Box My Dorm for Student Storage

Spring semester is halfway through, and while summer joy is so close, the one thing no one looks forward to is the stress of packing up and checking out. For students who have to move far or need storage, an available option is BoxMyDorm.

BoxMyDorm is a company that specializes in packing, shipping and storage for all college students. It’s termed as the “Netflix of college storage” because of its subscription-based storage and immediacy of service. Brian Altomare, one of the founders, says BoxMyDorm has come a long way since its founding in 2005.

“Two Partners were students at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University, and they wanted to store their items and realized there was an opportunity for them to generate revenue while they were students after realizing the need for their friends to also store.”
– Brian Altomare

The company has grown from servicing 15 selected colleges to being nationally available at almost 3,000 colleges and universities. The company uses regional-based, climate-controlled storage centers for students that need summer accommodations for dorm items and furniture. It also provides shipping to a student’s home residence. All business actions can be made online or by phone. Altomare gives a step-by-step look at the process.

“They receive the moving kit and everything they need, they pack up at their leisure and when they’re ready they log into our system to schedule a pick up and from there we utilize UPS which allows us to track 100% everything and once it is received into our warehouse we have tracking there as well, so anyone who signs up will know their items are safe and sound for the summer and when they’re ready they can select their items back  and we do the same reverse model to whatever address the student selects after the summer.”
– Brian Altomare

Altomare urges the importance of students reading and following the precautions set by their online packing guidelines. These lower the chances of accidents or damages from occurring. Altomare says the company has never lost a box but they always prepare for the worst.

“If the insides are not packaged correctly just like FedEx or UPS we’re not responsible for improper packing so if a student does not take the necessary steps and use bubble wrap and to protect any sensitive items that are going to be shipped, we do not cover but typically if it’s packaged correctly and it is something lets say ups has it misplaced – we’ve never lost a box completely – its been delayed due to label falling off or something gone wrong in the ups system, we cover $100 per box to have insurance on that.”
– Brian Altomare

Altomare is aware that many upset users have taken it to the internet to express complaints in delivery, but he insists that the company is always ready to take responsibility and address each individual client.

“You’ll get five to 10 people that won’t be happy out of the thousand and that’s a very good ratio, and those that are angry are going to post, and we do our best to provide them store credit if we think it was something that was in our control to do better … We do our best to make up for the issues that happen each year.”
– Brian Altomare

Felicia DeInnocentiis, KTSW News