~~ U Haul at Your Own Risk !!! ~~ U Haul

the worst, bar none U Haul I can't risk writing the details of my experience with u haul today for fear of sinking deeper into depression and fits of anger, suffice it...

U Haul no guarantee at all! U Haul In the last three years I had to use U-Haul service two times. Poor me! My experience with U-Haul trucks and services resembles a nightmare ...

When my husband changed jobs this summer, we had to . We rented a U-Haul, packed our pitiful belongings, and drove West. The experience was unforgettable … and not in a good way.

We liken driving a U-Haul truck to driving a ticking time bomb. It’s an accident waiting to happen and we were relieved to return the truck without incident.

Reservation

We went on U-Haul’s website (www.uhaul.com) to reserve a truck at the local U-Haul facility. Reserving a truck was quite easy as navigation through the site was straightforward. They provide a quote for the cost once all the specifics are entered in (one-way/in-town, how many miles, truck size, etc).

Move Day: Picking Up the Truck

When we went to pick up the truck, there was already a line formed outside the U-Haul facility. It took a while for us to get to the front as everyone had reservations. Once we reached the front desk, we were given the contract and asked if we wanted to purchase additional insurance. We were also informed that because we were renting the truck one-way, there would be no lock provided for the truck. Seriously? No lock for the back of the truck, which meant that if we did any pit stops, someone had to guard the truck otherwise someone could easily open the truck and clear it of our belongings.

We were given a sheet and told to do an inspection of the truck, marking down the dings and scratches on it. We made sure to document everything.

Renting the truck cost a little over $100.

The Truck

The truck was a newer truck of the fleet. We had reserved a 14′ truck. It was equipped with air conditioning, radio, automatic , and a “gentle-ride suspension.” The truck was enough to carry all of our stuff, though admittedly we don’t own very much.

The cargo area of the truck has the following dimensions: 11′4″ x 7′5″ x 6′9″. There was extra space called “Mom’s Attic” that measured 2′5″ x 7′5″ x 3′3″, though we didn’t put this space to much use since we were afraid the stuff would fall off during transport. The inside of the truck had rails along the side which were useful as we tied our mattress and some bigger items up to it so that they wouldn’t topple during the drive. The loading ramp was very convenient as it allowed for easy access in and out of the interior of the truck. The ramp was a stowaway type of ramp that could be pulled out for use and pushed back in during transport. The ramp was quite heavy.

Everything in the truck worked fine and fortunately we did not have any mechanical problems with the truck. We had to go over some mountains during the trip and the truck seemed to chug along at a slow but steady pace. Thankfully it did not overheat.

Driving a U-Haul Truck

I didn’t drive the truck … my husband did, though my brother and I did laugh at him while we passed him on the highway.

My husband has a new found respect for truck drivers.

He said that driving the truck was very difficult and awkward especially with the odd dimensions of it. He said it also was a bumpy ride and definitely not an experience he would like to repeat.

Returning the Truck

We wanted to return the truck the same day we picked it up, but unfortunately the moving process took a bit longer than expected. There was no night-drop off at the location we were supposed to return it to. They also said they were full and wouldn’t take our truck when we called. So after calling the main number for U-Haul and dealing with some rather unpleasant representatives, we concluded that we would return the truck to a different location.

Having to call the U-Haul representative is quite a pain. They’re not very helpful and one can be left on hold or waiting to speak to someone for a very, very long time. Thankfully we didn’t encounter many problems with the truck as I’d rather not know what trying to resolve a big problem is like with U-Haul.

We made sure to fill the gas tank back up to the level it was at when we rented it and dropped the truck off the next morning. We were relieved not to have the truck any longer.

When we went to drop off the truck, it was a very small U-Haul location that did not have much room to park the truck. There was a line of other trucks being returned at the same time, which made for a rather large back up of U-Hauls. Fortunately we were able to return the truck before our deadline and were not charged any extra cost.

The funny thing is that after dropping off the U-Haul truck, we went out for breakfast and the person sitting at the next table was reading the newspaper and on the front page was a story about how dangerous renting a U-Haul truck is with their aging fleet of trucks. We were sure glad to have dodged a bullet and never care to repeat our U-Haul experience.

Overall Thoughts

U-Haul at your own risk.

Thanks for reading.

Pooks

Copyright 2007

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Tags: relocate, storage, transmission

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