UPDATE JUNE 9: Westwood Storage owner, Ashok Sehdev, admitted to rats running rampant at the facility. But he says he's upfront about it.
“Every customer, I explain there are rat problems," Sehdev said.
When asked if she knew of the rodent problem, Maxwell said, “Absolutely not. I would’ve never brought my stuff here if there were rats.”
Sehdev insisted, "She's lying. She knew there was a rat problem before."
Maxwell responded, "I will take a polygraph test. I would not lie."
Sehdev suggested Maxwell may have carried in the vermin herself.
“You never know when they bring the stuff in there might be dead rats already inside the sofa," he said.
When asked if she could have brought the rodents, Maxwell responded "absolutely not.”
"There’s no way i would have anything in my home that would have any kind of bugs, infestation of anything.”
Sehdev said he regularly brings in exterminators.
Maxwell wants her money back. When asked if he would consider a refund, Sehdev said “no,” insisting she knew about the problem from the beginning.
ORIGINAL STORY
LAS VEGAS (KTNV) -- A valley couple places their kids’ stuff in storage only to get a revolting surprise. They say they found rats burrowed into their furniture.
Ginger and Scott Maxwell only planned to keep the furniture at Westwood Storage, near Sammy Davis Jr. Drive and Desert Inn Road as their children hunted for apartments.
“We just thought ‘okay, their stuff’s gonna be safe,’” said Ginger Maxwell. “It’s gonna be locked up until they need it.”
They moved their stuff in late January. When they came back last Saturday to get their daughter’s sofa they got the most revolting surprise they could imagine.
“We pulled this sofa out and rats just came out,” said Ginger Maxwell, who tells 13 Action News that the vile rodents scurried out of the furniture. “I pulled that mattress out and babies ran out.”
Scott Maxwell said the scene was disgusting.
“The rats have bored into the mattresses. There’s dropping and urine all over the couches. They’re just completely unusable.”
13 Action News went to Westwood Storage to see it firsthand. While there, the couple finds a dead rat inside their unit.
“Oh! There’s a dead one! Oh it’s right there!” exclaimed Ginger Maxwell. “That’s what’s smellin’!”
The Maxwells tell us management says it’s the couple’s responsibility to keep out the rodents.
13 Action News went to front office late Friday afternoon. A sign reads “manager will be back on Saturday at 10 a.m.” We call, after business hours, and leave a message.
The Maxwells say they’ll have throw out everything that isn’t sealed in a plastic container.
“They’re trash now. I can’t take these anywhere. What am I gonna do? I’m not gonna store them anywhere else,” said Ginger Maxwell.
The Maxwells want management to compensate them for their lost property and for the rent they’ve been paying.
