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I Hate U-Haul Truck Rental (And So Does Everyone Else)
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U-Haul is, in my personal opinion, quite possibly one of the most poorly managed businesses still in business and the only way they get away with it is because they’re almost the only game in town. The U stands for Unreliable. Ask anyone if they’ve ever had or heard of someone having a bad experience with U-Haul and prepare yourself for an intricate story about how U-Haul screwed them This is exactly what happened to me this weekend. (I added to the title because everyone else hates U-Haul too!)
I was to help my girlfriend and her roommate move out of their apartment in New Jersey starting at 10am on Saturday. The night before, her roommate called and confirmed (the guy said they had the truck on site and she could pick it up at 10ish the next day) that the truck they reserved was ready for us tomorrow. She calls the next day right before she is supposed to leave – truck isn’t there. Truck was never there. In the general area, there were no one-way trucks available for rental because it was the end of the month and they were all booked (reserved! ha!). We didn’t get a truck until 7pm, didn’t depart until 11pm, and worked all through the night until 6am unpacking.
One year ago, when my roommate and I moved out of our apartment (and into another), we too ran into the same situation. The U-Haul site had decided, even with our reservation, to rent our truck out to a walk-in customer because they didn’t know if we would show up. We didn’t get a truck that day until 2pm. This year, we opted to use a minivan from a reputable rental agency.
U-Haul is unreliable and dishonest. While they’ll gladly take your cancellation fee, they won’t give you any money if they screw you and rent out a truck you need. Most of the time we’re talking about end of the month moves where you need to follow a strict schedule in order to check out of the apartment, complete the final walk-through, and get on your way. If we didn’t move, we would have to continue paying a rent because of U-Haul’s unreliability. Don’t call it a reservation if you don’t reserve anything.
My fellow bloggers who read this, write a post about how U-Haul has screwed you and trackback to this one. Non-bloggers, send this to a friend and have them comment and/or pass it along. Spread the word, like a virus, that U-Haul is a business that should go down the tubes.
If you need to move, use these alternatives (I haven’t used them but U-Haul has screwed me two out of two times, so I’d use any of these before U-Haul ever again):
- Budget/Ryder – Ryder was acquired by Budget, so try Budget for your moving needs.
- Penske – I see their trucks all the time and the drivers are always smiling, so they can’t be all that bad.
- Hertz – Word on the street is that Hertz rents trucks as well.
- Public Storage – Storage companies typically will let you use their truck if you rent from them and with the smallest storage closets running about $30 a month, this is a great deal for in-town moves.
From the comments, it also sounds like even if you get a truck (the “lucky” ones), they aren’t reliable (surprise!) and could die on you.
U-Haul CEO’s Cell Phone Number
Courtesy of the Consumerist:
The CEO of Uhaul gave out his cellphone 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.
Let him have it!
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All these comments sound so familiar. I reserved a trailer about a year ago. There is a U Haul right in my town. Was traveling 1600 miles. Reservation was confirmed. Doesn’t that sound like they had one for me? Just like the rest of you, I go to pick up the trailer and lo and behold they don’t have one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Had to drive 200 miles to get a trailer!!! I was LIVID to say the least. NEVER AGAIN!!! Last time I needed a moving truck I got a Penske. Nice truck and the people were great. Competitive rates too.
GO PENSKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Penny
heres ur problem it was a one way reservation and iimagine u were moving recently to college right ? guess what so is every other 300,000million students and if ur not a student that was ur problem. 200miles i dont believe it in the least bit as after 50 miles if we do not have the equipment we will call and let u know btw uhaul does say they will beat any competitors rates i know because i discount customer everytime. it sounds like u had a bad day and ur over exagerating it.
first you should learn to spell – it helps with job applications. Oh, but then you have a job at Uhaul – right?
Second “over exagerating”? What is”300,000 million students”?: an estimate?
Aren’t you the Chris that was fired a couple weeks ago for cursing and spitting your dip in a 20oz bottle in front of customers??
It’s not just renting from Uhaul! That have poor management and are unable to treat there employees with respect. They have people run these offices that have no idea how to deal with the public.
Oh how true your comment is. The employees are very rude, unprofessional, an down right ignorant! Glad my life does not revolved around them!
Maybe you should get a reservation NUMBER?? You can’t take anybodys word on it you moron. And dont be a complete idiot. You suppose to get $50 if they reserve it and you have a reservation number. But you probably didnt pay attention to anything else but just get online and bitch. Customers fault for not getting required information needed for rental.
GO UHAUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I too was screwed by U-haul. Promised a truck in my area, called well in advance to reserve the truck & the day before I was to pick up the truck I was told I would have to drive an hour and a half away to get it. There was no truck available in my area. Do not trust them even when you call well in advance they will not deliver. A reservation means nothing to them. They do not care and there is no one there that will take the fall. You will be passed from one person to another & the blame will go right along with it. Do not trust U-haul
and i bet you had a one way reservation as well sir … no one hears ourside of the story ever the deal is we do care we are just like you guys citizens doing our jobs we do have more locations then any other company soif you do believe u can get a closer truck then do so alsouhaul is more then happy to match and BEAT other companies rates im sorry u had a bad experience but when u have thousands !!! of people expecting one truck what can we do ??? angry bird style u into a truck ? if your calm and very polite with the represenitives im positive theyd be more then happy to help u ‘
…It’s called a RESERVATION.
That means you RESERVE the truck, and yes, it’s one way. I’m sure he told them that over the phone when he RESERVED a truck.
The company should not have told him they had a truck if they didn’t have one.
It makes no difference if it’s one way or not. It’s a fucking reservation, you ignorant twat.
I work at uhaul and when ppl come in bitching I loose all respect for them. Why would I want to help someone whose bitching at me me for something I can’t control? But when ppl come in and their polite ill do everything in my power to help them.
CA… I read that to mean, your arse you MIGHT be inclined to do the job you were paid to do in the first place. Otherwise screw the customer!
Guess what, buddy! A good customer service rep takes the good, bad and the ugly and if they have any CS skills at all, roll-up their sleeves work their magic and end up with a very happy customer.
It’s call, “Customer Service!” A smile on your face and an attitude of being a problem solver in favor of your customers satisfaction, goes long way. Something you seem totally unfamiliar with!
YOU mr, either need to go back in training or find another job!
I have no problem believing you represent UHaul. You sound like it.
Like others I have a horror story. I called my local UHaul number to have a hitch installed on my vehicle. I was quoted a price and installation date. When I went there to have it installed 13 days later I found out it was never ordered. The reason being is my call was transferred to their call center in Phoenix AZ. They screwed up and left the store employees to fix the problem.
The store employee ordered the hitch for me and guaranteed it would be there and installed in 3 days. I left there thinking yeah right,like it’s really going to be there. Back on the phone I was to the tune of 50 minutes being transferred around their call center before a warm body finally helped me. At least I thought so. A complaint file was made and 2 days later nobody got back with me. Back on the phone I went and I found the CEO’s cell number on line and I called him at 0630 am in Phoenix. Joe Shoen listened to everything I had to say. He was truly concerned and when he got to the office he had the supervisors call me to hear the phone problems for themselves and they fixed the internal problem.
Then all I asked for was that the store employees be congratulated for making a bad situation turn out better. John & Dusty were very customer friendly, professional and were able to diffuse a pretty pissed off guy (me). I wasn’t given a free hitch for my troubles but they compensated me for the problems they caused. My only hope was that they addressed the internal phone problems and realized their store employees are their front line to the customers.
I believe that UHaul really does care about the customers and the only way they can fix a problem is if we as the consumer makes them aware of. If little old me had his problem taken care of I’m sure yours will too. If you have a problem with UHaul they want to know about it. Call Joe Shoen at (602) 390-6525. Just don’t call him as early as I did. My best to an AMERICAN Company that does care about the customer and it’s employees. This is a TRUE STORY!!
IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH U HAUL FACTORY CENTER ,
BLAME THEM , IF YOU ARE DEALING WITH A U HAUL
INDEPENDENT DEALER AND ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH
GETTING A U HAUL ,THE COMPANY IS PROBABLY SCREWING THEM.
How right you are bill. As one of those independent dealers, we have had problems with, not our AFM, but with our MCP playing dealers against one another. Sad way of doing business.
Hi My name is anon I find uhaul not so bad considering i usethem all the time. what i believe happened is you got the one bad apple out of them all also for other people who have problems it seems they make their reservation the “day of” i learned the hard way making a res at the end of the month and getting screwed out of a truck but uhaul gave me 50$ ontop of a new truck with lower milage i was only going 10 miles i just scored 40 $ to use their equipment. my advice to people who have problems with uhaul make your reservation in advance !!! read the user agreements !! ur signing a legal contract and be clear to the operators about what u want!. also if your having a bad day i did notice that when i calmed down the represenitive was more then happy to help me in any way shape or form howcan they do their job with people screaming in their ears. what ithink is happening is that you didnt get everything u wanted so u bitched. therefore i think its only right we hear both side of the stories it seems like all of us in the country can complain about things but we never compliment soto uhaul i thank you and to joe shoen thanks for everything;
u guys have no life to blog about uhaul … lol. they have a reviews list on their site use it uhaul.com locations > your reveiew
Says the guy who has several comments posted here.
actually, we had a very good experience with u-haul in springfield missouri in 2007. we rent a massive u haul to move us out in one fell swoop, everything on the truck at once. the price was great and service friendly, and we even got some money back for returning the truck early.
I will never use this company again! We went over time and were threaten by the desk clerk that if we did not return the truck in 15 minutes (late by 37 minutes), that the truck would be reported stolen! Also accused of damage to the truck, that didn’t happen. Paid for insurance and was told it may not be covered. Denied refund of deposit, because of late rtn. These people are crooks! Get the neighbors to help you move and buy them all dinner. It will be cheaper!
We just had a completely terrible experience with the U-Haul in Albany NY. We initially reserved a roundtrip truck for 2 days. I called 2 weeks before (national number) and changed it to a one-way with drop off in Boston. When we went to pick up the truck, the store manager said we were stuck with the roundtrip plus mileage. Take it or leave it. Since we didn’t have an option at that point, we took it under protest. When I asked for the number where I could file a complaint, he said “go ahead but it will just come back to me.” Great. When we returned the truck, the very helpful woman said not only should he have honored that but that he overcharged us for our contract anyway. She gave us the regional manager’s number and name. I have now called him 4 times, left messages, and he has not returned my call. Alex and Stu are terrible with customer relations! I will never use any U-haul products again. Ever.
I had a reservation for a 4 day move with uHaul for a total of $616 + $85 coverage fee. I added 2 furniture dolly’s to my order 7 days before my trip and they accidentally changed my destination which of course changed my quoted price. when i called to dispute the new rate (i had a printed copy of the original quote) they told me I was wrong, and that there was nothing they could do. after , I asked to speak with a manager, the “girl” on the phone told me that I should stop complianing because she was right and i was wrong. I told her to GO FUCK HERSELF and rebooked with budget. fuck uHaul!
my name is scott my girl friend and 12 year old daughter had to move across the nation to get away from her abusive ex so she lined up a 17 foot uhaul truck and gave herself 4 days to complete the move. the first day some 700 miles away uhaul called her on the road and wanted to trade trucks, so they sent her to a local and gave her a replacement that she had to reload that truck didnt make it 500 miles before it broke down. they had to change the fuel pump a day later so they put her up in a motel and gave her $11.00 dollars for food. she has broke down a total of 4 times on the side of the road and when she finnaly arrived the rental unit she had arranged to live in was not still available. and wont be until the end of the week if then. so she either has to pay for a hotel or live in the rental truck and pay the late fees I wish I had read this blog befor letting her rent this company
I got totally ripped off $14 for safemove that I did not want and was never asked about. This contract was entered manually because the display touch screen on the register was broken. I have already tried calling to have the $14 reversed and was told that it can not be refunded. Now I have to do a chargeback disputing the entire charge with the bank and also filing a complaint with the better business bureau. I should have used penske for the local move and will NEVER EVER consider u-haul again and STRONGLY urge anyone reading this to stay clear of uhaul. They are thieves. This totally sucks getting scammed by what I thought was a good company. I am going to do everything I can to make damn sure that the $14 I got ripped off by uhaul is not worth the pain in the ass paperwork that has to be done with the bank now by and better business bureau. These people are thieves and I will advise everyone I can to stay clear of u-haul.
http:\\www.carpadakis.com\uhaul.aspx
I have created a page on my own personal site and have been posting this link on several forums and the review page on uhaul and will continue to do so until I get my money back.
I also will very soon be adding this page to our company website at http:\\www.mightyplace.com
If I am successful in costing UHaul even 1 customer, then they have lost more than the $14 that I got ripped off!
UHaul is the worst…
Just rented a truck from u -haul Rosedale store in Bakersfield, Ca. The mileage on the contract was 20 miles less than the odomator in the truck. So when you rerurn the truck they tried to chare me for 32 miles instead of the 12 miles i actually went. I have a feling this place is ran by crooks. I even told them avout the mileage differance before i rented it and they still tried to screw me. This place is ran by kids. Maybe thats ow they get a little pocket change?
When I was thinking about renting U-Haul tow dolly, I Googled “U-Haul” to try and reserve a dolly. When I did, I found a couple of sites with negative feedback on U-Haul. Upon looking at the sites, I read horror stories about U-Haul’s poor performance and negative reviews. I was very concerned about U-Haul at this point, but the U-haul place was close to me and no other businesses near me had a tow dolly. So, I went online and reserved a tow dolly. I was concerned enough that I went to the U-Haul place a week ahead and verified that I had a dolly reserved. The representative was dressed professionally and was both professional and friendly. He verified that, yes, I indeed had a dolly reserved. I went back on the day of rental and again a different representative was both friendly and professional. To make a long story more short, every dealing I had with U-Haul was both courteous and professional. When I took the dolly back a representative met me in the parking lot before I could turn off my engine and was quick to remove the dolly and send me on my way. MY EXPERIENCE WAS VERY POSITIVE WITH U-HAUL.
Maybe each U-Haul location is a franchise and different, but the business on Lebanon Road in Mount Juliet Tennessee showed me a business well run and professional.
Absolute worst experience, I had reserved a trailer and held it with a my card, I then was out of town and my son was to pick up the u-haul, and you got it they did not have it there, they sent him to another place who made him put it on is card, at that time he called me, told me what happened, I called the place in Wisconsin Dells and asked them if they would please refund his card and put the charges back on mine, the garage told me they couldn’t do it that I would have to contacted u-haul myself, which I did and they got it straightened out, My son after hooking up the trailer and having the garage employee tell him that lights were all good to go, left loaded the u-haul and then left for Texas in his car, I return the next day to leave with the u-haul and we have no working lights,needless to say we did not have time to get a new trailer and drove from Wisconsin to Texas with no lights scary, When I returned the u-haul in Texas the place said that they did not handle anything about the u-hauls that i needed to contact them, which I immediately did, I Told the lady about the lights and the corroded wiring for the lights and she just said ok, thank you, I will make a note of it and that was it. I’m sure the next person to get that trailer, again had no lights, and to the worker that gave the thumbs up to leave with working lights, shame…. they were never working
As for uhaul, they charge mileage fees and gas fee if you don’t fill it. What with mileage fees???? You rent a truck, mileages should be included!!! No!! It a separate things, that I never understood why such mileage fees, if you have to pay for gas. Gas are currently near 4 dollars a gallon. They’re cheating you out of money. They never used to be like that, I guess they looking for a way to schelp you to give them more money. Oohh. DO NOT get insurance, since many driver already have car policy insurances that’s cover rentals. It just stupid to get one. And makes sure you carry your insurance with you to the rental.
I’ve also noticed the U-Haul rent-your-reserved-truck deal. The last 3 times I’ve moved, I would call U-Haul and ask for a reservation, give all my contact info, etc etc… then the day of the move, THERE IS NO TRUCK. Without fail. I know that there was a guy up there saying that it’s how the corporate treats the independents, but really, it’s a poor way of doing business. They can always say that there’s no guarantee of being a truck.
2 of those 3 I was able to go with a local company, instead of the bigger Penske, etc. I paid about $20 more, but they treated me right. Plus I was able to give some money back to the local community. And I didn’t have to worry about them going crazy with reservations. It’s not like folks are able to mess around their move dates much.
I order a cargo trailer. Turns out I have to drive over an hour away to get it. I called uhaul who transfered to the regional office. The lady said she’ll see if anything is closer and call her at 4pm. I hung up and called the pick up location who said the have nothing and are expecting nothing. I called the regional office (keesha) at 3:40pm I was only hold from 340-648pm waiting for someone to pick up the darn phone. At 648 there was a click followed by a hang up noise and the the disconnected sound. While on hold I used my house phone to call 1800gouhaul to try and get someone. Who transfered me right away to the number I was already on hold with. I called back. I stated the issue, AGAIN and at this point been on hold with the regional office for 2 hrs. I asked the lady at 1800gouhaul that I wanted a supervisor. She told me that her sup said to call the regional office…REALLY? I said again ma’am I’m still on the other line with them on hold, and said again that I wanted to speak to the sup. She told me, No sir he isn’t talking to you. I said am I really being refused to speaj with a supervisor? Her response was yes he isn’t getting on the phone. So very angrily I said fine and hung up. And waited on the other line for my regional office for another hour before being disconnected.
This is absolutely absurd and inexcusable. On hold for 3 hrs waiting to talk to an initial person and being treated like I am some peace of scum. It really feels like I am being told to #$%& off by uhaul.
Reserve the truck. Get a copy of a reservation contract stating date, time and cost of rental plus any dposit made. If they don’t usually give one out, make them print out or write by hand if necessary, a receipt on company letterhead.
Now, if they screw you over and it costs you money, send them an invoice for the amount you are out because of them. If they don’t pay (and they won’t) take them to court. Enough people sue them for the money they are out because of UHaul’s incompetence, the quicker they will either go out of business or fix the problem.
Ok so I had the problem of the uhaul truck nor being available last night. But If you look online the have a reservation garentee if the don’t have the rented item at the on time at the agreed location they will give you $50. I will say that is a lie to because come to find out they don’t give 50 big ones they give you a voucher for your next rental. The other problem I had is the 10ft box trucks all nD leaks so some of the payload got soked. Then I return the the truck thought I would be a nice guy I gave them the wet newspapers or damaged product I had to deliver that I lost money on after I did 3 miles over my agreement and the decided to charge me another 5. I am pissed to the point the my storage unit is going to be empty
I just need to rent a regular pickup truck and none of the U-Haul companies or even Budget rents out a regular pickup or a van for a one way trip! I don’t have to go far, but the reason I want to rent in the first place is because I don’t have access to a truck with decent mileage- it totally defeats the purpose of renting one for a one way trip if I have to drive my brothers truck all the way down and back up and then get a ride back down again!
WHY don’t they rent pickups for one way?!
http://jobs.uhaul.com
It’s easy to complain on the outide looking in.
I didn’t have a bad experience, per say. I reserved a unit and when I showed up, like everyone else here, they had rented it to someone else. Luckily, they had similar units and were still able to get me one. The bright side, of course, was that they gave me a unit they had not cleaned out yet, so there were two dozen U-Haul blankets in it, leftover from the last guy. Win!
I have never had any problems with U-Haul on the SF Peninsula. Employees have always been helpful and friendly. However, I have never reserved a truck either. If you do have a reservation and your truck is not at the location that’s a management issue and not the fault of regular employees. That being said, they should have a policy in place where they will accommodate you when unfortunate incidents like this happen.
Add me to your list!
U Haul knowingly let me drive from Michigan to Fl. without BRAKE LIGHTS.
I went a 28th St, Grand Rapids, Mi location2 weeks before a trip to Fl. to verify I had the correct hitch, ball, etc and working light harness.
All was verified to be proper including working lights.
When I rented the 5 x 8 trailer and the employee connected the trailer, I again verified that that the lights worked. When the employee mumbled
something – I again him if the brake lights were working and he said yes.
The morning I left for Fl. I asked the person trailing me if my lights were working. MY BRAKE LIGHTS WERE NOT!!!
U Haul got us into a repair service in Georgetown, KY location that night. They told me that the Ford Taurus used a separate wire for turn signals and brake filaments.
MY BRAKE LIGHTS WERE NOT CONNECTED INTO THE HARNESS AND THE BRAKE LIGHTS WERE NEVER FUNCTIONAL!!
They also warned me that if wired into the harness incorrectly it could cause electrical feedback that could burn out my car electrical system.
As a result I drove all the way to Melbourne, Fl without brake lights and someone following me to act as my brake lights.
Back in GR the store manager said “You got there without an incident” then what’s the problem?
So far I have been told that the regional Customer Service Rep. Frank Smith would call me last Thurs., then Fri., then today, then this afternoon, ………
Haven’t heard his voice YET.
Now I understand why there are “Don’t rent from U haul websites.
Sincerely,
Neil Enders
PS Why would they do this?????????
U-Haul sucks ! Really sucks ! I made a contract price of $0.89 dollar per mile and they charged me for $1.09 and I have to call to get the money back (still not back yet at this time !).
They WON’T refund your over-filling gas but charge you for under-filling gas. This is how they ate my $15 dollars. Shame on them ! This is a real fraud.
I am looking forward to the class action suit against the fraud. I believe the fraud is bothering thousands of people like me!
Here is the link:
http://classactiondefense.jmbm.com/2006/10/class_action_defense_casesaron.html
ANYWAY to join the case the sue U-Haul?
Sad we have a wonderful site here in Raleigh NC (large center storage/trucks/van/protain gas) the manger is alway helpful I rent monthly for flea marking weekends I have heard people come in scream /cuse/ etc at him and his workers for things they had no control over ,People need to read contract paid ontime,be prepared to have some stress.I have tryed othe place I ggot trash in the truck/low gas /poor service. I came back to U-HAUL!! People that complain should put your self in the workers place, The company is a honset USA busness, No Union crap! Hard working me and women !You get treated the way you desrve when you act like a fool in a office or on the phone !!I knowqw it no fun to move etc but don”t blame the company on things they have no control over I foyund clean truck/van
helpful worker/fair price for severl lonf moves and local us over the past 5 yrs
UHaul rented my a 26 foot truck for a cross country move. They gave us the newest truck which was of the same year as the move. From FL to MO the truck broke down several times. We thought it was our fault since we were driving straight thru. The worst was when the engine shut off on the top of a mountain top that curved with low visibility. We were unable to move it over to the side of the road and had to stand in the road to flag people down and hope they didn’t hit us. This one time we called the repair guy, 3-4 hours later showed up and he hits the gas tank with a hammer and it started. The repair guy said that they have been having trouble with the gas gauge sticking on these new trucks. The trip took longer than expected and upon arrival they offered us a free storage for our troubles. When we went back a couple of days later to get our stuff they said that we could not get into our storage until we paid the late fees and we lost everything that was in the 10X20 storage. NEVER AGAIN!
I have NEVER had any difficulty or reason for complaint. I have used U-Haul at least 10 times over the last 20 years or more: trucks, trailers, car dollies, etc, even had a U-Haul hitch mounted on my Jeep Cherokee in Portland, Oregon before pulling a U-Haul trailer to Los Angeles, Ca. Every time I have reserved equipment at U-Haul they have had everything waiting and made pertinent recommendations. This article is New Jersey specific, assuredly __ and needs to be read as such. U-Haul on the West Coast is by far the best way to go!
I work for u hual and think that you just had a bad experience we aren’t still in business because we are the only game in town we are in business because we offer the best service and if you want to go a different company for moving then fine but if you think they are better you are sadly mistaken. They charge you twice as much and they use tricks that are meant for commercial use not residential. They also are bad on the environment. So seriously if you want use a different company other than u haul think about the differences and pricing and the quality of trucks. And one more thing if you used an authorized dealer instead of an actual u haul centerthen that is the problem and not u haulits self. They are not held up the same standers as a real center.
I work at a storage facility in Florida. We are now renting U-Haul trucks as an “authorized dealer” and I can say this first-hand. MOST of the issues people have with U-Haul is customer error. Facilities that stock multiple trucks have to squeeze scheduling in. If somebody rents a truck from 10a – 3p we have to HOPE they come back by 3p, especially if there is another reservation, say at 4p. Most people like to turn things in late, sadly. As far as I know it IS at the discretion of the facility whether they can waive your late fee or not, which would be up to the site manager or possibly regional manager. Most “authorized dealers” are less strict with these things which can be good and bad. I’m not necessarily defending U-Haul because I understand moving can be hectic and expensive – even I myself have dealt with some U-Haul higher ups that were rude or not caring. Even some of the actual U-Haul facilities have some bad apples, it’s going to happen. What I can say for us – we only have 2-3 trucks at one time. If we don’t have the truck reserved, we wend people down the street 2 miles to an actual U-Haul facility and it’s done with. I personally try to bring my customer service standards over with this new U-Haul stuff that was literally forced on me. Do I want to rent these things out on top of my normal job? NO. Will I? Yes. Try to be realistic with any issues you may have and ask questions if need be. How U-Haul guarantees your rental is that if they don’t have it, another facility does. I know, shady, but they’re not really lying. U-Haul has some good and some bad qualities. Try not to blame the employees right off the bat. I’ve had angry customers calling me and coming in to our storage facility to complain about things I honestly CAN’T control! If you just came in to drop off a truck from California here to Florida, and you tell me the mileage is wrong – all I can do is type in what the CURRENT mileage is on the truck. I can call one of our U-Haul contacts, but I honestly can’t do anything for you. Do you know how bad it looks to have a U-Haul customer yelling at me for something I didn’t cause, right in front of my normal storage customers? It’s embarrassing! If you have concerns, CALL the facility you want to rent with, you have a better chance of getting things done properly. Don’t just do it online and expect things to be peachy. I had a customer reserve a truck and two furniture dollies with us, when we only had one. Why did U-Haul’s website allow him to rent two when we only had one? Couldn’t tell you, but we called our AFM and he said he’d bring one over and never did, that was now MY FAULT, even though I had NO IDEA until later that we had requested another one. This is the same customer that blames our facility for charging him more than $14 for SafeMove, even though when he chose it ONLINE it states $14 per day. You can imagine this is our fault too, he has now left us bad feedback on U-Haul’s website which makes us professionally as an independent storage facility look horrible! I also had TWO customers in the same day mess up their own reservations online and blamed ME! I had one U-Haul employee call me from a U-Haul facility telling me that my customer was at their location looking for a truck which was here with me. When they finally got here they were upset that the other facility couldn’t rent to them because they didn’t have that size truck available! The other customer went to another location and supposedly thought we were located somewhere else and that was my fault too! It IS very easy to complain about a company when you’re not involved in it. I’m just trying to give people my thoughts on U-Haul. I don’t think they’re great but they’re not ALL bad. I just want U-Haul to man up and resolve any issues that come about in a professional way. Just remember, ASK questions if you’re worried about a charge or anything else BEFORE you rent!! That’s my two cents. =\
It’s not the employees fault. You should blame the company. They hang up when you get sassy. Just chill and don’t expect a 5 star hotel for compensation for anything. You have to think how much these trucks cost. Having thousands of sitting trucks at about $30,000 a piece doesn’t make any sense. Majority of these over turned trailers were loaded incorrectly. Raising your voice at a poor kid behind the counter wont work by the way. When I worked for that lousy company we could say “F**k you” to your face and ban you from ever renting a U-Haul with no consequences. So don’t ever intimidate them, they’re peons working for minimum wage not your legal assistant. A little respect goes a long way. One word of advice is READ THE CONTRACT! 9/10 of these complains are idiots not reading the contract or terms. For example they don’t reimburse for gas like is says in the contract. You don’t take the insurance, you pay for the damages in the contract. You pay by the mile like it says in the contract. An the person getting hit with a 1.09 rate instead of .89 isn’t fooling anyone. Taking a truck at closing time on Thurs to get the weekday rate has been done many times before. But quite honestly, U-haul is king. Penske, Budget, etc.. Do not have the quantity that U-Haul does. The poor customer service, high prices and low quality trucks are a result of a monopoly. A joke we through around was a friendly U-haul employee is a new one. My 2 cents; agree, disagree whatever. This is good reading material.
U-haul is great. Ive used them dozens of times without any problems
Use Ryder… Not the cheapest but they have the BEST customer service in the industry, hands down.
So you think you are the only one moving and U HAUL is going to drive the truck to your desired location and the rental is for only $200 well it would cost U HAUL more than that to drive the truck to your feet.
READ THIS!!
U-Haul reservation guarantees are subject to the following terms and conditions
1.The Reservation Guarantee does not apply to the initial intake of a customer’s reservation regardless of how the customer makes their reservation.
2.After the customer makes an initial reservation, the U-Haul rental location (‘rental location’) for the customer’s city and state will be in charge of the reservation.
3.The rental location will contact you the day prior to your requested pickup date to schedule the equipment and actual pick up time, date and location.
4.Once the rental location representatives speak with you and agree with you on a pickup time, date and location, the reservation will then be considered “guaranteed” (the agreed upon equipment will be at the agreed upon location at the time scheduled). If U-Haul fails to fill your guaranteed reservation, it will pay you $50 as liquidated damages. If you fail to pick up the equipment at the agreed upon location within one hour of the time scheduled for pick up, U-Haul may cancel your reservation and it will not be obligated to pay you the $50. Regular cancellation policies may apply.
5.U-Haul has the right to substitute equipment of equal or greater size to fill your guaranteed reservation.
6.If U-Haul representatives are unable to contact you to schedule and agreed upon time, date and location of your pick-up, the reservation will not be considered guaranteed.
In the event of war, riot, civil unrest, insurrection, Act of God or other force majeure that significantly disrupts the operations of U-Haul, it shall not be obligated to pay customers the $50 payment even if the reservation had been guaranteed.
I can’t believe these complaints! I have rented U Haul trucks many times. I understand normal thinking. U Haul trucks are where ever they are droped off, if you want to pick up at a certain location and they don’t have the truck there on the day you want it, use some common sence you will have to go get the truck where it is. U Haul is not going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars driving trucks around to get the truck where you need it. In most cases it would cost more to deliver the truck to your feet than the rental charges.
READ THIS!!!!
U-Haul reservation guarantees are subject to the following terms and conditions
1.The Reservation Guarantee does not apply to the initial intake of a customer’s reservation regardless of how the customer makes their reservation.
2.After the customer makes an initial reservation, the U-Haul rental location (‘rental location’) for the customer’s city and state will be in charge of the reservation.
3.The rental location will contact you the day prior to your requested pickup date to schedule the equipment and actual pick up time, date and location.
4.Once the rental location representatives speak with you and agree with you on a pickup time, date and location, the reservation will then be considered “guaranteed” (the agreed upon equipment will be at the agreed upon location at the time scheduled). If U-Haul fails to fill your guaranteed reservation, it will pay you $50 as liquidated damages. If you fail to pick up the equipment at the agreed upon location within one hour of the time scheduled for pick up, U-Haul may cancel your reservation and it will not be obligated to pay you the $50. Regular cancellation policies may apply.
5.U-Haul has the right to substitute equipment of equal or greater size to fill your guaranteed reservation.
6.If U-Haul representatives are unable to contact you to schedule and agreed upon time, date and location of your pick-up, the reservation will not be considered guaranteed.
In the event of war, riot, civil unrest, insurrection, Act of God or other force majeure that significantly disrupts the operations of U-Haul, it shall not be obligated to pay customers the $50 payment even if the reservation had been guaranteed.