U Haul Ignoring Those Little Voices U Haul

My past experiences with U-Haul have all been totally positive so it’s no wonder I am perplexed by reading review after review of disappointing moving stories. I was beginning to believe that this entire business had been handed over to people who were descendants of pirates. We recently had the need to rent a truck for a local move and after contacting several companies, I reluctantly chose U-Haul based on my past experience and the fair price I was offered.

Customer Contact

My original phone contact was met with a friendly, knowledgeable young man who quickly answered all my questions and seemed genuinely helpful and up-front. I ended up contacting several other U-Haul dealers in our area as well as several competitors. While the cost was similar with other dealers, there were some differences. I ended up selecting the folks at Wards Do It Center in Hamburg Michigan.

My move was local with a two-way distance of what I estimated at between 100 to 125 miles. The pricing for short local moves was $20.00 plus $0.79 per mile as opposed to costs of $137.00 and up depending on the dealer I contacted. The base rental and cost per mile also varied between the U-Haul dealers I contacted in my area. Wards Do It Center was not only the most convenient for me but the least expensive as well.

Pick-up Day

Of course after reading plenty of horror stories over the past four years on this site I was a bit apprehensive as I entered the lot. We had only reserved the truck 24 hours earlier and to make matters worse, we had been blasted with a foot of snow the day previous. I was picking up the truck on a Sunday morning - all these factors were on my mind. I was certain that similar to many of the stories I had read there wasn’t going to be a truck there when I arrived.

All my fears were laid to rest immediately. The 14′ van was ready albeit buried in snow. I did have to assist the counter helper as he pulled the truck out of the drifts with his pickup. Despite this minor problem, from the minute we hit the door, we were out of the lot and on the road in less than 20 minutes.

The Truck

As I slipped into the cab, my eyes were immediately drawn to the odometer that showed 165,168 miles. The little voice inside me began shouting “I should have listened to those reviews”. At this point I was concerned I was just handed keys to a bucket of bolts that wouldn’t make out of the parking lot. As I scanned the remainder of the truck’s cab it became evident that the vehicle had been well maintained. The cab was clean… carpet, dash, seats… every knob I tried seemed to produce the expected result. Wipers, windshield washer fluid, radio, blinkers, lights… all in perfect working order. With the exception of a few minor bumps and dings, the exterior was equally clean and in fine shape.

I did notice the truck must have been last returned with almost no gasoline in the tank. Again, my instinct was… “Oh boy, I’m gonna get beat on this deal”. The young man said there was no problem, it would be worked out at return time. In a bit of a rush to get the move underway and completed, I neglected to take the time to update the paperwork reflecting the empty tank and left with the truck.

The entire move went well. The rear of the van was so clean we could have skipped placing down blankets and the built-in ramps were in good condition as well. The rolling door, latches and locks all functioned equally well. The vehicle ran smooth without a hint of mechanical trouble. The 14′ van was easy to maneuver and the ability to back into tight spots was rather simple with the aid of the large sideview mirrors.

Vehicle Return

We were given a full 24 hours to return the vehicle which meant we didn’t have to return it until 11:00AM on Monday. I did however drop the truck off late Sunday night and left the keys in the rental drop box at the office as I agreed to do. After I returned home I took a look at the U-Haul addendum which stated:

4. Place one copy of the and addendum, truck keys and padlock key in the key drop.

•$30 charge if contract paperwork not left in drop box

•$50 charge if truck keys not left in drop box

Again, that nagging little voice was telling me “You just got clipped for an extra $30.00 you dope, why didn’t you listen to those other nice people?”

Monday morning, I decided I better stop at the location and clear up the gasoline and paperwork questions I had in the back of my mind. Instead of a over the counter argument I might have expected, I was given a receipt with the expected charges of $117.45, a thank you and a smile.

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

I still find it hard to believe that the folks at U-Haul have such a poor overall rating here at Epinions. Over the years we have rented several trucks for short moves similar to this from several different local dealers. Each experience has been similar to this with no problems what-so-ever. I was able to ignore those little voices that kept screaming at me throughout the entire move. I am most sure that your experience will depend on your local dealer as well as your location and availability of trucks. I suppose I cannot speak for all the operators associated with this company but if you have a move that starts or ends in or around the western suburbs of Detroit, the folks at Wards Do It Center would be a great place to pick up your U-Haul rental.

Tags: rental contract

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