Comments on: Don’t Rent U-Haul Trucks, Read Why

By: jim hayes

jim hayes — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:14:28 +0000

Several years ago I had a trailer hitch installed on a truck. Several weeks after the installation I rented a car carrier. I made it exactly 6 blocks and the trailer hitch fell off of the truck leaving the car carrier in the middle of the street with the hitch attached to it; not the truck. Uhaul allows individuals with NO experience to work on vehicles without regard for the danager of such practices.

By: John

John — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:28:22 +0000

NEVER do business with UHaul at 3138 Atlanta Hwy in Montgomery, Alabama. The guy was rude then refused to accept the traier when I took issue with him. The location on Norman Bridge Rd. in Montgomery was such a shady looking place I kept on going. I found the young woman at the Mobile Hwy location in Montgomery to be friendly and helpful. Otherwise, my UHaul experience has been a nightmare!

By: Judy Livingston

Judy Livingston — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:41:22 +0000

I wish I had found this web site a couple of years ago.

After renting a U-Haul truck on 3 occasions & putting up a cash deposit & reserving a time to pick the truck up, I was waited on by Tony Castro in Houston, TX. I showed him my TDL & receipt for my deposit. He then wanted to see a copy of my domicile lease, which of course I didn’t have. He then wanted to see my Green Card, which of course I don’t have because I don’t need a Green Card. My voter registration wasn’t good enough. And by the way, I am a white, natural born American citizen.

Anyway, after several of his stupid requests, I told him, I said something (I don’t remember what) & he asked if I was threatening him and I proceeded to tell him, “no, I’m just telling you that you don’t don’t know what the hell you’re doing.”

Anyway, I rented th truck & tried to report him to no avail. So it feels good to finally vent my disgust at Tont Castro of U-Haul Truck Rental.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:27:58 +0000

Don,
This might interest you.
The CEO of U-haul gave out his cell phone number last night on an episode of Inside Edition, inviting consumers to call with complaints or questions. Joe Shoen explained saying, “People can’t get this organization to behave, I can.” That number is 602-390-6525.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:55:06 +0000

Maybe it is different in other areas of the country, but at least here in Iowa it seems that U-Haul is literally half the price of Budget. So even if the service was horrible (and really, from the couple of times I have used them it seemed fine to me) saving yourself that much money might be worth some hassle. Note I said “some.”

By: G. Owens

G. Owens — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 22:09:35 +0000

Thanks for the heads up.I’ll go to Budget or Thrifty.

By: Mark and Jacqueline Haack

Mark and Jacqueline Haack — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:25:53 +0000

Well folks watch your credit card statements carefully! even months after you have rented from U-HAUL !! We rented a truck for a local move wich was fine we took the truck back our credit card was charged ! Great no problem then 2 1/2 months later there was a charge on our card from a different U-Haul location for $454.72 I called the credit card company right away and they called the U-Haul company and they said the the card was actualy slid ! no way was our card slid so the credit card asked for the reciept . It finally came and they had our original contract from Palmdale ! then they had another contract from a lancaster Facility with a different contract number and 2 1/2 months later that said we caused damage to the spedo !!!!! two and a half months later they are going to charge my card there was noway i was going to let them get away with that. It took me 2 months and alot of phone calls but the charges were taken off !!! by my charge card company not the U-HAUL company they were no help!!!Better Business Buero siad it was unethical but i had to get a hold of Arizona bbb so I will file a complaint and also with the Consumer affairs. I am not done with U-HAUL yet!!!!!!!JUST BEWARE PEOPLE!!! CHECK YOUR CREDIT CARD STATEMENTS EVERY MONTH FOREVER!!! U-HAUL HAS THE NUMBER AND WILL USE IT.

By: Ed Smith

Ed Smith — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:07:45 +0000

If you don’t like U Haul in general, don’t ever, absolutely never go to the UHaul on Canyon Drive in Amarillo Texas!!! They are rudest jerks ever. Service is definitely not their way of doing business. They threatened us. They told us they were going to call the police on us. My story is nothing like the people that have been killed by their rentals or that have had their entire belongings ruined, but they were rude and unreasonable and we had done everything they had asked us to do by their book and they still treated us terrible. Over my 60 years, I have learned that you have a choice where you spend your money, and UHaul shouldn’t be your choice.

By: Mel Swanson

Mel Swanson — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:12:40 +0000

U-Haul, worst of the worst. Reserved truck was not what I reserved. Too small for the load, so I had to give away part of our household goods to the neighbors. A day behind schedule for our move from Yuma, AZ to Ft Worth, TX, because the truck overheated in our driveway. Not repaired until late pm. Three mechanical issues during trip which included brakes and no air conditioner. Two miles from our destination in Texas the cops pulled us over. The damn truck was on fire. Fuel had leaked onto the hot manafold. The police put out the fire. A little damage to the engine compartment but no damage to our things. True frustrations did not realy start until I tried to get redress from the U-Fall corporate office. They have a well designed system which insulates the bosses from dealing with the outraged customers. Having spent a life time in the Army I have esperiance with customer service in communist countries. And, that is where U-Fall belongs.

By: Bruce Dunbridge

Bruce Dunbridge — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 16:53:10 +0000

My experience with U-Haul has been decidedly negative and rather costly. I rented a truck for a local move but planned to drop it off after hours at another location a few hours away (I was told I could do this). When I received my credit card bill a month later, there was a $450 charge from the U-Haul franchise where I had dropped off the truck. When I called the franchise to inquire about the charge, they told me there was a large scratch on the side of the truck that had not been noted on the damage form I filled out when I picked the truck up. I informed them that I was the sole driver of the truck and there had been no contact whatsoever that might have accounted for the scratch; moreover, I contended it could have occurred after hours, as I had to leave the truck on the street, as there was no off-street parking for returned trucks. I asked why I had not been notified of the damage and subsequent charge right away so I could see it for myself, and whether there was photographic evidence of the damage. I was told the asst. mgr. took a picture with his cellphone(!) but the picture was no longer in his phone (naturally) and their policy did not require that I be contacted. I contacted U-Haul national right away and was told I would receive a response to my complaint within 5 days. That was 6 weeks ago and I have not received a reply yet. I am about to send my second letter to U-Haul but I’m not holding my breath. Poor business practices, indeed! If I were a lawyer, I would initiate a class-action lawsuit in regards to the practice of billing for damages the customer has no opportunity to verify himself.

By: Sandy from Michigan

Sandy from Michigan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:21:29 +0000

My son in law expierenced a similar situation of being stranded off the interstate for three days because it took that long to replace the broken down truck….not to mention, moving everything out of one truck and into another, which also had problems….being on the cel phone constantly, and still has not resolved the situation regarding the bill. What a lousy company. Corporate wise, they are responsible for their subcontractors, as well as their company trucks.
Mc Donald’s does not own all their restaurants, but if someone were to get ill from the food they would not just tell you it’s not their problem. Hang up on you, or not get to your problem for three days. WHY? Because McDonalds has corporate responsibility.
U Haul has none…. Besides…. what is with them not renting trailers to FORD owners. Just try to use their site and put in the towing vehicle as a Ford…. you are cut off from that point on. Not some specific Ford model…, ALL FORDS.
I own a Ford 1500, with the Triton motor… I tow a thirty foot travel trailer…no problem, but U haul won’t let me tow a 8 foot trailer? HA !
U haul is for fools.

By: Chrissy Rae

Chrissy Rae — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:43:32 +0000

I for one understand where everyone is coming from but see where I’m different is I rented from U-Haul was treated like a princess! Just because you have bad experience w/ one U-Haul u shouldnt bad mouth all of u-haul some of them are actually privately owned they subcontracr from u-haul I just want to say I LOVE U-HAUL and will continue to refer people to them ans use them. GO U-HAUL

By: Saul

Saul — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:09:54 +0000

U-Haul in Manchester, CT, claimed to have a reservation for us for September 1 (made a couple of weeks in advance). Then when I called the night before from New Haven, they said the reservation must have been transferred to another location. Note that I had to call them. They didn’t call me with the information. I had relatives who had arranged to meet me at 8am the next morning to load the truck. U-Haul assured me that I would certainly have a truck and that the new location would call me that night. They never called. I had to call them… over and over again. The relatives came and went. Finally, at 3pm the day I was supposed to be moving, while I was still waiting for U-Haul’s call, I called Budget. I had a truck within fifteen minutes and I made it back to New Haven, where I had to clear out my storage space at THEIR U-Haul just in time for the 7pm closing. I was lucky I called Budget when I did. All U-Haul did was give me a $20 gift certificate for my trouble (as if I’d ever use them again) and that was only after I wrote to the BBB about them. I will only use and recommend Budget from now on.

By: Derek

Derek — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 02:25:14 +0000

After reading this, I will go with Budget.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:29:59 +0000

Jim is absolutely correct, the pompous attitude that it is “all lies” or “dramatized” is part of the reason U-Haul continues to get away with the abuse, the overcharging, inability to hold a reservation, and deathtrap vehicles. I had a similar experience with a local move, now we are planning a very large move and I’m very angry because the only choice for the areas I am moving from/to is U-Haul, and I’m TERRIFIED. So the abuse … the truck breaking down … BELIEVE IT, how vague the description depends on how much in denial the reader may be, I’m not risking the safety of my family or even my belongings for that matter.
PS. when we had our problem with U-Haul, the truck wasn’t there, the little truck they had was deadly, we had to make two trips and got that 24hrs is only 8 hours and a big giant f*** U from some dirty old man who claimed we imagined the reservation. Over charged us and yelled at us, OH YES! After a dozen calls including a report to the BBB someone in a UHAUL call centre somewhere said she would deal with it, I called my Credit Card Company and got a refund for the overcharged amount (no thanx to UHAUL) but weeks later we drove by the Rental Location and it was SHUT DOWN, I just can’t trust this company and I have to believe the horror stories even though I’d rather be able to look the other away and accept it.