U-Haul - trouble with reservation - truck caught fire due to bald tire - complaint not answered by U-Haul

Complaints.com received the following consumer message on October 9, 2002:

From:

RE: U-Haul - trouble with reservation - truck caught fire due to bald tire - complaint not answered by U-Haul

Please add the following complaint to your site. We attempted to make a reservation for a 24-foot truck on/about July 22, 2002. We were advised, however,

that there was only a 50/50 chance of our securing this size truck, so I told the customer service

representative, " Frank ", of exactly what items we needed to move, including the number of boxes. He

assured me that a 17-foot truck would suffice if we "packed smart."

We subsequently agreed to the rental of this truck, for pick-up at 9:00 a.m. in Southfield, Michigan, on July 30, 2002. "Frank" advised us of the price, and gave us the number for the regional office (1-800-562-3766) to call if we did not receive a call from them 24-hours prior to our pick up time/date, confirming our reservation. On the morning of July 29, I called the regional office, as I had not received a call. I was advised that we would get the truck ANY TIME on the 30th (not at 9:00 a.m. as made during our reservation) before 7:00 p.m., and that the pick-up location could be anywhere within a forty mile radius!

I WAS NOT ADVISED OF THIS WHEN MAKING THE RESERVATION. If I had been, I would have used another company. Nonetheless, I called several times on the 30th and was repeatedly advised that they were still "locating" a truck for us. At approximately 6:15 p.m., during one of these calls, I spoke with an unidentified male who was curt and rude, despite my professional and calm demeanor. As he was rudely explaining the delay to me, I was relaying the information to my husband and mentioned that perhaps we should call another rental company.

The man then yelled, "Lady, if you would quit bitching to your husband for a minute, I'll try to explain the situation to you!" I then asked him if that's how he kept his job, speaking to customers like that. He then hung up on me. When I called back, no one answered. Finally, at 7:20 p.m. on July 30, I received a call from a woman whose first name began with "L" stating that the truck was in at a location in Waterford (25 miles away), but we couldn't come pick it up until 8:00 the following morning because they closed at 7:00 and she was leaving for the day! I asked her why she waited so late to call, and explained that we really needed the truck that day (hence, the purpose for our 7/30, not 7/31 reservation). She curtly advised me that the truck

had just come in and she was leaving for the day. The following morning, my husband and I arrived at the Uhaul location in Waterford at 8:44 a.m. We were

advised by a different woman whose name began with "L" that the truck was on its way in from Inkster and that when it arrived it would need an oil change. She suggested that we go have breakfast and come back

later. We advised her that we were told that we could have it at 8:00 a.m., and that our trip had already

been delayed by one day. (In doing so, we lost the use of a friend who agreed to help us move on the

30th, but was not available on the 31st).

She quickly advised me that she was not the person who told us that! We returned approximately forty-five minutes later and completed the paperwork. We were astonished to find out about additional charges that were not mentioned when we made the reservation. The first was a $100 deposit because we did not use a credit card to pay for the truck. Secondly, she told us that we could have to get commercial insurance at a cost of $56.00.

I asked to use the phone to call my insurance agent to see if we were covered for that feature. She then stated, "Only State Farm has that type of coverage." I quickly advised her that we did, in fact, have State Farm insurance. Hence, we were almost forced to make an unnecessary payment because she didn't take the time to ask. Upon returning home, my husband and I enlisted the assistance of a friend who is an engineer to assist us

in "packing smart." Despite our efficient methods of packing, we were unable to pack all of our belongings

in the truck and car. Hence, "Frank" was in error in stating that a 17-foot truck would suffice for our

move. We then visited the Southfield location and attempted to secure a trailer to carry the rest of our

items.

They only had a small one available, so "Victor" (one of the only professional Uhaul employees

we dealt with) was able to locate one for us in Walled Lake (40 minutes away). We arrived (with the truck)

in Walled Lake only to be told that the trailer would be an additional $260, plus another $100 deposit. We

were unwilling and unable to make this investment, particularly since it was not our fault that our items

would not fit in the originally rented vehicle! Thankfully, we were able to make arrangements with a

neighbor to store our items in her basement temporarily. The next incident occurred the following day when we were only 58 miles away from our home. A fellow

trucker indicated that there was some trouble with the truck by pointing at the tire area. We pulled over to

discover that one of the rear inner tires was completely bald and had ignited the lower cab area.

We immediately called the Uhaul road service and waited for forty-five minutes in immense heat for a

service man to arrive.

By then the fire had extinguished itself. Since he brought the wrong size tire, we had to follow him to Toledo, Ohio and have the tire changed. Hence, our trip was delayed by another two hours and fifteen minutes. Our cats were frantic by this time and we were exhausted by the mid-day heat. Due to this delay, we had to seek hotel accommodations in Pennsylvania, as we were unable to complete the trip that day. We ended up gladly returning the truck on the third day of the rental. I urge everyone -- if you have to

carry your items on your BACK, do NOT rent from UHAUL. The CEO never answered the complaint I sent him and we are prepared to go forth with legal action. Gayle and Fidel Williams