Toronto family devastated when personal items and family pictures go missing from storage unit

A Toronto man said he was devastated to find out his family photos, children's artwork and other precious items had gone missing while stored in a storage unit.

"I have family mementoes, childhood pictures all before digital, so losing them has become a real pain for my family," Peter Majthenyi told CTV News Toronto.

The storage unit business has been booming since the pandemic as families renovate, put in home offices or downsize from homes to condominiums.

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It was in 2019 when Majthenyi decided to renovate his home and called the company Second Closet, a valet storage company.

"They come to your house. They pick up all your items, put bar codes on them and then they take them to their warehouse and the day you want them back, you call them, and they deliver it back," said Majthenyi.

But after four years of business, Second Closet announced it was rebranding as Go Bolt and getting out of the storage business.

Majthenyi said when he received his items back from the storage company, about half of them were missing, including family photos and other memorabilia he didn't have copies of.

"A lot of collectables from our travels, collectibles from our kids' school year, photos, just irreplaceable family mementoes," said Majthenyi.

A spokesperson for GoBolt told CTV News Toronto that Second Closet was a business-to-customer (B2C) valet storage company that is no longer in operation. Meanwhile, GoBolt is a business-to-business (B2B), "sustainability-driven, third-party logistics provider (that does not and has never offered consumer storage services."

"When Second Closet rebranded in 2021, it marked the company's shift from B2C to B2B and the discontinuation of consumer storage services. At that time, substantially all of Second Closet's assets were sold, and customers were given notice and the option to transfer to other providers," GoBolt said.

The company said Majthenyi did not sign a "protection plan" with Second Closet.

"Second Closet, as a goodwill gesture, paid Mr. Majthenyi $4,000, which was the retail cost he stated for a damaged rug," the GoBolt spokesperson said.

"In addition, Second Closet also offered a final offer for $1225 (stated remaining 49 items for $25 each) in July 2023."

Majthenyi said he doesn't want to accept the offer because he is still hopeful the company will find his photos, so he doesn't want to close his case.

"I'm not going to sign the release because money is not the issue here. I would rather hold out 10 to 15 years hoping they show up rather than take that cash award," said Majthenyi.