Our big move is on Saturday (hence the blog silence) and I am beyond frustrated with U-Haul. They were the only company with a rental office in town, so I reserved a truck with them. I just got a call today that they have no trucks available--despite my having reserved one. I now have to drive to another location to pick up and return the truck. It's going to cost a bundle to pay for the gas, not to mention the three hours of additional driving time on an already busy day.
I was not very friendly with the customer service person. I did not say oh thank you for not fulfilling your part of the contract. Oh thank you for making me drive way out of town to pick up my "in-town" truck.
U-Haul, U-Suck.
I had the exact same experience with U-Haul a few years ago. It's terrible. If you read the fine print, it basically says that a reservation doesn't guarantee a truck. It's bull. Call them every day, even the morning of your move, anyway -- maybe you can snap up an available truck if one is returned early.
ReplyDeleteThe next time we moved, we used Penske instead.
that's nerve wracking as our move is coming up, too and we went with uhaul for the same reason. hmm.
ReplyDeleteI too had the same experience with U-Haul several years ago. It made me think of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry fails to get a rental car he reserved. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7uvttu8ct0
ReplyDeleteI know for in-town moves, you still have to pay per mile. Are they going to reimburse you for the extra driving? I hope so.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I need a cargo van to move essentially a dorm room half way across the country (OK to Northern VA). Nobody rents cargo vans for other than "in town". I can rent a small moving truck for $800 or a regular van for $2000. (no, there isn't a typo). Isn't making some money better than no money?
ReplyDeleteCall their main or cooperate office and ask them what they can do for you in the way of making this better. They can always discount your service in one way or another and if they don't then make sure you let your readers know that they were not willing to help you!! I have actually had good experience with U haul discounting my service when they did not live up to their part of a deal so you may just have to talk to someone higher than your local office! It never hurts to try anyway!
ReplyDeleteI've had a few good experiences with them, but my last one SUCKED. They didn't have the truck for us, so we went to another location, and when we got there, the truck wasn't the right size. They tried to charge us for the extra size, but I'm not pushover. Then, instead of an $85 fee on my card, they pull 11 different $85 fees - a glitch in the system that took FIVE DAYS to correct (I was out over $900 for a week almost). Needless to say, they ended up refunding ALL of the fees and we got our crappy Uhaul for free (didn't get our time back though, and I hated having to be mean to the poor guy at the counter).
ReplyDeleteI've had a few good experiences with them, but my last one SUCKED. They didn't have the truck for us, so we went to another location, and when we got there, the truck wasn't the right size. They tried to charge us for the extra size, but I'm not pushover. Then, instead of an $85 fee on my card, they pull 11 different $85 fees - a glitch in the system that took FIVE DAYS to correct (I was out over $900 for a week almost). Needless to say, they ended up refunding ALL of the fees and we got our crappy Uhaul for free (didn't get our time back though, and I hated having to be mean to the poor guy at the counter).
ReplyDeleteCall and ask for a discount with corporate. Explain how much extra time that adds to your trip and how much gas you are going to need. I just used them and they dicounted our rental by $300 because another place in town in was cheaper. They are willing to work with you, from my experience.
ReplyDeletedoes your town have local car rental? when we moved, we got one from our small town local car place, and it ended up being cheaper... not to mention supporting local businesses.
ReplyDeleteThe only time I ever tried to use them (back in 2000), I had the same experience. "Reservation" doesn't mean the same thing to U-Haul that it means to everyone else.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't find out about our lack of truck until the day of the 400 mile move. We shoved everything we could into my dad's SUV. I had to sleep on the floor for a month because my bed didn't make the trip until later.
On the flip-side, a woman I knew in college pulled up to her dorm at the beginning of freshman year in a 20ft truck with a trailer towing her car behind her...because she had a Uhaul reservation for a trailer to pull behind her car, but that truck was the only thing they had left, plus a car trailer. Quite the entrance she made.
ReplyDeleteI'd also call them and complain and ask for at least financial compensation of the extra mileage at least. Sorry you have to deal with the hassle!
Two families with 3 kids coming to the same college (one of whom was married... so technically 4 kids coming) rented a uhaul to bring their stuff to school... same thing happened to them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was moving from Chicago to St. Louis, and my boyfriend (now husband) was flying in to help drive my car down, the same thing happened to me. I ended up going with Penske, getting the last truck available anywhere in the Chicagoland/Northern Indiana area from any company, and driving it down and back and flying back to St. Louis... in 24 hours. If I had known that was going to happen, I would have left my car up in IL and saved my boyfriend the trip (and me the plane fair).
This has happened to SO MANY PEOPLE that I know. U-Haul intentionally overbooks because people cancel... but not nearly as many people as they plan to cancel, especially on holiday weekends.
A friend of mine used to work for U-Haul and it's company policy! The way they operate is: you have reserved a truck. They have one for you. Just because you don't like *where* the truck is, is your problem - not theirs.
ReplyDeleteWe had a U-Haul trailer when I moved back to Canada from Iowa. It all worked out, but I was worried right up until the last moment whether that trailer would be available on the day I needed it.
ReplyDeleteWhere I'm living now, the two nearest places have given up their U-Haul affiliations (too much trouble, not enough profit), so the nearest place to get a moving truck or trailer is actually 120 miles away.
In my experience, U-Haul is notorious for this kind of bait-and-switch. In college, we had a competition where we had to transport our 17-foot-long canoe, and surprise! The truck we had called and spoken to them about was not available anywhere in town on the day we needed it. They were perplexed as to why we would not accept 2 10-foot trucks for our stuff, until we explained that we had ONE 17-foot canoe!
ReplyDeleteI had a similar but opposite experience when we moved from Chicago -- the smaller truck we reserved wasn't there, so we got the larger truck at the same price. We ended up having underestimated how much stuff we were moving, so we really did need the larger truck, so it worked out better for us.
ReplyDeleteI was told, when I first called U-haul to find out prices, that they don't guarantee a truck at your local depot. I was like, "No way then!" Also, I watched a W-5/48hours type of show once that showed how bad and nasty the U-haul vehicles were, such poor maintenance.
ReplyDeleteWe went with PODS for our last moved, which in many ways worked out great, but they too had issues (DH: Are you sure they're waterproof? Driver: Definately, you could have a hurricane and be fine! The next night we had an August thunderstorm and indeed...there was a big crack in the ceiling that leaked a lot of rain onto our stuff!)
My son and fiancée are moving into their new house this weekend. Uhaul decided today they don't have a truck for them tomorrow (despite reservation) but they could have it today. When they have to work. And the day before we get there to help. Arrgh.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry...and so not surprised. When we moved from AK to IA (with our 4-month old Clara), we reserved a truck weeks in advance...and come the day to move, we had to drive to Wasilla (!), which was almost an hour away, to pick up our trailer. Said trailer was missing a tail-light, and was filthy. Dan and I are absolutely, 100% in agreement with your assessment. Again, sorry history repeated itself for you :(
ReplyDeleteYep, I'm another victim of the same U-Haul scam. I have two friends with the exact same story. I will never plan to use U-Haul again!
ReplyDeleteI had friends have trouble with U-Haul (breaking down, wrong size, etc.), so I have never used them. My husband and I used Penske 3 years ago, and we are about to use them again in a move up to IL. They have always worked well with us, especially in regards to lowering prices to match other quotes we got, using coupons, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you had to deal with U-Haul--maybe another company will move into your town if you ever need to move again!
I have had two similar experiences with U-Haul. Frustrating (and infuriating!) indeed. I'm so sorry that you have to deal with this right before a move.
ReplyDeleteWe've had success with renting a truck from Budget in the past. IIRC, they may have even ended up being a bit less expensive than U-Haul.
Man I feel for you! I can't stand moving! If there was a U-Haul in the next town THEY should have brought it to your town. But is it was another company I am sure you just had to eat it! No accountability in buisness these days!
ReplyDeleteMuch love! Hope unpacking goes well!