It is only when you can no longer see your stuff that you start giving any thought to security. This is the clumsy side of the renting the storage spaces in Hong Kong, you are putting your money in the place that is not under your control, sometimes in the building that you barely know. Visit our recommended site related our campaign!
Facilities are present which look refined. Light bulbs, key cards, cameras on every corner. Outwardly it is comforting. However it is not always like what I get to see in a brief visit concerning security.
Most of these warehouses are excavated in factory premises. Elderly, and rather tattered. It does not make that necessarily unsafe but it changes the danger. Shared corridors (having various businesses on the same floor), multiple tenants. Nor is it only you, which comes and goes.
Some of my boxes were in a cheaper place in Kwun Tong. It was easy to get at, maybe excessively so. There were no human beings there, just a pin code that was not changed frequently. Convenient, yes. But it brought me to ask myself who had that code a few weeks later.
It will also be high most likely in line with the more expensive storage facilities. Single unit alarms, improved surveillance, restricted access. You will end up spending more but you will be able to sleep about this without worrying about it at 2 a.m.
But the even better places have their limits. These are not insurances and even superficial security systems are implemented in case an individual has the real intentions of breaking in. That is where the insurance comes in and the major part of people forget that element until it is too late.
Humidity is another issue that cannot be talked about. The Hong Kong air is not tender. Having no right climate control, everything starts to be sticky, then distorted, then a bit damaged. Papers curl. Leather gets weird. Electronic era is evolving at an alarming rate. It is not robbery but it is like losing something.
And this is fire safety. The tighter regulations were introduced due to the occurrence of a couple of high profile occurrences a couple of years back. Fire sprinklers, inflammable substances, less complicated designs. That assisted, though not all facilities are equal. Some look upgraded. Others… less so.
It is also believed that storage facilities are more secure compared to leaving the things at home. That depends. Well-managed facility is very much controlled. Minimal oversight budget alternative? It is quite a gambling game.
One of the things that you find out after being in the storage more than once: the way of packing is almost as important as the place where you store. Good boxes, good locks, no labelling of the valuables. It is simple yet people do not pay attention to it in case they are in a hurry during a move.
The forgetting what you stored habit is also there. What appeared to be harmless, this time, until months later, when you find that you have not made a single step towards anything. Unseen things are not thought of and it is at this juncture that small problems become big.
Storage units of Hong Kong are not necessarily unsafe. However, not all of them are produced similarly and the difference is very clear in the details, which a person neglects until a certain moment. There is security but it is not absolute. You are selling house room to a different section of the world.