U-Haul - 14' U-Haul truck - U-Haul complaint: Reservation mess-up and extra charges

U-Haul - 14' U-Haul truck - U-Haul complaint: Reservation mess-up and extra charges

U-Haul complaint: Reservation mess-up and extra charges

The story is not new. Made a reservation for a 14' U-Haul truck, but was told that I would be called 24 hours before the date reserved if there is any problem. There would be a possibility that a 14' truck would not be available, and I would have to travel some 10 miles to get it from another location. Otherwise, I will have to go with a 17' truck.

Sure enough, at around 8 o'clock in the evening before the move, I got a telephone call (which, being busy with the packing and all, I couldn't attend, and it went to the answering service) that the truck would not be available, and I will have to go to another location 60 miles away to get a truck. In the morning, I got the message, and called the U-Haul reservation, and was told that my reservation had been with a third party, not the central reservation center for NJ. So they were not responsible for any bungle-up.

Also, they had it in the note that I was willing to travel to pick up the truck. And they really didn't see any problem, since U-Haul was willing to give me an extra 60 miles. Not just that, but their note said that I was willing to take a 17' truck, so I didn't have any choice. They didn't have a 14' truck (it being a

weekend in summer) available throughout the state, and I had to take 17' truck, or nothing at all. Since I'd already arranged for friends to help me with the move, I had no choice but to take the offer. The original location that I was supposed to pick up the truck was in Middletown in NJ, and in the

end I had to go pick up the truck from Manahawkin, NJ, some 50 miles away. I hired the truck for a one way trip. And that's not where it all ends. In the evening, when I returned the truck to Bensalem, PA location, I was told that the clerk had already closed everything (it was 7:45pm, and the store closed at 8:00pm), I would have to come again in the morning to get a receipt, and I could leave the truck and the keys there, and could come back for the receipt the next day.

The next day was a Sunday, and I didn’t bother to go back, since I’d moved to NE Phila, PA. But when I received the credit card statement for the month, they’d put a $25 plus tax extra charge on it. I went to the location and asked about the extra charges, and was told that it was due to damage. I wasn’t aware of damaging the truck in any way, but still, I told them that I’d bought full insurance on the truck, and wasn’t liable for any damage.

Then I was told that these were cleaning charges, and by mistake the clerk had put them under damages. Well, I told them that I’d cleaned the truck before returning it, and it wasn’t dirty, and they should tell me in what way was it dirty that they had to clean it. To this, I was told that the cleaning service was performed, therefore the charges were incurred, and since the cleaning was carried out, the charges were not reversible.

Even though I even talked to the manager of the location, I was never told in what way had I left the truck unclean from their standard, and why was I charged this amount. What I was told by everyone there was that whatever I do, I will not get these charges reversed, and simply that I could go to

anybody I liked, but nothing is going to happen. In fact, one of the clerk on the desk told me that they do it all the time, and nobody even bothers to read the credit card statement, and I was the first person to have come back inquiring about the charges. In the end, after spending two hours on the telephone, I was able to get the address for U-Haul International in Arizona. I wrote them a letter about this, but as I’d been told, its been four months now, and no answer. I compared notes with some other friends, and they’d had the same or similar experiences. At least the reservation horror story is quite common. Then I did some research on the web, and found out how common it was for U-Haul to do this sort of things. Anyway, I believe that the customer satisfaction is

what matters the most. Through their incompetence, U-Haul have not just lost another individual customer, but a corporate account also.

I went to the shipping department of the corporation that I work for, and told them my story. I was told that they’ve heard this story from other employees too. They had their own fleet of trucks, but if they need to hire a truck, they rent from Penske, and have made it a policy not to rent from U-Haul if they

need to. I’ve been asked advice by at least three of my colleagues and friends, and have told them my story, and they went for Budget instead.

So, U-Haul have ended up losing more than what they made that day (a measly $25). My advice to anyone who reads this would be to consider other alternatives to renting from U-Haul. Consider Penske, but they’re a little expensive. Budget are more or less at the same price-level. If you're doing a local move, the best thing would be to consider some small local business. Do some research, and avoid yourself the big trouble. Ahmad

Philadelphia, PA p kafir

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