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U-Haul Truck Rentals Consumer Reviews - Page 3

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U-haul Useless Roadside Assistance and un safe truck
By -

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA -- Useless Roadside Assistance and unsafe truck. On Nov 2007, I was helping my friend move to the Bay Area and told him I would drive one of the U-Haul trucks. The truck that I was assigned was old and somewhat beat up, but I assumed would be in good working order. The trucks 'check engine' light was on.

The problems started when I was traveling down the hill to I-580 when I applied the brakes and the pedal hit the floor. I pumped the brakes and the brakes and the truck slowed down just fine. As I was traveling on I-580, I heard a loud pop from the left rear of the truck. The pop was the inner left rear tire. I immediate pull off to the shoulder, where I notified my friend and U-Haul emergency roadside service.

At approximately 10:30 am I contacted the U-Haul roadside emergency service and explained to them about the flat tire and my concern with the brakes. I gave the operator my location W/B I-580 in Livermore. That stretch of I-580 is a three lane Highway posted 70 mph. The operator was polite took my cellular phone number and told me that help would be on the way.

At approx. 11:30 hrs, I re-contacted the emergency roadside assistance and was told that they were working on the problem and they would call me back. As I was standing alongside the freeway, I noticed a yellow truck about the size of the U-Haul driving towards at me at approx. 25 mph. I soon realized that the driver was looking into his side mirror and talking on a cellular phone. At the last minute the driver saw my disabled truck and swerved into the highway causing a non-injury auto accident. He could have easily hit the U-Haul or run over the two working safety triangles supplied by U-Haul. The third triangle was broken.

I believe Federal law requires three working safety triangles. After helping the people in the accident and calling Highway patrol I received a voice mail from U-Haul emergency roadside service. The operator told me that they were unable to finding anyone to help me and that they would be calling me back in 30 minutes. Time approx. 12:30 to 12:40 pm). After waiting for over 30 minutes and failing to hear from U-Haul I recontacted the road side service and asked the operator what was going on.

The operator told me that they were trying to get a hold of a supervisor who could authorize a mechanic or tow truck to help me. The operator said they were having a hard time getting in touch with an on call supervisor. I ask the operator if I could speak to her supervisor, at first she told me that he was not available then connected me after I pressed the issue.

The supervisor was polite but was unable to help me. I told the supervisor that I was concerned for my safety and if I could move the truck off of the freeway. Closest exit was approx. 1 mile down the freeway. The supervisor told me that they were doing the best they could and call back when they knew someone was en route to help me.

During the 1 o'clock hour I again recontacted U-Haul and was told that they were trying to get someone out to my location to help me and that they would call me. The operator did agree with me that the wait time was unacceptable and that she would not want to be in the same situation. The operator did advise me that if I left the truck on the freeway it would be concerned abandoned, even though I told her I had given them the location of the vehicle.

I again expressed my concerned for my safety about being on the side of the freeway with traffic driving by in excess of 70 mph. The operator told me that U-Haul was concerned for my safety and that they were doing the best they could to get someone out there to help me.

At approximately 2:14 pm I re-contacted U-Haul roadside assistance and was told that they a tow truck was en route and should arrive to my location in 90 minutes. I again asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that one was not available. Again after pressing the issue, I spoke with a supervisor who told me that the tow truck was coming from San Jose. Livermore and Pleasanton are closer to my disabled vehicle.

I again explained to the supervisor that I was concerned for my safety and had not eaten or used the restroom since 8:00 am. He was polite and apologized fort the inconvenience but told me that was the best they could do. The supervisor said they would check back within 90 minutes. At approximately 4:00 pm the tow truck arrived. The tow truck driver was unable to tow the U-Haul truck because U-Haul roadside assistance failed to tell him that the truck was loaded. After waiting for approx. 30 minutes, I was told I could drive the vehicle to the closest U-Haul. The closest U-Haul is in Livermore.

Note: U-Haul failed to call or check on my status. Upon arrival at the Livermore center and after telling them what had happened, they were more than helpful and apologized for the U-Haul roadside assistance had handled the incident. After replacing the tire and checking the brakes (low brake fluid) the supervisor told me that the Stockton U-Haul should not have let the truck leave the lot. He assured me that the truck would be taken out of service once it reached Fremont U-Haul center.

I was very disappointed in the U-haul Roadside Assistance because of the horrible way this whole situation was handled. The operators were polite but did not seem to care about my situation.

Here is what was especially upsetting:
1. The U-haul Roadside Assistance was useless and could not offer any kind of help in getting the tire replaced or me to a safer location.

  1. Having a customer wait 5 1/2 hours along the side of a busy freeway for a tire replacement or tow truck is absolutely unacceptable and shows that U-haul does not care for the safety of their customers.

  2. That U-Haul would let an unsafe vehicle leave their lot.

In the end I (Do to time constraints) was unable to help my friend unload the other two trucks. Through U-Haul overall incompetence I will never do business or recommend others to use their services.

Thank you for your anticipated assistance in resolving my problem. Please contact me at if you have any questions.

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Terrible, Just Terrible
By -

PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY -- I have had a TERRIBLE experience with UHAUL. I acquired the truck as a birthday present for my mother, to help her move to a new apartment, and believe me, she has no idea how much grief and aggravation I saved her by dealing with it myself.

I received NO call to tell me when or where to pick up or drop off my UHAUL. When I called (at 3 pm the day prior) to find out where, I was put on hold while I was at work for 25 minutes. When I finally spoke with the apathetic representative, they could not tell me when store would even open to pick up my truck, so I had to call them on my own. My truck was loaded with empty UHAUL boxes and blankets when I picked it up, which I did NOT ask or pay for. They were only in the way while I was trying to load and unload the truck.

When I attempted to return my truck, I was met by a sarcastic, and downright mean attendant who continually talked down to me and told me I would be "getting charged" for certain things. For example, he told me that the gas was low, and there would be a $30 charge plus gas for returning the truck low on gas. The readout on the dash (which is in a COMPLETELY different format than that of the readout on paper, making it IMPOSSIBLE to put the exact amount of gas in that was there when I picked up the truck) looked pretty close to my novice eye, and there was no need for him to give me an attitude.

Despite this, I told him I'd take the truck to the nearest gas station and fill it up with gas. He replied "you better hurry up, we close in 10 minutes" with a sneer. To reiterate, I was never told when the stores opened or closed. When I returned, he opened up the back of the truck, to see the 2 boxes of moving boxes and the blankets in the back of the truck. Once again, he proclaimed to me, "you're going to get charged for that". Keep in mind, that I DID NOT ask for or want the items that were in the back of the truck, nor was I charged for them initially.

Also, there was trash in the front cabin when I picked the truck up. I relayed this information to him and he came back with some sort of sarcastic response. I told him that I was NOT going to be charged for anything related to these items that I did not request. He said he'd talk to his boss and for me to call back the next morning to straighten things out, because his boss wouldn't speak with me at that time because he was "digging a hole in the back".

Further enhancing the hassle that UHAUL had ensnared me in, I attempted to call the UHAUL store the next morning, 10/1/07. Once again I was met by a rude employee who told me that "there's a line of customers out the door" and he couldn't talk to me at that point. I was told I could "try" back later. I asked him what my further obligation was at that point, and was told "nothing" and that I would get an invoice in the mail.

Today, I checked the credit card account on which I made the initial charge for the UHAUL. To my surprise, this UHAUL store had made an additional charge of $12.84 to my card, without my authorization or notification. Because of the hard time and obstinance I have been met with at this UHAUL store already, as well as the time of mine that they have wasted, I do not want to deal with them again, even if to inquire about or dispute a charge.

This was my first time using UHAUL services and will definitely be my last time using them. Once I find out what the additional charges are for, I will undoubtedly be contesting them. I suggest that the UHAUL corporation really take a look at itself and the way it does business. As of right now I will be an ADAMANT opponent of anyone (friend, family, acquaintance, business associate, passerby) using UHAUL services. I have never used another truck rental company, but I doubt that they could be any worse than UHAUL.

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Horrible Customer Service
By -

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA -- I will never as long as I live use a U-Haul truck to move any of my things around, so help me God. I was moving out of my apartment July 31 and I did not get the keys to my new place until August 1st. My only option was to get a U-Haul, load it up, let it sit overnight, and then unload it the next day.

I used the easy to use Uhaul.com website to reserve my U-Haul with no problems. It allowed me to reserve a U-HAUL for 24 hours and gave me the closest location. I put this reservation through and then called the location to see if it would be a problem to extend it from 24 hours to 48 and explained my moving situation. The guy who answered assured me this would not be a problem at all. I also at this time changed my pick up time from 8 am to 10 am and the drop off to reflect the same time change.

I arrived at U-Haul at approximately 10:15, as we all know nothing goes as planned on moving day. After standing there for several minutes while the THREE employees (one of which being the manager) chatted amongst themselves I was beginning to be annoyed. I was finally acknowledged (did I mention I was the ONLY customer in the store?) and as he was pulling up my reservations I made small talk and apologized for being a little late.

He get real short with me and was like "yeah two hours late, your reservation was for 8. You're lucky we held your truck with it being the last day of the month". I responded with, "No I had that changed to 10 because I knew I would never make it here by 8".

I am quite upset about this as you can imagine, so after I am done moving, I write a "contact us" on U-Haul's main website. I get the automated "thanks for contacting us" message telling me someone would contact me in 2 business days. 2 weeks go by, I respond to the auto message saying I still haven't heard anything from them. I get another response back apologizing and I should receive a call the next business day. It's now another week later. I have heard nothing.

I refuse to give money to a company that flat out called me a liar, didn't want to give me what I paid for, and then doesn't care enough to try to contact me. Never again U-Haul! P.S. This was the Washington Blvd. office in Pittsburgh and I believe the managers name was ** or something similar.

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UHaul Moving Truck
By -

CALIFORNIA -- On Sat., March 3, 2007 every available friend and family member were gathered in Elk Grove, California (moving from) and in Redwood City, California (moving to). We met at 7 a.m. and by 10 a.m. our U-haul truck was packed and ready to roll. The master plan was that all were to meet in Redwood City at 1 p.m. to unpack, put together furniture, two sheds, and various other items that a family with three children would typically be moving.

At approximately 10 a.m, we realized there was a leak in one of the tires. We tested the tire, knew that it was a leak in the sidewall and that we needed a new tire. We began calling U-haul's phone no. on the contract sometime before 10:30. We were placed on hold for a long time and were eventually given the “road service number.” (Counting all of our calls to U-Haul, I would estimate our total accumulative time on hold was approximately two hours).

When we were finally connected with road service, we explained that the problem was definitely a hole in the tire side rim and that we needed a new tire. We were parked at our residence in Elk Grove with a fully loaded truck. The estimated waiting time for service was 1 hour and 40 minutes. Since we all had AAA, we asked if we could call them and go buy a tire and be reimbursed. U-Haul's response was “Absolutely Not. We could not do this because 1. We would not be reimbursed for the tire and; 2. All of U-hauls liability insurance would no longer be in effect; we would be moving with an “uninsured vehicle.”

We made a status call (and of course experienced long waiting on hold) and were assured that the 1 hr. 40 minutes was still the ETA & they would be there soon. When the ETA was exceeded by 15 minutes, another status call was made (again long hold time). We were told it would be a matter of a few minutes. When the ETA was exceeded by 35 minutes, we were told that the service call work order had been lost and that now the ETA would be another 1 hr. and 40 minutes. At this point we tried to go back to the original contract phone number, hoping someone in management could assist with our grave situation.

I cannot even tell you how many times we were on hold and just transferred over & over & eventually back to the road service dispatcher, who started arguing with us about the original time we had called. At 3:25 p.m. the service technician finally showed up and 5 minutes after that the Goodyear (the one with the original service order) showed up also. It was 3:45 by the time we were able to leave Elk Grove. All of the people who were going to help with the unload had to leave. The person that was going to assembly our sheds had to leave. Everyone had a Sunday commitment. We ended up hiring people to help us unload and put together sheds.

Finally, today (Tue., 3/6) we were able to get the last shed completely assembled. Until then, all of our things were out in the yard. Had it rained we would have been contacting you for reimbursement for ruined goods. As we indicated when we returned the truck, we have no intention of paying U-Haul because of the horrible way this whole situation was handled.

Here is what was especially disconcerting: 1. that no one could offer any kind of leverage (management) in helping us deal with getting the tire replaced; 2. The fact that there are so few people available on the weekend (when you have the most customers) to answer calls that we had to be left on hold for so long; 3. This was a known condition with a known solution. It wasn't something that a mechanic had to guess at or fix or anything.

Being in the business of renting trucks and trailers, one would assume that a changed tire is a fairly easy situation. To make the customer wait 5 hours for a simple tire replacement is absolutely unacceptable and shows that U-Haul is in serious trouble with their service policies. I trust that you won't fight crediting us the $133.62 the cost of the truck. Seriously, if there is a problem with this, then we are going to pursue U-haul's reimbursing us for the cost of labor we incurred because of the improper handling of our move.

If there are managers or owners at some level concerned with U-Hauls total lack of customer service, please take the initiative to share our letter with them. I look forward to an immediate and positive response. Additionally, if U-Haul's web page allows for customer comments, this letter along with your responses will be posted. 3.8.07...no response to date.

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Customer Service (Or Lack-There-Of)
By -

CONCORD, CALIFORNIA -- I rented a 26' U-Haul truck from your company on Saturday, 9/2/06. I understand that this is the most popular weekend to move, but that does not excuse the customer service (or lack-there-of) that I received through every contact with U-Haul.

The men working at your Concord facility were incredibly unprofessional. Again, I realize that it is not a “professional” vocation, but felt very uncomfortable each time I was there. Employees were yelling at each other from across the room and using unfriendly and derogatory language towards each other in front of customers and over the walkie-talkies. Language and comments got so profuse and obnoxious that I had to leave the store at one point.

The multiple times I phoned the Concord store, I listened to it ring for a matter of minutes before someone picked up. I also noticed that while I was there, the phone was ringing over and over while the employees looked at each other and said “what, ya'll allergic to phones?” over and over.

In addition, I had a 2 o'clock pick-up reservation and the truck did not even enter the parking lot until after 3. What good is a reservation if it is not backed by some kind of guarantee? When I asked the customer service representative if he could give me some kind of a discount on a smaller truck (because I'd been waiting for over an hour), he was unwilling to discuss it.

I also contacted U-Haul's roadside service hotline and found the woman to be equally unenjoyable to speak with. On my way to the gas station, with just over 1/8 of a tank (it was given to me at 1/4), the truck ran out of gas and sputtered to a halt. Amanda, the roadside service technician, could not have been less helpful. She told me I was at fault because your truck gas tanks are deemed empty at 1/8 tank. I was not told this when I rented the truck, nor was it anywhere in the multiple manuals/brochures that were given to me. Is this statement even valid? The truck ended up working fine after I called my AAA service and they brought gas.

Additionally, Amanda stated that we'd have to pay to have it towed to your Livermore store and then pay to have the vehicle serviced. I paid $14.95 for “safety insurance” on the truck; if the insurance does not cover an incident like this, what does it cover? The truck is a model from 1989 and it shows. Even the tow-truck driver could not believe its state of total disrepair and stated several times that he couldn't believe your company still rents it out.

Overall, I am completely disappointed in U-Haul in every aspect. Myself, nor my fiancé, will ever use your company's services again. I will also advise my friends and family against using your company. My hopes are that you use this as a message about your lack of customer care, and use it to improve your business.

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U-HAUL SHOULD NOT BE IN BUSINESS
By -

NORCROSS, GEORGIA -- I made a reservation for a truck through the website and I got a confirmation e-mail from this location asking me to call back and confirm my pick time. I called back and spoke with betty who asked for my reservation no. She confirmed that a truck was available for me to pick up at 9.00 am on Saturday July 29th and I could bring it back before closing time (7.00 pm. I was charged a 5.00 dollar reservation fee and the money was taken out of my account on 7/25/06).

A day or so later, I got a text message and a different e-mail message asking me to call back and confirm my reservation! But I had done that? So I called and a different person called me back saying that my reservation had been forwarded to them by Betty but unfortunately, they did not have any trucks! They referred me to the district office where I spoke with Chante' but she could not help me.

A district manager came on the phone (Charlotte) and asked me to call the location since she could not help me! She told me that they were not in the business of threats when I asked her for her information as I needed to report this to the bbb. She said and I quote "we are not in the business of threats, that will not get you a truck" we are in the trucking business".

To add insult to injury, she reminded me that I had only spoken to the employee and not the manager a Mr. Ron **. I asked if there was a way she could refer me to another location and her response was that there were 50 other people on a wait list and she would be more than happy to add my name on it. I explained to her that my hands were tied but she did not care at all. She explained that she had a lot of work to do, proceeded to wish me a nice day and hung up the phone.

I called Mr.** who questioned why the district manager had referred me to him. He said that he did not have any trucks and if I needed one, I would have to pick it up right away. I explained to him I was at work and his response to me was "just tell them that you are sick" do what you have to do! He also proceeded to give me alternative time - 4.00 pm the following day! I told him that I had to be out of my apartment by 9.00 am and he said, "That's all I have and I cannot help you for another 2 weeks!" Well, that was the point of my reservation and confirmation of a pickup time! He then said "Ma'am I have a lot of people waiting and I do not have time to listen to your breath. I have to place you on hold."

I just burst in to tears. I could not believe this was happening to me. So I went back to the website, printed out a list of U-Haul locations and called each and everyone of them until I was able to find a truck. This is false advertising, and fraud. You do not do that to people, you just don't. If you get a confirmation for a truck and a time to pick it up, there should be a truck available. I am so upset and humiliated by what I have gone through with u-haul and I pray that no-one has to go through this again.

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Service Sucks!
By -

CALIFORNIA -- I am writing to file a complaint with U-Haul, to let you know that I am disappointed with my experience with your company on my last move. I am so disappointed in your reservation process and customer service, in particular with the regional manager I spoke with, that I never intend to use U-Haul services again, and intend to explain this to everyone I contact that is planning to move.

I reserved a moving truck about a week before the move date. I reserved it for 2/13/06, and chose the 6 AM pick up time on your website. I realized at the time that the pick up location was a preference only as clearly indicated below.

Critical reservation advisements: "Before confirming your reservation, please read and check each one of the advisements below to indicate that you understand them. I understand that my pickup location is a PREFERENCE ONLY. I understand that the U-Haul regional office for WEST VALLEY CITY, UT will be in charge of my reservation. I understand that they will call me by 5 PM on the day prior to my pickup date to schedule my exact pickup location and time.

I understand that to change or cancel my reservation, I will contact U-Haul no later than the day prior to my pick up date. I understand that reservations cancelled on the day of pickup are subject to a $50 cancellation fee. I understand that U-Haul reserves the right to substitute equipment of equal or greater size at no additional charge to me."

However, as you can see above, it is not so clearly written that the pick up time is also only preference. This would not have been any problem for me had I been contacted to let me know of the change. In fact, I was told three separate times that I would receive a phone call the day before the scheduled pick up time to confirm the exact location and time. The first time was on the confirmation page after I MADE the reservation, the second time was in a confirmation e-mail, and the third time was when I called 1-800-go-uhaul on 2/11 to confirm the reservation.

I was told that I would have to wait to confirm the time and location until the following day when the regional manager would call me by 5 pm. On 2/12 at approximately 5:30, I called again to confirm the time and location. The representative told me that someone should have called and that she would have someone call me between 7-9 AM the next day - the day I had reserved the truck for. I explained to her that I was expecting to pick the truck up at 6 AM and couldn't wait until 7 or 9 AM to hear from them. She apologized and told me that I would have to wait to get that call.

The next morning I found an e-mail letting me know the pick up location had changed, and I tried to call to find out when I could pick up the truck. I called the location until 9:30 AM and could not get a hold of anyone, so I called the regional manager over the pick up location in West Valley City, Utah. As bad as I thought that the reservation process had been to this point, it was speaking with this regional manager that made me decide to never use U-Haul again.

I told the regional manager that I was upset because I had scheduled the truck for 6 AM and it was now 9:30 AM and I still had not been able to pick it up. She told me that the location opened at 9 AM and there was nothing she could do. I explained to her that I expected to pick up the truck by 6 AM since no one had told me otherwise, that I could not make the move in the day I had to do it, and asked what could be done about it.

She then accused me of trying to get something for free, and told me that it was clearly explained before I made the reservation that the pick up time is only a preference, which you can see from the pasted portion from your website above that this is not the case. I told her that it did say that the time and location would be confirmed, but since I had made the reservation a week in advance, I would have expected someone to let me know beforehand. She said that there is no location in her region that opens at 6 AM and that there is nothing she can do about it.

I asked her if I could speak to anyone else about it, but she refused to give me any information about someone else I could call. I told her that if I had known that there was no way that I could have gotten the truck at the time I reserved, I would have been able to go with someone else, but in fact no one had ever called me- not on 2/12, or on 2/13 like I was told. She asked me what I wanted her to do, and I told her that I thought that an apology and some sort of discount would be in order.

This upset her more and she told me that nothing had gone wrong. She did apologize that I did not get a call, but it was not a genuine apology- it was more like she was sorry that she had to talk to me. I asked her if she cared that she lost a customer, and that I would tell everyone I know about the horrible experience with U-Haul and she said that was my choice and she wouldn't do anything.

Is that the kind of company that U-Haul is? I have known U-Haul since I was a little kid, when my dad rented trucks and trailers. It was in fact the first name I thought of when I was planning the move. But, I think it is reasonable to expect that if you make a reservation a week in advance, the company has enough time to contact you and let you know if it will not work beforehand. By the time I was actually told that I could not get the truck when I needed it, I would have been charged $50 to cancel it.

Is that the plan? To charge people $50 for believing that you will deliver the goods they need when you have no intention of delivering? That is how it appears when the regional manager can tell me off the top of her head that no office is open at 6 AM, but she cannot call me to let me know that until it is too late. If that is not the intention then I think you need to work on the reservation process because it allows for terrible things to happen.

Furthermore, your customer service is horrible. Every person I spoke with at U-Haul was annoyed to have to deal with me, even when all I was asking for was information that I had been told to expect. I had been told repeatedly to wait for a phone call - in fact two calls on two separate days - I didn't receive even one call. This meant that the day I had planned to move was now two days off work and a night on the road.

I would expect the regional manager to do whatever she could to make me a satisfied customer. Instead she accused me of trying to get something for free - even before I asked for anything. Although I did ask for a discount later, I think it is reasonable. U-Haul knew for almost a full week when I needed the truck, and also knew that there was no way that I could pick it up at the time I reserved it on the website. Yet I was not even given the common courtesy of being told that you cannot provide that advertised service in my area. Instead I had to pick up the truck almost 4 hours later than I had scheduled.

If I brought the truck back 4 hours late, I am sure I would have to pay extra. Isn't it reasonable that I expect you be held to the same standard? The discount I was asking for was simply to cover the motel room I would have to rent overnight - probably $40. Instead I was mistreated for expecting the services you advertise on your website, and that I had been told by your representatives to expect.

I am writing you this letter out of courtesy to you so that you know how your reservation process and customer service lost you future business from me and everyone in my sphere of influence - which I might add can be surprisingly large in a services and sales business like I am in. I am not as upset with the whole process because I understand that there will be problems with anything. However, I refuse to do business with a company with such poor customer service representatives and management, and that would rather lose future business over a dissatisfied customer than to give up even just $40 of their profits.

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"Reservations", Truck Condition, Customer Service
By -

IOWA -- At the time of this writing, my boyfriend is at his mother's new apartment in Northern Iowa, unable to drive the U-Haul he rented to move her there from Des Moines. It was a very gray, cloudy day, and as safety conscious people do, he turned on the headlights for the drive there. They arrived before sundown, unloaded her furniture, and were going to a friend's for pie and coffee before he headed back to Des Moines. Well, he turned on the headlights, and, guess what? They don't work! The amber emergency lights came on, but no headlights. It is, by this time, full dark.

Well, as he fiddles with the headlight switch, the ENTIRE MECHANISM falls out of the loose panel on the dash it's sitting in. In fact, the ENTIRE DASH is loose on that side. Now, he has all the electronic guts out on the floor, the wiring had obviously just been shoved in there any old which-way, and the amber emergency lights are still ON AND THERE IS NO WAY TO TURN THEM OFF! He calls customer service - no one can even come out to look at it until 9:30 AM.

As this is a Sunday night, and 1 hr 45 min drive back, he will be missing a full day's work tomorrow. And they tell him if he fixes it himself and it messes up again, he could be charged for it!!! So he waits... They say they aren't going to charge him for the extra day, but who knows?

I'm beginning to realize how lucky I was a couple years ago when I moved back from Washington state. The customer service I experienced was bad, and the U-Haul place I supposedly "reserved" my truck with online didn't exist - I found this out after I flew from Des Moines Iowa to Seattle to pick up stuff I'd left in storage there when I moved back to Iowa. We were in Monroe, north of Seattle, at a friend's house, and since the U-Haul in Monroe didn't exist we were forced to drive almost all the way to Seattle to get the truck, and then it was a 17 ft truck, not a 14 foot truck which is what I'd reserved.

To make a long story short, I'm a small woman, and with my 10 year old son and no one else I drove that monster through mountains and across plains, and with extreme fortune, our truck was great! We actually had a good time.

I'd heard so many horror stories from my friends about being stuck in deserts with broken down trucks and from one friend who actually broke down on the side of a mountain and U-Haul wanted them to unload a house full of furniture into a new truck then and there. So I guess I got wildly lucky. We'll see how they treat my boyfriend... But even if he has a good experience, the unsafe condition of the truck he had, with no working lights, has made me VERY sure I won't take a chance on it again.

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Sub-Standard Vehicle, Incompetence by U-Haul Emergency Road Service Employees
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I left MT September 2nd, 2005 for a 2,000 mile trip to MS. I should have arrived in 3-4 days, but ended up arriving almost 10 full days after my departure due to mechanical failures and incompetent U-Haul Road Service response - also, U-Haul Road Service personnel were generally rude and always incompetent. The first night I broke down in MT and ended up staying for 3 nights before U-Haul saw fit to even notify the local dealer that I was there waiting in a local motel for repairs!

I had been told the truck was checked the day after it broke down and that a part was being ordered - the local dealer said that was a lie on the part of U-Haul because they didn't know the truck was even there until they found a note from ME! Initially U-Haul informed me that I could transload the truck by myself or else wait. Never mind I'm disabled, 55 years old and physically incapable of loading and unloading my furniture. U-Haul was aware of this.

Long story short: the truck had 155,000 miles on it and broke down every single day I drove it. Finally, I drove from St. Louis to Mississippi in second gear and going 35 mph on the interstate. No help again from U-Haul, so I was on my own. I rented U-Haul because I was under the mistaken opinion that they would take care of things should I have a road emergency involving their vehicle. Two separate U-Haul Road Service employees said, "It runs, right? It does start; so, technically you are NOT broken down. Why are you calling? What exactly do you want ME to do??" The treatment I received was shocking.

With every breakdown and every tow I waited on the road for literally hours before anyone showed up. St. Louis was the worst with an 8 hour wait in high heat and humidity. I was nauseated and quite sick by the time the tow showed up. Without fail, each time I broke down the mechanic or tow driver related they had just received the call from U-Haul w/in the hour they arrived. Without exception!

When I would call back to ask what was taking so long I was asked again and again, "Now, WHERE exactly are you again?" I finally asked if anyone was even writing this down? Why didn't anybody know where I was when I had reported the same incident time and again over the course of the day?

It was pure hell. I had 2 Greyhounds with me - older dogs, former racers. Had they NOT been w/ me I would have called 911 and gone to the hospital in St. Louis. After my request for financial reimbursement U-Haul offered a small amount - less than 50% of the trip. Under the circumstances I originally asked ONLY for compensation for the money I was out - nothing more. They seem to feel I should just be happy I made it - and go away!

Bottom line, I finally decided to find a lawyer to handle things. U-Haul's treatment of me, and others apparently, was shocking and something I will never forget. The tow drivers (not U-Haul employees) in different states related to me how poorly maintained U-Haul trucks are and how pathetic their road service is. Now I know... Next time... I'll call Ryder or anyone else.

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Misery and Hardship With U-Haul
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ORANGE AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES, CALIFORNIA -- For your most stressful and overwhelming moment = moving, hear our U-Haul story and please, please beware. Go anywhere else but U-Haul: Ryder, Budget, Penske, Avis. The extra cost of their competitors is WELL worth the grief and aggravation you will encounter with U-Haul. The 1-800 reservation is meaningless: there was no truck available at the scheduled pick up location, the second truck was broken down, the drop off location was closed at the scheduled time, and we had to drive to a second drop off location. We nearly incurred additional fees and charges for their mistakes.

11:10 am, Saturday we drove 5 miles to the 1st location to pick up a scheduled truck that was not there. 11:30 am, we were then told by 1-800 that we had to drive 15 miles further to the 2nd location to pick up the truck (note rising gas prices). 12:15 pm at the 2nd location, we waited in a long line, took 30 minutes to finalize the paperwork, and went outside to pick up the truck. 12:45 pm, my father and I left my boyfriend to drive the truck back, we needed to make up for lost packing time.

1:25 pm, fifteen minutes after getting back and resuming packing, I get a call from my boyfriend that the truck they had for him is broken down. They had no more available. We were told we had to drive to another location back in the other direction for the truck. They would not give him a ride. 1:45 pm, I had to drive 20 miles to pick him up. 2:20 pm, we drove 20 miles back to the 3rd location. 3:15 pm, after 30 more minutes filling out paperwork, and 4 hours later, we had the truck. 2:10 pm Sunday, the scheduled drop off time, we discovered the location was closed.

2:20 pm, we called the local customer service number, and the woman (Pamela) put my boyfriend on indefinite hold. 2:25 pm, I called back and she told me we had to drive 7 miles to the next location to drop the truck off. I began to express my frustration to her, and explain how we literally had no more extra time to be driving all over the place, she said I was raising my voice at her and she hung up on me.

2:35 pm, I called the national customer service number, and they said the same thing. I said we should not be billed for another day when we return the truck because it's not our fault the location was closed. She said I had to contact the local district to resolve that issue as each area is different. She would not help beyond that. She gave me another number to call. She said we must drop it off at this next location, or we would be billed for another day. 2:50 pm, we called the new number and got Pamela again, and she said we would be billed another day unless we drove it over the new location.

3:10 pm, we arrived at the 2nd drop off center, and the man behind the counter was (thankfully) very nice. 3:30 pm, he said we could be billed an extra $70 for dropping the truck off at a non-scheduled location. He said we should have left the truck at the 1st location, and put the keys in the drop off box. He did not charge us the $70. He could not understand why the customer service women we talked to told us we had to drop it off at this place.

In short, as a customer you have NO rights, expediting resolutions is not a priority, and the more you feel you need to be heard is in direct proportion to their unwillingness to listen. Our upfront registering, planning and reservation did not prevent our fiasco. U-Haul's lack of corporate/national informational organization clearly reveals their objective: to take your money when you are extremely taxed and vulnerable on your last days of moving.

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