Luggage Storage Dupont Circle Station

I am mortified. We were charged $18 per bag for storing our luggage for less than three hours, despite the prices shown online being far lower. When we arrived, the location turned out to be a random shop with no staff present. We had to call the owner and wait for him to come and unlock the door. The whole situation felt very sketchy from the start. There were no lockers, no secure storage room, and no tags or security measures our bags were simply left in the corner of the shop. We were three young female students (ages 19 and 20) and were desperate to find somewhere to leave our luggage, so we reluctantly agreed. The owner told us we could pay when we came back, which also seemed unusual. When we returned around 2:45 p.m., after calling ahead to let him know we’d be there in 10 minutes, he still wasn’t there. We had to wait again for him to arrive. While two of my friends collected our bags, I went to pay. He demanded $18 per bag and asked for cash, even though the Radical Storage website clearly states that cash payments are not accepted. It also says they do not accept walk-ins, yet we were accepted as walk-in customers. When I questioned the price, he became defensive and told me not to pay if I didn’t want to. He claimed there were cameras and other customers waiting outside, and kept saying he was in a rush and that we should “just pay.” Feeling pressured and wanting to leave, my friend ended up paying $61 for our three bags. I faught my battle and stood up for myself stating this is unfair as i knew that this was definenly incorrect. I’d like to mention the fact that we were on a time crunch for a train therefore had not enough time to research like we should then and there. Afterwards, we checked the prices online and discovered that storing three bags for that amount of time should have cost around €4.80, not over $60. I genuinely feel that we were taken advantage of because we were young tourists who didn’t know any better. The experience felt dishonest, unprofessional, and completely inconsistent with the pricing and policies advertised online. I definently avoid this location altogether & I think “Radical Storage” should consider who they hire.