This is one of those stories that are hard to believe. It is LONG but you will be SHOCKED if you read this.
My husband and I rented a U Haul truck and trailer to transport a vehicle from Southern CA to Northern California. During our trip the trailer blew out a tire. We called the emergency call center at 5 PM on Saturday 8/16/03, it took us 5 calls, with a wait time of NO LESS then 30 minutes on EACH call before we were able to get someone on the line without being disconnected.
At that time we were told that a repair truck would be on the way in two hours. We waited making the best of a bad situation... Called again after the two hours was up and was told to keep waiting, after another hour we called again. We were told to keep waiting that it should be just another 30 minutes. Waited again, now in the dark on the side of a remote highway. Still no one. LONG story short, we waited by the road for 7 hours and when we called the final time we were told that the repair truck could not locate us and had gone home for the night. (We had a U Haul 14ft truck with a trailer loaded with another car, four way flashers on BOTH vehicles going, half way in the road so there was NO way he could NOT see us).
At this point we had no other choice but to pull the auto we were transporting off of the trailer and HOPE that it made it the remainder of the two hours to our home. It was now past midnight.
When we arrived home two hours later I called the emergency line again to tell them we had parked the truck and trailer in a safe place and that we would be happy to return in the AM to help the repair guy fix the truck so we could return it to the drop off location. I was told that I would receive a call FIRST thing in the AM. So I finally made it to bed at 4 AM so I could catch some sleep before my "first thing in the AM" call on Sunday morning.
At 10 AM on Sunday I was tired of waiting so called the emergency call line again... After 7 more calls on Sunday (each with that VERY unreasonable wait time before you even get a rep of AT LEAST 30 minutes per call), there was STILL no one who could help me to get our truck repaired.
I was even told by a U Haul mechanic to DRIVE it on the RIM 40 miles to the drop off center... That he would just bill U Haul for the repair when he got around to it.ca in August is RIPE for fires, and I explained to him this was DANGEROUS! He said it would be fine... That he did not want to go out to the truck on a Sunday and there was no one else to help me.
I called the U Haul emergency line AGAIN and explained this to them. They said just leave the truck there that someone would pick it up and they would call me to confirm the truck was returned and the account was closed.
Monday... Tuesday... NO CALLS! So Tuesday afternoon I started the process all over again! More calls, over 8 of them. NO ONE at the emergency center knew if the truck and trailer had been picked up. They told me that I had to call my local drop off location to find out. I called on Wednesday AM and was told he had NO IDEA he was to pick it up and that he was never ONCE contacted but that he would do it that day... FIVE DAYS after my FIRST call to the emergency center!
SO now FIVE days and a total of over TWENTY FIVE calls to U Haul, the truck is FINALLY back at the drop off center.
NOW I can finally complain, as I was told through all of this that I could not place a formal complaint until the "contract was closed" (meaning the truck was at a U Haul site).
During this whole ordeal I tried to remain as calm as I was able. I was hung up on more then 5 times and "disconnected" from their system many times. I was yelled at, talked down to, and treated as if I did something wrong by almost ALL of the 20 people I spoke with from Emergency Call Center representatives all the way up to Regional Supervisors. (I was even told by a U Haul rep, that "most of the people that work at U Haul are idiots". That was comforting.
I called the complaint center and was told they would refund me ONLY the $52 for the transport trailer and NO REFUND on the $350 for the truck.
I lost two FULL days of work because I was on the phone... On hold most of the time... Spent 7 hours on the side of the road... Was treated as if I did not matter at ALL and was so stressed about this that I was not able to sleep for several nights. That is what your $350 is worth to them!
U Haul explained that because we were able to get home (on our own I might add) that there was no justification for the full refund.
We were two smart and able bodied people who were able to return ourselves safely to our home... What if we were a family with small children, and elderly couple who was not able to handle the heat and the cold we endured during our SEVEN hour wait on the side of the road? U Haul made NO attempts ANY time in the five days to ask us if we were OK, if we were safe, if they could call any one to pick us up, NO offer of assistance to return us to our home or a hotel.
We have no recourse but if you value your time and safety BE ASSURED that U Haul will not!
I can not get my money back but if you ALL tell at least ONE person not to rent from U Haul we WILL make a differnce!
If anyone has had a similiar experience with the emergency call center PLEASE contact me with your story through the rebuttal key.
I think that U Haul executives should be aware of this behavior from thier employees and I plan on drafting a letter to mail out to newspapers and the "higher up's" with U Haul. I would be GLAD to incorporate your story as well.
Jodi
Murphys, California
U.S.A.
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