"Check the place you want to store your stuff is actually as secure as you believe it is."
Nearly $15,000 worth of the Mosgiel man's property was stolen from a storage unit at Mill Park Self Storage, in Mosgiel, last month.
The manager of the storage company, Bevan Meddings, said the theft was one of four reported by customers and since said by police to be the work of the same man, a former storage client.
The incidents were the only thefts from the site in its seven-year history, and were all reported during the past 10 months.
Security met international standards, he said.
Mr Phillips said most of his stolen property was returned to him after police apprehended the alleged burglar.
He had believed the site to be secure enough that no-one could steal his property, he said.
Storage units were not separately alarmed and the units were locked with small padlocks.
He had since discovered there were only two security cameras at the site, one at the entrance and one inside the building.
Detective Wayne O'Connell, of Mosgiel, confirmed four Mill Park customers had reported a total of $30,000 worth of goods stolen from the site since August.
A man was arrested and charged with two of the burglaries, including from Mr Phillips' container, in May.
He may be charged in connection with the other two reported burglaries.
Mr Meddings said when the storage company started operating in 2001 its security standards were similar to those of most other companies, of which only about 30% used individual alarms on storage units.
Security improvements had been in progress before the burglaries and from July 1 the company would move in line with best international practice, when it would fit all existing storage units with alarms, install 100 new alarmed units and increase the number of security cameras on site, he said.
