Penske Truck Rental

On September 27, 2011, I contacted three moving truck rental companies, to obtain the best deal for a November 2011 move. After weighing the bids, and supposed perks, I decided on Penske. I spent a great amount of time on the telephone with a nice young lady, as she secured the deposit, and gave me pertinent information. On the morning of November 11, 2011, I drove to the local day-labor location, to hire persons to assist me in moving. I then arrived at the Penske location, which is listed as Dino's Storage, to pick up the moving truck at 8:50 AM, ten minutes prior to my pick up time. The Penske sign and Dino's Storage is on the west side of the building. At 9:05, there was still no sign of life in the building. I called the number listed on the door, and a grumpy man informed me that I was at the wrong door, and that I needed to walk around the corner and up the hill to the east side of the building, where I would find Landmark Realty.

Frustrated, I went to the the Landmark Realty office at 9:10, where I watched two women sitting at the front desk argue about something for 2 minutes, without even acknowledging that I was there. As I impatiently waited for them to finish, I looked around the huge office to see multiple monitors in which I saw my vehicle. I was more incensed, because I realized that if I could see my vehicle on the monitors, the persons in the office could see me sit there waiting on someone to open the Penske/Dino office. One woman finally acknowledged me, and we began the process of signing paperwork. The woman only asked three questions.

The first question was "may I help you?" The second question was "do you have your driver's license", and the third question was "do you want to purchase insurance". The rest of the conversation was "sign here, sign here, sign here". By this time, it is 9:25 AM, and I am extremely frustrated with the lack of customer care. The woman directed me to the truck, which was right next to where my vehicle was parked. I asked her if she was going to document the damage on the vehicle, and she stated that there should not be any damage. I told her that prior to coming in, I noted an immense amount of hail damage on the vehicle. Seemingly bothered, she gathered her coat and went out into the cold to document the damage.

The gas tank was full when I started the truck. By the time I arrived at my home, which was a few miles, the gas tank showed 3/4 full. The brakes were grinding. I also rented a two-car dolly to tow my Nissan Pathfinder. I called Penske to get assistance, and spoke to three different people before someone was kind enough to give me the correct number to call. By this time, it is 9:50 AM. The man that I spoke with told me that he would call me back, and so I waited. At 11:00 AM, I paid the day-labor persons, and sent them on their way. I then called Penske again, and asked to speak to a supervisor. That request was one that was never honored. The first transfer was to a man who claimed that he was not a supervisor, but a part-time employee. He was nice enough to transfer me to someone that knew who I should speak to. At 11:50, I finally had a new truck to load. Frustrated, I was 3 hours late with my moving process.

After loading the vehicle, and getting on the road, I noticed that the vehicle struggled on inclines. I also noted that I was spending an exorbitant amount of money on gas. Upon a needlessly slow arrival to Green Bay, Wisconsin from Omaha, Nebraska, I tried to drive my car off of the two-car dolly, just to find that my reverse was not working. It was then that my new neighbor asked me if I had removed my drive shaft prior to towing. I was flabbergasted, because I did not know that I needed to remove it. I called Penske, and the woman that I spoke to told me that she had signed documentation of my notification. I was livid. I was so frustrated at the time of pick up, and the ineptness of the rental team, that I signed the documentation without reading it. I escalated my call to Jenna, the district supervisor for the Green Bay area.

She told me that she was going to investigate, and she would call me back. She stated that at the time that I made the reservation, I should have been told that I needed to remove the drive shaft. I informed her that no employee of Penske ever told me, that I needed to remove the drive shaft. When she called me back the next day, she stated that the recording of my conversation with the reservation agent was reviewed, and she verified that the agent never mentioned that I needed to have the drive shaft removed.

I filed a claim with Penske, but the the claim was denied, because I did not purchase the towing Insurance. The only insurance that was offered was the standard insurance. It further stated that Section 7 of the Towing Equipment Rider states that Penske is not liable for any damage. Prior to leaving Omaha, I was secure in having a home and a car. Upon arriving in Omaha, I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings with no vehicle, and am now subject to riding less-than-reliable public transportation. This has been life-changing, because it has left me only able to take a job that is on the bus route, and makes it almost impossible to get a second job, because of the wait time and travel time of the bus system.

I find it amazing and atrocious that a multimillion dollar business cares so little about their clientele, that they would not make right the wrongs that they could have averted. Penske will never receive my money again. I just phoned Penske again to see if they would be willing to resolve this matter. I am awaiting a call back. If the answer is no, I will consider filing a lawsuit. And after the lawsuit is over, I will consider resorting to other methods. I have over 1,300 Facebook friends whom I can tell this story to. If 50% of those friends tell 100 people, that is my word-of mouth, reaching 65,000 people. If each of those people tell at least 25 people, I can effectively reach 1,625 000 people. My bill was approximately $650. If that is an average bill, then this little $3,000 transmission can possibly cost Penske $1,056,250,000. The consequences are that, I am left to struggle to buy a new vehicle, while having to ride public transportation, waiting for the city bus in sub-freezing temperatures. The $3,000 price tag of fixing my vehicle, that is not worth $3,000, is more than I could bear.

Unless you are looking for a way to commit suicide without it being apparent or are into extreme sports or other near-death thrills, I wouldn't recommend Penske. The truck, which eventually transported our household goods from IL to CA, was a true death trap even after servicing in Salt Lake City. When I contacted the company after we arrived, they assured me they were taking care of the maintenance on the truck and Elizabeth at the Sacramento office promised that they would at least reimburse us for the additional night's stay expenses incurred. I provided the requested documentation of our out-of-pocket expenses for that extra day on 10/10/2011 and followed up with an additional fax on 11/9/2011, but have still not received even the courtesy of a response, much less reimbursement.

I purchased a used truck from Penske Truck Leasing in Reading, PA 19607. They said it will take one month in order for me to receive the truck because they need to service the truck and make any necessary repairs to make sure the truck is in perfect condition.

After receiving the truck, we realized that engine was covered in grease and oil. We called Penske to discuss the issue since we just bought the truck and they said they will schedule an appointment for us to bring in the truck. They never scheduled the appointment.

We have had the truck for less than two months and while driving on the highway, the engine blew up! We contacted Penske again to inform them of the situation and they said they will not help with anything and that is not covered.

Before purchasing the truck, they said they needed to make sure it is in perfect condition and after using the truck for less than two months, the engine is gone and will cost almost the same amount we purchased the truck for. We had to pay for the truck to get towed to a mechanic and then towed again to another mechanic.

We would like to be refunded for the engine we must purchase.

On 01/12/2011, Stephanie *** and I, Dustin ***, loaded up one of your 26 trucks to move from Eugene, Oregon to Tucson, Arizona. We were so excited and eager just to get on the road. We had been working ourselves to death and had planned on using the drive as a kind of vacation/rekindling time. Within a day in the truck, we started realizing that it was going extra slow up little hills let alone big ones and the gas was flowing freely. We had not gone from Eugene to California (6 hours) and we had filled up three times, $110 to $160 each time. I called Penske and reported it and we kept driving, waiting for a return call and suddenly very concerned that we were way over budget already, and the fun began to disappear.

The truck really acted up in Los Angeles and I called for a third time. A mechanic, Marcos, decided to give me directions on how to get to him through some of the worst streets in Los Angeles, California. Stephanie and I drove back and forth for another five hours in a truck that was sputtering and smoking. A truck later, we were told it was not safe to drive, just trying to understand this gentleman's directions. When we finally arrived, we were met with an attitude and comment about why we were sent to them when there was a closer Penske and then silence. Unwelcome and in the way, Stephanie and I sat in the truck freezing, just twiddling our thumbs until midnight when we were informed that the truck, missing two cams will not be going anywhere and that we will have to do a truck swap around 2am. Taking in the neighborhood we were in, the time of day, we were scared. So we just sat at this truck, not listening to the mechanic's griping about staying late and the pains in the ass we were.

Finally after 2am we were informed someone was coming to pick us up and that we were going to be taken to a hotel. Let me make this very clear, neither Stephanie, nor I, lives above our means. We are not picky, neither of us complicated, both very reasonable, yet given the location we were in, we decided to pry as to where we would be sleeping. The options that we were given were unacceptable locations. Myself, having grown up in California, I have learned that there are certain places you just don't go. We were being told we were going to sleep in two of them. I got on the phone and was immediately told to suck it up. The company wasn't going to put us up in anything better. What did you expect, the Ritz? My response was "Umm no, just somewhere safe." The disrespect that I was given on the phone with this employee of yours was perfectly appropriate with the rest of the situation. We refused to go, and finally were told we would like where we were going.

About an hour later, two guys in a Pepes towing truck show up to take us to our room. No one helped. No one introduced. Pretty much get in and shut up. We asked to stop and get something to eat because we haven't eaten or had the opportunity to all day and were quickly told no. After a little pleading, and while we were driven through the heart of LA's homeless, drug sections, purposely to instill fear. They listened to a police scanner and whispered just loud enough about murders and deaths. Suddenly, I was dropped in front of a 7/11, surrounded by local homeless and strung out, bumping my way past a few locals whom were a little eager to fight. A little shaken, I think I grabbed a couple donuts and a soda, was over charged, and quickly got back in the truck. So much for dinner. It was 3am.

7:45am came; we were called to come back down to the shop to witness the truck swap. We sat there for three or four more hours waiting. The movers showed up and very quickly established that we were to stay away from the move, out of their ways. At no point did anyone explain what is supposed to happen in a truck swap nor were we told to inspect anything. Quite the opposite, 6 or 7 of them, different language spoken, hostile looks and body language, we stayed where we were for 6 more hours. We expected a Penske person to be there to help us, to watch them, to hold our hands through the process. Nope. And still no food. We packed our truck a certain way because no one else would be touching our things, so a few times either her or I would try to see how it was going, and we would be met by a very threatening, unwelcoming wall. The movers unloaded and loaded the truck three or four times. Frustrations were obvious, especially looking at our most prized possessions now.

In the process, they destroyed so much of our stuff. It's nauseating. Grooves dug into surfaces, pieces broken off TV's, shelves taken apart by ripping them apart, foot prints left to prove my theory. At one point, they had pulled a pickup alongside the moving trucks and I'm assuming that is where some of the missing items went. No Penske worker or person in sight. After they were done, they demanded that we sign the release, and they burned rubber (literally) out of there. We took possession of the truck at 5pm the following night. Still, no food, no drink. The new truck was disgusting. I'm not picky but there was about a foot of dog or some animal hair in the cup holder. The seat was completely covered, food splashed on the windows and dash. Another slap to our face! I went around asking if there was a vacuum so that I may clean it myself due largely to my girlfriend's allergies and was told there was not one. We hand cleaned it the best that we could and were confronted with a trailer that we had been towing. My car was removed from it and they were telling me they were not allowed to help. My girlfriend and I tried for an hour and were unable to push this car onto the trailer. I had to talk to a couple guys into helping.

The ride to Tucson was that of horror movies. The movers placed pretty much all of our heavy items on top of our fragile and light items, causing not only breakage, but also a very top heavy 26 heavy weighed down truck to want to tip over. We had to go so slow. It was hazardous. But if we went over 45, we felt as if we would tip, car trailer behind us pulling our rear end around and the heavy items now at rear of truck on top, literally put our lives in jeopardy. Big rigs would fly by and we would drift two lanes over. Just remembering has me so mad. It's ridiculous.

I'm done with our little story. Except for this: our call log. Marcos x2 --- Jennifer (District Manager) x3 --- Justin (manager Tucson) numerous times --- Tony (Tucson)x2 ---Anthony (Pennsylvania)x4 --- David (Pennsylvania)x3 --Risk Management x 10 including Derrick, Jennifer and Casey ----

Dozens of phone calls, and we didn't hear anything until I filed a BBB complaint against Penske. Then suddenly all must be forgiven. It is far too late for apologies. We are seeking recovery of our losses during all of this. Three weeks after this nightmare, we received the standard, "so sorry to hear" stuff from the people who paid to call us. And we were given back the cost of the truck rental. Are you kidding me? I have over $2000 in gas receipts when it should have cost $600. I have a girlfriend that will never go on a road trip again. I have a storage locker full of garbage and we lost our original house due to it taking us so long to get here to sign the papers. We have been living out of a hotel for two weeks now while we are waiting to hear about a different house. Our lives have been shattered and stuffed into a little bag and then gracefully handed back to us with a, "so sorry to hear." You refunded the cost of the truck but not the car trailer, not the items that took years to accumulate, or the gas, or the extra days, or the loss of family traditions, or the pain and the fear, and the most horrifying week of our lives?

I will attach a few of the pictures from the 728 I took. Since I haven't heard anything from anyone since the big charitable refund, I will proceed with the next step. I'm very disappointed that the next step is even needed. Whoever is in charge should be ashamed of the way this company is being run. I will not go gently into the night, you can bank that. I have continued to keep this out of legal hands, out of the nonsense, just to handle it with those here, and I have wiped so much spit from my face that I'm done. Last option and then I start squeaking.

There is so much that we could do with this and you know I am true. However, Stephanie and I are not sue happy. We are not money hungry. We are two traditional Americans that work our hands to the bone to make sure our children have what they need and enjoy some wants as well. We rarely ask for much nor do we expect much but I won't allow the end of this story to be her and I sitting here on debt with a storage of broken memories, beat down because we were nice. I would like our gas money--we have receipts, returned, the car trailer refunded, our storage locker reimbursed, the loss of our $1200 deposit on the dream home that couldn't wait, hotel costs, eating out food costs for both us, our 15year old girl and 8 year old boy, both of which lost items they cherished. It was not cheap to have had somewhat of a roof over their heads in this time of loss. We would expect full return on our loss and our debt, since we have had to max out credit, borrow from friends and scrape together what we can to muster up peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. You toss the rental cost of the truck back at us and expect us to pour tears of gratitude on your feet for your kind deed? Not one person called to see if we had made it safely. Not one person returned the eight phone calls we had made to try and figure out how we would make it through. Not one person was there waiting for us with a compassionate word. Nothing. Not one courteous person works for the Penske name? This is both sad and laughable.

My employees know what is expected of not just them but of all. They understand the amount you extend to salvage both your business reputation and also just the thought that at the end of the day the client/customer was treated humanely. Your claims adjustor meets me on Friday at the storage locker and we will continue being honest, and she will see all that a family of four can have and need to replace, and It would not surprise me if you refused to pay us even that.

I don't believe we are being unreasonable. In fact, after rereading this and looking at your business motto, it should be automatic and smooth, right? No lawyers, no press, no mudslinging, just the wronged, and your fully capable ability to attempt to make it right. I understand the process and claims are handling the damages, but what of all the other items? I will include an itemized expense report.

My husband rented truck on 11/28/09 and returned around 10:30 am 11/29/09. When I checked my bank account on 12/5/09 I noticed my account was negative. I saw a charge in the amount of $350. from Penske. We contacted the office and spoke with a Diane, she gave us conflicting information about some damages to the truck. We ask how come we were never contacted about these accused damages.

We then drove to the office to review pictures. The truck in the pictures was not in the location in which my husband dropped it off. He also noticed a few other details that didn't make sense. We asked to speak with the manager which was Kenny. Kenny had very abrasive tone and did not care to hear anything that we had to say.

Not only that we were wrongly accused for these damages we were blindly charged for these fees because we did purchase the insurance. In the end we were refunded the $350. do to their error but it did take a big inconvenience. Kenny was the most unprofessional person I have ever encountered. Was charged 3 overdraft fees. Was not able to access funds for the entire weekend.

Rented a truck and car dolly to move from San Diego to PA. Front end of truck needed repair. Shook whole trip. Could not get help after numerous calls. Shaking got worse when I reached PA causing the truck to hit a sidewalk curb and my car falling of of dolly. Auto body repair estimates car is completely totaled.

We rented a 25-foot truck in Pueblo, Colorado at Pueblo West Rental Center at 579 Enterprise Drive, Pueblo, CO 81007 rental agreement number H0401-50208-4 on September 6, 2002. We were told that this was an almost new truck with only 7,600 miles on it and we shouldnt have any trouble. We took all of the insurance on the truck and the contents.

Robert drove the truck home and parked it and 6 hours later it was packed by our own hands and crew the way we like to pack and with ropes across items to keep them from moving.

We left Pueblo at about 3:30 pm and headed south on I-25. We had planned on driving to our destination at Rancho Cucamonga, California through out the night and arrive in the morning. We researched the drive on the internet and it showed that we would have about a 16 hour drive and we gave it a few more hours and told everyone to be there about 8 am.

We drove to the entrance of I-25 and upon getting up to speed a loud warning noise sounded and then a light came on in the dash. We were driving with our family cat in the front seat with us and this noise sent the cat into a screaming fit as it hurt her ears along with ours. The noise and light went out and every time we came to a small hill or a mountain this noise would start up again.

We pulled out the Penske truck book in the glove compartment to read it. I stated the warning sound and light had something to do with the oil pressure. The gage needle was staying at 40 on flat land and would go down towards 0 when climbing the hill or mountain. We stopped in Trinidad and bought two quarts of oil and topped it off and headed out again with this truck. This oil did not help the problem and we put up with the truck and the noise and the cat until we reached Raton, New Mexico at about 6:15 pm.

Here I called the emergency road service and talked to a lady (all of emergency workers were very nice and helpful). She had John Owens from Owens Logistics in Raton come out and look at the truck. He was a very nice person. He then took the truck and our car, which was on a tow dolly and went down the freeway. He came back and said that he felt there was way much more wrong with it than the oil gage. He called the lady we had talked to and they said we should stay the night in a hotel and they would bring in another truck and transfer our load into another truck in the morning.

We checked into a Motel 6 and went to eat dinner. We were told a crew would be there at 7 am. So at 7 am I went out the door to look no crew but did see our truck parked in the open field. Went to the office and the manager said that she saw the truck pull in about 4 am, and OH she had a message for me that came in late last night and the crew would be there at 7:30 am.

I walked around the new truck and inspected it it was still attached to the tow truck. Looked around and then the tow truck driver (also a very nice person Jim from Malcom Towing) was there and we talked. He got a call and it wouldnt be until 8 am until a crew could be found. Then another call came to him via his cell telephone and it would be 8:30 am. Wow the whole day would be gone by then!!!!

A crew showed up at 8:30 am they butted the two trucks together and a crew of four moved the load in about 45 minutes so now what we put in the front for a reason was now in the back. Well we were ready to get back on the road at 10:00 am. They said that nothing was damaged and they packed it low and did not use the ropes. New truck number is 9960814.

I am usually the morning driver and I took over the wheel and since the frontage road was further up the way from the signs telling how to get on I missed the turnoff to I-25. I went down the road until I could get a good turnaround as was needed with a truck 25 feet long with a tow dolly and car attached to the back. I turned into this lot and applied the brakes and the most terrible sounding came from the brakes like a metal on metal sound screeching.

We thought maybe dust in the brakes it was braking with a lot of pressure. Because we were very late and I had to call CA to tell them where we were we decided to head on south on I-25. We stopped at a rest stop and it was wide open and I applied the brakes it was hard on my leg to apply the necessary pressure to stop the truck and car. Robert took over the driving and going through Santa Fe was no stopping and really very little braking. We then headed for Albuquerque, New Mexico and it was later in the day and more people were out on this Saturday. Robert had to break for the people entering on to the freeway it was rough.

We got onto Highway 40 heading towards Arizona and needed gas. This was the Flying J stop and many cars and semi-trucks were there and I swear we thought it was the end of it for us. Robert applied the brakes and nothing but noise and no stopped came from that area of the truck. This was at the stop light before turning into the complex. The screeching came from me as I screamed it looked like we were going to hit and lose everything.

Robert being the good driver that he is, got the truck stopped and turned into the gas station. I went in and got on two telephones to get a hold of someone at the 1-800 road emergency service to tell them about our problem. I waited and waited and one of them answered. He told us to take the truck in the condition that is was in and go back into town and find Penske and they will look at the brakes. So we did as we were told in that truck and went back into town 8 miles and found the shop.

I got out and talked to someone and he told me to pull the truck into the lot. Robert pulled in and got out of the truck. Stood there and maybe 5 minutes later some guy came and looked under the right tire and made a noise and came up and said that we had NO BRAKE PADS AT ALL!!!!!

He left and maybe another 5 minutes another man came out and he got under the truck and he screamed MY GOD. Now I am about ready to have a nervous breakdown with this entire misfortune going on. We stand and stand and watch them in the shop and the guy who first came out comes back out and gets in the truck and doesnt say a word to us drives off with all our stuff. We stand there and decided to go stand under the gas pumps as it is very hot out and the shade was great. Finally someone comes and says there is a waiting room upstairs so we go there and wait, as he had drove the truck into a bay to work on it. This place was not customer friendly!!! And in the waiting room was a sign about taking care of the customer right!!!!

Maybe a hour later Robert goes and talks to someone and they say they have no brake pads for this truck and if NAPA is open they can get some brake pads, if not they will have to go out to the yard and see if there is another truck with some to take off and then put on this truck. Well NAPA was open and they got the brake pads and we were ready at 5 pm.

I want to know HOW CAN A TRUCK GO OUT WITHOUT BRAKE PADS THIS IS A NATIONAL RENTAL TRUCK COMPANY. VERY BAD BUSINESS. AND ALSO VERY DANGEROUS TO EVERYONE INVOLVED.

We are ready to leave again lets see we left Pueblo 26 hours ago and made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico and I had to keep calling my Mother and the people who we are to meet in California.

We headed out again on Highway 40 and at 9 pm. we are exhausted from the drive and the happenings and the rain that we encountered. We pulled into Gallup, New Mexico. The town is loaded with people!!! We have to go to several places to find a room and we just happened to get the LAST ONE in Gallup as they were having a Indian pow wow that weekend.

We left Gallup at 6 am and we drove into Rancho Cucamong, CA at 6 pm. Well, we were in New Mexico for three days that was too long. Very upsetting and we are not very happy with the whole situation.

We returned the truck to Alversons Truck Rental and I told the story to the manager and she gave us $350.00 for our room and board for two nights and food and $100 for our troubles.

Like here is a candy bar now sit and be quite. $100 for your life as you saw it pass through your eyes as the truck went into a crowd of cars and semi-trucks. $100 for the scrapes and mars on your furniture that were not there before but now some are ruined. $100 for the 6% grades that I would not have been able to stop on in the mountains with no brakes. Thanks.

We rented from U-Haul before when we moved to Las Vegas they have bad trucks but never did they give me one with out brakes we call them U-Crawl as that is about what it did in the mountains. We rented a Penske when we moved to Pueblo from Las Vegas and it was great except for the noise out of the dashboard.

So this is why we rented from Penske but not again. Two terrible trucks in one trip.

Thank goodness we have California to think about and not your trucks anymore. It has taken us over to weeks to heal our bodies as our knees and hips were in such pain but our minds will never forget.

Take better care of your equipment.