Company From Hell U Haul
The Devil’s Company U Haul I will make this short because to give every detail would make it a novella. Went to pick up truck, Uhaul had a totally different name ne...
Another U Haul Nightmare U Haul I reserved a U-Haul truck for a particular location ten days in advance and had truck size, pick-up location confirmed. U-Haul's (aka U-Hel...
I selected Uhaul for my move this time because of the ease of using the website and the significantly lower price compared to Penske and Budget-rent-a-truck. However, what I found is that once I went to pick up the truck the day before I was to leave, the reservations system drastically failed to meet my expectations of providing me with a truck at a reasonable distance from my home. Then, when I decided to try them again the next day under the pressure of having to move quickly with no known alternatives, they again let me down with poor communication and unreasonable service policies. You do pay for what you get, and in this case I didnt pay anything for Uhaul except 4 hrs+ worth of gas and 4 hrs+ of phone minutes, and then the cost of a more expensive, but reliable, truck company 5 days later.
To prepare this review I wanted to first know the facts about the Uhaul’s rumored recent financial problems/ reorganization. So, when I went to their parent company, Amerco’s webiste ( http://www.amerco.com/restructuring_uhaul_customers.html ) today I thought it was ironic to see the first FAQ was, “Q: Will I still get my truck or trailer? Is my reservation still good?”
This is ironic because, with my experience last week, they have no such thing as a reservation in the first place. I made reservations over 4 days in advance. The website confirmed my reservation, and, as the website indicated, a customer service rep called me the next day to confirm it as well. I never received the promised call the day before my scheduled pick up, though I am not positive they did not do this.
Trouble 1:
However, when I went to my ‘preferred’ pickup location in Blacksburg, VA, (there are at least 8 locations in a 25 mile area) there were no trucks or trailers around. I thought I must have been in the wrong place. The woman inside said that there was no truck for me and that noone from the scheduling department had filled any reservations at that location in a few weeks. In fact, she had not rented a single truck since at least May because of her inability to guarantee its delivery to her customers. I called the regional office to inquire, though she begged me to yell at them and make demands. I did not yell, but asked him what happened, and the customer assistant told me there was a truck waiting for me in Clifton Forge, VA. I inquired where this was and after looking it up told me it was 105 miles away. I told him that was ridiculous, since it was exactly half the distance to where I was moving too, and told him to remove my $50 credit card deposit to hold the truck so I would not be charged. He was happy to do this and I soon found out why.
Trouble 2:
Noone, including Uhaul or other rental companies, had any trucks available that day or for the entire weekend in that region, the entire state of Virginia, or the entire state of North Carolina, according to the many, many people I called to find a last minute replacement. I was supposed to start a new job at my new location the following Monday. The next morning I called the Clifton Forge office (105 miles away) to see if they still had that truck left. They did, and I told him I wanted to give him my credit card number to hold the truck for me until I could drive the 2 hours to pick it up. I would make sure that Uhaul would pick up the bill for the time I drove the truck back to my start point, with my car in tow. The man at Nicely’s Gas Station told me a credit card number would not be necessary, and he promised he would hold it for me. However, when I arrived several hours later I was told that the truck was no longer available for me. This man accused me of not telling him I had cancelled my ‘reservation’, which I had done (my only mistake) so they did not charge me $50 for not wanting to drive 100 miles. I had definitely implied this to him the day before in 2 different phone calls, and most certainly implied it again when I offered a credit card to hold the truck for me again that next day.
Trouble 2a:
Shortly after I entered what I will call ‘rampage mode’ (I am always a calm and reserved man) the attendant told me to call the Richmond office and talk to ‘Cookie’ about the problem. The regional office had since promised the truck to some other person, and she told me a local branch employee is not allowed to make reservations, even if they already have a truck waiting.
Furthermore, she refused to help me at first and was very short because I did not have my ‘reservation’ number at hand, even though she later looked up my account with just my last name.
Since she kept avoiding the current issue of the local attendant promising me the truck, we addressed the larger issue about their system of ‘reservations’. She told me that a reservation is simply “an offer for a truck”, and that “it is up to [me] whether or not I want to take it”, regardless of the location, condition, or timing of this vehicle. I asked her if this was ridiculous or not (to her) and also if she thought that the definition of ‘offer’ was the same as that of ‘reservation’. I later wondered why it is they put a $50 deposit on a credit card if it is in fact not a reservation.
Shortly thereafter I told her she would hear from me again, and then told the local attendant he shouldn’t make promises he couldn’t make, and that, despite an apparent misunderstanding, as the employee of uhaul, he had the burden of understanding the situation since he is familiar with the process, and should provide clarity in his communication with potential customers.
In short, I recommend you never, never, never go with Uhaul for your moving needs. Their prices are cheaper because that is the only way they get any business. From the looks of the many Uhaul locations I have visited and driven by, their facilities are typically dirty and in poor condition, and the trucks appear to be old and potentially uncomfortable to drive. I am not surprised at all that this company is having financial problems, and I hope that it either sees its own demise (soon), or shapes up and makes fundamental changes that recognize the value of customers, and the massive inconvenience they put them at when they do such a poor job.
DN
PS- I found that my experience is specifically with the Virginia Regional branch of Uhaul. Though it certainly reflects upon the larger company, I cannot speak about other regional branch operations.
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Tags: rental com, trailers
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