Wow, I do not normally write journal entries in my blog, but in this case, I feel compelled to do so. Uhaul ruined my memorial day weekend by making what should have been an easy move on way move from Berkeley to Los Angeles into an epic disaster. The story is complex, here it goes:
I placed a reservation with Uhaul for a small trailer three weeks before I needed to use it. I received a confirmed reservation at the time of the reservations, and a call from their traffic office the day before the move, telling me where to pick up the trailer. I was driving up to Oakland from Los Angeles so I wanted to be sure the trailer would be where is was supposed to be in Oakland so I could pick up the trailer and then continue on to Berkeley for the planned move. I needed to move on my son out of his apartment the next morning or face some stiff financial penalties.
When I arrived to pick up my trailer, the local Uhaul yard acted as if they had never heard of me before. I showed them my reservation number, they responded that they did not have my trailer nor could they offer any other help resolving the issued other than a lame “Sorry – you need to call the traffic office”. Hobart, the CSR in Oakland, was decent, he actually tired to help resolve the problem by calling the traffic office for me. The best Hobart could do was a promise that somebody would call me back the next day by 5:00 pm because no trailers were available anyplace in the bay area. I asked Hobart about my reservation, the whole Uhaul team actually laughed.
Being assured that somebody from the traffic office would call me “maybe”. And, that the call would come a full day after my reservation was scheduled for pickup, set off numerous alarms. I anticipated a major screwing coming down the pipe: I was right.
I called the traffic office, they referred me to the 1-800 customer service number; the lady who answered rudely told me that the problem was my own fault and that I should have handled it the local Uhaul center in Oakland. She gave me the name of a “big boss” at the main traffic office in Oakland to call. I called this new number, asked for the big boss, and the was placed on hold until after 5:00 p.m., when they dropped my call. I called back, but everybody at Uhaul had left for the day.
The next morning I stopped by a Berkeley based Uhaul retal office because it was close to my hotel and they had a trailer in their yard. I had driven past the day before and spoke to a yard worker who refused to help me because “he had a hot date and I needed to get out of his parking lot or he was going to lock me in.” He eventually told me to stop by the next day and he would get us some help. So… the next morning (the day of the move) I showed up, waited in line, asked for the trailer, and was subjected to downright hostility by the local employees. The “General Manager”, who could barely formulate a proper English sentence, was at least willing to tell me that I could not have the trailer because I did not have a reservation for the trailer in her yard and that somebody else did. My reservation needed to be filled in Oakland (where they did not have a trailer). The GM was rude, insensitive, and actually told me to get out of line so she could help customers with reservations. She even told me there was nothing I could do about the situation. I needed to “deal with it and find a trailer on my own.” What is the penalty for manslaughter?
I spoke with Uhaul traffic again – they found a trailer. It would not be ready until 3:00 and it was an hour south of Oakland. I needed to drive and pick it up myself. I called the place to confirm my reservation; they had my trailer, only it was much bigger and only available NOW. They would give it away if I did not pick it up with 2 hours. I drove right out and picked it up. They were nice, of course it was not a Uhual company store! So, by Noon of the following day I have a trailer – my worries are over right? No, not really – now I must drive to LA in Memorial Day traffic instead of the day before. What a pain in the ass, it was nine hours of torture.
BTW – I passed the Berkeley Uhaul yard later in the day. My trailer sat unused in the yard. Reservation my ass! I asked the traffic office about it, it seems Uhaul does not have an inventory tracking system. The company is based on tracking and renting inventory, how do you say U-idiot?
I called Uhaul the next morning to arrange for a return of their trailer; they asked me to return the trailer to a yard in Laguna Beach. Now not that I have anything against Laguna Beach, but it is about an hour (or more) from my home on a good. After a long argument, the controller agreed to let me return it to my local Fullerton Uhaul Yard. In Fullerton, they wanted to assess me higher fees because I had different trailer that I had originally arranged to rent and it was not returned to Laguna Beach. They also claimed I had damaged the trailer. I popped a cork, yelled quite a bit, and got them to drop all additional charges.
A promise: I will never rent from Uhaul again. I will go out of my way to make sure my family, friends, and coworkers do not experience the same problems that I did. Uhaul will never get another penny from me. Uhaul SUCKS.
New names for uhaul. Uhell, udonthaul, Usuck, noUhaul.
Other sites:
Uhaul Sucks
Don't use uhaul
Planet feedback Story
The Peters Bad Experience
a miserable and stressful experience
UHAUL BOYCOTT PAGE
22 comments:
What seems to be the biggest thing about Uhaul Customers is the outstanding hearing and comprehension you guys have. I hear constant complaints about not have the reservation on time. Though whenever you reserve it, it is part of the script,they tell you "You are garuanteed a Uhaul but the Time and Place is not." For most of you it seems to go in one ear and out the other. It seems you cause you own misery by your stupidity. You have no one to blame but yourself....
Oh, BS. Uhaul made numerous promises it did not keep, including confirming my reservation 1 day before pickup, the day of pickup, and at the time of pickup. It is not too much to expect that Uhaul would keep its word by have product on hand for its customers. The market will treat Uhaul with the lack of respect it deserves (it already is, the market eats inefficient competitors, Uhaul will not last.). Uhaul will never get my business again, ever!. Hertz on the other hand, always has a car when I reserve it. Once when they could not give me car (through no fault of their own), The manager drove me to another lot so I could get a car and be on my way. The difference is SERVICE, a concept that Uhaul does not have, or even understand, and never will. Hmm... If I had the money, I don't think I would even buy the damn company, its better just to put a bullet in its head and move on.
My favorite Uhaul memory was of the openly hostile manager at the Berkeley office who could not even take the time to talk to me because I did not have a reservation at HER office. She actually said “There is nothing I can do for you, and there is nothing I would do for you if I could. You should have known better.”
Oh, feel free to comment any time you like but please try to make sense. We live in a market economy remember? Uhaul will not survive, it’s time for you to picking through trash cans again..
I USE TO WORK FOR UHAUL AND THEY DO GIVE THE IR CUSTOMER THE RUN AROUND.THEY MAKE EMPTY RESERVATION KNOWING THEY CAN NOT COVER.I WAS A GENERAL MANAGER FOR THEM SO I VERY WELL KNOW.WE ARE TOLD NOT TO STOP TAKING RESERVATIONS THAT TRAFFIC WILL COVER ALL RESERVATIONS.WELL BEING THAT I WAS A SMART GUY AND ALL,I ONLY RESERVED WHAT I HAD ON MY LOT.I HAD NO COMPLAINTS FROM ANY OF MY CUSTOMERS AND I DID WELL.
THEY HAVE A REALLY STUPID SYSTEM AND THEY HAVE STREWED SOOOO MANY
PEOPLE IT IS UNREAL.AND THE BIGGEST THING OF THAT, THEY DON'T
CARE!!!!! I AM GLAD I DON'T REPRESENT THEM ANYMORE THANK GOD.
UHAUL IS THE BLAME FOR SO MANY MOVING FILE UPS.THEY NEED TO BE HONEST WITH CUSTOMER AND STOP OVER BOOKING.MOJOEY YOU ARE 100% RIGHT MAN.THEY ARE FULL OF BS AND YOU ARE DOING THE BEST THING IN NOT USEING THEM EVER AGAIN.THEY HAVE ALREADY FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION LAST YEAR SO THEY ARE
REAPING WHAT THEY SOWED ALREADY.
No wonder you don't work for uhaul anymore you moron. I'm sure you couldn't run your store and you maybe got paid $8.00 an hour. For obvious reasons. No doubt the MCP didn't like you. They didn't file bankruptcy, it's called Chapter 11 and if you knew what you were talking about you would know that they just did that to get rid of their sister company. Get your shit straight before you start talking it or you look like an asshole. Which I'm sure you are. I bet your wife left you too.
You are probably overweight and toothless too. Oh, and the Uhell dude, he has way too much times on his hands and should just get a hobby. Take up basket weaving or maybe some yoga. Any thing to get his mind off this whole thing. Jesus dude, it's a joba nd you can't take it out on people who work there when shit doesn't go right. How about if I came into the Hardees you worked at and yelled at you because you put pickles on my burger? How would that make you feel? I want you to think about those of us who only make $3500 a month and have to deal with you assholes moving all the time. I'm sure your wife understands, it must have been hard when she left you. Ya know, having some fag at home not being able (or trying) to help move everything that you bought together (but she bought because you have a shitty job a 16 year old wouldn't even accept, or no job at all)is a little stressfull. I am sure however she didn't throw the shit fit you did. GET OVER IT YOU RETARD!
I have worked for u-haul for almost seven years, I've seen the way that thay treat customers. Not only am I an emploee I was a costomer. I had rented storage from a location from in Il. We had put all of are belongings in it while we remoduled are house. Clean, dry, safe storage my a$$. My wife, family, and I went to remove my wife and I belongings a to my suprise there were dozons of dead mice and dozons of live mice in my storage unit. There was mice crap everywere thay had eaten through all of the u-haul boxes and eat through clothes, pictures, furniture, toys, and other personal items. there was also a green substance all over everything, that was found out to be rat poison. We had bought the insurace that they had recommended, I had filed a claim. thay had someone out the next day to look at the damage and to see if I had food in the storage, which I did't, then it took three week for them to contack me. They had told me that my MCP(maket company president) which I know so well had told them to give me a settlement of repairing everything which 90% of everything was ruined. thay offered $298.83, when a apraiser apraised it at over $4000 in damages. U-HAUL DOES OWN THE INCURANCE COMPANY PUBLIC WESTERN AND IS ONLY LOOKING OUT FOR U-HAUL. AND I WOULD'T RENT STORAGE OR ANYTHANG ELSE FROM U-HAUL BECAUSE IT IS NOT CLEAN, DRY, OR SAFE TO STORE OR DRIVE.
To the dip shit with the 10:15 comment. U haul filed because they are being sued over and over again. They are hurting and owe to much to people that have been injured or even died in a uhaul truck. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE I HAVE WORKED FOR UHAUL FOR A LONG TIME, I HAVE THE PAPER WORK TO PROVE IT. Uhaul just refinace the company to settle with familys. So what the fuck do you have to say know fagget!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's hear from the employee side of the story. I agree with most of your complaints. Uhaul sucks, it's worse than u think!!!
I do have some gripes about some customers, my top five are:
1. Where can I park? The parking rules don't change at berkely u-haul! After question number 50 u get irritated
2.A customer receives a text or email confirming their reservtion, u call to re-confirm it anyhow. Duh, that's why u got the text or email, stop tying up the phones and making the lines longer, after call number 50 u get irritated.
3.You signed a contract without a gun pointed to your head, it states return time, and fuel (highlighted) u ignore it and ask why do I have to pay extra? After question number 50 u get irritated
4.The store closes at a certain hour I constantly hear, "I'm 10 min away will u take my truck?" Do you call safeway, walmart, hertz, target and try to get service after hours? Hell no, after 10 knocks on the door u get irritated
5. Use the internet cheapskates, yes it's more (stupid u-haul), but i would think you would want to pay $5 more to avoid the aggravation over the phone with an irritated clerk, I know I would. By the way, here r some of the dumb questions I hear from u: "I just purchased a space bag, I don't have a vaccum cleaner, can I use yours?" "Can I use your truck to transport my wheel chair stricken family member in the rear cab" "all I have is a passport can I rent a truck?" (if the police pulls u over will a passport work, duh) "where is it safe to park my vechile?" blah blah blah...all day long, a receipe for I don't care what your problem is customer service.
In short, get off the phones, pick up/return during off peak hours/days, and have your license/credit card out when u get to the counter.
More Stupid Questions From Customers:
The monitor is asking u about protection, u say no, fine, in the same context of protection it'll let u know your credit card for prtoection does not cover u-haul checks. U asked what does that mean? anyone would get irritated after question number 50
The monitor shows u an estimated total if you drove 50 miles, it's quite obvious u pay only for the miles u use. U make constant statements like what does that mean? Do i get 50 free miles? I don't understand? Where r u people from, the keyword is estimate... a few dummies ask what does estimate mean?... irritating
More Stupid Customer Questions
Dummy me, I stated it wrong, I guess i'm still irritated. The statement should say:
The monitor is asking u about protection, u say no, fine, in the same context of protection it’ll let u know your credit card does not cover u-haul trucks for protection. U ask what does that mean? Get your head out of your azz
The empolyees side of your reservation. We hope u get the truck, be happy, get in and get out.
In reality, the majority of reservations are fouled up because u people don't follow your contract and return the truck on time, defective trucks, and u people crash the vechiles.
You may make a reservation months in advance, do u thing the truck is not going out on rental..duh. No company can 100% guarantee u the exact truck u reserved...many times I've received substitution at rental car companies, but for whatever reason, u people go off raising your voice, using profanity when u can't get the exact truck which makes me care less if u get anything or go some where else...
Thank you for the great blog. As I was looking for UHAUL comments on the net, I stumbled upon your blog. I have also found a great site that has collected a lot of UHAUL Complaints. Check it out - you will enjoy it as well
Regards
Be careful with giving UHaul your credit card #. I reserved a UHaul a couple months ago and had to give them my credit card number to hold the reservation. I never used that credit card anywhere else other than Safeway a few weeks before. The next week when I checked my statement I had charges on my statement from California all the way to Tennessee, mostly for gas, each gas stop costing over $50, about what it costs to fill a Uhaul... I will never rent from Uhaul again!
Until you work at Uhual and deal with the IDOTES every day that don't understand to return a truck on time for someone else, then they need to just shutup and work with us and make the rental of trucks flow better, and return them on time so everyone will be able to have rental equipment.
I am not sure what an IDOTE is, but I know what an IDIOT is.
I used to work for U-haul myself. It was a great place. Unlike so many of your horror stories of the company, we did our jobs. I will admit that there is a lot, and I mean a lot of BS there. For instance Jeff Wills, he's a district manager in Charlotte and one of the biggest cunts this side of porn. Our center functioned and when something was wrong, I fixed it. Ours was a top 10 store for 3 years. But he constantly complained and blathered about some of the stupidest shit. One time he had the nerve to tell me that my uniform was dirty and I needed to do something about it. Gee, I'm a mechanic and can't get dirty? I guess you want these things thinning out the population huh? Now to one of my favorite parts. Our lot and store was about the size of a decent fast food place, and we had 150 pieces of equipment on the lot at any time. We were busy. You tell a customer that they can have the truck for this alloted amount of time and it has to be back because it has another reservation on it. They agree. 10 hours later they don't have the truck and tell you that your not getting it back till they are done with it. So it's time to play repo man. I drive out to the location the truck is supposed to be at and what do I see in their back yard? One of our open trailers that has been stolen for over a year. So i hook this bad boy up, call the police and get some nice police officers out there to make these guys lives shit. Then you have the customers that just will not listen to any sort of reason at all, and the ones that think they know the trucks better than you. These trucks have big engines, really big engines. Their not going to use the same amount of gas that your Honda will use. So we had numerous customers complaining that they only went 20 miles and put 3 dollars in the tank. Great, except some of these trucks only get 9-11mpg, if your lucky and have a tail wind. Thats not fully loaded either. And a lot of customers don't know what 'hours of operation' means either. Doors are closed, lights are off, and were doing final paper work when 3 people knock on the door and want to rent a truck. We tell them that we care closed, period, come back tomorrow and we can help then. So they get all huffy and say they are going to call cooperate on us, then one guy says hes going to call the cops because he can't get a truck, one guy is trying to return a truck, and he was the coolest one. He saw the key drop, dropped his contract and key in and was on his way. All his stuff was right too, so there was no extra charge. And contrary to belief, U-haul doesn't charge your card for no reason. They charge your card when your being an insufferable cock sucker that wont bring equipment back. I have personally charged someones card 1300 dollars because they had a truck for almost 2 weeks. And before you call me an ass, which I am by the way, they were one of the ones that claimed that they were going to use the truck and shoot anyone that tried to repo it. So, this persons stressful move was a lot more stressful when the boss signed warrants for communicating threats. I refunded their money and they got 2 years probation and a fine. Then when the customer absolutely will not listen when we don't have any equipment at all is really funny. One that comes to mind was when we had this old GMC 14ft truck we named 'The Beast.' A customer fucked the steering up so he wouldn't have to pay for the truck. I drove this truck before this guy from the shop for its scheduled repairs and oil. So I had to down it, again, because of some schmuck that didn't want to pay his bill. He got charged anyway, some how the steering was fucked up and the truck still went 100 miles, so he used it. So, when this walk in came in the door, no reservation at all, and wanted a truck, we told them we didn't have one. They said, you do have one, it's out there in the lot. Then we explained that it was down for repairs. They didn't like that. I showed them my booking screen and the notes on the truck. I don't send unsafe equipment out, and if it were really up to me, I wouldn't rent to 9/10 of the fuck heads that darkened my door. Then they got all huffy puffy and started throwing their arms around like monkeys, black people were always the worst for doing this shit. We tell them of the store right around the corner that will have one, I even call them and tell them that they may be on the way. But oh no, the lady starts threating other customers that are coming in and we have to call the police. Hitches were about the same. Customers wanting their Honda Civic hitched up to a 6x12 double tandem trailer. I laugh in these peoples face. Or when they want to tow something heavier than what their pulling with, or Ford Explorers wanting a trailer. U-haul doesn't hook up to those btw, they flip over because they are poorly designed. So we had a woman in a KIA Sephia call and threaten to sue us because the hitch pulled off her car. Now, this has never happened before. Once everything is sorted out, the woman is getting a ticket for reckless endangerment because she was towing a fucking portable kitchen wagon around that you needed at least a Ford Ranger or small truck to pull. So I am rude to the customers that deserve it. And if you want someone to blame, some times the local dealer is to blame, but the Traffic Center is really to blame. We may take your reservation at our center, but these cock suckers will take it and move it to another because its a coast to coast one way or its a one way that costs a lot of money. They usually moved it to this center where daddy's little boy is in charge. This guy is a fuck off plain and simple. He's the one you really need to blame there. So to all you nay sayers of U-haul, you made it this way. You made us tell you how stupid you are, you made us make you fulfill your contracted obligation, you are the ones that made us tell you to put the gas back on the right mark or its 30 bucks, and yes, your the ones that are either blind, deaf, or stupid because you don't read or listen to what the CSR says. I understand your hot and your tired, I really do. Under any circumstances I would trade spots with you because I don't like dealing with the cock suckers who get hot, sweaty and tired and feel I should bend over backwards and lick their asses because they 'had a hard time' moving their shit. Trade jobs. I had to work in the elements. And my body has paid the price. I salute U-haul in part. And every time I see one drive down the road, I can't help but wish that it will crash into and maybe kill one of the stupid customers that wouldn't listen to us or live up to the contract. Or the driver. U-haul customers would work well for Traffic and upper management. You have to know absolutely nothing about how a business works to do that.
Uhaul is an absolutely shitty place to work at, and I still feel trapped in that job, but Mojoey, maybe the person didn't read it to you, but when you make a reservation, that's the reservation call. You'd normally receive another call scheduling it with you, in that scheduling call it could be all the way in frog balls nowhere at that point but that's the "closest place our traffic department could find you" another reason I hate this fucking company. Imagine having to tell people that all day. "Hi sir, I'm calling from Uhaul in frogballs nowhere" "yes, your trailer is reserved and guaranteed for you to pick up here" ..."I'm sorry...you want me to go what myself?"... customer service work is just total shit when your company makes it's own loopholes to it's own policies. Words like reserved and guaranteed are reassuring and makes people trust you, but all it means is that somewhere in the uhaul fleet, they have reserved your equipment, and it's guaranteed that it will be available for you in your time frame, even if it is 5 hours away.
An adventure in moving indeed. I've never rented a U-Haul truck that has actually made it to its destination. Even worse is the way you're treated once the truck fails.
I am firmly in the Penske camp. It costs a lot more but its worth it.
I visted a UHaul in Brooklyn on 4th Ave to buy some boxes and tape. While I was standing on line, I could hear what seemed like a commotion coming from the back office. The door was opened so I could see inside that the person raising her voice was wearing a grey sweater. When it was my turn at the counter, I asked the Customer Service person who the woman in the grey sweater was, and was told it was the General Manager. I mentioned that it was pretty loud back there and the C.S. person said,"She talks to all of us like that." I asked if the G.M. was talking to an employee and she said yes. What I heard was very disrepectful and condescending. It was not really what was being said, so much as how it was said. It sounded quite disparaging and even I felt embarrassed for the person. I assume no one has complained to their management, or I probably would not have heard what I heard. Like most employees, they probably are afraid to speak up for fear of losing their jobs. I wonder if the G.M's bosses know that she speaks to her employees with such angst. I am a bank executive with several managers in positions under me. If I would ever hear any of my managers addressing another employee in the manner in which I heard this UHaul manager speaking, that manager would be demoted or relieved of her position. What I heard did not sound like something random. The words flowed too easily, giving the sense that it is indeed her natural way. She must put on a very good act when her superiors are present. A sort of Jekyl and Hyde. I can not see myself returning to that UHual location in the future, simply so I do not have to feel the embarrassment which I felt for the poor employee who was the recipient of a belittling experience.
U-Haul's U-Box service will never be able to compete with Pods at the rate they're going. On October 5th, I called U-Haul to secure U-Boxes for our cross-country move. We used Moving Help to have the boxes dropped off and delivered. When I spoke with them, I specifically said that I wanted the boxes dropped off TODAY and that my wife and I would LOAD THEM OURSELVES, and they could pick them up TUESDAY. I was quoted a price of $170 for this service. This seemed reasonable enough. Last night when the boxes were delivered to U-Haul in Jackson, they called ME and asked when the tow was going to be. They seemed surprised when I told them that a local mover that THEY had contracted through Moving Help was supposed to be by to get them in the morning. AFTER the mover arrived with the boxes today and had his money released to him, he informed me that that $170 was only for TODAY's services, and that we would have to pay and additional $170 to have them pick them back up Tuesday. He also said that he had not technically been paid enough for today's delivery. When I called U-Haul to complain about this, I was kicked around to three or four different operators. TWICE the other end just inexplicably HUNG UP! When I finally DID get someone, he said, "Well you could rent a truck from us yourself and go take them down there." I replied, "If I was interested in doing that, and had the time, don't you think I would have set it up that way to begin with?!?!" I told him that the way things were explained to me, I was paying $170 for the boxes to be dropped off and picked up, and that I had SPECIFICALLY ASKED for it to be done that way, and was told it was alright. He apologized profusely and said that he was "notating my file" and would send an email to his manager to pull the tapes of the phone call to verify that this is what was stated. But he warned that this might take a day or two. So I said, "Why can't I talk to your manager NOW?" He replied, "Well, see I work from home." That's right--this is all being handled by Millennials in their pyjamas eating Malt-O-Meal and taking calls between, I suppose, posting selfies on Facebook and playing Angry Birds.
Uhaul employees are highly incompetent. You can read our team member's experience with Uhaul here:
incompetent Nashville uhaul staff causes CEO to delay trip #uhaul @uhaul http://uhaul.pissedconsumer.com/incompetent-nashville-staff-customer-service-causes-ceo-to-lose-time-20150320611132.html
I work for UHaul. I make good money, have great benefits, and every one in our center treats our customers with respect and are very generous when it comes to sorting out problems. One thing all of you naysayers, bitchers, and moaners (especially the original poster) need to realize is that uhaul is a nation wide company. Just because you had a bad experience because some incompetent ass hole can't do his job in buttfucked Egypt doesn't mean that every uhaul center is that way. I guarantee you a pleasant experience if were to come to our center. As with any company, there are good and bad employees. Moving is stressful and customers seem to treat this service like it's a fast food restaurant.
Another thing all you negative people need to get through your heads. Just because there is a uhaul truck or trailer sitting in a parking lot does not mean that business is part of uhaul. There are thousands of dealers across the country that rent uhaul equipment.
U-Haul is a great company. And only getting better. They have made a huge investment in the future by committing millions of dollars in brand new equipment. Once again, standing by it's primary service objective. To provide a better and better product and service to more and more people at lower and lower costs. It is the way it has always been. It's just unfortunate that U-Haul doesn't have an unlimited supply of equipment to serve everybody on a Saturday morning at the end of the month. What is comes down to is if you need to rent a U-Haul and you have to drive too far to get it, Move closer to the dealer or just go to a place that works for you. There are plenty of competitors out there. Don't throw U-Haul under the bus because you get sent to another location to get what you need. At least they make the attempt to get what you need. Like I said, No place has an unlimited supply of equipment.
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