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False Toll Charges
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

First and only time I will rent from Penske. Rented a 16' one way to move from San Diego to Austin, paid by debit. The whole process went smooth, better price than their competitors, got a brand new 2019 truck that had less than 100 miles on it, no issues the whole trip, easy pick up and quick return. I was quite satisfied with the experience and even told my wife that I'd consider paying a bit more for Penske if we need to rent a moving truck again.

About a month rolls by and I'm looking through my bank statement and see a $40.20 charge from Penske pending... no notification whatsoever, if I had not scanned my bank account I would have not known Penske tacked on an additional charge. After navigating their automated customer service number and explaining the charge, I'm told it's a toll charge they received from the time during my rental. I'm 100% confident I did not pass through any tolls, I intentionally looked up the route I was to take before I made the trip, no tolls. My wife followed behind me on the same route during the move, no tolls were charged to our personal vehicle. In California I traveled a small section of the I15, CA94 and mostly eastbound on the I8... no tolls. Arizona and New Mexico have no tolls within either state. Texas I traveled east on the I10 across most of the state, then the 290 east to I35 north until the 290 east picks up again, I get off on the last exit before the 290 toll begins after the intersection with the 183. My new apartment is off this exit and explicitly remember thinking about how it was nice to be avoiding the tollway right at my journey's end. I ran the Penske truck's plate through the Texas site that tracks all pass through tolls, no records of a toll with that plate. I run our personal vehicles plates through the same Texas site, no records of toll charges.

I explain this to the rep, who informs me that I need to speak with the 'citations department', gives me a number. That number goes to another company and an automated messages asks for a parties extension and NOTHING follows, just silence... tried pushing 0 for operator and other numbers and NOTHING. I call back to the customer service number, they transfer me to the same number with the same dead end message. I call back to the customer service a third time, getting upset at this point. The representative is empathetic and transfers me to the 'Austin Division' as this is where I turned in my rental. I get a guy who seems genuinely baffled that my call was transferred to him, he asks me for the invoice number of the charge and I explain that I received none it was just pulled automatically from my bank account. I explain further that I don't believe I passed through any tolls and went into detail with what I described above and asked to be sent verification of the charge from whichever state it was supposedly from. He claims he can't see that or access that, though he can see the additional charge on my account. He doesn't know who would be able to do that for me. I'm feeling pretty taken advantage of by this point, as I did a little internet research before my calls and found I'm not the only person that this has happened. The Austin division representative admits there may have been a mistake, another renter may have passed a toll and it was mistaken for my rental period, though he is unsure about this. After a little further back and forth, I can sense he is tired of my now angry banter and reluctantly agrees to refund the $40.20 back to my card on file. He takes my email and says he will send a receipt. This was about 6 hours ago and I still have not received any email. I'm currently giving him the benefit of the doubt as a charge back to a debit card can take several business days. We will see.

This whole experience of dealing with Penske customer service reps that can provide no customer service, can't access toll billing files to verify for the doubting customer and generally just given the runaround on a unverifiable automatic charge just ruined all good will I had for the company. I have rented from 'the other' big name moving company on several occasions for local use and once for a move from college in Iowa City, IA to Chicago, Il and had 0 issues on the many times I've used them. I'll be going back even if Penske has the better deal, this B.S. charge and how I had to fight to get it removed is just shady and apparently I'm not the first.

Penske You had a new customer and you killed a new customer.

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Deceit
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS -- I have rented Penske trucks for the past year with my business. I was renting about 4 per month. Now I'll NEVER rent one again. I switched to them from Ryder because Ryder always charged my card (after the fact) for various unknown fees. This was every time and I got tired of it.

Penske told me I could pay cash if I left a $150 deposit. For the first few months, this is what I did and it worked out great. I ALWAYS got the deposit back and usually more because we always overestimated on our mileage.
So my representative told me not to worry with the deposit. I was a faithful customer and it was extra paperwork for him.

But ONE DAY, my husband went for the truck and used a card because he didn't have the cash. A few months later, sure enough, a charge is removed from my account by Penske. When I inquirer, they tried to say my driver blew a toll A YEAR AGO in a city we'd NEVER done business in. They were just waiting for a way to charge me. But my local guy knows exactly where I am and I had continued renting trucks from them about every other week. Why couldn't they mention it then? They never contacted me! I called corporate and they agreed it shouldn't have been done in this manner, and certainly not a year later. So they credited me.

Apparently, Carrie, at the Arkansas division didn't like that. I was ON MY WAY to pick up 3 trucks WITH MY MEN in the van ready to go and she has her worker call to tell me I have to now put up a $1000 deposit PER TRUCK from now on!

I had to delay my trip and use another company. I called 14 people that day at Penske and ALL of them agreed that it was wrong, particularly with a good customer. But no one was willing to go against her. And of course, she would never get on the phone and talk for herself. So Penske lost a good customer and I'm using Budget now.

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Biohazard Truck
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

READING, MISSOURI -- I reserved two trucks. One of the reservations got lost but they were able to get a truck from another location. When I picked up the second truck I noticed it was dirty. At the time I thought it was from someone hauling tires. I wasn't happy but I needed the truck.

I loaded the "clean" truck first then I loaded the "dirty" truck. By this time it was almost dark I had to use the cargo light to see. I paid no intention to the condition of the truck and the spots I thought were from tires. I loaded in Missouri and took it to New Mexico. I unloaded the "dirty" truck in the morning as the sun was coming up and noticed a blood stain after unloading a few feet of the 26' truck. The first spot was nothing compared the rest of the truck. The truck literally looked like a massacre happened on it.

After I had the truck completely unloaded I drove it straight to the drop off which happened to be a corporate location and went in asking for a manager. I told the manager that he needed to come out and look at the back of this truck and he did. He had a loss for words but ended up taking some pictures. We went back inside and he asked me when the truck was due back. I told him "tomorrow" then he said it would be taken care of then. I was flabbergasted. I thought he would call the police or at least get me out of the rolling crime scene but he didn't.

Since then, I have spent the last six months trying to figure out what I was exposed to. I have been sent two lab reports that they claimed to have done on the truck (again no police). The first lab report had a date discrepancy so I called and got another copy of the report. This time the conclusions were different and that report had a date discrepancy also. I believe both reports to have been falsified. I have spent the last six months wondering if I contracted something from this biohazard.

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Terrible Experience
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

I am not typically one to leave comments/reviews but if it helps someone else not waste their time and money I am all for. Please DO NOT waste your money on this service! I recently moved across country and had the worst experience with Penske. When I arrived to pick up my truck, the representative was completely unorganized and could not locate my car dolly and lifting dolly. After an hour he informed me that I would not be able to get a lift dolly even though they already charged me for it! I had to call a customer service number just for a refund and will not receive this for another 7-10 business days... seriously???

Through my drive up I had to stop in the middle of nowhere because my car was coming off of the dolly! The representative that showed me how to attach it clearly did not know what he was doing and I ended up with a dent on the side of my car because it was not installed properly. I called roadside assistance, where Bernie told me that the assistance would arrive no later than 16 minutes. After 20 minutes had gone by, I spoke to Neshelle what said it would actually be an hour and a half before anyone came out to help. Her excuse was that there was a “lack of communication”. I will never use this company again and strongly discourage anyone that is considering.

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Penske Charged Me Over 4000 Dollars More and Nobody Can Explain Why
StarStarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 2/51

NAPERVILLE, ILLINOIS -- I rented 4 semi-truck from the division in Romeoville, IL. I have been charged 4000 dollars more than suppose to. I emailed and called there multiple times and I was not able to get an answer why. I was not even able to get all the receipts for the charges that they made so that maybe I can figure out why the extra charges. We are talking about 20000 dollars total charges and their employees are not able to give me any straight answers. I am very disappointed in their customer service. They are trying their best to attract your business but when you have a problem they ran away. It is ridiculous.

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Penske Appears to Understand the Importance of Good Customer Service
StarStarStarStarStarBy -
Rating: 5/51

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- I actually had some difficulty believing the customer service I was provided by the folks at Penske truck rental. I have moved numerous times, so my choice of moving truck rental companies was based primarily on cost rather than on an expectation that the move would be anything but a tedious, unpleasant experience with a truck rental company that was primarily, if not exclusively, focused on making money and not on trying to make stressful moving less stressful. My choice of Penske was based primarily on cost, but in the future I would choose Penske regardless of cost competitiveness, because of the superb customer service I was provided.

I rented a Penske truck to move my daughter's household belongings from Houston, TX to Seattle, WA, a 2400 mile trip. Because my daughter lived in a small apartment and her belongings weren't very extensive, I requested a 16' truck. Penske told me that their 16' trucks didn't have either cruise control or CD players. I knew I wasn't going to drive 2400 miles without cruise control, so I had to take a 22' truck instead. The 22' truck had a diesel engine and an automatic transmission.

The trip from Houston to just outside Cheyenne, WY went fine until I stopped for a bite to eat and was unable to restart the truck. I was on a tight schedule with an unloading crew scheduled to unload the truck on the following Saturday in Seattle. The unloading crew didn't work on Sunday, so if I missed them on Saturday, we wouldn't have been able to have the truck unloaded until Monday which would have meant two nights in a Seattle hotel (and they are all pricey).

I called Penske road service and they said they would send out assistance as soon as possible. It took an hour for the diesel mechanic to arrive, but once he arrived he identified the problem very quickly - a faulty starter. He managed to get the starter to crank the engine but said he did so only by hitting it with his wrench and that it might not restart if it was turned off again. He called Penske and told them the situation. The mechanic said he thought it might well have been a one time quirk and that it might start just fine but that he couldn't promise.

He said the safest option would be to stay overnight in Cheyenne (it was after 6:00 p.m. when this happened) so that he could order the part and install it the next day. This wasn't a good option for me at all because it would have meant missing our date with the unloading crew. After listening to my tale of woe the mechanic said that if he was in my situation he would take a chance and go ahead and drive the truck.

He said his experience as an independent vendor with Penske is that they will do anything necessary to get their trucks and customers back on the road. I was torn because I was pressed for time but also was nervous about the possibility of turning the engine off in some distant location and having to wait even longer to get a Penske repair service to address the problem.

After speaking with the Penske folks and telling them of my situation, Penske said they would obviously abide by my wishes and pay for either option I chose. But they suggested that I go ahead and drive to Laramie where I had hotel reservations and that if the truck didn't start right up when I turned it off in the Laramie hotel parking lot Penske would send a repair person immediately and would alert their Laramie vendor that they might need to meet me in Laramie at my hotel. I decided to take the latter option.

I didn't have to turn the truck engine off before Laramie and made it to my hotel without further incident. When I arrived in Laramie and stopped in the parking lot, I cranked up the truck and it started right up. However, I still didn't have a lot of confidence it would start up again when I was ready to depart the following day. I while later a Penske representative called me on my mobile phone to inquire as to whether I had made it to Laramie. I assured them I had, and they said they would be ready to provide me with support as quickly as possible if the truck didn't start the next day.

That was only of modest comfort because I feared that if the truck didn't start the Penske service people would have to remove and replace the starter once they had located one (the truck was an International the parts for which aren't always that easy to locate). I had no idea how long that would take.

About an hour later, it was about 10:00 p.m. by then, a Penske representative called me again on my mobile phone and said they had decided that they didn't want to take any chances that my trip might be delayed, so they had already located a starter for the truck and that Penske was sending a team with the part to Laramie from Aurora, CO to replace the starter during the night. The Penske representative said that since I would understandably be in bed by the time the mechanics arrived from Colorado they asked that I leave the truck key with the front desk attendant so they could do the repair without disturbing me.

I was very surprised and delighted that Penske was going to make such an effort and, of course, left the truck key with the front desk and went to bed. I was awakened in my hotel room by a phone call from Penske at 1:30 a.m. The Penske representative explained to me that the mechanics had arrived from Aurora and had started up the truck over 20 times and that it never failed to start. As a result, the mechanics called into Penske and suggested that the starter didn't need to be changed (they agreed with the Cheyenne diesel mechanic that it must have been a fluke of some sort).

The Penske representative said that I should feel confident that the truck would start as necessary and that I should proceed with my trip. The Penske representative again promised to quickly respond if I had any more problems with it. I, of course, thanked Penske for going above and beyond anything I could have expected. The next morning the truck cranked as predicted and continued to do so all the way to Seattle. I arrived in time for the unloading crew to do their thing and the move-in went without a hitch.

I write product, service, and other reviews frequently and do not hesitate to complain or criticize when either is due and deserved. Likewise, I try to be as diligent in writing complimentary reviews when they are due and deserved. Penske certainly deserves some major kudos for going out of their way to keep me on the road.

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Beware of Hidden Policies and Expect Deceit-
By -

KEENE, NEW HAMPSHIRE -- Below is the review I wrote on 10/3/2010. On 10/11/2010, I received a call from Penske in Denver offering to refund $200 for the time that I overbooked. Perhaps it was the review(s) or perhaps the complaint to Customer Service finally found its way to someone who was sympathetic, but I graciously accepted. I found many positive reviews for Penske truck rentals when deciding who to use: Penske, U-Haul or Budget in relocating from NH to Colorado. I obtained a quote over the internet for a 16' truck and car carrier and found like most, Penske seemed to be the lowest of the three truck suppliers. With the good reviews, pricing made the decision.

I didn't know how long it would take to drive the truck and trailer to Colorado, because speeds would be low with the loaded weight and trailer, so I requested the truck for 10 days. The language in the Penske contract is very specific about the monetary penalties for returning a truck late. Naively, I felt I could obtain a refund for days not used as it's always done at Hertz, Avis or any of the car rental agencies. I even mentioned to two rental agents at the time I picked up the truck, that I expected I to get a refund for time not used, if I made better time than estimated for the trip. Neither agent said anything to the contrary.

There is nothing mentioned in the Penske contract about an early return of a rental, only penalties for late return. When I arrived in Colorado 4 days early, I was told it's not Penske's policy to refund money for an early return. I did receive my $100 deposit back, which also was not something mentioned in the quotation. Later, in studying the contract, the deposit should have only been taken for a cash or check payment; mine was with a credit card.

The only place I was able to find anything that said there are no refunds for early returns was in an obscure FAQ on the Penske website. It seems obvious the two Penske agents in NH should have told me I would never receive a refund. My naive decision cost us $300-400 in unnecessary charges. I wrote a complaint to Penske Customer Service which they didn't bother to answer.

My advice would be to never use Penske. The trip cost us more than either of the other two truck renters and the ABS brakes didn't work properly on the truck. Unfortunately for us, since this happened, we've found there's ample evidence in negative reviews of Penske on the net that show they deal shoddily and deceitfully with customers.

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Hidden Fees
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

KENNETH CITY, FLORIDA -- I was shopping around to find a truck rental that best fit my needs. I was contacted by Penske and offered a $100.00 if I reserved that day. I was told the truck would be 595.00 and 20.00 for a dolly. A few days before the pick up they call haggle me over adding insurance for 119.00 or so. I was also given misinformation on billing and was told they would bill the card on file. Upon one of our conversations I was told they didn't have the ability to do that and the card holder needed to be present. It was my card and my husband was traveling to get the truck. We dodged a complete lie on their behalf, because I happened to question it myself.

When the day came to get the truck they tacked on 51.00 additional dollars for taxes which I don't mind and understand paying, I do however think that should have been in the total I was originally given. When I contacted their customer service they were rude unhelpful and said it is up to the customer to inquire about additional fees??? I am very displeased with this company. It is shady, they have no people skills and yes I did expect the extra 51.00 to be returned to me... I was given false information... I don't know if it will do anything but I am contacting the Better Business Bureau. I will not ever use them again. Nor would I tell anyone else to use them...

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Nice truck
By -

I rented a Penske truck recently and was quite happy with it. It had a nice comfortable ride, and was very quiet for a moving truck. It had a really nice holder for cups, blue-tooth ear piece, etc., which may not sound important in the grand scheme of things, but once you get out on the road, it's a really nice thing to have. It also had a nice engine, which meant I could at least go 50 mph or so up hills, although the truck wasn't jammed full of stuff - it was from a 1 bedroom apartment.

I was much happier with this truck than trucks I've rented from other companies.

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Penske Truck Rental
By -

PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON -- In mid April 2005 my son and I rented a 15 foot Penske truck that was driven from northwest Washington state to Eastern Oklahoma, over 2100 miles with no problems. The truck was clean and low mileage and had plenty of horsepower for the mountains. Unlike some truck rentals I have used, the truck did not sway from the weight of
the load or high wind conditions. The truck was available at the scheduled time for pickup and the personnel at both the pickup and return sites were professional and helpful. There were no HIDDEN charges connected to this rental and we were very satisfied. I would recommend Penske Truck Rental..

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Penske Truck Rental Rating:
Star Half star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.7 out of 5, based on 7 ratings and
13 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Penske Truck Rental
2675 Morgantown Rd
Reading, PA 19607
1-888-996-5415 (ph)
www.pensketruckrental.com
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