U Haul makes moving a nightmare U Haul
A Guide to U-Haul Trailer Hitches U-Haul is best known for its rental trucks used to help people move, but they also sell trailer hitches and trailer hitch accessories. U-Hau...
THE BEST STORAGE PLACE OF THEM ALL FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS U Haul I have been involved with U-haul storage for the past three years.They have been truly wonderful to me and lots of my college friends.When I...
I tried reserving a truck two weeks in advance for a 50-mile move. The small town I’m in has two U-Haul locations - I tried calling repeatedly for three days and neither would answer their phone nor were they open during advertised hours. I finally had to reserve a truck in a town 25 miles away. However, although U-Haul advertises that they rent for “$19.95 per day plus mileage,” it’s their definition of “day” you have to be careful of. I was told I could rent the truck from 9am to 3pm, and it had to be returned by 3pm because it was rented for that evening. According to U-Haul customer service, a “day” can range anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours, so you can wind up paying the $19.95 for 1 hour all the way up to 24 hours, depending on how many rentals they try to cram into one day. When I picked up the truck, which had 156,000 miles, I was told it had 1/2 a tank of gas (in reality, 1/4 tank). I pulled out of the parking lot and put on the brakes at the first stop sign. The sound of metal on metal was deafening and the brakes grabbed and made the truck lurch. I went back to the U-Haul center and they said that it was the only truck they had, so if I wanted to move, that was it. I wound up using it, petrified the brakes would go out the entire way. On the way to my destination with a full load, everytime I applied the breaks, the truck shook so bad I could hear my furniture and boxes being thrown about. Of course, the fact that the air conditioner would not work in 95 degree heat seemed minor then. When I returned the truck, right before 3pm, I told them that the brakes were shot and the air conditioner did not work. They said that they would get it fixed right away since it wasn’t rented out that night (which is odd because they told me it was and that’s why I couldn’t have it beyond 3pm!) But, even though they were going to get it fixed right away, someone came in behind me and I saw them rent the exact same truck out - even though they knew the brakes were bad! Apparently, their quest for the almighty dollar is more important than their customers lives.
Riding in the U-Haul vehicle has had some positive effects - I’m now glad that I’m still among the living and I’m ever thankful for air conditioning.
UPDATE: On August 30, I went to help a friend move. I pulled up and saw a U-Haul in the driveway and I knew it was going to be a long day. After loading the 14′ truck as full as it would go, we headed off to his new place. After 5 miles, the temperature gauge pegged out at “hot,” so we pulled over to let the truck cool down. He called the U-Haul rental place to ask them how they wanted it handled, and they first said “Turn off the air conditioner.” Since it wasn’t on, they then said, “That truck had just been serviced. Don’t call us with those problems. Call the 800 number.” After the call, the truck had cooled down to normal, so we tried it again. The same thing happened, and we had to pull off the interstate and sit by the side of the road. He lifted the hood and, lo and behold, the fan belt had been replaced, but it was upside down and had not been tightened. He called the 800 number to get someone to fix it, and, after being on hold for 25 minutes, the first question they asked was whether the truck was in a safe place (Yep, don’t worry about the people renting it as long as the truck is okay. Then, they argued with him about it. Finally, they agreed to send someone out to fix it. Two hours later, a U-haul repair person showed up to fix the truck, which took about 45 minutes. While he was working on it, we were talking with his partner, and he said during the conversation that he would never rent from U-Haul, and always rented from Budget. I think it’s telling when even U-haul people won’t rent from U-haul. The fan belt was on upside down and not tightened, but the compressor for the air conditioner was also going out which could seize up and stop the fan belt all together. That could not be fixed. So, we decided to chance it instead of letting his furniture sit on the side of an interstate. We finally made it to the destination (and yes - the truck pegged out at hot again after 5 miles). The truck was supposed to be returned as a local rental, but there was no way either of us was going to drive it anymore. So, he called the 800 number to get them to pick it up. The recording said that if it was not an emergency, to call back the next day. He woke up at 4:30 am to call them. They said they would call back and, surprise, they never did. He also called the place the truck was rented from and left two messages about what happened. He called the 800 number back again and finally spoke with someone who said they would contact someone to come tow it, and call him back. They never did. Again, at 7:30, he called one more time and apparently there was no record of him ever calling. Since the truck was due back at 8:00 am, he held until someone would finally help him (around 8:30am.) The repair people argued with him once again and asked, “Well, didn’t you check all the belts and fluids before you drove it?” Gee - I thought that’s what U-haul was supposed to do - are their customers supposed to perform maintenance on the trucks? Neither of us could EVEN believe they asked that, but it’s pretty standard for U-Haul. They finally came over and towed the truck around 10:00 am (he had to miss a day of work waiting for them). He then called the U-Haul place he rented from and they became very angry for two reasons. The first was because he had not called them to tell them what was happening. He told them that they should have two messages on their machine about what happened, and they said, “Oh.” The second was because he had not checked the fluids and belts before he left, and that the truck had been serviced right before he rented it, so what had he done to it. It is hard for me to believe that U-haul actually would think that we would stop the car, loosen the belt, and turn it upside down. These people refuse to take any responsibility for anything. It was something that could have been easily handled, but U-haul goes on the defensive right away and their customer service department should be disbanded since they cause more problems than they solve.
After these two experiences, I have told everyone I know that I will help them move, but if they get a U-haul truck, I will turn around and go home the moment I see it. It’s hard for me to believe that a company as poorly ran as U-haul continues to stay in business.
How have these guys stayed in business? U Haul Uhaul is not at the top of my list right now, this is now the second time they've wronged me and it will be the last. We've recently moved o...
U Haul is not friendly U Haul I have never been satisfied with a rental from Uhaul. I have rented both trucks and trailers from Uhaul. Since U Haul has no customer focu...
U haul it alright! U Haul I just had the chance to use this service and they have the name right. U-haul it, the trucks are so undependable. We asked for a 24 f...
Do it yourself U Haul When we were moving, we decided that we had accumulated way too much stuff to just use our car and my brother-in-law's truck to move it all....
When you need to move cheaply U Haul Oh, sure, I've heard all the complaints. The trucks are uncomfortable, hard to load, hard to drive etc. But moving is by its very nature...
A Nightmare U Haul Rented a truck to move from NY to Mass. - loaded it with heavy furniture on what turned out to be the hottest day of the summer (over 100 de...
Reservations don’t mean a thing U Haul
never rent UHAUL ,they dont comply with contract U Haul
Tags: brakes
You must be logged in to post a comment.