 1/2 day’s Free Van Hire. You pick it up from us and leave it with us when you’ve unloaded and you’re done.   And as our van offer is in conjunction with Streetvan it’ll come without those (un)savory dashboard extras. To find out all the details give your nearest store a ring.

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Posted in About ABC Selfstore, Business storage, Free Van Hire, Household storage, Self Storage Lifestyle, Self Storage News, Van HIre | Comments Off

Selling up, moving out

Monday, April 19th, 2010

With Mortgage lending up more than 24% the housing market could finally be moving out of the doldrums.  What is clear is that selling a property is more competitive than ever – and when it comes to selling a house or flat there are plenty of ‘tricks of the trade’ to help buyers choose your property over one down the street.

There’s a whole heap of advice out there to take – from media personalities like Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsop of Location, Location, Location fame right through to consumer champions Which?

Close to the top of nearly every expert’s top-tips is de-cluttering – removing furniture and clearing away the personal effects to improve ’space appeal’.That’s easier said than done. You need to find space somewhere else for all that stuff. What do you do if your parents loft is as good as 300 miles away and your local friends face the same challenges to you when it comes to being able to swing a cat in their ‘living’ room.

One answer is self storage.  Of course you don’t know if you’ll reach ’sale agreed’  within a week, month or year so it’s worth finding a storage company that has a short minimum term agreement and most importantly ‘No notice on vacate’.  For most the minimum term of notice is a month –  if you’re one week into your third month when you complete you’ll be left paying for 3 weeks of storage you don’t need.

With ABC Selfstore in Camden, Wandsworth and Southwark we charge by the day, there’s no minimum term and you can move out whenever you want.   So if you get really lucky and sell your house in the first two months you won’t be end up being stung for more than the days you store.

Of course – it’s likely you’ll want to hang on to your storage until you complete and it’s time to move (why lug stuff back to the property only to have to move it out again) – and the same great value applies, however long your stay.

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Try not to get addicted to popping the bubble wrap

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

In the second installment of our hints and tips on getting the best from your self storage – we look at organising your unit and packaging your things.

So you’ve planned your move-in with the precision of a special forces operation. You know what’s going in which box and the order they’ll go into your unit. Great, but it’s worth giving the layout of your unit and packaging of the stuff you want to store some thought as well.  There’s nothing worse than finding your back catalogue of first edition Beatles vinyl has been wrecked – because you boxed it vertically – and then stacked the last 10 years worth of subscriptions to Rolling Stone magazine on top.

Firstly – leave space for access to the rear of the unit and avoid leaning things against walls – it helps ventilation. Whilst professional storage units are warm and dry the things you are storing could need to breathe.

Secondly – protect fragile items with bubble wrap, mark the box ‘Fragile’ and avoid putting heavy items on top. You may of course get sidetracked by the therapeutic properties of bubble-wrap. This link might help you get that urge out of the way.

You can also make the most of your space by dismantling furniture where possible (you’ll fit more in). Detach legs from tables and beds to save space and wrap the legs in more of that bubble wrap to avoid damage. Likewise stacking chairs seat to seat can also help save space and putting cloth or bubble wrap in between will help protect them if they are valuable or antique.  In fact, covering the lot with dust sheets is a good idea to keep them protected from scratches or bumps.

If you are storing clothes then using wardrobe boxes to keep them on hangers is a must if you want to avoid them getting mis-shaped. Stand mattresses on end and avoid stacking heavy items on soft furnishings, besides laying them down might encourage you to take a nap and you’re not allowed to sleep in your storage unit.

Of course, if you need real bubble wrap – or any packaging items for storing for that matter – you can get them from our shop in store, or from boxes to move.

Happy storing – and don’t forget you can find out more hints and tips for storing on our website in our Self-storage for beginners section on the ABC Selfstore website.

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