U-Haul Forgets Customer, Forgets Guarantee, Then Forgets Extra Day Agreement And Threatens Criminal Charges
Consumerist reader Dionicious and his brother tried to rent a trailer from U-Haul over the weekend. First they were faced with a closed location, then they had to ask before the company followed through on its $50 "Right Time, Right Location" guarantee. They hoped that was the end of the screw-ups, but the next day an angry employee called and threatened to file criminal charges against the brothers. Too bad there's not some sort of $50 "We Threaten You, We Pay" guarantee.
This weekend, my brother and I needed to rent a trailer to move some furniture. We reserved a 6' x 12' cargo trailer through U-haul over the phone for $29.95. We arrived at the specified location at 9 o'clock [Friday morning] ready to pick up our reserved trailer.
The only problem? No one was there. So we call their customer service line to see what's up. The rep tries, but cannot get in touch with anyone from the location. The only thing the rep can do, is get us a 5' x 10' cargo trailer at another location about 20 miles away. The rep offers us a discount from the regular 5' x 10' price of $29.95 to $19.95. It's not really a great offer, but we don't think we have another option this late in the game since these things must be reserved well in advance.
So we go out of our way to pick up this much smaller trailer, and waste about two hours of our daylight. Luckily, my brother noticed a small sign that says something like, "Right time, Right location, or we give you $50." They didn't offer this to us, the rep didn't tell us, we had to ask. So the general manager reluctantly gives us the $50 credit and we felt much better about the whole situation.
The guy behind the counter lets us know that if we need more time, just call the next day and they will extend our discount for another day. That's convenient, because it rained that afternoon so hard that the streets were flooded. More lost time. We call the same day and reserve the trailer for another day at the same discounted rate.
This is where things get really fun. We receive a call the following afternoon telling us that we have kept the trailer past the allotted time and that we would be charged $250 and they would report the trailer stolen.
My brother asked to speak to a manager and was told none were available. He was told the manager would call him back when he was available. No one called us, but we called back several times and no one even answered the phone.
So we finish moving and take the trailer back before noon. Still no manager around; he will not be back until tomorrow. We wait for the belligerent employee, "Nik," to finish yelling at another frustrated customer on the phone and he contemptuously tells us that although there was no incorrect action on their part, they will waive the fees and just charge us for the time we used. We agree because we just want to get out of there and go write to The Consumerist about the lack of customer service.
He proceeds to charge us for three days instead of two and tells us we are late bringing the trailer back because it is after noon. The receipt says "11:53" and of course, he doesn't have permission to issue a refund because he is not a manager. We called their 1-800 number and they said a rep will get back to us to resolve the matter. No calls yet.
(Photo: Tim Patterson)
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Comments:
sounds like a terrible case of corporate not talking to the local office :\
You could do a simple google search and spend the next week reading U-Haul horror stories. The word "reservation" means nothing to that company.
They're horribly priced too. I needed one of those smaller strorage hauls to get one form NY to TX costs $1000! Yes! ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS, doesn't matter that I only need it for 3 days max. It's a crazy ripoff!
With all these cases of horrible screw ups at U-Haul, isnt it time Consumerist creates a new tag called U-Hell?
I almost think craigslist could replace u-hall. Hell, customer service with strangers is better than this.
I used to be an Assistant General Manager for a U-Haul and I can attest that I've seen some of the most pitiful and deceitful business practices in my entire life while working there.
My manager (the General Manager) used to threaten customers on a daily basis and would 9 times out of 10 lie to them just to make herself feel superior.
On a completely unrelated note, before being employed by U-Haul her only experience was being a stripper for 5 years (and no she was not even remotely good looking or fit).
Maybe I got lucky. I had a great experience with U-Haul when I moved from Chicago to Nashville. I moved down with nowhere to live yet, but everything in the Truck. They let me keep the U-Haul in there Lot while I went looking for apartments, I also kept it for an additional 3 days. I got charged nothing extra. Nothing for keeping it longer and nothing for leaving it in there Lot.
Manager? There's no manager here. Must have been that "crazy guy" who wanders in off the street and pretends to be a manager when one of us goes into the bathroom for 8 hours. ;)
I have rented from uhaul (two different locations in Minnesota) in the past week and had overall good experience... Sucks you cannot confirm time or location when booking online.
4 months ago had 3rd uhaul location (storage facility) call and rudely refuse to rent to me as they had the uhaul for their storage customers use only... Got a quick call back from a humble employee working with me on the time. Paid for a 4 hour rental, had it overnight... =)
My old roommate used to work at a U-Haul, it was hilarious the stories he would tell me about this job.
Seems like sometimes you'd be better off... buying a truck... moving... then selling truck.
I reserved a van last summer in New Orleans online. of course I made the reservation a couple of weeks prior to going. The website asked how many hours (up to 24) I would need the van for so I put 24, although the plan was to use it for a 5-day week. We picked it up, and the next day I got a similar call saying it could be considered stolen if I didn't call in. No further problems after I called in though - I think they just need to update their system & procedures.
The U-haul corporate location on Broadway at Irving park is AWFUL. The people who work there are generally nice, but they are so horribly understaffed, it's not funny. I've rented from there twice and each time had to wait 2+ hours in their parking lot.
There are a lot of renters in Chicago, and a lot of small trucks/vans have to be rented. On a Saturday morning, towards the end of the month (when people are moving), you would think that they would know to put more than 3 people on the schedule.
@exploded: Broadway and Irving Park in Chicago...By corporate I mean that it's not a franchised location, not the HQ.
@savdavid: I've used Penske a number of times and they've been great every time. They have this weird policy about not letting you reserve a truck unless it'll ACTUALLY BE THERE. Strange, I know. And every truck I've had through them has been pretty new (I've never had a U-Haul that looked like it was less than 10 years old).
@idip: crazy! I rented a car hauler from NY to TX for the bargain price, after taxes, of $700. Of course, I only had it for about 4 days, and I believe the rental allowed for something like 16 - no way to reduce that to save money.
@Applekid:
Same thing happened to me...U-Haul is awful. I reserved a truck two weeks ahead of time and they did not have it available at the location I needed. They tried to say I owed money for not picking up a truck at the nearest available center...which was over 65 miles away. AWFUL!!!
They finally relented and offered a discount on the next truck I would need and this time, the place was closed...So corporate Uhaul just told me to go ahead and hook the trailer up and leave. About six hours later I recieved a call from the local guy saying i stole his trailer...NIGHTMARE!!!
Ummm, not to be silly or anything, but has anyone found the solution to the "every truck/trailer rental place sucks" problem? I mean, is there a company out there that doesn't, or some way that you make it work? Just wondering...
I've rented from U-Haul a half dozen times in my life (yes, I know, a half dozen times too many). And only on one occasion did they actually have the vehicle size I reserved. The last time I used them (and it will remain the last time) they didn't have the truck I reserved so they gave me the next size up, which was basically an 18-wheeler. I proceeded to wreck my landlady's driveway and almost take out a gas pump trying to refill it. Not to mention it got about 2 miles per gallon.
My two experiences (there will not be a third) were extremely similar to that.
The only thing I have to add is that the truck we were eventually given was a deathtrap- only 2 of the gears worked, the parking brake did not work, there were no side mirrors, and the rearview mirror was held on with tape.
I also had a terrible experience with the U-Haul on Memorial Road in Oklahoma City. They quoted me a deal on a truck and storage. It was a GREAT deal. When it came time to pick up the truck, the notes about the deal were magically erased, and I was forced to pay regular price for the truck. They know you don't have many alternatives and likely need to move something on that day, so they think customer service is optional. Good luck with their corporate office. They are just as screwed up as the locations. They even charge a $10 fee to be able to pay your storage charges online. It was worth it to not have to deal with their understaffed location, but that just shouldn't be something they charge a fee to do.
@greggen: Sucks you cannot confirm time or location when booking online.
Whenever I've used U-haul, I just call the location where I want to pick up the truck for the exact reason you mentioned. I suggested making old school phone reservations if you ever have to use this atrocious company.
@twophrasebark: Agreed. All chain truck rental and many chain car rental places are run by the scum of the earth.
I wouldn't wait around for some manager to call you back, this seems like an ideal situation to use a chargeback.
I'm moving real soon and had planned on using U-Haul. I definitely plan on looking elsewhere after all these comments :) I heart Consumerist.
I was standing in line at a U-haul where the trainee was abandoned by the guy in charge while "he went to get change". There were 20 people in the place while we waited to pick up a trailer.
The guy couldn't give refunds. He struggled for 20 minutes to do an interstate rental. Finally one guy got agitated after 45 minutes and started telling him to get some help. The trainee kept calling the guy in charge and finally started shouting on the phone at him in Spanish. Then he quit.
He shuffled everyone out of the store, locked it and left.
I called U-Haul corporate and told them what happened.
They didn't believe me and called the location.
A whole bunch of people left, except for those of us with trailers hooked up, and the guy waiting for a refund.
The whole thing was a fiasco.
@JRules: If you use the Uhaul location in Mt. Juliet or the one on 31 - I've had great experiences with both of them. Nashville people are just nice, pretty much.
I hate Uhaul. The one I used in Dorchester, MA had bums drinking 40s with the employees in the parking lot. There was one distressed manager there who had to spend so much time keeping his employees in line that the customers were not tended to. The van we had reserved had been stolen the night before. Despite the fact that there were 3 other vans on the lot, they had also been stolen recently, recovered, and were now police evidence and couldn't be used. We waited 5 hours in this scary location while they tried to fulfill our request for a moving truck. We eventually ended up with an unnecessarily gigantic truck with a cracked windshield. I felt sorry for the manager there. his employees were basically criminals, not doing any work and some of them actually getting drunk in front of the customers. That was a fun day.
A very similar situation happened with my parents when were were moving my sister from her old dorm room in Fulton, MO to Jefferson City, MO (about a 20 minute drive). Well, we needed to take things from SW MO to her in Fulton (A 4 hour drive).
When my parents reserved the trailer, they were given a specific size, and told when to pick it up. When they went to pick it up, they were given a smaller trailer. They went ahead and took the smaller trailer because they knew there would be a few cars to help get stuff between the two moving locations (mine, my sisters and my parents). They would just put the big stuff in the trailer, and load the cars with boxes.
Well, once all was said and done, they were preparing to return the trailer, had been advised to drop it off in Jeff City, but ended up being closer to the Fulton location. They called customer service, and were told go ahead and drop it off in Fulton.
Well, a couple of weeks later, my mom's credit card was hit with an insane charge from U Haul. My mom called in, and it turns out that the Jeff City location had charged her for keeping the trailer longer than was agreed to. My mom argued and eventually won.
They are such pains. I'd rather pay a friend (usually with a good meal) with a trailer to move my stuff than try and rent a u-haul.
The nature of U-Haul is that your experience will vary widely from location to location. The few times I've used them, I found the service perfectly fine and the staff helpful and understanding.
Oh, @*&@#&$(* great topic. If Spectre (of Bond fame) formed an evil moving company, U-Haul would forever be their shining ideal.
U-Haul exists as a cruel business farce, preying on and teaching painful lessons to those hopeful enough to think "it" can't happen to them. Or worse, that the first time was a fluke.
From product to service to payment, this company pegs the suck meter.
Run away. To Penske, to dealerships who rent, anywhere but U-Haul. Buy a trailer on CL and sell it at your destination. Anything but a U-Haul.
@savdavid: I think this needs to be a 2010 Worst Company invitee.
I had a very similar experience, and I had to put up a serious fight to get my $50.
I even wrote to Consumerist, who promptly didn't publish my story.
@bender123: Well of course they wanted you to go 65 miles away to pick up a truck. They charge you by the mile.
@The_IT_Crone: and the rearview mirror was held on with tape.
Uhauls don't have rear view mirrors as the rear window is blocked....
I actually saw a Uhaul employee punch a customer in the face at a branch in Oakland. The customer was a wigger but didn't deserve a broken nose.
Budget was very good to my mom. She rented the truck and I got a pile of friends to help her move home. There wasnt anyone there sunday night so I took pictures and left the keys...
The manager called and asked if I would rather top off the gas tank as they charge a fee to do it themselves. I thought we had matched the guage but was wrong. I popped in and dumped some gas in the tank with a gas can and all was well. Good truck and good folks off 460 in Petersburg/Prince George VA. (Didnt charge us for the dolly either!
I've used U-Haul everytime I have moved. An earlier poster stated that service varies from location to location, and they couldn't be more right. Some places have their act together,some not. One place I went to in Everitt Washington was one of the worst. The manager was a tweaker(seriously, a friend of mine knew her), and she could not stay on task at all, and sold weed out behind the shop(again, verified by the same friend who had bought it from her there). When I moved my ex-girlfriend(don't ask) back to Washington, I had a totally smooth experience with U-Haul. I have been fortunate to have another friend who used to work at one store and still knew everyone, so I recieved a healthy discount on the rental fee.
U-Haul sucks. I reserved a small trailer with them on a Tuesday via the internet for Saturday on Easter Weekend (the Friday before being a national holiday).
I get a call Wednesday from U-Haul saying no problem, we've reserved one. It was at a location only a few minutes from my place. Great! I wanted to pick it up earlier than 8:30 am (when the place opens) but, hey, I'm flexible.
I get a call Friday from U-Haul stating PROBLEM, there are now no trailers in my city (WTF about my earlier reservation call?), in fact, the closes one is over an hour's drive away! WTF? That's 4 hours wasted (1 hour each way + return trip). I tell them if they suck like this I expect to be able to turn this into a one-way rental at no charge, especially since they waited until EVERYWHERE was closed legally to let me know they effed up. No deal. I called back to corporate and at least got that deal. I accepted all this in the end because I felt I had no choice.
My parents, who were going to help me with the move, decide they're really not interested in a 2 hour ride about the province, so I call back a few hours later to cancel. But they'd find me a trailer, they were sure of it.
Saturday they phone me to tell me they managed to rent a trailer. Where from? The other U-Haul in our area. An extra few minutes away, but no big deal. Oh, and they had two or three of them sitting on the lot. Plus they opened at 7 am.
O.M.G. W.T.F!
That's U-Haul organization for you. The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Lucky for me, they didn't charge me to cancel due to the circumstances.
@calquist: Good luck! After one horrible experience with Uhaul (drove from MPLS to Madison, WI in the middle of winter, no heat), I've tried Ryder, and another company I can't think of off the top of my head right now. Basically both times it felt like a back alley deal with me showing up to a rundown gas station and handed the keys to a filthy truck.
Thankfully I brought my digital camera for everything as I had to fight both places for extra fees (gas, cleaning, and damages). Still had to fight, despite having pictures of everything (including the gas gauge), but I ended up winning.
The only part of the Uhaul experience I liked was the actual Uhaul branded location. Those other places had my bullshit detectors on high from the start.
Either way I am dreading my next move, and wishing yours the best.
@dionicios: Not yet. See how they resolve things with the CC company. Do file a complaint with the attorney general and the BBB though.
As a U-Haul alternative I've used Penske truck rental (on the recommendation of Consumerist) several times with zero problems.
U-Haul is the WORST. None of the rental truck places are good but U-Haul takes the cake for its employees carrying on the evil, hateful legacy of the family owners of U-Haul.