U-Haul Sucks
Given the great success of my Hotmail sucks blog entry (number four in google at the time of this writing), I thought I’d take a stab at U-Haul. My writing doesn’t appear to have had a huge impact on Microsoft, but maybe I can start a movement with U-Haul. (Query whether blogs can help fix market dysfunction).
My experience with U-Haul has been bad. I don’t quite understand how they can continue to exist as a company.
I needed to rent a small truck for a day to move a couch a couple of months ago. I only needed it for a Saturday, and U-Haul was the only option that would let me do a one-day rental on the weekend and return the truck in a fairly convenient location. (For a rental starting on a weekday, I recommend Penske, which has never caused me any problems.)
The first thing I discovered is that you can’t actually “reserve” a truck with U-Haul. Instead, you “request” a truck. Although the email confirmation comes from “reservations@uhaul.com” it includes the following disclaimer:
Your pickup location is a PREFERENCE ONLY. The U-Haul regional office for LYNN, MA is now in charge of your reservation. They will call you by 5PM on the day prior to your pickup date to schedule your exact pickup location and time. To change or cancel your reservation, please contact us no later than the day prior to your pickup date. Our phone number is (800)344-2212. Reservations cancelled on the day of pickup are subject to a $50 cancellation fee.
So they won’t guarantee you any pickup location, but they will charge you a $50 day fee if you decide the location they pick for you doesn’t work. What if airlines worked this way? “We’re sorry, your ticket to leave from Boston was only a request; your flight is actually going to take off from Providence.”
It strikes me as terrifically poor logistics that they can’t figure out which trucks will be at which locations until the end of the day prior to the rental. I’ve heard stories of people thinking they had a secure reservation on U-Haul and in fact ending up with nothing at all the day they needed to move. I suggest that if U-Haul (1) shouldn’t allow people to reserve trucks it doesn’t have and (2) should be willing to drive trucks where they need to go the night before if they figure out they don’t have the trucks at the correct location. Others have complained similary about U-Haul’s lack of dependability in this area.
As a side note, their price scheme is screwy: it’s cheaper to do a one day one-way rental across a 20 mile area rather than a one day round-trip “in city” rental. Someone at the pickup location told me that this was because they had recently raised their round-trip prices but the one-way prices hadn’t caught up. I suppose this wasn’t a big problem for me, but it does encourage irrational behavior (choosing different pick up and drop off locations) and reflects poorly on U-Haul’s corporate intelligence.
The day before the rental, I got a call telling me I could pick the truck up, and they gave me an address. A while later, I checked the address on Mapquest, and it was nowhere to be found. So I used the caller ID memory on my cell phone and called the place back to ask them exactly where they were. It turns out they were not in Lynn, but in Lowell, which would have been about an hour out of my way (for a 15 mile rental!).
I called back the national office and they were a little confused about the difference between Lynn and Lowell, but ended up switching me to a pickup location in Lynn. (The pickup location I had originally requested in Lynn apparently doesn’t exist at all).
In any case, we got the truck, which was in shoddy condition—poor shocks, dirty cab area, and a non-adjustable radio (no cassette or CD, of course). In fact, after I tried changing the channel on the radio too much, it turned off entirely and refused to turn back on.
At the end of the day, I went to return the truck at the destination location, which was supposed to be a Texaco in Roslindale. As it turns out, there was no Texaco in Roslindale. I called the national phone number, and they were rude and unhelpful. They kept insisting that the truck needed to be returned to the Texaco in Roslindale. They also told me that there would be a fee for dropping off the truck after 5pm, so instead I should wait until the next morning so I wouldn’t have to pay the fee. (So, I return the truck later, and pay less?)
The next day I discovered the gas station, which was no longer a Texaco, where the truck was supposed to be returned. I didn’t bring my contract with me, as I assumed these days everything is computerized. When do you actually need physical pieces of paper anymore?
The drop-off location would not, in fact, accept the truck without the contract, and said I would have to go to a location about 5 miles away if I didn’t have the contract, because they had no computer at their location. Huh?
So I went home and got the contract, returned the truck, and thought that was the end of the sad sad story.
Skip forward a couple of months. I just notice an additional $150 charge from U-Haul on my most recent credit card bill, charged from a U-Haul store in Somerville exactly a week ago. I haven’t set foot (or car) in Somerville for months, so I was sure it was a mistake, maybe someone gave the wrong credit card number to the Somerville U-Haul or they made a typo.
So I called the Somerville U-Haul. They told me they couldn’t help me; I would have to call an 800 number. I called the 800 number, and they told me that number was for emergencies only and gave me another 800 number to call. I called that number and they told me “they only deal with trucks” and I would have to call my regional 800 number. So I called my regional 800 number and they asked me what my reservation number was. I told them I didn’t have a reservation number, I had a billing complaint. So they told me to call the national something number. I called that number and they told me I had to call the Somerville U-Haul.
At this point, I told them I had just called five numbers, and they were trying to send me back where I started.
Finally, they agreed to hear my issue. I explained that I had a charge on my credit card from one week ago from the Somerville U-Haul, where I had never set foot in my life. They brought up some records on their computer system, and insisted that what had happened was that I had rented the truck two months ago and kept it until last week, at which time I had returned it to the Somerville U-Haul.
I explained to them that I had actually returned the truck less than 24 hours after I rented it, to the Roslindale “Texaco.” The person on the other insisted (1) that my one way rental was from Lynn to Somerville, not Roslindale, and (2) that I had kept the truck for two months. She also insisted that the only way to resolve this was to call the Somerville U-Haul, where I had started. She was absolutely convinced that there was no way the computer could be wrong. (Wouldn’t you think they might have asked for their truck back if I had kept it an extra two months without asking?)
After a few more rounds of the same conversation, she finally put me on hold to talk with her supervisor. A few minutes later, she returned and said that “the computer had crashed” in Roslindale and they had lost all the information. There was a note that someone was supposed to call me about this more recent charge, but apparently no one had. She told me she would fix it, and within a week the credit card would be refunded.
It’s hard for me to believe that this operation survives at all. There must be other people who were also in the “computer that crashed” who were charged for returning vehicles two months late that they had actually returned on time. It didn’t sound like U-Haul was going to do anything to try to locate those people; instead it was just going to wait and see if they would complain.
If anybody reading this has any connections with management at U-Haul, I’d suggest you pass this blog entry on to them. Although some of the problems I experienced may have been anomalies, many of these issues are clearly systemic. If U-Haul ever stops sucking, I will at that point correct this entry.
(finally, I am perhaps not the first person to think of this. We have out there uhaul-sucks.com, “UHaul Sucks”, dontuseuhaul.com, etc..). In fact, I think U-Haul maybe even knows it sucks, since it owns uhaulsucks.com—I was going to link to the whois information for uhaulsucks.com, but all of the whois servers now apparently require you to type in the numbers in a graphic image first).
(update: #6 in google at this time)
Updates 1/22/05: whois information for uhaulsucks.com without captcha, thanks to Benjamin Carrell; #7 in google for ‘uhaul sucks’—and, amazingly, #8 in google for ‘u-haul’, #7 in yahoo for ‘u-haul’. See also this more recent discussion.
shaya Jan 28
don’t ever make a uhaul reservation through uhaul.com, always call the place you want to reserve from. did it last friday, and besides the extra “friday fee” I was happy w/ the van I got.
James Grimmelmann Jan 28
I made a U-Haul reservation once by phone. A few days later, I received a call back from them saying that the person who’d taken my reservation didn’t work there (and that the rate she’d quoted me was wrong). I never did figure out how they managed to work that one.
Jamie Jan 28
There was a story last week on a local New York news show about how much U-Haul sucks. They actually rented a truck and took it to a truck mechanic, who basically said that the truck they rented was unfit for driving.
Benjamin Carrell Jan 28
uhaulsucks.com whois info
Anonymous Jan 28
U-Haul sucks
smeg Jan 28
I hate Uhaul … the idea that you can book something online, and not know it’s final until 5pm the day before is absolutely insane … I went with Budget instead when I moved. Booked online, got confirmation, picked up a bigger truck than I paid for because they didn’t have the right one in at the time and returned it less than 12 hours later with no problems.
Jason Jan 28
This sounds a lot my UHaul experience. I rented a 25 foot truck (which let me tell you, was a lot of fun to bomb around Boston in). Like you, I returned it within 24 hours, and like you, about 2 months later I received a $300 charge on my credit card. Apparently they thought I kept the truck for 3 weeks. It took 10 or 15 phone calls to get the whole thing straightened out.
I just wish I knew how a company looses track of a 25 foot long moving truck for three weeks. Unbeleviable.
Michael Jan 28
It’s always been my understanding that U-Haul makes it’s money off of “fees” and other artificial adminstrivia. It’s also common knowledge that their vehicles are rolling deathtraps, indeed “shocking investigation”/”what you should know!”/etc. stories of unsafe U-Haul vehicles are a staple of crap-TV ‘investigative journalism’.
jen Jan 28
i think you people need to relax and realize that we are all human and so mistakes can be easily made also we all know computers are all ways having problems so i think you people need to stop whining and move on with your life
ange Jan 28
cry me a fuckin river
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
Jen and Ange: see my latest blog entry for an update on the U-Haul situation.
jen and ange Jan 28
adam check out my latest entry in reply to yours
Rae Jan 28
I think you all need something else to do than to bitch about U-Haul. Adam Rosi-Kessel, don’t you think that a dispute to your credit card would of been a little more successful. Do waste your life…U-Haul rocks!!!!!!!!
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
I never thought this would generate such strong feelings. You’re all free to use U-Haul as much as you like–I’m just putting my experience out there, which seems to be consistent with just about everyone else I’ve spoken with. With respect to Rae’s suggestion to file a dispute with my credit card company: I did call my credit card company first, but they told me I had to call U-Haul and if U-Haul refused to give me a refund they would process the complaint. Since U-Haul did eventually refund the charge, I was “successful.”
Kris Driessen Jan 28
My husband and I travel a great deal on business and the one kind of vehicle we see on the side of the road A LOT is U-Haul trucks. My suggestion would be that you always make sure someone is following you whenever you rent U-Haul.
Mark Jan 28
HI Iam a former dealer for u haul to keep it short they
do not have a clue avoid them
George Lewis Jan 28
I like others reserved in advance, using the U-Haul Web, and then confirmed (twice) over telephone with a live human being that my reservation was in fact real.
I arrived on a Saturday afternoon at exactly 1:00 pm as instructed and found that the trailer I reserved was in poor running condition and that I would have to pick an anternate at a location accross town (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) - everyone was nice and so we made the usual frantic calls to our moving party that we were (after a week of planning) going to be late.
45 minutes later, at another U-Haul location, I went through 6 trailers (and was hooked-up to 2 of them); each time finding major problems with electrical, mechanical - to the extent that none could be legally taken on the road. At last, we settled on a lesser trailer, also poorly maintained - but at least street legal - and started our move 2 1/2 hours late.
The story did not end at this point - when we dropped off the trailer 293 km and 1 day later - we found the drop-off centre so poorly ran that they did not know how to process the paper work - in the end, I phoned the Edmonton rental agency to tell then that I had, in fact, actually dropped off their trailer - they seemed to be so dis-intrested that I fully expect to see a bill on my VISA at some later date for late charges.
I have had worse service - and I have had worse experiences - but I cannont help but remarke that U-Haul’s primary business is their rolling stock (and therefore should make some reasonable effort to keep this working). Until such time as U-Haul understands this - I will never recommend U-Haul to anyone.
Alan Jan 28
you are all right. Uhaul sucks and nobody should rent from them. They don’t honor the insurance contracts and let another company that answers as them to give you worthless “collision waiver” which excludes hitting anything overhanging (most common accident). I only $200 or so in damage, but could have been uncapped. They were extremely unresponsive to my complaint. All in all, a worthless corporation.
Dan Jan 28
Ok, I’m a former U-Haul administrator and I can confirm that this is a systematically horrible company. The people defending U-Haul are probably employees with nothing better to do. U-Haul employees are undereducated and are easily brainwashed by management to believe that the customer is generally “crazy” for believing they are actually going to get a well-maintained truck at the time they reserved.
Here’s the deal: UHaul overbooks…so does Budget, Ryder, etc….UHaul has “horrendous” customer service skills and absolutely no training on how to placate a displaced customer. The general biz model is not bad, and generally necessary to achieve the company goals. The issue is how management sets up online employees to fail and then redirects complaints back to overwhelmed store managers to solve. Letters are the only true way to make sure your complaint is dealt with. Address your letter to Joe Shoen in Phoenix and I guarantee you will get a call! My booklet will be available soon at the website above if you want to know how to get moving for nothing or close to it. Take advantage of their horrible system! Should be up in about a week.
Dan Jan 28
Whoops, make that http://www.StressFreeMoves.com. Forgot that URL was already taken. If you are moving, make sure you read this booklet. I guarantee you’ll save $$.
Geoff Jan 28
u-haul can lick my sweaty balls.
Elsie Jan 28
I have been reading these comments about u-haul. Does not sound good. My daughter is moving from Yellowknife to Vancouver. Is there anyother company she can deal with?
Unsatisfied Customer Jan 28
U-haul sent me out in an unsafe truck. What a surprise! My trip was delayed several hours, and my move was VERY inconvenient. I was even told I could travel 350 miles in less than 4 hours to make up for the time lost while they “fixed” my truck. The only credit I can give them, is they have put a lot of brain-power into creating a complex system for giving you the run-around when you call to complain. I called 5 different numbers, many of them multiple times and continued to hear the same story; “a representative will call you in 24-48 hours”, blah, blah, blah. It has been 2 weeks and many more phone calls; no call. Eventually, I demanded they conect me to a manager, but they concected me to the manager with whom I had the complaint. If I did my job the way they do theirs, I would not have a job!!! I am very disappointed.
i hate uhaul with a passion Jan 28
i never thought i would be driven to post on any blog about any company but i simply do not understand how such a disaster of a company still exists. i never ended up getting a truck with uhaul after spending 2 weeks on hold with various disorganized offices, but still got charged a service fee. go with penske! it took me 2 minutes to get a truck on a saturday nearby my apt with penske.
loved uhaul Jan 28
all of you suck. i hate people like you. you see it’s people like you who actually hold there trucks up and mess up the schedule process. i moved 4 times with u-haul in the past year and only had a problem once but it was because people like you. you people who wanted to be given more time and not return it on time. while making a reservation over the phone i was told my move was being held up because a person tried to pull a trail that they were not supposted to causing it to overheat. these are trucks they do break-down, just like cars to. muck-mucks.
hey there Jan 28
I’m a current U-Haul employee and I must say you’ve all had some really bad experiences with our company. It is very unfortunate, but really is venting out your problems really the answer? I’m responding to this very dim-witted website because I think your cause is in vain. We are the largest self-moving company in North America. While you may want to think that you’re hurting our business, your not. If anything you give us employees something to laugh about on our breaks. Hundreds of thousands of reservations our made throughout our thousands of locations everyday and we fill about 95%. For you unfortunate saps I petty you because when you get a late pick-up you can blame the person who had the truck ahead of you. Ask them why they felt like it was at their own leisure to bring the truck/trail back when ever they felt like it, to which every location they wanted to. Ask them whey they thought our trucks were built for speeding down highways or to move dirt or trash. We do and say things for a reason. And please don’t forget about all the good stuff we do like give free storage to families of hurricane victims or support various charities. So in the end, please keep up the log coming because we like reading them. Ha Ha Ha Ha.
Mark Jan 28
I had a similarly unfortunate experience with uHaul. My girlfriend reserved a truck and perhaps she wasn’t strict enough about one-way (I know one way is cheaper for short moves), but when we got there the truck was reserved for in town. She does tell me she explicitly said one way and told them a pickup and dropoff location. I told the woman that wouldn’t do and I want one way for the $100 or close that was offered. Granted I’ve moved with uhaul twice before myself and everything went as smoothly as you could expect, though the trucks were rather old. After haggling with her to redo the contract and everything, she informs me that she has no truck. WHAT? But there’s another uhaul 2 blocks away that will have a truck, go there. So we go there on foot. No trucks, they call her, she says come back.. I have one truck. So we go back. It won’t start. She sits there and futzs with it and eventually gets it to start. She says, it needs gas (it’s almost empty), go get gas, save the receipt, the destination location will refund you. Ok. So we move, and go to return the truck. Wow.. Here goes. The destination location says “no, we don’t do that, the other location would since they get the money from the customer who left it empty”. Ok so we return the truck. A week later we get a charge for $150 from a Uhaul 2 states away. To make a long story short, the next customer returned the truck without a contract, they couldn’t find that contract for the truck in the computer so they applied the charges to the last known contract, and of course a shitload of miles and time! Ok so what do we do. we call around and nobody seems to know. We manage to get ahold of the regional reseration center. They promise time and time again to have the boss call me back and time and time again they don’t. So I go into the regional center and ask to speak to this person but they were conveniently in a meeting. So I go find uhaul corporate’s number and find an exec to talk to. I believe several people were terminated as a result of this, I got my money back and even the refund for the gas. Because of vouchers they also gave me, they compensated me $20 in my favor overall, which I wouldn’t ordinarily let happen, but they really made me upset and wasted a ton of our time. The trick is to find someone useful really. 90% of the company is degenerate idiots with absolutely horrendous customer service skills.
Jay Levitt Jan 28
Well, it sounds like nothing changes. I’ve used professional movers for my last few moves, but I used U-Haul quite a few times in the early 1990s in Virginia. I ran into exactly the same problems: U-Haul “locations” that were abandoned gas stations, “reservations” that weren’t reserved, a call center that had no communications with the local franchises, poorly-maintained trucks, missing trucks, etc. I usually managed to work my way up the management complaint chain and get a truck located - by that time, for free - but it was always a pain. A few years ago, a friend moved, we used a Budget truck, and had no problem. Another time, we rented a Penske. Again, no problem. Anecdotal? Perhaps. But it’s clear that the new paint jobs U-Haul gives their trucks didn’t extend to their infrastructure.
Aquaman Jan 28
The Canadian investigative show W-Five, aired a story on U-Haul this weekend.
You can read about it at:
http://tinyurl.com/7pyam
or
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051021/wfiveuhaul051021/20051022?hub=WFive
If you have a highspeed connection to the internet, you can watch the W-Five
episode in Media Player by clicking on the links below or copy/paste the links
into Media Player by running Media Player and choosing File, Open URL.
Part One
http://tinyurl.com/7qdjx
or
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2005/10/20/ctvvideologger3143kbps200510201129852691.wmv
Part Two
http://tinyurl.com/btbth
or
mms://ctvbroadcast.ctv.ca/video/2005/10/20/ctvvideologger3143kbps200510201129853440.wmv
jeraldaw@hotmail.com Jan 28
U-HAUL SUCKS IN ARIZONA. I HAVE USED THEM BEFORE WITH OK RESULTS. THEY PUT IN A NEW STORE NEAR WHERE I LIVE. I STOPPED TO RESERVE A LARGE TRUCK FOR NEXT MONTH. (I NOTICED THERE LOT WAS ALWAYS FULL OF TRUCKS) NO BUSINESS?? I ASK TO PICK ONE UP ON FRIDAY AT 5 PM AND WOULD RETURN IT AT 5 PM ON SATURDAY. (24 HRS RIGHT ?) THEY TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR FRI. AND SAT.??? THEY SAID I COULD COME AT 9 AM SAT AND PICK UP A TRUCK AND HAVE IT BACK 5 PM.(8HRS) I POINTED TO THERE SIGN THAT SAID 24 HRS. THEIR REPLY WAS THEY ONLY RENT FOR 8 HRS FOR A DAY. WELL I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT TO ME 24 MEANS 24. I AM AN OLD CRANK AND I TAKE NO SHIT FROM PEOPLE LIKE THAT. (I WAS TALKING TO THE OWNER) I POLITLY TOLD HIM TO KISS MY ASS. I EXPLANED TO OTHER CUSTOMERS THAT WERE THERE ABOUT THE OWNERS POLICY. I NOTICED THEY WALKED OUT AS I WAS DRIVING OUT. I GO PAST THE STORE EVERY DAY TWICE AND THE UHAUL LOT IS ALWAYS FULL OF TRUCKS. (NO BUSINESS?????)
Daniel Jan 28
Hi,
I would have to agree that UHaul is about the worst example of customer service. I am currently fed up with the lack of assistance I have had with a storage unit. On a humorous note, two of my friends rented a truck last year and I helped them load it. It was during the winter months, and after we loaded the truck, we started it to let it warm up. About 10 min later, one of our friends noticed the truck engine was on fire. Luckily, we were able to throw enough snow into the engine compartment to put out the fire. When we called in to UHaul to report the incident and request help, they were going to charge us for a second vehicle and required us to unload the original one. After a large argument, they agreed to tow the burnt truck past my friends new apartment so that we could unload it before they towed it back to their shop. It was a moving nightmare!
Go Budget!
Mel Jan 28
My mother was sexually assaulted in Texas while being stranded in the rain, driving a Uhaul one way truck rental. AFTER a U Haul referred mechanic told her there was nothing wrong with the truck and to ignore the engine light which never went off. Sure enough, the truck died again and my mom will never be the same again after being stranded and victimized. U Haul? I cringe at the name.
karen Jan 28
i used to work for uhaul and not only did they perform minimal to no matience but if a truck needed work it had to be sent out of state which cut into quotas and stress out management so they would rent the trucks that needed to be fixed out of state first to not have them be their problem hoping the return uhaul would be down a truck instead of them.
also i spent years in court with them which after them firing many sets of attorneys for loosing they were mad at me because they not only fired me for being a female who had no business putting on a trailer hitch ( they said we belong in the office ) but tried to replace me with a man who i had beaten for the job who they paid better for being less qualified. if you ever want to know what uhaul thinks of women go to the federal court site in boston mass and look up romano vs uhaul and see just what awful human beings they are as well as bad business and dangerous practices.
John Jan 28
I just had a bad experience with a very uncooperative UHaul owner in Bozeman, MT. I would recommend that people do not assume that UHaul will do anything in the customer’s best interest. Based on the other comments here, it appears that the entire company is based on offering low advertised rates, but then tacking on inflated charges after the rental.
Kristi Jan 28
Can someone please start another truck rental that will actually be reliable!! This is the second move I have had, and once again huge problems with UHaul. Thank goodness last time I was able to flirt enough with one of the UHaul workers in VA to get a UHaul. After that horrible experience, I can’t believed I would use UHaul again, but I made the mistake, which will not happen again. I am still waiting for my UHaul, as I am supposed to be starting a new job 2 states away. I am a logistics engineer and can not imagine a company has to have this poor of service.
Darrel Johnston Jan 28
Here is the biggest single why your reservations can not be confirmed until 5:00PM the day prior…THE RENTER BEFORE YOU!
Logisitics would not be a problem if you, the renter, returned your vehicle on:
a) the time listed on your contract.
b) the DATE listed on your contract.
c) the LOCATION listed on your contract.
If every renter followed the instructions listed on their contract (which bears their signatures as ‘responsible adults” in agreement with a little thing called Terms and Conditions) your reservation would be a slam-dunk!
Maybe the real reason you’ve been inconvenienced lies with your neighbour?
Food for thought.
Adam Rosi-Kessel Jan 28
Darrel: every other car/truck rental place I’ve ever dealt with guarantees a vehicle. It doesn’t make sense to me why U-Haul would have so much more trouble than its competition. Lots of industries have dealt with similar issues and found solutions that don’t inconvenience the consumer. For example, airlines know that a certin percentage of passengers will not show up for any given flight, and plan accordingly. If they overbook, they offer fairly generous compensation for taking the next flight–I’ve gotten as many as two free tickets or an upgrade to first class for volunteering to be “bounced.” Clearly U-Haul has enough data and operates at a large enough scale to know to a reasonable approximation how often vehicles will not be returned on time, yet they apparently do nothing with these data.
Stan Johnson Jan 28
I just commpleted a move from Boise, Id. to Port Orford,
Or. If anything this was “a trip from Hell”. If anything could go wrong it did go wrong. After filling the 26 ft truck and securing my pickup on the trailer, I thought I should check the Oil and other flouids, but the thought,no the dealer should do that before he let it out for rent.
Guess again, I decided as a precausion i would do it anyway.
There was only a drop of oil on the dipstick, took 3 quarts to bring it up to correct level, no coolant in the overflow for the radiator, took 3/4 a gallon, no window washer fluid in it’s container. Three hundred and 75 miles into a trip of 645 miles the truck broke down. A rotor disc on the front brake broked into. I had to remove my pickup from the trailer, drive 12 miles where i could get cell phone coveragte, then called the 1-800 b break down number, this is where it just plain got bad. I explained to the person that I was a heart patient and I was stranded with their truck on a mountain pass. The person I spoke to was a complete sub-human idiot. After hours and many calls they finally decided to send out a tow truck. I was stuck on the mountain pass in the snow for 9 hours, and the tow truck was only apx 45 minutes away all the time. This people do not deserve to breath the same air as the rest of the human race. I cannot understand how a company can stay in existance a treat their customers the way they do. I spit at them everytime I drive by one of their establishments. There should be a class action lawsuit against them for false advertising. NEVER< NEVER rent form u-haul, even if you have to carry your belongings on your back. I hope I live long enough as to spit on your demise.
john Jan 28
uhaul suck and is not fair company to work for.
and is not good to their customer. and raical. thank
you.
john Jan 28
uhaul suck and is not fair company to work for.
and is not good to their customer. and raical. thank
you.
Jason Jan 28
Thanks for this page. I was considering renting a Uhaul but this and other forums has proven that it would be a waste of time and effort. When I called Uhaul everything on this site was verified. They have no real locations, cannot promise there will be a truck and The trucks I;ve seen are terrible. I helped a freind move in a Uhaul and the transmissin was gone n the truck. Thankfully it was a local move. I certainly wouldnt have taken that truck on a highway.
robin Jan 28
thank you, thank you, thank you for this blog. im about to move cross canada, one way and i was going to investigate uhaul to see if it was cheaper than budget. your blog was incredibly informative, i will definately not be uhauling it. keep up the good work. r. :)
Joe Jan 28
I have been complaining to U-haul about my own issues, and they put this disclaimer on the bottom of the e-mail they just sent to me.
You are hereby on notice that this E-mail message is confidential and proprietary. THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE IS SPECIFICALLY INTENDED FOR USE BY THE RECIPIENT FOR WHICH IT IS ADDRESSED. AS THE DESIGNATED RECIPIENT OR UNINTENDED RECIPIENT, YOU ARE HEREBY PROHIBITED FROM ANY DISCUSSION, DISSEMINATION, DISPLAY, DISCLOSURE, REPRODUCTION OR COPYING OF THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE. ANY THIRD PARTY DISCLOSURE IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
lol. They think they can “prohibit me” from forwarding the e-mail to my friends. What nonsense.
Anonymous Jan 28
To those defending U-haul and wondering why we are venting. Is because of the continued negligence of U-haul and companies like U-haul. I just had an experience with Budget and to be honest they practice the same antics as U-Haul. How does not a company know that a location is no longer… I am trying to drop off a truck that was on my contract and they were no longer. Then Budget did not even know. They kept telling us .. but its in the system. How can someone return a truck on time if what is on the contract is wrong. Then they want to do nothing to help. They take the money and run. Those of you defending companies like U-haul are doing so cause you know you get paid for doing nothing. While risking the safety and wasting the time of the consumer. If enough people sound off on these boards… then one day class action.
Lynn Jan 28
To those defending U-haul and wondering why we are venting. Is because of the continued negligence of U-haul and companies like U-haul. I just had an experience with Budget and to be honest they practice the same antics as U-Haul. How does not a company know that a location is no longer… I am trying to drop off a truck that was on my contract and they were no longer. Then Budget did not even know. They kept telling us .. but its in the system. How can someone return a truck on time if what is on the contract is wrong. Then they want to do nothing to help. They take the money and run. Those of you defending companies like U-haul are doing so cause you know you get paid for doing nothing. While risking the safety and wasting the time of the consumer. If enough people sound off on these boards… then one day class action.
Mike Jan 28
I like the U-Haul employees on here who are playing directly into the “band of assholes” model by mocking people who complain about them. Way to go, guys, that’ll really make your fifth-rate company look better.
PAUL Jan 28
I reserved a u-haul 6 weeks in advance, flew 1200 miles to S. Calif. and my truck was not there. u-haul informed me that dispite my reservation equipment was subject to avaliability and u-haul had “NO OBLIGATION” to bring in equipment. I had to rent a vehicle from thier competitor who charged me a $500.00 surcharge to bring the equipment in that day. I have spent the last 6 months trying to contact u-haul customer service. I have never receivied an apology or reply.
Anuj Jan 28
I reserved a truck from U-Haul a month ago for a move I was making from Chicago to Washington DC this past weekend. I was scheduled to pick the truck up on Friday. On Thursday morning, I got a call from U-Haul telling me that there weren’t going to be any trucks available until Monday at the earliest. Naturally I flipped out and explained that I had to be out of my place, that I had a new job to start, etc., and they were incredibly unhelpful. I later got a call back from a supervisor telling me that there might be a truck available at a location more than an hour away from me if I was willing to pick it up a day early (which I was unable to do). When I asked this “supervisor” if she could at least call the location to confirm that there was actually a truck there, I was put on hold for, I’m not kidding, 90 minutes before I hung up the phone. I tried calling a variety of other U-Haul numbers I found online, but couldn’t get past the automated system. I never got a call back from U-Haul, and as far as they know, I’m still stranded without a truck. Glad to know they care about their customers.
I ended up calling Budget on thursday, and they were able to get me a relatively new (less than 10K miles) truck on a day’s notice. Budget was $300 more expensive, but I suppose I was paying a premium to them for actually HAVING A TRUCK.
All in all, I’d just like to say, f*ck U-Haul.
mike Jan 28
THE SELF STORAGE COMPANY I WAS EMPLOYED BY WAS PURCHASED BY U-STORE-IT,IMMEDIATLY, A U-HAUL DISTRIBUTORSHIP WAS BROUGHT IN THE TRUCK THAT WAS SUPPLIED FROM U-HAUL KEPT STALLING HAD NUMEROUS DAMAGE TO THE BODY,BRAKES WERE TOUCHY,PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO RENT THE TRUCK WOULD LOOK AT IT,TRY TO START IT,THEN DECIDE NOT TO. CONVERSATIONS WITH THE HOME OFFICE CONTACT FOR U-STORE-IT AND THE AREA FIELD REP FOR U-HAUL FELL ON DEAF EARS.I WAS TOLD BY BOTH I WAS REQUIRED TO RENT THAT TRUCK OUT AT LEAST FOUR TIMES A WEEK.MY QUESTIO TO THEM WAS HOW WAS I GOING TO RENT A TRUCK OUT THAT WAS NOT RELIABLE.I REALIZED WITH WITH THIS AND ALL THE OTHER CHANGES THAT WERE HAPPENING NEITHER U-HAUL OR U-STORE IT CARED ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE OR INTEGRITY,I HAVE SINCE LEFT U-STORE-ITS EMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF MY INABILITY TO DEAL WITH THESE TYPE OF PRACTICES,I HAVE SPOKE TO A COUPLE OF MY FOMER TENANTS,AND HAVE HEARD THE HORRER STOYS,MY ADVICE ABVIOUSLY THE COMPANYS ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN GETTING YOUR MONEY DO BUSINESS WITH ANOTHER COMPANY.GOOD DAY!!
Mike Jan 28
I rented a truck one-way, and also purchased five large garment boxes. I had three unused boxes leftover, which I returned to the same store and same clerk that I purchased them from a few days earlier. He remembered me.
But I did not have a receipt.
The clerk told me tough luck— no receipt, no refund.
I sent an email to the U-Haul website and they told me I can request another receipt. But what they did not tell me was that at the very end of answering all their questions, they want to charge you $10 for a “Research Fee”, as if this were 1922 and everything is done with carbon paper. They want me to pay them $10 so that I can get a $36 refund on boxes I already returned— that they are going to sell again.
I did not need a refund so bad that I would agree to their “policy”. Instead, I write this posting to inform all others that U-Haul has NO CLUE about customer service.
Mike Brinda
Jim Jan 28
I have just finished with u-haul, I have tried for two weeks to reserve a car hauler. The first time I was called the night before that I would have to promise to have the trailer back by 1pm that same day that I picked it up when I made my reservation I explained I needed it for the day and it would be back by 5pm well the person who called told me I was not being very helpful and changing what I could do then cancelled my reservation, now I am hosed I had people waitng to do what was needed but U-haul obviously could not give a shit. Now today earlier this week I make reservations through my local facility and explain that this will be a one way and I need it at 7am (there opening) I get a call telling me I can pick up the trailer 50 miles away at 11am, I explained that this would not work and I needed as I had made and paid for the reservation too this they said the trailer is already rented out and it will be back by 11am do you still need it? I said I had had it wanted my reservation cancelled and credited back to my account, now I will have to watch my account for the next couple of months just to see if they follow through. Lord help you if you ask to speak to management or anyone in a position to do something, now I know why my brother quit u-haul years ago there is no such thing as service to the customer. This has been one of several attempts at working to get a trqailer from u-haul.
etc Jan 28
I am in a lawsuit involving U-haul in which they rented a faulty truck that stopped twice. On the second failure a mechanic came out and worked on the vehicle saying it was good to go. Two hours later, a “pop” occurred, and within 1/2 a mile (looking for safe shoulder to stop at) a fire broke out near the gas tank and destroyed all of the belongings.
I am looking for any similar incidents near colorado and any documents detailing U-hauls faulty mechanics and maintenance program. Please email at: uhaulsuit@hotmail.com
Anonymous Jan 28
I have read many complaints about Uhaul and have complaints myself. Overall, I have had good experiences from renting from Uhaul, but I have had major issues regarding their storage dealers. It seems that most Uhaul managers (including the regional managers) don’t understand the policy of the free 30 days storage with a 1-way rental. I have had dealers tell me that you can only get 1 free 30 days in a year (it doesn’t matter how many 1-ways you have rented in that year). I have been told that it would be abusing Uhaul to allow the customer 90 days free–if the customer had 3 1-way rentals. Some believe that the free storage is based on the size of trailer or truck that you rent. Some say that you only get a 5×5 free–it doesn’t matter what size vehicle you rent. I had a dealer refuse to honor my free 30-day coupon because I was told they are useless–they don’t mean anything. I have been told by a dealer that since they had only 1 storage unit available, they couldn’t let me have it because they weren’t allowed to let their last remaining unit go for a free 30-day offer. When I call corporate, they are surprised at the responses I get and they inform me what the real rules are…but it does no good because the dealers just shrug their shoulders (regarding what customer service told me) and continue to spout what they believe. I am no longer surprised at the varied lack of knowledge from the Uhaul dealers regarding the free 30-day storage rental, but how can they get away with all of this? It’s like each dealer has their own courtroom and their word is final…you feel like you are being bullied and there’s nothing you can about it. If there is a problem with storage, corporate won’t help…I have been told that it’s up to the regional manager to resolve storage issues. If you don’t like the regional manager’s decision, then there is nothing else that can be done. I don’t want to just complain, I want to do something about the injustice and fraudulant activites of Uhaul. As countless people have said, if individuals boycot Uhaul, Uhaul won’t know it–they probably just laugh about such notions (like the employees who read customer’s complaints and use them for laughing material). Besides, Uhaul has a monopoly on trailer rentals–I have never been able to find a competitor that rents trailers. So, for me the boycot idea wouldn’t work because when I move–generally I need a trailer, not a truck & Uhaul holds the key. I can’t find anything on the web about where to write or who to contact–where someone will take action against Uhaul’s false advertising and harrassment. It all seems so hopeless, it causes me to be depressed. I’m tired of being bullied by Uhaul personnel and I want to do something about it…but it doesn’t seem like anything can be done to cause reform within the giant.
Heather Mar 23
Please do not ever ever ever rent from UHaul. They won’t open on time, give you a decent truck, or even be nice to you when you try to call and get the company to rectify their terrible business practices. Seriously, the “manager” of the location that screwed up our move actually hung up on my husband while claiming that he was terminating the phone call.
John Apr 12
I used to work at a U-Haul and I have to say it was one of the worst jobs I have ever had. I had an accident at work one day and (sometime in August of 2006) and I have yet to get the money to cover the cost of going to the hospital. On top of that, I was “politely” asked to resign and never come back. They are truly the spawn of satan and I will never do business with them ever again.
Lisa Apr 12
I called Uhaul for a reservation last year, to move to another State-one way trip. The customer service rep was so rude I refused to rent a truck from them. I didn’t even bother renting the truck. I went to Budget instead and was very happy, got a brand new truck.
Stephanie Apr 18
I agree.. My sister-in-law made a reservation for us to move from Arizona to Utah. They sent our reservation to the first city, that never has that size of truck available, so without telling us, they moved it to another city 30 miles out of our way, which they overbooked and so didn’t have the truck. I decided to call the regional office, where they explained that they had sent my “reservation” to the city 30 miles away.. and… whoops.. it looks like that truck is already taken. So they moved me 45 miles from THERE! Sheesh.. Then, they told me.. They don’t have the truck either, but we’ll upgrade you for free.. I didn’t want a larger truck, with less gas mileage, and bigger truck to deal with.. Still haven’t gotten this figured out. Uhaul is a nightmare!!! STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!! :) This move is going to cost me around $950 to move my belongings 600 miles. This includes gas.. Don’t even get me started on gas prices.
Ron Apr 24
I made a reservation for a trailer two weeks in advance. I was not contacted by 5pm the day before as advertised when I made the reservation. I called the 800 number and Latisha blew me off, put me on hold, and never returned before I got tired of waiting after 20 minutes and hung up. Later that evening my cell phone is beeping with a text message confirming the rental and the pickup location. When I arrive at the pickup location at the prescribed time, neither of the two trailers that are there are rentable. The pigtails are not connected to the lighting harness and the individual manning the store does not know how to hook them up. Not to mention that the turn signal is duck taped on to the back of one of the units. I go through the trial and error of getting the lights to work and then ask if the brake fluid has been checked on the unit. Of course, the not-so-sharp attendant has no idea. And the caps on the brake fluid containers on both trailers, that are only suppossed to be hand tightened, cannot be taken off, even with a wrench. Who knows how long it has been since the fluid has been checked, and if any of the brakes work at all. A trailer is then returned that the light pigtails are hooked up correctly and the brakes work. The only problem is one of the tires has NO tread. By this time I have been at the U-Haul place for an hour and a half, so I take the trailer. A little over 100 miles out, the tire blows and shreds tearing away the lighting harness under the wheel well. It takes almost two hours to get someone their to fix the tire. The call center is useless. They cannot figure out what 1/2 mile east of mile marker 26 on eastbound I-10 means. They don’t come with a tire mounted on a rim, but with manual tire tools and an air compressor. Lubricant is sprayed all over the highway as the tire man battles with the tire to get it off. The new tire is about 2 inches shorter than the one being replaced. Then we are greeted with, “I hope this will get you there.” When I called the store manager where I rented the trailer, he basically told me tough luck because he did not give a shit either.
Every aspect of this U-Haul experience was bad. No one that I ran into seemed to care about the customer. I have rented two Penske trucks in the past year and have found that experience very satisfactory. Penske seems to service their equipment where U-Haul seems to wait until it breaks. Then they do not care how much their customers are put out. I for one will NEVER do business with U-Haul again. I would hope that the State and Federal Departments of Transportation would start pulling over these vehicles and give them a good safety inspection. My guess is that very few would pass.
I will dispute the charge from U-Haul through my credit card company. Unlike U-Haul, they seem to care about my business and will reverse the charge during the dispute process.
Let’s hope that one of the other rental carriers will come into the trailer market and knock U-Haul out of the game. I for one will be rooting for that day to come.
Brady May 9
Rented (local) 10 ft truck. Used for 9 miles. Charged $48.50 for 4.5 gallons of gas. Evidently those 10 ft trucks are real gas guzzlers. One month later, still no credit.
Everclear May 18
It is sad to see that these things still happen. I put in 15 years with this company. I have to confirm everything I read on this blog. Right down to the good employee attitudes shown here. I started at the bottom and worked my way to the top. It was quite an education. Uhaul gives ordinary people extraordinary opportunities. They keep the carrot stick just enough in front of you to keep going for it. When you get high enough up the ladder you think gee,”look at what I accomplished with little or no education, I am making great $$$” but in reality it is nothing compared to the $$$$ you can make in another similar position with a first rate organization handling the same amount of pressure and responsibility. Uahul has an internal culture, some would use the term brain washing, that is pervasive throughout the organization. You are either with them or your an outsider.
I can tell you first hand that I watched many fine individuals get shafted by this organization. Some of them have never been able to recover. Uhaul literally ruined their life by suing them in meaningless lawsuits where they would have to spend all their savings defending themselves just to watch the lawsuits get dropped when they filed bankruptcy. Others this is the only lively hood they ever new.
As far as self storage goes it is an after thought for them. Most of their employees do not understand self storage at all. They fill this product up just by the sheer volume of moves that they service with their trucks and trailer business. You can travel the country and visit some of their older facilities, literally infested with rodents, pigeons, bugs, dirt, grime, walls and ceilings falling away, leaks, you name it. Their new product is cutting edge but the people that are renting it do not understand the business.
As far as trucks go, maintenance was always a nightmare. Uhaul was rebuilding their own major components at one time (engines, transmissions, etc.) I actually toured facilities where the “specialist” explained the processes and was blown away by what I had seen. Parts that should be machined not being, trying to use sealants instead of where gaskets should be used, etc. Needless to say there were many of times trucks would come out of the shop and a major component like a transmission would have a zero mile failure on it. Of course a truck could not be down for more than three weeks or the top brass would call or visit to kick your ass, threaten your job and wonder about your loyalty. I wonder if they still rebuild the major components? Must be by the sounds of it.
As far as overbooking goes that has to be the number one frustration for the customer and frontline employees. These poor souls. Employees have to face screaming mad customers with nothing to offer but an empty lot. No support from Uhaul international or their local marketing company. They take tons of abuse. There is a lot of turn over on the uhaul center level and yes they are not treated very well by the organization. Most center managers were working 60 plus hours a week. The hard core culture trained 10 plus year veterans were numb to everything. It was and it sounds like it still is the culture to say yes to confirming truck and trailer rentals no matter the inventory situation. I remember times in a traffic office I was visiting with a number one top of the top brass (founding family member) knowing there would be no equipment for days just watching the rental confirmations coming in. They sure kept sending especially since they new which company we were at. He just smiled and said,”look at all the customers we are serving!”
Cash flow, folks, cash flow. The amount of money taken in on confirmation deposits are enormous. Not to mention the ones that never get refunded, that is called pure profit. Yes there is some truth about local bookings or one-way customers keeping a piece of equipment longer than they should and compromising the next confirmed pick up but do not be fooled by this philosophy overbooking is definetly the main culprit.
Yes the sad truth is there is also a lot of unsafe equipment on the road. Once I realized that this was the organization I worked for after waking up from a 15 year sleep. I left the company on superb terms, was never terminated, still talk to the folks at the top of the top occasionally and have ventured into business for myself, living happily ever after on my island and everything is so EVERCLEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jenny May 19
I rented a truck to pick up some equipment they took 100.00 of my money then they needed to take 100.00 in fees fro a deposit i was to have it back by 7:45 that evening i did the door would not close i had to remove the items in the truck and had to move it another day now this gets tricky i was there with my mother and we did not yell but she told me she was taking out double my fees i told her no i called i called the police i will have to handle this in civil court but the waste of time she would not let me talk to her i should have kept the keys i did not i am more pissed then they know i called the bank cancelled the card called the charge card put a stop to that and will not pay them more they took 100.00 for a 65.00 fare this is robbing some one and dealing with a person by the name of Robert Worley wrong they were not in the manager was out the manager of the stor made the threat i will get a lawsuit against them Never rent from them they will cheat yo. Jenny Sheehan
Thaddeus Jun 11
Anyone who says that the people who are complaining about U HAUL need to get a life, don’t know what they are talking about. I rented a 26′ truck and when I picked it up, they were working on it. The mechanic literally said “I feel sorry for the poor sucker driving this truck”. I thought he was just joking. We made a detour thru town to eat and then headed out. The power steering and power brake pump belt broke about 20 miles before the top of the mountain pass. If we had not made the detour for lunch, the belt would have broken on the way DOWN the pass, a two lane winding road. A crash would have been unavoidable. It turns out the pully on the pump was bent. The mechanic was working on the pump when we picked it up, and me, not even a novice mechanic, noticed it when the hood was up. This was pure and simple negligence, nothing else!
Lessons Jun 30
As being a employee of Uhaul,I must say,things that have happened are mistakes.I just dont understand how someone could put there life into one company.U-Haul is a company that is ran by HUMANS and they are not perfect.I hope you people will be able to get over these thing and live your life.Things happen for a reason,take this as a lesson learned.
Jeff Jul 11
I just wanted to thank everyone for this blog. I will be moving from WA to AZ and will definitely not be renting a U-SUCK. I will be getting a Penske, its cheaper anyways for a bigger truck. Thanks everyone.
Suzanne Aug 10
I have rented from u-suck on 2 occasions 5 years apart and on both occasions we ended up on the side of the road. The second time i spent almost two hours of cell phone time trying to get some help - finally I just added oil and drove on hoping I would blow the whole engine up. The lesson learned is don’t rent from uhaul or you will be sitting on the side of the road watching ryder and penske drive right by you.
Omnivore2u Aug 16
Everclear has hit the bullseye!
I was an employee for well over a decade with U-Haul. The simple fact is that you cannot expect to get superior service with what minimal salary U-Haul pays its front line people. Managers are expected to meet or exceed their budgets with a payroll that doesn’t meet the standards of a fastfood joint for their employees. Managers are paid decently, but employees are paid peanuts. You are in a constant state of training and maintaining a revolving door of employees. As soon as one is trained well, another will leave for a better, less stressful job that pays better.
Just to give you a little bit of background on myself as an employee of U-Haul…
I was a General Manager, Area Feild Manager and a Senior Manager.
The main reason I left the company was that I was tired of be “motivated by intimidation.” Meaning, “do your job better, or get fired.” Or, better yet, “do your job better or I’ll fire all of your people and you’ll have to work here alone.” I was told this consistantly and had the highest net-profit out of the company for many years running. Managers are constantly overwhelmed, overworked and underpaid.
Everclear had it right when he said;
Like Everclear, I also had to wake-up from a 15 year sleep.
If you want a good peice of equipment and must get it from U-Haul because they ar ethe only game in town, this is how you do it.
First, find out who is the “Marketing Company President” for your area.
Next, Call up your local U-Haul Center, talk to the Center Manager only and drop the Marketing Company Presidents (MCP) name a couple of times saying that he, the MCP, was going to give you a great deal.
Next, call-back daily or every other day to ensure that everything is good to go and drop the MCP’s name on every call. Become a nag.
Day of pick-up, call again and ask if the MCP is around. If not, act disappointed like he was supposed to meet you there. If he is, do a meet and great. The MCP won’t know you from adam and will be glad to get your business.
Lastly, after you pick-up the equipment, express sympathy to the Manager who has to work were he is, if you so deisre.
Got Scammed Aug 30
Rented a van. Lousy service, but I didnt expect much. I drove 74 miles and when I went to refill the tank it took 35.00. That’s about 2 mpg!!!! About 50C per mile just for gas!!!!! I tried to plead my case but they had brain dead people in there….I DUNNNNO…. I said “dont you people understand math “…. DuH Sir….. I will never, ever rent from uhaul Lynn again. EVER!!!!
don’t embarass yourselves, uhaul employees Aug 31
It’s so obvious when U-Haul employees pop in here with their poor grammar and crappy spelling, just to splutter excuses and insults. The last time they screwed me (the ol’ “reservation” trick) I was venting and heard a great story from a cop. Turns out they drove some poor guy so crazy (his stuff was on the street already, and this was in nyc) he came back with a gun and took everyone hostage. U-Haul called the cops and they talked the guy down, cuffed him, and put him in the car…only to drive up the block to [competitor]. The cops begged the manager to rent the gun owner a truck, and he did, so they let him go. NYC cops don’t mess around…even they know U-Haul is some crazy nonsense.
jayson Sep 13
we were moving our grandmother from edmonton to kelowna. she had went in to the u-hual on the west end, got a contract reserving a 26′ truck for 4 days, put her cc down to hold it. she was supposed to pick it up on a monday, 22 days after making the reservation, have the professional movers meet her at her house and load up the truck. i was to fly in on wednesday morning get in the truck and drive grandma and all her stuff back to kelowna where her new life awaited. three days before the pick-up date they called and advised her that they didn’t have a truck in the lot at that time. she called the next few days asking if they had a truck yet, they replied no. she took a drive by and saw that there were at least three 26′ trucks in the lot.
the day before pick-up, as per policy, they told her that they would call at 7pm and let her know one way or the other; no call back. the day of the pick-up grandma called the store and they had nothing.
Cost - a last minute hiring of a moving company: $2000 extra, needing to find another way back to kelowna: $200, storage in kelowna: $100, another moving company in town to bring it to the new place: $220, the extra cost of getting the new owners to clean the old house cause we were left with no time to do it: their lawyers haven’t got a hold of us yet, listening to other horror stories and knowing that we dodged a bullet by not driving in one of those death traps: priceless. grandma is missing stuff, and the stress were just to much and still is a pain in the ass cause i keep trying to contact someone. we were told by the people that did move us that U-haul gets sued all the time for this. does anyone have any insight to this? i was told to write a letter to the owners of that location and ask for compensation before going through civil court. anyone out there help us? kafka98@hotmail.com
kk Sep 17
I guess now you know why they call it screw-all NOT U-Haul
dave Sep 27
I rented a trailer in Peterborough Ontario. There were no freakin lights working but one brake light. The guy who rented it to me said at least you have a break light, you’ll be alright. I really had no choice at the time and it was getting dark. Anyway long story short, I ditched the piece of crap on the side of an old gravel road and took one giant SHIT on the tongue of the HEAP!! They are truely heaps of shit that they rent out and I don’t even feel safe following one. If you rent from U-haul you are an absolute IDIOT!!!!!!
ken Sep 27
fuck uhaul!
ben Sep 27
I wouldn’t let my x rent from uhaul. And i want to kill her
peggy Sep 27
i like uhaul. i like to live dangerously!!!
trademark registration Dec 11
I’ve used them once before, and no complaints here.
Alan Dec 22
Email I sent to U-Hauls customer service deparment. I don’t expect them to respond…
My experience from Uhaul has been horrible. I made a reservation last night for a truck to use today. First off, I’ve never been treated so badly as a customer, secondly the u-haul employees did not have any sense of professionalism and thirdly, Uhaul has made an unauthorized charge to my account of $75.00. I was assured that my card would not be charged and it was just a “hold” on my account. I don’t believe it is constituted as a “hold” if the funds are actually debited from my account (I will be filing a police report.) I picked up the truck this morning and drove 57 miles round trip which should have come to about $60.00. I then stopped and filled the gas tank to half a tank, which cost me $30. I come back to the U-haul center (On time to drop it off ) and was told that I drove it 130 miles and that I owe $178.00. Surprised, I immediatley told them that was impossible and that I only drove it 57 miles. They told me that this was the case because of the miliage. Being oblivious to renting with U-haul, no one bothered to explain the terms or procedures of renting one of U-Hauls fine vehicles and being aware of how customer service works, no one obviously possessed any here. After finally convincing them that this was the case, and that it made absolutely no sense for me to drive 130 miles in one day, move and drive it all the way back instead of going “one way,” decided to let me pay what I really owed. Was is generosity, or maybe a mistake they attempted to hide? Who knows, but there is certainly one thing for sure and that there is no way that I will ever use U-Haul again; I will be sure to recommend to everyone I know not to ever use U-Haul due to it’s unprofessionalism, it’s so-called low prices and un-authorized charges. There is just one last thing I would like to mention, to top the cake, I could not be more pleased with a U-haul employee when he commented that I should tip him so he could buy a hamburger. Apparently, as I was paying what I actually owed, he somehow expected that I owed him something due to the fact that they were unsuccessful in over-charging me. So in conclusion, I hope the good people at U-haul can understand my reasoning in determining my discontinued business with them…. if they even notice.
Morpheus Dec 23
I have had quite a number of experiences with UHaul - some okay, and others a complete nightmare. I did have one of their trucks break down on me once - and I was stranded in Maine as a result (I live in Boston). Also, another time I rented one of their trucks and about a week later they charged $50 (or thereabouts) to my credit card. When I called to inquire, they said that I had broken the seal on the ‘two-wheeler/dolly’, which meant I used it, which meant I had to pay the fee for using it. The truth is that I never touched the two-wheeler and they were just straight lying and holding me up for another $50.
Recently, I have had some positive experiences dealing with the UHaul folks on the Lynnway in Lynn Ma. I am not saying that the experience was completely hassle free - but the manager and employees are pretty nice and it is very clear that they work extremely hard.
One thing that I would add as a rebuttal to the Uhaul apologists on this page: yes, it is true that the company is run by human beings, and that we should all be sensitive and blah blah blah….but this is a for-profit enterprise that is supposed to offer a service to customers. It is never okay for them to commit fraud against customers. It is never okay for them to knowingly endanger the customers or their belongings. It is never okay to mistreat, abuse, or lie to customers. NEVER.
The frontline employees and managers may not be to blame - but clearly the company executives are aware of this culture and are continuing to perpetuate these problems.
And on a final note: about six months or so after they screwed me out of the $50, I saw on the news that UHaul had paid out on a class action suit because they were knowingly charging customers unwarranted fees.
Morpheus Dec 23
Just found this site online. Not sure if it is helpful to anyone.
http://www.dontuseuhaul.com/filing.html
Jeanne Zerga Jan 17
We rented a U Haul in the middle of December - calibers bad on truck three employees from U Haul and an engineer hired by U Haul admitted that two calibers were bad - Everything in the truck is damaged - my husband was injured when he hit an overhead bridge and today one month later U Haul’s insurnace called to say they check the ACM Electic Data Recorder? and found that the brakes were not applied prior to impact???? This is riducales and now they are holding us responsible for the damages??? What can we do Help?