Uhaul Story

Horror Story … even mechanics knew it was not safe to drive U Haul

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THIS IS A “BRIEF”!

The truck that was rented to us broke down (major) 3 times (minor )1 time … we were exposed to very dangerous situations - health and traffic.

Even after asking each “repair representative” to check over the truck, we were still sent on the road with a dangerous vehicle and were lucky to make it into Dartmouth with our health intact.

Our saga …

* We reserved the use of a 17′ truck, one month in advance of our cross-country-one-way move from Calgary AB to Dartmouth NS. We checked in with the Rep several times during the course of that month (as we were purchasing supplies) to see the status of the vehicle, stressing our cross country move … requesting that the vehicle have a power hook up for our cell phone etc. as we were traveling along the Trans Canada Highway.

* When we received the (one %26 only available) truck we were shocked and dismayed at the esthetic condition of the vehicle - very shabby - and were concerned at taking it across Canada. We were unable to look for other arrangements - counting on the “reputation” of UHaul - we had already rented our apartment and had only enough time to load %26 go. We were assured of the vehicle’s fitness and decided to make do with:

- headlights were not sufficient for night travel

- seatbelts did not work (we fixed)

- air conditioning did not work

- driver front windshield leaked

- passenger window leaked

- passenger window squealed en route

- doghouse was not affixed

- side window did not lock

- storage pockets on passenger door torn off

- sludge of some kind across the whole front grill

- unkempt all round

** Our first indication that this vehicle had “issues” was the doghouse. When the vehicle was in motion, hot air blew up toward the passenger area from where it should have been affixed. I tried to remedy the situation myself by taping it up with duct tape. This did not stop the force of hot air shooting at my legs and feet and I was forced to keep my feet in the door well. Although I had asked for it to be attended to, it was not.

** Our first major breakdown happened in Manitoba. While driving, the vehicle suddenly died … my husband armstronged it over to the shoulder and we set about with the ‘breakdown routine”

- put on emergency flashers, got out the triangles and set up as directed

- checked on the condition of the vehicle and to our horror, gas was leaking out onto the road

- called Emergency in Arizona as directed

… this was a horrifying experience in it”s self

… not only was the Rep NOT helpful, she did not know where Manitoba was (”what State is that in?”) and I was forced to explain over and over and over our location and situation - the EMERGENCY of our situation - as we were sitting in a puddle of gas, on the side of the Trans Canada (no shoulder) and were horrified by our plight. I had to spell C-A-N-A-D-A for goodness sake! (”what State is that in?”). I freaked out and asked for someone else … eventually the information got through to her and then she gave me another number to call.

… this new number gave us someone in Canada and he dispatched a tow truck

… We were on the side of the road (well away from the leaking vehicle) for 4 hours and the tow truck driver arrived. He did an inspection and told us that the fuel line had fallen off. He stuck it back on. We then discovered that the Flashers had drained the battery and another tow truck had to be called to boost the vehicle.

This new tow truck was successful in getting us on started

** Our second major breakdown also happened in Manitoba - near the Ontario border. Again, the truck died while driving. Again, my husband armstronged it over to the side of the road and we set about with the ‘breakdown routine”

- put on emergency flashers, got out the triangles and set up as directed

- checked on the condition of the vehicle and could see nothing - vehicle would not turn over

- called Emergency number from last breakdown and they were to dispatch a tow truck

- as we were sitting there waiting, a fellow stopped by to see if he could help. He lifted the hood and to his horror, identified a bunch of wires that were obviously banging against each other (I video taped this scene). He was able to tape them up and we were able to start the truck. We called Emergency to advise and told them that we could now attempt to s l o w l y move on to the closest UHaul center 15 kms away … Kenora Ontario. Our good Samaritan followed us in case we had another breakdown. We called the UHaul center in Kenora, explained our situation and that we were on our way, and were given directions … to the wrong place. We drove across town to the next center and the poor lad there did not know what to do. After a couple of hours of phone calls, we went to a hotel and left the truck with him.

- the truck was taken to the first service station … the mechanic there said that the wrong fuel relay had been installed and that he would have to go to the scrap yard to find one. Upon calling him the next day, he told us that the truck “was a nightmare” and that he was not working on it and sent it over to Ford.

- the truck was taken to Ford and we sat while they worked on it for a few days. The seemed to have fixed the wiring and replaced the relay (although of this I am unsure). I begged them to check and fix the doghouse, explaining the problem with the heat and fumes … service told me, no, that they could only fix “what it came in for” - and they removed the duct tape I used to redirect some of the blast. I asked about the fitness of the truck and was told that they could make no comment as they were contracted to UHaul, but they “wouldn”t drive it”. We spoke to UHaul Rep who told us there was no similar truck available and that my husband “better learn how to drive a 5 ton fast”. When I explained that UHaul would also have to find %26 pay for someone to load it as we did, the offer of another truck vanished and I was told to take the original vehicle as it had been “repaired”. (We paid to have labor load truck as I have a crushed disk in my back, and my husband also cannot lift great weight). I requested that Ford, or whoever, run a safety on the truck and was refused. I said I would pay for it myself and was refused (told it had to be in my name). UHaul said that we could take the truck “at our own discretion” I was very nervous of liability and I called the police who in turn were kind enough to call an off-duty Ministry of Transport employee. He could only give it a visual (not running) and told us it was okay to go if we were not choking from the fumes. As it was hot - and the air conditioning did not work - we had my window open at all times and I could not tell if my light headedness was from the fumes or stress … We felt we covered some liability basis by reporting our concerns to the Police and Department of Transport - so we continued on our trip.

** Our third major breakdown happened near Terrace Bay Ontario … the fumes were starting to become quite noticeable and my husband started to feel quite sick (his face was quite pale AND flushed). There were no shoulders on the road and we tried to get to a safe spot to pull over. As the fumes were becoming overwhelming, the truck slowed to a maximum crawl of 40 km/hr … we pulled into a deserted Inn parking lot and tried to call for assistance from our cell phone. The 800 number provided does not work from all areas! We dialed 911 and the operator could not connect either. By this time the cell battery died and we were unable to run the truck for battery (the flashers killed the battery after 20 minutes on each breakdown). I found a phone both and we were able to track down another number from the 2nd breakdown and called for assistance. The tow truck operator/mechanic arrived and did an on the spot inspection. We told him about the doghouse, the fumes and the asphyxiation issue - and he said it was probably the catalytic converter - he disabled it onsite and moved the truck back to his shop. He said the catalytic converter was completely plugged … as he did not have a catalytic converter in stock, he removed the old one and told us to drive as is and report this at the destination.

** Our fourth breakdown involved the replacement of a flat tire and is considered minor.

ALSO please note

- the 800 emergency service is not effective - not only in the way the calls are handled, but it is not available in all areas!

- the surly attitude of 99% of the UHaul folks we had to deal with is absolutely unacceptable, from online reps to the reps responsible at the Calgary and Dartmouth locations - not all Reps, but most, deserve the harshest of criticism. We purposely spoke to these Reps with kindness … as we do not shoot the messenger, but that did not seem to matter - we are usually spoken to like @#$(*(%26 ! I will give you the name of those who DID assist instead of hinder - the list is shorter.

We were mishandled from the beginning and had to rebuild this truck en route to get to our destination alive. This is the most unacceptable service I have experienced!

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Tags: storage