Universal Truck Rental Consumer Reviews - Page 2

EDMONTON ALBERTA -- Moved from Fort Saskatchewan to Vancouver Island. Great experience. Saved over $3000 using this company, wow.

CALGARY -- "Without Prejudice" - When deciding to move provinces I made the standard phone calls to companies with trucks for rent, as my family is a 3 person family (Myself, Husband and little girl) my main concern was that there was enough seat belts to accommodate us.

I stumbled upon Universal Truck Rental and gave them a call, during the initial quoting phase I advised the agent that I needed 3 seats to which she replied that in order to get that I would need to get a 24' straight truck as the smaller model does not have 3 seats despite the fact that this truck was too big for my move I was willing to eat the cost as I was the one with the need for the 3rd seat.

After checking with other companies I found it standard that the bigger trucks had more seats and after doing my homework (checking websites, and making calls) I decided to book with universal as I was GUARANTEED I would have a 3rd seat along with the website stating that truck specifications also said 3 seats.

I was advised to make a reservation with an additional company so as not to be left stranded if they could not get me a truck, so I made the second reservation and a few days later I was told I had a truck and AGAIN I asked the agent if there was a 3rd seat and I was again told yes. (Not once was I advised it was a possibility there would be no 3rd seat.)

I was sent an e-mail with my rate quote, and all the info I needed but when the time came to collect the moving truck we arrived and there was ONLY 2 seats, I called the company immediately to sort out the problem and I was greeted by an agent who argued with me that the truck did in fact have 3 seats and apparently I was blind! After arguing for a few minutes I told her I could send her a picture to which she replied "OK maybe there is no 3rd seat", I immediately advised her that without the 3rd seat this truck was useless to me and she then advised me...

SASKATOON -- I totally agree with another review in my3cents.com about the Universal truck rental. "When we first reserved with Universal Truck Rental the staff was efficient... It was a surprise when the service charge was added to my credit card.... From that point the representative was the most arrogant, rude service person I ever have the misfortune to encounter. He had access to my credit card, and a huge sense of entitlement. Our experience was a mixed one, we had a truck that did not start properly and one representative who has not been trained to deal with people." That is so true.

The company and service person is the worst company and worst person I have ever met. I had almost the same experience. I moved on Jan. 31, 2011 from 2KM away. When I made the reserve, I called the service person, he told me that there will not be a cold start problem. But when the truck cannot be started, I called for the emergency help. I was waiting outside the cold weather of -31 degree for 4 hours until somebody came to boast the truck, but boasting didn't work. So a towing company came and tried to tow the truck back to the company location. He didn't care about what I going to do. At that time, all my stuffs were in the truck.

So I decided to ask the towing company to tow the truck to my new place, which is only 2 KM away. I paid 40 dollar to the towing company for towing to my new place. However, when the bill comes, I found that I have to pay another 270 dollars for this sucking moving. When I asked the details of the bill, the guy even threatened me that he will charge me $25 for any more email and phone. In conclusion, this is the worst service I have ever met.

CANADA -- Seriously, I do not understand all the bad reviews! I booked this truck on the phone, the woman I spoke to, Shauna, was as friendly, helpful, and polite as can be. The price was great. She really helped me to keep the cost down, and it was all smooth. When I read all the terrible reviews I called and spoke directly to the owner, Steve. He answers the phone. Anyone who says they can't reach him sure isn't trying very hard. I expressed my concerns based on the reviews, and he did his best to put my fears to rest.

Over the next two weeks I must have called Shauna at least 4 times changing the reservation - pick up day, pick up time, drop off location even! Every time we spoke Shauna was again super friendly and helpful. She would have been within her right to start getting annoyed at me! But she didn't.

When I picked up the truck it was in great shape. My only complaint was the engine was running when I got there. I was 1/2 hour late arriving, which means 1/2 hour of gas burned and emissions released. I didn't love that. But otherwise the truck was great. No problems at all. The inside was clean - not Mr. Clean clean, but who the hell expects that!

I had no mechanical issues. The ramp design is bad - you need a second person to hold the catch out of the way when you push it back in. The door in the cab rattles like mad. And their gas policy is ridiculous. In order to make sure I have NO empty space in the gas tank, it went to overflowing both times! A bit too much. But that is minor.

Overall I had a great experience, and I would definitely use them again! Don't be scared by these other reviews. I had a small business. I know how easy it is to anonymously slam someone. It's a power trip, and often what's written is not even true. So try these folks out. I was happy I did, and it saved me a lot of money!

TORONTO -- I tried to rent a truck for Easter weekend 2013. It was a terrible experience. The previous renter did not leave the keys in the truck, as explained in every possible communication with the company. I arrived to pick up my truck at 9 am, and found there were no keys. This is not the company's fault, but no one at the company was working on a Saturday (somehow), so I had to call the emergency line.

It took the emergency line over 2 hours to get a hold of someone to come with another set of keys, and by the time I had tracked down a U-haul van in another city to rent. Because we were basically 3 hours behind schedule, we did not make it to the Goodwill location where we were dropping off our vanful of stuff in time, and had to call my uncle to store it at his place.

The fun really started when I contacted the company, explained what happened, and asked them to credit me a truck for a couple of hours so I could move the stuff I dropped off at my uncle's. They waived the rental fee but still charged me for kilometers and insurance. When I got the bill they had charged me an additional 75 dollars because my dad (who moved the items in the truck, since I had moved to another city) apparently had not refilled the truck (which the manager, whom he talked to when he picked up and dropped off the truck, did not explain to him).

My dad went 22 kilometers, and he says the needle hadn't even moved from when he picked it up and dropped it off. When I called to complain, reminding them that the only reason I had needed the truck the second time was because of the debacle the first time, they refused to waive either the admin fee or the fuel charge. They were unbelievably unhelpful, and I cannot stress enough to NOT rent from this company. It was by far the worst moving experience and customer service experience I have ever had the displeasure of being a part of. DO NOT RENT FROM HERE.

CANADA -- We rented a moving truck from Universal in March to move some things to BC. We showed up at 9 am when we were told the truck would be waiting for us. It wasn't there. No one was around and no one answered any of the phone numbers we had. The truck finally showed up - late. The guy jumped out, said he just drove from Calgary to get it to us "on time" and then handed over the keys. Inside, the cab was covered in dog food. We had to clean it out just to be able to drive it. Even though we returned it far cleaner than the condition we received it, we were charged a cleaning fee.

We moved the things we needed to, and then had to return the truck the evening before it was due to be returned. The place we were told to return it to had open drug deals occurring in the parking lot we were to return the truck to - and, according to the instructions, we had to leave this truck there with the keys in it! There was no room in the parking lot to actually get the truck in there anyway (it was full of drug dealers and users), so the truck was parked on the street.

We called the next day to make sure everything was OK and there were no issues with the return of the truck. We were told everything was fine. A week later, we received an email saying they couldn't find the keys. Even though they already told us everything was fine with the return of the truck. For the week they didn't contact us after we returned the truck, they charged us for the parking tickets!

I would never recommend this company to anyone. The service is horrible. They are difficult to get a hold of, and when you do manage to speak with someone, they're rude and have no desire to listen to what you're saying. They will do anything to charge more on your credit card.

SASKATOON -- I am not sure about anyone else but when I am moving across the country I would like to be assured that I indeed will have a truck. I called and booked a truck a month in advance, yet I had to wait until up to 24 hours before I was scheduled to pick up the truck to find out whether or not they will actually have it. Moving across the country is stressful enough.

I strongly suggest to anyone reading this that you spend a little extra and rent from a REPUTABLE company and make sure that you WILL HAVE A VEHICLE on moving day. By reputable I mean a company that has at least ONE good review online. Do your research and let all these bad reviews that you find influence your decision. However, I am sure after reading this and posting some sort of 'reason for why my truck was not there' that Steve Baty the Director of Sales and Operations for Universal Truck Rental, Moving & Storage will spend some time online writing up a few good reviews instead of trying to make sure that customers vehicles will be there.