U-Haul

I was forced to hire a freelance U-Haul road service representative, as there were no facilities within 100 miles round trip that could service the vehicle. He charged me $100 cash per hour to fix the incompetent job performed by Fort Walton U-Haul. I was out not only $416.79 paid for a job not done correctly, but to add insult to injury, the manager April failed to even return my handful of calls over a couple days to resolve the matter. Not even the courtesy to return my calls, offer to resolve or fix the problem or provide me a refund for their failed service. I even called the regional manager, Chad, but consistent with his subordinate's lack of response, also failed to return my call. Bottomline, is I definitely would NOT recommend this particular U-Haul facility. And if given this as an example of their lack of customer service, would not frequent U-Haul ever again for any of my needs.

We were on the landline and cell phone and laptop for nearly two hours sorting it out. In the meantime our incomplete order WAS charged in full to our credit card. The website misleads the consumer by promising store pickup and listing inaccurate inventories of individual stores. We considered having the boxes shipped to us but the only choices were free shipping which is 5-10 business days or immediate shipping between 2-3 business days. That would have cost over $140.00 for an order of appx. $100.00. This moving/shipping company abuses shipping costs too. Buyer beware. Egregious business practices. A brand in name only literally. There's nobody behind this company. Nobody's home.

When they got to Tucson we discovered most of their possessions were soaked. When we took the truck back to the U-Haul at South Six Avenue and Ajo Way here in Tucson they inspected the truck told us the roof was leaking really bad. So we file a complaint to the insurance company. They got back to us finally last week. They closed the case, wouldn't pay a cent for damages. This is a multibillion-dollar company and they can't afford to pay for damages? Don't run from these people. They are a rip-off.

I did take my vehicle to another U-Haul location in North Las Vegas where the tech agreed it's crooked and said he could fix it. At that time I contacted U-Haul customer service via Twitter and they requested that I at least go back to the install location so John could assess it. I had no problem doing that but my busy schedule prevented me from getting there until this past weekend. Upon arriving I learned John had been transferred but the three employees present all took a look at my vehicle and could see it was crooked and installed too close just walking up to the vehicle. The current manager, Gabriel, was not present that day but he did call me about a week later to touch base. He really has nothing to do with it except that this happened at his location before it was his location.

I'm still dealing with U-Haul customer service since this installation but a resolution has not been reached yet. On my end I can't say I would recommend them for a hitch install nor at this point would I use them for any future business because so far I have a product I can't fully use and I'm still wasting time trying to get the situation rectified. At this point I'm just out a ton of time when this should have been a one and done type of situation.

I contacted U-Haul Moving & Storage of Philadelphia and U-Haul Customer Service on numerous occasions to try to obtain this information but was instructed that I communicate to the U-Haul Legal Department, in writing, is the only mechanism by which information about this matter may be obtained. I wanted to see if this has occurred to anyone else and what was done to retrieve them? I currently have a lawyer working on this, just wanted to see if there are any other ways to retrieve my items. Lastly, we are thinking about making a Civil Action if there are others that this occurred. Please contact me if this would be something that you would be interested.

This is failure #1, U-Haul had the box for four days and no one contacted me to tell me that they shipped the wrong box or they didn't even realize the wrong box had been shipped until I arrived (I am not sure what is worse at this point). So they have now missed their guaranteed delivery date and screwed me out of a day of work by failing to communicate. I am told that the box was mixed up in Toronto and I should see it the following week. The following week I start to follow up as to where the Ubox and all of my possessions are, and no one can get the story straight, after talking to 5 different people over 3 days I have heard that it never left Vancouver, it was left in Toronto, or it was shipped to Victoria BC, and no one can even start to guess when it will be arriving.

On November 20th I wake up to an email from U-Haul saying my box will be shipping that day with an arrival date of December 6th and they will be charging me another $1100 on December 1st... all under a new contract number... to say the least I am upset. I continue to try and get an answer out of U-Haul as to if this is correct, and figure out what is going on. After two days of calling I have finally have the answer that yes the new delivery date is as expected and that no I will not be charged. Great at least I have a new delivery date, to a new location that is supposed to be able to deliver the box for me to help make up for the day of work and two hours of driving I lost to their communication failure. I have asked for a follow up email regarding the new contract number and how it links to the old contract number so that I have something to reference on future call.

Fast forward to today November 28th, I get an email from them charging me an additional $155 for re-renting the box for another month. So not only do they fail to communicate to their customers they fail to internally manage the issue. I respond to the mail explaining that I will not be paying explaining it is their fault. To which I receive no reply.

November 29th, I get a call from the previous location that the box was supposed to show up saying that they now have my box. Great it's early! I ask when they can deliver it and they have no idea what I am talking about... so back to the phones I go. After three attempts to contact and being passed around from call center to call center spending 2 hours on hold... I finally get an answer to all of my questions. They will not honor the delivery, they still won't give me anything in writing, and I now have scramble to take a day off work, get a truck, and sort out picking the box up in the next couple of days on my own dime.

In the end they only honored their $50 a day guarantee refund and they did refund the additional $155 rental fee, but in my eyes this does not make up for any of the hardship that I was put through, with the days off work, the fuel, the freezing in -10 degree C weather because I didn't have my winter gear, not honoring the delivery and frankly just having zero care for their customer service and the experience they provide.

All of these bad experiences could have been made better with simple communication. Calling me the day the box arrived to notify me there was an issue and that I would hear from them within a reasonable timeframe for what the solution would be, and to keep me updated as to what was going on, and not sending me emails that say I am going to be charged extra money, and leaving me to try and figure out if it is true or not. In the end I am writing this review to hopefully let someone know what they could possibly be in for when using their service. As I never would have guessed I was getting into this nightmare.

I called the next day and they sent a bill to my email address and I was charged for three days. I called back. Even the person who answered the phone said he was confused by the charges. The manager called me back and said that I rented it initially for 8 hours and after that 8 I was charged another time for the remainder of the day. The extra day was another contract and another charge. The blanket rental and insurance was also charged three time since it was “three different service request”. I was also charged for a dolly rental but the seal was already broken and fortunately the manager has noted that. He wouldn’t budge on anything else. Very dissatisfied and still trying to find a solution with U-Haul.

Using an actual phone book, we finally found a dedicated U-Haul store (which wasn't listed at all on the website) and went there. The employees there were very helpful and got us set up quickly. We specified our preferred return location in Gainesville, Florida from a list of options, and they gave us a printout with the address and pertinent information. The truck worked fine for our needs.

The next problem came when we tried to return the truck. We arrived at the location to find it closed, but there was a dropbox for the key. We tried to go through the return process on the U-Haul website, but it had the wrong location listed and would not let us change it. After twenty minutes on the phone with a support person, we finally got the address changed and were able to drop off the key without fear of fees and further hassle. The whole process took us all day, and the website was wrong every step of the way. I was very frustrated, and I'll do everything I can to avoid renting from U-Haul again.

Called U-Haul and apparently that location had a family emergency and had to close, my truck was sitting in their lot, but I couldn’t get it. They then arranged for a 26 foot truck at another place in the same city at a storage rental place. I called the storage place on our way there and they said the U-Haul person wasn't there that and I'd have to wait to talk to him so she took my number and said he'd call me back. I headed back to work in the meantime. She called me back a few minutes later and said I spoke to my son (the U-Haul rep) and she told me he said that truck is going out to someone else in the morning and I couldn't have it for the weekend like I'd booked.

So I called U-Haul again and the scheduling lady pretty much yelled at me to just go there that the truck was guaranteed for me and that the storage place needed to update their system. So I drove there this time and Mr. U-Haul still wasn't there and his mom basically told me to go away cause she has nothing to do with U-Haul and I couldn't have the truck anyways. So I waited in my truck for a bit and then called U-Haul again and the U-Haul person wanted to talk to the person there at the storage place, but the lady refused to talk to them and said she had nothing to do with it. 30 mins later her son finally came back at like 4:45 at this point and they close at 5 and my reservation was for 3:30pm. He logged into his computer and updated his U-Haul system reservations and sure enough the person that had it booked for the next day is gone from the system and the truck was listed for me for the weekend.

He was confused and reluctantly rented me the truck, finally got out of there at 5:30. 2 hours of advocating for myself to sort out the truck issue. This is the 3rd time I've tried to use U-Haul thinking over the years maybe they've gotten better. NOPE! First time I tried to use them, went to pick up a truck and the place closed hours before that and the closing time in the U-Haul system was wrong. Second time was supposed to get a large truck at 8am, all they could give us was a small truck at 3pm. Just always a nightmare. NEVER AGAIN! Do NOT choose U-Haul even though they are cheap. It's not worth the hassle.

The general manager contacted me arguing his employee didn’t do anything wrong. Said he reviewed his video and saw nothing wrong. And the employees that were watching lied and said he didn’t talk to me like that. So I am very upset at business U-Haul on Roosevelt Blvd 7750 Philadelphia PA. I cannot believe this manager is covering for his employee which has violent tendencies as well as verbally abusive language and threats that he did say to me. I hope this story gets picked up and someone comes to help do an investigation into this matter. This isn't the first time I have had a problem with this employee and his mouth and threats.

Maybe she'd like to tell us how much better the portable hitches that U-Haul rents/sells is better. I don't think so. My niece lost her storage key and U-Haul refused to let my husband cut off the lock. Their excuse was that people were breaking into lockers. The contracted person was right in front of her with ID and the U-Haul contract. That's ridiculous, we had to spend $80 for a locksmith for something we could have done. Mind you you have to know the code to get into the storage area before you ever get to your storage locker. When I hear of anyone wanting to store or rent at this U-Haul I will make sure they know what they are dealing with.

I had to call the North Carolina Uhaul the day they were supposed to be delivered; when I spoke with the manager she had no idea where they were. Apparently they do not keep track of your Uboxes during the process. She was finally able to tell me they would arrive three days late. Fine. I understand delays happen. Three days later, no one from Uhaul even gets in touch with me. I HAD to call them AGAIN. I was told she still didn't know where they were and had to call the shipper directly. I called the next day and the next, and finally they were able to tell me they could deliver the 27th.

Since Uhaul has a "guaranteed delivery" date, they apparently offer $50 a day for every day it's late. I called Customer Service and they said they had no record in their system that it was ever supposed to be delivered on October 20, and that in THEIR system it said they would be delivered October 28. EVEN THOUGH I already had possession of the pods on October 27 and even got a confirmation email with my contract right after they were delivered. HOW IS IT NOT IN THE SYSTEM THAT THEY WERE DELIVERED?

Now apparently they have to "put in a request" to the local Uhaul shop's manager to make sure the delivery was actually 7 days late - even though I have various email confirmations from Uhaul - how this is not in their system is beyond me. When they finally arrived we had severe water damage to our couch. Now I have to deal separately with their insurance department - which is probably going to be a nightmare as well. UHAUL YOU ARE TERRIBLE. WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE EVER.

We were left to fix U-Haul's mistake, on the side of the road for over an hour. Once back on the road the tow dolly tire blew. Again we were on the side of the road for an hour. When I called to complain, I was told a manager from corporate would contact me. I am still waiting for that call. When I called back, the customer service operator made the statement, "You made it didn't you." In all fairness, I need to point out the efforts of one young lady who called back to inform me she had sent an email and made a phone call. I was told I would get a phone call by 4:30pm that day. The call never came. Someone should have took responsibility and called us back. This was unacceptable.

I showed them where they had taken it out of my bank, unbeknownst to me until that time, they had taken $80.44! Not the $45.40 I was told! (Wish I could upload this receipt!) So, a $19.95 truck rental PLUS $39.53 for 67 miles PLUS $6 for fuel PLUS $10 insurance PLUS $5 for Safe Trip fee I distinctly told him I didn't want, PLUS $9.09 in taxes for a SERVICE PLUS a $1 ENVIRONMENTAL FEE! Since I had a credit card they waived the $100 deposit! So in summation, the $19.95 truck is over 4 times the cost and potentially up 9 times the $19.95 advertised fee. NEVER AGAIN will I deal with U-HAUL and I will NEVER recommend them!

On Friday, October 5TH, my sister (a nurse practitioner) and I (a senior military officer) rented a 15’ moving van (**) from U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING (709029) for our move from Visalia, CA to Beckley, WV. For the assistant manager of U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING, safety was not a considering factor when he rented us a truck with 4 out of 6 tires in faulty conditions: 2 (two) severely worn-out front tires and two flat rear tires on the passenger side that could not hold over 40 PSI. What mattered most for the assistant manager of U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING was to transfer responsibility of a faulty truck to another store; and he obviously did not care if a customer got hurt or even killed in that process.

It is also worth mentioning here the dirty state of the truck’s interior, and the fact that the passenger mirror was useless during our trip. I have no doubt that we would have entered into a terrible accident on the icy mountain Colorado roads (as it was snowing as we passed through) had we started to drive the truck in the condition that it was given to us. The assistant manager of U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING not only endangered our lives through his actions, but also the lives of the other drivers on the road. With a click, he took the money in full and then washed his hands from the situation disappearing and not taking responsibility and accountability.

Furthermore, the Roadside Assistance website did not work properly (nor were its phone lines), so on Saturday (October 6TH) we requested assistance from the assistant manager of U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING (who rented the truck to us); but he belligerently refused to offer any assistance — despite the fact that we were very calm and understanding during the entire ordeal. He just very angrily snapped at us (bad words and all).

We were finally able to reach U-HAUL Roadside Assistance on the phone on Saturday afternoon; but the truck was not fixed until after dark that evening. It was also appalling to see the other U-HAUL employees being instructed NOT to assist; and the lack of respect shown to the Roadside Assistance truck driver when he arrived.

My sister, my mother, and I spent the entire Saturday in the sun, in the U-HAUL parking lot waiting for help. It basically took almost two days to move the truck out of the U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING (709029) parking lot and begin our move — only thanks to U-HAUL Roadside Assistance mechanic, who was appalled by the condition of the truck rented to us. Ultimately, not only did U-HAUL endanger our safety, but it also ruined our trip. The two-days delay caused us to drive through bad weather and I spent my 36th birthday driving instead of spending it with my children — as this was supposed to be my first birthday spent with them, when I am not deployed.

While I am convinced that the service that I received is not the norm for U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING, the lack of care for the safety of its customers in this case — as exhibited by the Assistant Manager of U-HAUL AT MINERAL KING during this move — is unacceptable and does not live up to U-HAUL’s core values and promise to its customers.

I told them that wasn't adequate or what I had requested so they said I (me) could pick a 5x8 in Lethbridge (which is a 200+ mile or 320 + km round trip from Medicine Hat... Which after much conversation is exactly what I did... I needed the trailer! They offered me an extra day rent at no charge (which was the day I wasted driving back and forth to Lethbridge to pick up the 5x8 trailer). I told them that was like waving the delivery fee for a pizza because I picked it up myself!!! Anyways at the end of the day I negotiated with U-Haul and they agreed to reimburse my fuel bill.

If there was any other game in town I would advise use them but U-Haul seems to have the trailer rental market cornered. As a side note there were 3 U-Haul reps. that I dealt with and all 3 of them told me the same thing had happened to each of them personally at one time (hmmm seems like a line fed to them to feed to customers but anywhere....) and one even told me that he swore he would never rent from U-Haul again... But he works for them... Too funny! I guess at the end of the day I got my trailer and my fuel money reimbursed. Had a good laugh when the reps all told me the same sad story... Especially the last guy, but would I ever rent from them again... Probably not... I hope not anyway.