Online reservation confirmation received 5/20/03 8:52 AM. I placed my reservation and received a confirmation for pick up 5/23/03 5PM for 24 hours. I mistakenly considered this to be a reservation, since I was charged a "service fee" of $5, and I received an email confirmation. What was I thinking?
Instead I received a call from the UHaul rental location in a nearby city the morning of 5/23/03 advising me that the truck I needed was not available, and I had to have any available rental back by 9AM next date, because there were "reservations" for the trucks on Saturday. That was not acceptable, since "I" had a reservation as well. Why is my reservation a complete non-issue?
I phoned the regional office at 800-326-4020 and spoke to Sarah about my issue with the reservation, who advised me there was no availability, and my request was subject to availability. She seemed quite used to this complaint. She advised me to actually read the agreement, that I was expecting things not promised. Imagine my amazement when it is my responsibility to accept conditions such as a $50 cancellation fee should I cancel, yet there are no conditions under which UHaul honors the reservation. And the words Reservation and Confirmation are the words on their very own automated email.
The reservation on 5/20 was not forwarded to the traffic office until close of business the day before my pickup, according to Sarah. What this tells me is my equipment was NOT reserved at the time of my reservation, when likely there was availability.
I was not notified of lack of availability until the day of my move, leaving me with the following:
* Cancellation of moving help contracts, resulting in cancellation fees.
* 2 persons requested Saturday off of work to assist - for nothing due to the lack of moving equipment.
* Payment of storage unit usage for days I anticipated being vacated.
* Change of the move date, resulting in rent being paid for two places of residence.
All in all, monetarily, the UHual.com "reservation" system cost me several hundreds of dollars, not to mention the frustration of my inability to move as planned over this particular weekend.
The above are reasons I am upset and frustrated with UHaul failing to notify me that their reservation process was not a reservation process at all; and that their confirmation is little more than a confirmation of my request which will be ignored. I could have reasonably found alternate vendors at that time of booking, but not at this late date. Ive spent the morning on the phone attempting to locate a rental truck, to no avail.
I have been subjected to rudeness, apathy and pitiful customer service throughout this process. Not once has any resolution been offered me. Though I have left a message with the Regional Managers voicemail and contacted by phone the national customer service department, I have not received a return call. Every attempt to deal with UHaul has resulted in my being referred to the Regional Traffic Manager, Kymberli Orenstein, who has not returned my phone call.
The most I have received is "read your agreement - we're not responsible". The agreement should also read that UHaul.com is not RESPONSIVE. I choke at "The Agreement", since an agreement requires burdens on all parties.
The sole reason I placed my reservation early in the week, was my absolute requirement that I be able to have a truck for this 24hours.
I expect UHaul to:
1) Honor the "reservation", somehow, some way — today. Offer me a resolution.
2) Alter the business process whereby the reservation request is forwarded to the traffic office for actual reserving of equipment upon receipt
— OR notify the customer at order entry that the request will be forwarded to the local offices for "reserving" only the day before pickup, necessitating a phone call to make reservations directly with the local office.
& OR do away with the psuedo Reservation site.
— OR become informed about the legal definition of Reservation. Obviously they dont use the same dictionary I do.
2) Not charge me the $5 online reservation fee, and certainly do not charge me a cancellation fee of $50 if I refuse to accept less than what I requested and what was confirmed.
In a nutshell, Uhaul, if you are not equipped to have a working online reservation system, you are not professional enough to have a website available to the public.
Andrea
Round Rock, Texas
U.S.A.
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