U Haul? Try U Beg, U Plead, U Giveup U Haul

My partner and I were moving about 35 miles down the road to be closer to work and to the city life. We had planned everything well in advance. We even had our entire house boxed up and ready to go a week in advance!

Then the big day came. We decided to move on a Thursday night/Friday to avoid the weekend rushes. About two weeks before we move, I call up U-Haul and reserve a truck. A 24′ AUTOMATIC which they assure me will be ready for me to pickup at 5:30pm on Thursday evening.

Well, low and behold, Thursday rolls around as it usually does. I go over to U-Haul and proceed to wait in line for about 20 minutes as the solitary worker who isn’t talking slowly fills in paperwork. I make it to the counter and hand them my paperwork. They fill out some more paperwork and hand me the keys and point to the truck.

I open the door to climb into this monster and what do I see — three pedals and a gear shift. Hmmmm. It’s been a good five years since I drove a manual. However, I decide to go ahead and give it a try. I push the clutch to the floor and start it up. Then proceed to put it into gear, release the brake and go forward. Too bad the doesn’t want to go forward. It jerks and slips to violently that my Nike sandals literally are shaken off my foot!

So I decide to go back inside and explain to them that there is obviously a problem with the , and that I had reserved an automatic. "We don’t have any", was the reply. I kindly asked them why I was told they did when my reservation (and money) was taken. "All we got is that one, unless you want something smaller".

A bit angered, but keeping my cool, I agree to take a 17′ truck. This one must have been straight from 1972. Do you know the A/C and Radio they tout on the side of every truck? Well it was 95 degrees OUTSIDE and about 110 degrees INSIDE that truck.

Realizing that it was either take it or leave it, I took it. Heading out onto the highway I slipped my sandals off and began driving. It wasn’t long before I slipped them back on because the heat coming up from the floor was baking my foot. To go anywhere near the speed limit (65) I had to keep the gas pedal to the floor (this was a diesel truck). The heat was building up in the truck so bad that I literally had to pull over once just to get a breath of fresh air.

Well, due to the smaller truck we had to make two trips instead of one. We finished up trip up on Thursday night and the next morning it came the mother of all rainstorms. We managed to get the truck packed before it started, but after it started you couldn’t see 5 feet in front of you. When we finally arrived at the new place and opened the truck "Mom’s Attic" had leaked worse than the Titanic. Thank goodness we had placed items up there that were not prone to water damage. Nonetheless, we were not too pleased.

The and the rain were another problem. I’m coming off the off-ramp of the highway after the storm, going about 30, and apply the . Well at this point I was barefoot having slipped my sandals off and noticed that my toes felt the metal floor but we were still moving. The were to the floor and it struggled to a stop. I literally thought we were going to run right through the intersection.

After finishing up, I clean the truck up, and prepare to take it back. The old girl must have been on her last leg because my foot was kissing that gas pedal all the way back there and barely breaking 40mph. I struggle into the lot and go inside.

After a 20 minute wait, again, I finally get serviced. I explain that the A/C didn’t work, there was no Radio, and you had to put the pedal to the metal to get it to go anywhere. Not to mention the 30 gallons of water we had accumulated on our trip thinks to the leaks. The only response was "I’ll write it down". No offers of a discount, or anything.

I can safely say we will never use U-Haul again. The trucks are old, and unsafe. Between the brake problems and the leaks, not to mention the customer service, it is just not worth it. You may pay a little more with Ryder or another firm, but you at least get modern trucks and better service.

Tags: brakes, transmission

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