Fort Worth woman blames storage company for extensive damage: "It's a disaster"
FORT WORTH — A Fort Worth family waited years for their dream home, but the move-in was a nightmare. The Pettibons blame a storage and moving company for damaging most of their items.
According to Ashley Pettibon, their belongings were in great shape when they went into long-term storage in the summer of 2022. At the time, the family had sold their home and moved into a smaller place while building their new house.
"I have three small kids, so I wanted a turnkey service to help me out," said Pettibon.
She hired Callbox, a DFW-based company that took photographs of each item and cataloged them online before putting them in storage. A few months later, Callbox was bought by another storage company called Clutter. Pettibon says she was told nothing was changing except the name.
According to Clutter's website, their "state-of-the-art warehouses are clean and have 24/7 security."
When Pettibon was ready to get her belongings back, she said she was shocked by what showed up.
"My furniture is covered in mold, my furniture looks like it's been used," she said. "I would say 75% of it is truly totaled."
She called the situation a "disaster."
There are similar complaints on Clutter's Better Business Bureau profile. In most cases, customers were offered one dollar per pound for damaged items, as long as they submitted a claim for each item.
Pettibon said she submitted a few claims but the process is tedious and requires links to replacement options.
"It's hard to find a link to replace an antique that's been in your family for so many years," she said.
She showed CBS News Texas an email in which Clutter had refunded her about $1,700, but she says that's a drop in the bucket compared to the repair and replacement costs and the more than $50,000 spent on storage fees.
The company would not answer specific questions about Pettibon's case but said in a statement that "less than 1% of the items" they store lead to claims for loss or damage.
The company said it had reached out to Pettibon, but she was not responding. As for Pettibon, she said she is now letting her attorney handle the case.
Full statement from Clutter:
"Clutter offers safe, affordable, and convenient on-demand storage and moving services to consumers - serving over 50,000 customers nationwide, and storing over 3 million of their items.
Clutter is committed to providing the best service in the industry, and less than 1% of the items we store and process lead to customer claims for loss or damage. In this event, Clutter has a team trained to support our customers with the resolution process.
We are aware of this customer's situation and although we've attempted to contact her several times, she has not responded to us. We are ready to speak with this customer to learn more and to work together to reach a solution."