Uhaul Story

Walking Across the Country With Your Couch on Your Back Would Be Less Stressful U Haul

couch disposal fee? i didnt even move a couch U Haul i rented a u haul trailer in edmonton to make a short move over the weekend and the trailer worked fine. it was due back monday mourning at ...

Cost Effective Quality U Haul A little over a year ago I was planning a move from central Illinois to New York City. Since it was the first time that I had moved, I real...

If I can dissuade ONE person from ruining their move by using U-HAUL, that will be the biggest pro to my experience.

First of all, don’t trust their price quotes. My $400 move turned into a nearly $2000 nightmare.

I planned on hauling trailer behind my car. To get a hitch installed cost $200 and took a couple hours, but I figured I was still saving money in the long run. A huge word of advice — inspect the trailer before you leave the lot. My boyfriend and I seriously erred in this regard. One of the wheels was jiggly when we picked up the trailer at the U Street lot in Washington, DC, but we didn’t think much of it at first. In fact, we didn’t really notice it because it was only a couple miles from the pickup place to my apt. Once we loaded the trailer and got on the road, however, it was a different story. We could feel and see the wheel wobbling as we drove and pulled over five miles from our origination point. We called U-HAUL, and they were very friendly and said someone would be there shortly. Five hours and 121 minutes of cell time useage later, a “mechanic” showed up. A hour later, he determined that he couldn’t fix it. He also said that, had we taken the trailer onto the highway, it would have flipped the car over. We were told a second mechanic was on his way, but after another hour we became impatient. I kept calling UHAUL for help but instead got endlessly transferred to person after person who claimed it wasn’t their department. The man who sold the trailer to me refused to come and get it and screamed at me to “shut up!” when I told him it was impossible to drive it back to him.

Finally, after spending all day literally on the side of the road, it began to rain, and we decided to risk driving it to the closest UHAUL to get another trailer. The mechanic graciously agreed to follow us and watch the wheel so he could warn us if it was going to flip. Very dangerous, but we truly had no other option. UHAUL will not come get you if there is trailer trouble.

We arrived at the nearest UHAUL in Maryland, and my boyfriend unloaded and reloaded the trailers in the rain. Even though we called ahead to say that we were coming, I stood in line for one hour. At first they did not have a trailer ready, and then there was tons of paperwork to fill out and explaining to do. For some reason, they couldn’t understand that I was trading in a broken trailer and not renting a new one. I made another mistake here. I gave them my credit card, even though they said I would not be re-charged.

The next part of this hellish ordeal was not the fault of UHAUL, but it demonstrated their lack of customer service and unwillingness to help out. My car started overheating, and finally the transmission dropped completely in Pennsylvania. We unhitched the trailer, pushed the car off the road, and stayed in a hotel to think over our options. The next day, UHAUL refused to help us out in any way. Our only option was to ditch my car in PA and rent a truck to drive to Minneapolis. The problem was that we were in the middle of nowhere and did not have a way to get to the nearest UHAUL office. It was Sunday, and there were no taxis or car rental places around. Again, UHAUL will not come to you. No matter what.

We got my car to drive its final 20 miles but still could not make it to a UHAUL office. My boyfriend called the nearest UHAUL and BEGGED them to help us, but they said they could not. Finally, one of their female employees agreed to use her lunch hour to pick us up and bring us back to the UHAUL office. Thank god for this girl. We rented a truck (about $800), drove back to my car, and unloaded the trailer and then reloaded the truck. The then had to get the hitch off my car (or they charge you $200) and then drag the trailer back to the office behind the truck.

Beware of the trucks! Ours had close to 200,000 miles and smelled like an old show. It had no air conditioning, and the radio did not work. Furthermore, it shook so badly that my cd player kept skipping, so we spent the ride in silence. It was extremely dirty, and it broke down twice. Again no help from UHAUL. My boyfriend went under the hood and connected two wires (not knowing what they were), and we safely made it the rest of the way home.

Because of the breakdowns, I kept the truck one day longer than we had originally planned and was charged $90. No sympathy from UHAUL even though they gave us a defective trailer and truck. To add insult to injury, I was charged THREE times for the same trailer. I called every day to complain and get the extra charges taken off, but I was continually transferred, never called back, and treated rudely. My trip took place in September, and it took until December to get the extra charges removed. No luck on getting any kind of refund, though. When I complained, I was simply told “not our problem, things happen” (really!). One man told me that I had already received credits, and he could not give me any more. The “credits” he was talking about were the fraudulent charges that they finally took off — not money back! They eventually sent me $60 worth of coupons for my next UHAUL experience. What a joke. I don’t care if I have to carry all my belongings on my back next time. Nothing is worth the agony of dealing with this unorganized, unprofessional, terrible organization.

Does UHAUL rent caravans? Im moving from CA to OH and need to move some things too much to fit in an suv and too small to rent a moving truck. I was looking at the ca...

Stay Away from UHaul!! U Haul My husband and I moved recently with a UHaul truck and all I can say is NEVER AGAIN! It took us close to 9 hours to make what is usually a 4...

Never as simple as it seems U Haul I've participated in many U-Haul based moves -- both of my own things and when helping out friends. A few of these moves have been hassle f...

Downfalls of U Haul U Haul I used a U-Haul truck last weekend and was extremely dissatisfied with the service I received. On October 15th I reserved a 10-foot truck...

Avoid U Haul for any long distance trips U Haul I recently decided to choice U-Haul to move cross-country from Savannah to LA. Their prices were less than the competition, so I thought I h...

Never use U Haul U Haul I rented four trucks from U-Haul for a cross country move in June and July 2004. I saw dozens of U-Haul trucks stranded in remote deserts a...

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Tags: trailers, transmission, truck rent