U-Haul Truck Rental Nightmare - We reserved a 17 foot U-Haul rental moving truck for a one way move from San Jose, CA to Eugene, OR on 7/25/2004. We picked up the truck on 7/31/2004 at a registered provider; Dale's Transmission Service, located at 1604 Ol

U-Haul Truck Rental Nightmare - We reserved a 17 foot U-Haul rental moving truck for a one way move from San Jose, CA to Eugene, OR on 7/25/2004. We picked up the truck on 7/31/2004 at a registered provider; Dale's Transmission Service, located at 1604 Old Bayshore Highway, San Jose, CA 95112, phone # 408-441-9247 at 4:50 p.m.At the time of pick up, we noted that the truck was extremely worn, but seemed to be in operating condition.

U-Haul Truck Rental Nightmare

This is a copy of the complaint that I sent to the Complaint Department at U-Haul and to the Better Business Bureau... If you want to get what you pay for, DON'T PATRONIZE U-HAUL!!!

We reserved a 17 foot U-Haul rental moving truck for a one way move from San Jose, CA to Eugene, OR on 7/25/2004. We picked up the truck on 7/31/2004 at a registered provider; Dale's Transmission Service, located at 1604 Old Bayshore Highway, San Jose, CA 95112, phone # 408-441-9247 at 4:50 p.m.At the time of pick up, we noted that the truck was extremely worn, but seemed to be in operating condition.

I also noticed while following behind the truck that two of the back tires appeared to be flat, so we stopped at a service station and filled them up (they were at zero -0- psi) Given the fact that this was the only truck they had for our move, we had no choice but to take it, as it APPEARED to be okay.We then drove the truck to our apartment, and began loading it for the move the following morning. We left San Jose at approximately 5:30 a.m. on August 1, 2004, and began heading North to our destination of Eugene, OR. About 10 miles into our trip, the A/C went out in the truck, and the truck began sputtering and started having a very difficult time accelerating. The truck was only able to get up to speeds of 35-40 mph. I also noticed again that the rear tires appeared to be going flat, which was causing the truck to lean heavily. I did not have cell phone coverage at the time, so we stopped at a payphone to call U-Haul. It was incredibly hot weather (around 95-100 degrees) and I thought something may be wrong with the truck because of the heat. I was on hold for over 45 minutes, and ran out of change before anyone picked up the phone at the 1-800-GO-UHAUL customer service number (which we were told to call if there were any problems). So, my husband and I again refilled the rear tires, which at this time, we determined both to have a slow leak. We were about to gt back on the road, but the truck wouldn't start. We tried over and over to get it to start, but no luck. Finally, a truck driver in a similar truck offered to help. He jumped the battery, and we got it started.about 2 hours later, the tires were going flat again. We were heading off the exit to a service station when I realized that the truck had lost its brake lights and turn signals (I was following behind in our car). At the station, we filled up the tires again and checked the fuse box in the truck to see if a fuse had blown, prompting the light and signal failure. They all were intact, so that wasn't the problem. I tried calling U-Haul's 'Customer Service' number again, but was on hold for over 30 minutes before I finally had to hang up and get us back on the road. We were scheduled to meet the real estate agent and movers at our new house that evening, and were already running late because of the problems with the truck. We had to purchase 2 way radios, so that I could drive right behind the truck and act as the turn signal and brake lights for the truck. When we tried to start the truck again, it wouldn't start. This time, no one was around to help us, so we just kept trying to start it. We were finally on the road nearly an hour later. The trip continued like this: having to stop every hour and a half to two hours to refill the tires, then trying to get it started after refueling, and I had to drive right behind the truck the whole time. I did this at speeds not exceeding 45 mph, while my husband drove in 100 degree heat in a lemon of a truck with no A/C. During this time, the U-Haul truck threw rocks up into my windshield, severely cracking it in two places and chipping it in another, which has now become another crack. This happened because I had to follow right behind the truck, because there were no tail lights whatsoever, and it had gotten dark and you could not see the truck. At this point, we had already missed our move in appointment to the house that we had already paid for, as well as missed our movers that we had already paid for and were unable to reschedule when we finally arrived at 3:30 am on 8/2/2004. On the morning of 8/3/04, we returned the truck to the designated drop off location, located at 4400 Franklin Blvd., Eugene, OR 97403, phone # 541-726-6051. I spoke with the manager there, and she had a tech go look at the truck. He said that we should not have been driving it, and that it should have never come to us in that condition. He told me to talk with the manager and see if there was any refund that she could authorize for us, given that we had paid $715.53 for a truck that was not in operable condition, and that we had lost money on the rental of our home and the movers and had to move everything in ourselves anyway. She said that she was only authorized to give a credit in the amount of $150.00, but that if we called the customer service department at 1-800-354-3279 and spoke with a reservation manager, they would be able to refund us much more than that. So, at 5 pm on 8/3/2004, I contacted the customer service department and spoke with a woman named Janita, who was extremely rude, refused her last mane, and refused to let me speak with her supervisor after she was being rude and unhelpful. She told me that the only person that would take the complaint was located at the marketing office, which I called at 1-888-303-7696, and spoke with Marilyn. Marilyn took all the information down as listed above, and said that she would forward over the Customer Action form to her supervisor, and that they would contact me within 48 hours to confirm the refund and amount.

No one contacted me, though I provided home, cell and parent's home numbers for them to reach me at. On August 5, I called Marilyn's office and after being on hold for 55 minutes, spoke with another person who told me that there was no record of this complaint being filed, but offered to take the complaint again, which I did. She said that Marilyn was out, but would be in the following day 8/6/04 from 7am-2pm, and that she was the only person that I could talk to about this matter. I again asked to speak with a supervisor, and she refused. After I did not hear back from them, I contacted the office again, and after holding for only 45 minutes this time, spoke with Heidi, who said that she didn't even know who Marilyn was and that there was no record of my complaint. She put me on hold, and then came back and said that the Customer Action Form was sitting in her supervisor, Rosio's, inbox, and that she should be contacting me that afternoon. I asked again to speak with a Manager or Supervisor, or someone that could help me, and she refused. This calling on my part continued several times daily, each time I waited on hold for anywhere from 30-60 minutes at a time.

Each time I called, they claimed there was no record of my complaint or request for a refund. They suggested that I call the Marketing Office directly at 510-656-6200, which I did. Marilyn was at this office, and when I spoke with her on the 8th, she informed me that she had, in fact, submitted my complaint, and that she was just waiting for the Supervisor, Rosio's, approval. She assured me that it would be taken care of that afternoon, and that if for some reason she wasn't able to get it approved that day, she would call me back and let me know the status. She never called back. I contacted the office at 510-656-6200 on the 10th and spoke with Janita again, who was extremely rude and told me that Marilyn was on vacation and that there was no one there that could assist me. She said that I needed to call back next week. I told her that was unacceptable, and that I needed to speak with a manager or someone who could assist me. She refused to transfer me to anyone else and said I would just have to call back. Later that same afternoon, I called back again and Marilyn answered to phone. She said that she isn't the only one that could help me, she wasn't on vacation, and that Janita should have transferred me to her supervisor, as I have been waiting since 8/3/04 to get my refund or at least hear from someone at their office. At this point, she advised me that she would conference call the manager so that she could get it taken care of that day for me. We sat on hold for over 20 minutes, then she said that she was sending another email over and faxing the Customer Action Form again, and that she would call me back. She never called back. The following morning, 8/11/04, I contacted the office where Marilyn was at and spoke with Ruth, who said that Marilyn was not in, but that she would talk to her supervisor and see what the status was and call me back. Surprise- she actually called back, only this time it was to tell me that she saw no record of where the complaint had been filed (even though Heidi told me that she saw it physically IN Rosio's inbox), and that she would take the complaint again and forward it to her manager. I AGAIN reiterated all the information of the complaint and refund request, and she said that someone would call me back. They never called back.Which leads me to this morning, 8/12/04. I called the office again and spoke with Ruth, who told me that Marilyn was out, and that the supervisor was not in yet. I asked when she would be in, and she didn't know.

She said she would so some research on it and call me back. In the meantime, I called right back to the office, knowing that I would be on hold for at least 20 minutes, and left a message for the supervisor, Rosio, who Janita said was on the other line and would call me when she hung up. I immediately called back, was on hold for 48 minutes, which was more than enough time for her to have finished her phone call and called me back, and was told that she had left the office for the day. I asked to speak with a supervisor, and was again transferred to Janita, who was nasty with me from the beginning.

She asked again for all the information, which I provided to her. She then told me that the complaint was not filed properly or given to the correct person, and that she would now forward it on to the correct person. I asked for his name, and she refused to give it to me. I told her that I needed a name and number of someone that I could contact, because every time I call, they say they have no record of the complaint and make me go through all of this all over again. I have been spending between 3-5 hours per day on the phone with U-haul since 8/3/04, and have gotten no where, and I asked to speak with the manager. She refused, told me that I neede to calm down, and that I was just going to have to wait. At this point, not only had I not raised my voice or sounded angry, but had gone out of my way several times to tell each person that I spoke with hat I knew that it wasn't THEIR fault personally, but that I just needed some help. Janita was the only one who seriously became unprofessional and rude, and was totally unhelpful. I kept asking to speak with her supervisor, to which she replied things like "I don't like your attitude," and "I'm not transferring you to anyone."

Every time I asked to speak with someone else, she would interrupt and laugh at me and tell me that she wasn't transferring me to anyone else and that she wasn't giving me the names or numbers of anyone else to talk to. I was so upset after about 30 minutes of this that I finally just started saying over and over "Let me speak to your supervisor," and "Please transfer me to your supervisor," while she continued to mouth off to me. She said "you can keep saying that all day and I am not telling you who to call or transferring you to anyone else," so I hung up on her. I then called the Uhaul Customer Service number at 1-800-GO-Uhaul and asked to speak to the complaint department. I was transferred to a woman named Cathy who took my name, home phone number and Contract number, and told me that someone would call me back within 48 hours. Call me crazy, but I am not holding my breath waiting for that phone call... and I still haven't heard back from anyone about my refund. I am BEGGING you to PLEASE HELP me with this. I have never been treated so poorly and spoken to so unprofessionally in my life, not to mention the fact that I paid $715.53 for a service that was not provided to me as agreed in the rental contract... and I STILL haven't gotten any word on how much of a refund or when I will get this refund. Thanks so much. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and hope that no other customers will have to deal with people like this who tout themselves as "Customer Service Professionals." Sincerely, Cher J

Cher J Click this link to e-mail the above consumer: //