Uhaul Story

I’m sorry, I really tried (updated) U Haul

Hit or Miss: Two recent experiences with U Haul (Updated) U Haul U-Haul seems to have a bad rap these days, but it is also still the company that many of us turn to when we need to move, because frankly, y...

UPDATE:

A follow-up to my original opinion appears at the bottom.

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I’m one of those people that believes in balance, and tends to seek out the same. In reviewing any product or service, I like to present both the good and bad points, and let readers decide for themselves.

But U-Haul really, really sucks.

I’m sorry, but I just can’t find anything positive to say about this company, their employees and agents, their equipment, or anything else that really matters. Even the "America’s Moving Adventure" graphics on their trucks are annoying.

The only real benefit to these mobile eyesores is that they can help highway emergency personnel to pick out your personal moving misadventure truck from the other ones broken down on the side of the road: "No, we’re not the ‘Connecticut Fisherman’, we’re the ‘New Jersey Vegetable Farmers’, right up the road from the ‘California Koala Bears’.

And chances are, your personal U-Haul will break down. The U-Haul fleet is not aging gracefully, and most of their trucks look and drive as though they have been ‘rode hard and put up wet’. Repeatedly. You wouldn’t want to take a chance at flying cross-country in an airplane as poorly maintained as one of these beauties, so why would you even think about loading up literally everything you own and taking a chance on a truck that should be rusting quietly in a junkyard somewhere?

The bigger problem is the people you have to deal with. Most U-Haul locations are independent dealers. They are assigned U-Haul equipment from the national pool and have no involvement with or accountability for the junk they rent. Many of them run their U-Haul dealership as a sideline to their regular business, whether it’s muffler repair, tent and party rental, or a liquor store.

Nope, I’m not kidding: http://www.vicinity.com/uhaul/startprx.hm?FAM=uhaul&SEC=geoprx&CMD=GEOFIND&AD2=&AD3=94112

In spite of the diversity of their backgrounds, U-Haul ‘customer service’ personnel seem to at least have a fairly uniform attitude towards their customers: "I’m sorry, but I just can’t be bothered with your pitiful problems right now."

After multiple bad experiences at multiple locations over several years (at least they are consistent), I don’t understand why I keep going back for more abuse. But there I was today, trying to rent a U-Haul, this time for an in-town move. The independent U-Haul dealer who I happen to be unfortunate enough to work near made it very clear that my interest in renting a truck two days into the future was a very inconvenient proposition for him.

It took me a while to decipher his grunt-like speech patterns, but I eventually determined that he didn’t really want the hassle of people (aka customers) trying to reserve trucks in advance, and instead preferred that I rent what he had on hand at that very moment, or check back on the day I wanted a truck to see if he just happened to have one available then.

Like the demanding, rude, pushy and unreasonable customer I am, I explained that I needed to make ‘plans’ ahead of time to rent the truck, and that I needed to be able to ‘depend’ on the truck being available on the day that I ‘planned’. It was obvious that these concepts were foreign to this man, but by speaking slowly and waving my hands about for emphasis, he finally seemed to understand.

It will be interesting to see if the truck is actually there when I go to pick it up. But that’s another chapter in "America’s Moving Adventure."

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UPDATE:

Well, I should have known better.

Surprisingly, the truck was ready for me when I went to pick it up. It seemed strange that the engine was idling as the truck sat in the parking lot - the U-Haul dealer I used is not in the best neighborhood. But I was so happy to have the truck that I didn’t give it a second thought.

Until a few hours later, that is. Once the truck was loaded and I was ready to go, it wouldn’t start!

I called the U-Haul hotline and found the personnel there to be pleasant but unhelpful. After several phone calls over a period of about 90 minutes, the truck finally decided to start.

At my destination, I left the engine idling while unloading, fearing that if I turned it off again, I would be faced with the same problem. The truck continued running, and I finally returned it, although several hours later than I had originally intended.

I’ve learned my lesson, and I won’t rent from U-Haul again.

Tags: muffler, party rental