Uhaul.com - a U-Haul nightmare experience

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on August 23, 2002:

From:

RE: Uhaul.com - a U-Haul nightmare experience Subject: A U-Haul Nightmare Experience

I planned to move from Blacksburg, VA to Charlottesville, VA (a 2.5 hour trip) on June 6-7, 2002. I had set up friends to help me move, etc.

More than a month ahead of time, I "reserved" a 17' U-Haul truck to pick up on the morning of June 6th in Blacksburg, VA; this was done at www.uhaul.com. My credit card number was taken, and I was charged a deposit. The move was one-way. The instructions told me that someone from U-Haul would be calling me. They called me a few days later and told me that I would later receive a call from the Roanoke Regional U-Haul office; if I did not receive this call before 48 hours prior to the move, I was to contact them myself.

So, the date of the move was approaching, and 5 days before the move date, I contacted the Roanoke Regional office to ask them the status of my reservation. They told me that "it was too soon", and that they would call me when they started to workon my order. So, the day before the move, I called them again. This was around noon on June 5th, 2002. They told me that "they were just starting to work on my order and would call me when they knew something".

So, no call comes. I was slated to travel to Blacksburg the next morning, and needed an answer. I called them again around 5pm. After being put on "indefinite hold" (U-Haul's nice way of hanging up on you-they put you on hold, and never pick up, and after while, it starts ringing and never stops) several times, I finally talked to someone who was very rude to me, and certainly not helpful or understanding at all. She told me that they didn't have a truck yet, and would call me when one came in.

It was then that I discovered that "reservation" REALLY meant "you'll get one if and when one comes in", and that "reservation" was actually a lie. I asked to talk to her supervisor, but she had left for the day. So, I called the U-Haul national customer service, and they informed me that the regional office had "authority" over this matter, and they were powerless. It is beyond me how the national customer service is "powerless" to do anything within their own company.

I subsequently went on the internet, and using various search engines and my own investigative techniques, I figured out what U-Haul's corporate name was, found the phone number for the corporate headquarters in New Mexico, and called them. The woman, who was decidedly much nicer than any of the previous employees I had talked to, politely told me that this policy of claiming to have a reserved truck, but not really reserving anything, was the acceptable company policy, and there was nothing I could do but hope.

So, I went to sleep, woke up the next morning, and set out on my trip. I called the Roanoke Regional Office at 7am, their opening time. The lady, once again rude, told me that I was "first in line" to get a truck, and they were in the process of retrieving information about trucks that came in overnight. So, I called back at 8:30, and they said no trucks had come in that night in the ENTIRE Roanoke area. I got to Blacksburg, got all my belongings by the front door ready to move, and waited.

Let it ALSO be known that each time I spoke to someone, they told me that THEY would call ME when they knew something, yet throughout this entire ordeal, no one called me once.

So, I called them again at 10:30am, and by this time, they knew my name by heart and were getting increasingly rude; they seemed to be upset with me because I kept calling them. They told me they knew nothing and "would call me as soon as they did". I asked to speak to the supervisor, and once again, indefinite hold. I waited, and called again at 12:15. The woman asked for my name, and I told it to her. She then snapped back, "Didn't you just call here 15 minutes ago!?". I informed her that it had been over and hour and a half. She said "Well, your truck STILL ain't here!" I asked to speak to her supervisor, and was put, yet again, on "indefinite hold".

I waited, then called again around 2:00, and I got the same attitude and the same answers. By this time, it was getting late in the day, and knowing that most U-Haul franchises are garages that close at 5pm, I was getting worried. I called and asked to speak to the supervisor.

The lady asked for my name with her rudeness, I gave it to her, she told me she'd put me through, and I was then put on "indefinite hold" yet again. So, I immediately called back, and asked to speak to the supervisor again; this time, however, I gave her a fake name, and in seconds I was speaking to the supervisor.

She said she would look for a truck for me personally. A few seconds later, she came back on and said she had found a truck on the other side of Roanoke; while this was far out of my way, and not my reserved pick-up location, I'd settle for anything at that point. She took my phone number and said she was going to set it up and call me back.

So, time goes on, and she never calls. I call her, give the same fake name, and talk to her again. She claims that she "tried to call me", but I knew this to be false, since my cellular phone would have rung. By this time it was after 4:00pm. She had found a truck, but it was a 25' truck, not the 17' model I reserved; but, I took it anyway. The truck was also at a location that was over an hour away. But, she very nicely added more miles to my limit. While this did not make up for the gas spent to get there and back, plus the time lost, it WAS the first and only sign of help. She gave me the number of the garage, and I called.

By this time, it was 4:15. My brother had taken my car back to Charlottesville, so I was just waiting, car-less. The man at the franchise garage told me that he had "plans" for the night and had to leave at 5pm; since I had to go through Roanoke rush hour to get there, it would take me over 1.5 hours to get there, so I couldn't get the truck. However, I spoke to the owner of the garage, and he agreed to stay until 6pm.

My friend drove me out there, and we got there just before 6pm. We got the truck (which had a faulty mirror that made it impossible to see behind me, very dangerous. Luckily I fixed it with my trusty leatherman) and drove to Blacksburg, where it cost over $50 to fill it with gas. After loading and driving for 3 more hours, I finally got where I needed to be.

Later, I filed an online complaint form, and they subsequently gave me 20% of my the truck's price (not inclusive of extra miles, which is where the real money was) back...which was only $30 or so. At the same time, this refund was only for the rudeness I encountered by the one operator, not for the other infractions.

If the company simply reserved the trucks when they claimed to "reserve" them, or even posted a disclaimer in a conspicuous place on their website, this could have been better. When I "reserve" a truck, I am led to believe that it is going to be there for me. If I make reservations at a restaurant, I expect to be seated at that time. The company policy should be changed; at the same time, the customer service should be much better.

The rude and uncaring attitude of the only people I could call for help was very disconcerting; when your only line of contact is telling you "we can't do anything", you tend to get very worried. Furthermore, the fact that I had to give a fake name to speak to a supervisor was appalling; also, the fact that I waited all day for them to find me a truck, while the supervisor found me one in 30 seconds, makes me wonder if I was actually first in line, or if that was a lie too.

The measly $30 that they gave me is hardly restitution for the entire day of my life that they stole; it doesn't even cover the extra gas I had to burn getting to and from the out-of-the-way pickup point! This is a horrendous business practice, and I shall never use U-Haul again; I urge everyone else to do the same.

They, based on my personal experience, have a helter-skelter way of dealing with their customers; they, for all intents and purposes, lie to you by telling you that they have reserved a truck; they have created so many levels of beaurocracy, no one can do anything to help you; on top of all this, while they are in the process of heaping all these bad business practices on you, they don't even have the courtesy to have polite and/or helpful customer service reps. I implore you: Do NOT use U-Haul.

Comment On This

2 breakdowns on UHaul!

Called local U-Haul in Waterbury, CT to get a price quote and see if they would honor the Budget 20% off coupon I had (already had made a reservation with Budget & coupon � had confirmation)

Was told that when I came in to pick up truck they would match the coupon. Our reservation was for the 14th of July and a return date of the 21st. We called to delay the pick up by one day but were told we could not � so we called and spoke with a regional manager and she approved that they would let us turn in the truck the evening of the 21st (before 5pm)

We rented one-way from CT to CO 17� truck

When we went to pick up the truck on the 14th & our reservation had been changed in the computer to a pick-up date of July 21st ...?(even though I had written confirmation of our reservation)

I showed the General Manager of the U-Haul Waterbury (169 Meriden Road) our coupon and contract with Budget he told me that I could use it but he had to get the contract done before I could get the 20% discount. He told me to call the 1-800-gouhaul number after the contract was done and that they would credit me for the coupon amount.

I called several times and was transferred to several different departments to try and sort this out and give approval... was disconnected several times � was in the middle of packing and loading truck so I figured I would sort out during our drive to Colorado.

I noticed after we hit the road that the contract return time was for 11:47 am on the 21st � not 5pm as discussed.

My husband was driving the u-haul truck and I was following in our own personal vehicle. Just as we hit the Ohio border we were going slowly in construction traffic when someone flagged my husband to pull over and told him there was something wrong with his wheels/ ball bearings � the truck was tipping a bit to one side. We called the U-Haul Roadside Assistance and followed a tow truck to the nearest uhaul center (Youngstown, OH). We were told that we would have to un-load and re-load into a 26� truck as they thought our load was too heavy (?? We had the contents for a 2-bed condo � no appliances and only one bed)

Apparently we were not in a great part of town and were told by the uhaul staff and tow truck driver that we needed to get our stuff moved before it started to get dark or we could run into trouble. So after loading the truck the first time we had to re-load another one within 24 hours... We had to call to get 2 guys to help us from one of the uhaul recommended companies � we also hired another worker that was going home to help since we were under a time crunch and could not lift the heavy items alone.

The second 26ft truck started having problems within the first 10 hours of driving. The check engine light was on and the truck would occasionally stall in the middle of the freeway. We had been unable to find a hotel because apparently there was a Nascar race and everywhere was booked within 5 hours. We finally stopped in Geneseo, IL. We slept about 4 hours, took the car to service station, checked oil, water.... and could find nothing wrong. The check engine light had also gone off. Called Roadside Assistance and the person told us to go ahead and drive the truck since the light went out. We took a test drive on the freeway about 10 miles and the engine light came on again and it stalled on the freeway. A guy came and looked at it and could not see what was wrong so he had to wait for uhaul to approve him to tow us.

After several hours we were finally towed to a small town in Kewanee, IL (20+ miles the opposite direction we were going � instead of heading to Davenport which would have made more sense). We were told by uhaul that the towing people had booked us a hotel and uhaul would pay for our stay since it was a Sunday and the truck could not be looked at until the next day). We were left at a service station and had to find our own way to the hotel � no reservation had been made for us. They towing place left the uhaul unlocked and left the keys in the ignition leaving anyone to drive off with it and our belongings. We were told by the tow truck guy & his boss (who owned the repair shop who was hoping to fix the truck) that they did not have approval from uhaul to fix the truck... at this we questioned why we were taken to this location as they had a very small uhaul shop with no other 26ft trucks in case we had to unload and reload again. We spoke with the manager of the Roadside Assistance and he told us that the �shop manager� out of Iowa approved us to go to this location only and that no one could override the decision and most likely they would not be able to fix the truck and that we would have to wait for another 26ft truck to be delivered and transfer the contents again the next day. It was not a relaxing Sunday as we were on and off the phone with uhaul � and quite frankly could not get a confirmed answer as to who would be approved to fix the truck in the morning.

In the morning we called to speak with the shop manager and was told he was away on vacation....?

The good news is that we were told by uhaul they had worked on the truck and were test-driving it and it was fixed. We were told it was the fuel pump but when we spoke with the garage they said the fuel pump was fine they just cleaned up some wires....?

Needless to say we headed out again and within the hour the engine light was on again and the truck stalled in the middle of the road. We were pretty frustrated at this point as we had lost considerable travel time and had a deadline to move into our condo in Denver � one of those places that you have to pre-book a move with fee and deposit so we had to make it. We kept driving and my husband figured out that if we kept the truck running the stalls were minimal � at rest stops one of us stayed with the truck so we could keep in running. When we did have to stop and started again it would have stalls until the engine light came on. It was a stressful & long drive but we had no confidence that Uhaul would expeditiously resolve the problem so we kept going.

In addition to this my husband has a medical condition with blood clot in his lungs and I have to give him daily injections of blood thinners � his doctors advised that during our journey he get out of the truck every 2 hours � obviously this was not possible with our vehicle problems and we also had to get there quickly so I would have enough shots to give him.

One might expect that on a long trip you could possibly have one breakdown � but two! I have to question how well these vehicles are being serviced � and would expect that when you rent one to drive ¾ the way across the country you would provide a truck in good repair.

I would expect when you have a customer who had 2 vehicle breakdowns to be treated with concern and that Uhaul would want to make it right. Instead, I have two different regions not wanting to take care of this and damaging the reputation of this corporation.

Comment On This

I have one better than that, I just rented a U-Haul from Columbus,OH to Marietta,OH and for starters the jerk that rented me the truck tried to say there was 1/4 of a tank of gas in it and it was on empty. When I got into the truck and saw this I went back into the store and said he needed to change it on the contract and he came off with this story that the truck had a 60 gallon tank in it and the little line above the E was a 1/4 tank. I'm not stupid and I know better but he wouldn't change it. That is just the start of it, I had the truck for 2 days I drove it the 2 1/2 hrs it was late so I parked it in front of the house and unloaded it the next day. This was a Saturday and I was supposed to turn it in Sunday, I went a head and turned it in Saturday evening and there was no one there so I locked it up and put the keys in the drop box, I don't recommend doing this because here is where they are really trying to screw me. Someone wrote down the wrong mileage or used the truck after I turned it in at my expense. I received an email that said I went an additional "80 miles" and I owed them more money. I am outraged and when I called to complain they told me they were going to go by the paperwork they had and I owe the money, I also left the truck with a real 1/4 of tank of gas in it. I have plenty of witnesses that I didn't go an additional 80 miles but that doesn't matter. Screw U-Haul I will never use them again and if you use them you better check your mileage your self, and make sure the gas in the truck matches what's on the paperwork because you don't want what happened to me to happen to you.

Comment On This

uhaul mv. my car was parked in there employee lot, i got pictures, i rent uhauls truck,in town use,time to move was set at only twenty minutes to do, so while being ten minutes away from the mv store, uhauls tows my car away with there tow service, per tow service person said that alex had my car towed. so i come back after waiting in the cold and rain, roadside assistance (uhauls) coulnt get basic information, such as name,location of where this truck was broken down at. three people gave them the inform, by the way the conversation was taped by roadside assistance.rdside gives me a only ten minute window that this uhual truck will last, so i take it back to the mv store, spoke with alex,he said i was given wrong information from rdside assistance, and during this whole time, alex has only my car towed while your truck was broken down inside public storage. alex works at the mv store mv means mountain view, cal, elcamino and grant road. so out of all the employees at this store, only my car was missing, I hope the employees didnt have to go home walking in the rain and stranded. so uhaul gave no resolutions to this nightmare, by the way this tow company uhals mv store uses, had other ten year customers like me there, there car too was towed, this is really bad business and they are going to be held accountable for there actions,

Comment On This

More or less, this same thing happened to me. THEY ARE AWFUL, I WILL NEVER EVER USE THEM AGAIN, NOBODY SHOULD. RUDE AND THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED.