never again U Haul

I have never received such poor service in my life. My truck wasn’t anywhere to be found, the Regional Customer Service Manager for the Chicagoland area was incredibly hostile with me on many occasions, I was charged for my *free* because of their inability to fulfill their contract and my customer service complaint letter was never acknowledged with so much as a form letter! Read on for the whole story, or at least read the part noted *VERY IMPORTANT* …

I made my reservation for a truck 17 days in advance. I was offered free since my move would be a one-way move. I took the offer, and was told that my credit card would be charged but once I picked up the truck I would get a coupon for the and my cc would be refunded. I began my a week before my move and used it to store a few smaller objects. My reservation information stated that if I had not heard from UHAUL by 24 hours before my pick-up time, I should contact them. With 20 hours to go, I made the first call. I was told that they had until 8 p.m. to call me and that at some point someone would call. That was around 1 p.m. the day before my move. At 7:45 p.m. I got a phone call from a woman telling me that there was going to be a problem with my move, and that someone would be calling me by 7:30 a.m. to discuss it. I had a one-day window in which to move out of my apartment to my new condo, due to closing restrictions and remodeling that was being done. Prior to this phone call, I had no indication that there would be any issues with my rental.

The following morning, at 8:45, having not heard a word from any UHAUL reps, I called the regional office myself and was told that they did not have a truck for me, but they would call when they did. I called back a few moments later and asked to speak with a manager, who repeated the same statement. She then told me that they were going down a list of people in the area who were in my situation, and calling them in order when trucks became available.

I visited the actual place where I was supposed to pick up my truck and was informed by the dealer why I did not have a truck. Apparently *VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE IF RENTING IN CHICAGOLAND AREA* how it works is this:

1. someone rents truck and is told where to drop it off and by when.

2. however, they can keep the truck for a penalty of money, and turn it in late.

3. when trucks ARE turned in, UHAUL method dictates that WALK-IN CUSTOMERS get first pick.

Why? Because in order for a reserved customer to get a truck, the truck information has to be entered into a computer, which is then accessed by the regional office, who then determines who should get the truck according to location and truck size. Then the reservation information is sent to the dealer’s computer, and he is able to access the reservation and fill the order for the reserved customer. BUT, if walk-in is present, dealer DOES NOT enter truck back in and walk in gets truck for higher price.

Lovely, ain’t it?

The dealer I spoke to agreed to hold the next truck he got specifically for me, and gave me instructions to give to the Regional Office. He gave me his location number and told me to ask the manager to send him my reservation information so I could have the next truck. I called the office back and got the manager again, who was at this point answering incoming phonecalls (?). I explained to her what the dealer had told me, and asked if she would send him my information. She told me no, she would NOT do that. Then, as though to explain why, she stated quite rudely that I had called too much and I could either stay on hold until they found a truck for me or hang up the phone.

At this point, I wasn’t sure I would ever get a truck. I asked her where I was on the aforementioned list of people, to determine whether I should keep waiting for my truck. She told me there was no such list. When I reminded her that she had been the one to tell me there was such a list, she replied that there wasn’t one. I asked if she had a manager. She told me that she did not. I asked if there was someone above her that I could address a complaint letter to, and she informed me that there was no one above her in the company (!). Bummer for the VP, eh?

To shorten the tale, I ended up getting the next walk-in truck at the UHAUL dealer, and canceling my reservation. Since I had to cancel my res, I was charged full price for my *free* . And I received my truck ahead of a poor man moving from chicago to connecticut, with relatives flown in special for the occasion, who did not have his reserved truck either.

My complaint letter, sent to both the regional manager’s office and the corporate HQ was never acknowledged.

Moving is a stressful time for anyone, especially people doing it for themselves. A company that specializes in moving people should really take better care of its customers. I moved every year in college, and used Ryder every time. I will NEVER go back to UHAUL.

Tags: storage

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