On 9/21,1999, I rented a 15-ft Ryder truck to make a cross-country trip from Florida to Washington State. Along with the truck, I also rented a trailer to tow my 1996 Jeep Cherokee. The truck and trailer were both rented from G & S Automotive, 740 9th Court, Vero Beach, Florida 32960, phone 561-770-2410, dealer number 329600. The representative there assured me that this vehicle was safe, in fact so safe he would rent this to his own family.
We were 2/3 finished loading the truck when it was obvious that this was the wrong size truck for my belongings, thus I had to leave things behind to retrieve at a later date. I had a deadline to meet in Washington; it was too late to unpack at that point. My young daughter and I, along with our pets, left late in the evening on 9/24/99 for this long haul.
By the morning of 9/24/99, while fueling, a gentleman pointed out that the 2 front tires were showing the steel belts. I made an emergency call to Ryder at that point. At that time, I pulled over to a hotel, as I was unsure how long this was going to take. I unloaded my 3 cats, 2 birds, my dog and all their food, etc., and headed for our room to keep them as comfortable as possible. Ryder eventually found a place to fix the tires. Late that evening we were again on the road.
On 9/26/99, I noticed that the truck was running hot. I pulled over and fueled. At that time I noticed that, in between the seats, where I had placed padding for my dog to lie on, was extremely not. I had placed a piece of Styrofoam on the floor, over that a straw mat and a pad. The Styrofoam had melted to the floor. That's how hot the truck was running. I made several attempts to call Ryder. I was placed on hold each time for over an hour. I decided at that time to get a room for the night. Letting the truck cool down.
We started out again on 9/27/99. After several hours, we began to notice that the truck was running hot again. We pulled over again. I called Ryder once again, I spoke with Paul, informed her of the situation, she advised me that the trucks do periodically run hot. Nothing was done.
We started back out again on 9/28/99, driving the route that takes you up and over the Hoover Dam. The truck, when we started out was almost full. It remained that way for a period of time, and I thought nothing of it. It never reached 1/2 tank. However, when reaching the top of Hoover Dam, the gas gauge went to empty. Right at the top of Hoover Dam the truck was sputtering. We turned right, knowing this was a downgrade, and coasted into a marina parking lot. The truck was out of gas. At that time, I called Big Johns towing; they were kind enough to bring us gas and charged us a $50.00 fee.
We started back out again, made it to the next town, Boulder City, NV, filled the truck up and started once again on our trip. We made it through Las Vegas, NV. While heading out of Las Vegas and rounding the side of a mountain, we heard and felt a huge BANG. I pulled over to the right side of the road, trying to apply the brakes, that weren't working properly at that point. Finally coming to a stop, I jumped out and noticed a huge pipe hanging down from under the truck. This was around 8PM. I called Ryder. My young daughter and I were stranded out on this stretch of highway. I had the flashers on in the truck. However, the battery must have been low, as the lights were getting dim. I got up onto the trailer and turned on the flashers on my Jeep, for the safety factor. Three hours later Ryder showed up. My dog, cats and birds were very stressed as well as my daughter and myself. The representative towed us to town. I had to rent a room, at my expense, as they were not sure how long this was going to take. You see the drive shaft broke on this truck.
We unloaded all the animals, my daughter had to ride in the back of this mans pickup truck, in the cold night air, along with my birds, whom by the way, got ill, and the cats and dog. I was devastated. We headed for a hotel, by the way, I had to pay for. Once inside the hotel I called Ryder again and again. Begging, pleading for them to give me another truck. The declined my requests, saying they could not get a truck for four days, and if they did, I would have to hire someone to transfer all my belongings, at my expense. I did not have the money nor did I have the time. I had a closing on a house to get to.
Late in the afternoon on 9/29/99, we were once again on the road. We made it into Utah, when I started hearing a clanging noise, coming from the left front tire area. I called Ryder, they sent a man out, and he listened to the noise and stated that the left front brake pad had broken loose. He said there was no need for repair and sent me on my way, once again.
On 9/30/99, while driving Devil's Pass in Oregon, we were forced to pull of the road again, for the steering wheel was jumping around in my hands, making it very difficult to navigate the truck. I called Ryder, I spoke with Jerry and explained to him the situation. He said it was probably the rotors that they were probably warped, there was no need to worry and sent us back on our way.
To make matters worse, we had NO air conditioning for the trip. The truck ran hot making it like an oven inside the cab. The cigarette lighter did not work; therefore, I could not charge my cell phone along the way. The lights in the back of the truck did not work nor did the lights in the cab. I had to buy a flashlight in order to find things up front in the cab.
The trailer was not properly hooked up. There was no safety hook up on the trailer and the brake cable was not attached to the trailer hitch. Thus, if the trailer had broken loose, the trailer and my Jeep would have ended up at the bottom of a canyon somewhere or God forbid, hit another car. Because the delays on this trip, I missed the closing on my house. We had to rent the Ryder for extended days, also a place to store the Ryder, also, had to rent a place to stay. I wrote Ryder several times and called numerous times, only to be put on hold for hours at a time.
Finally, I spoke with Carmella and told her of my situation. I was given a situation number at that time, this was 10/2/99. I wrote my first letter on that date and again on 11/19/99, both with no response.
I wrote a 3rd letter with an itemized bill on 1/8/00 which has now changed quite a bit, to customer relations and on 1/25/00, I finally received a response from Danielle Barhite, National Customer Relations, at which time she offered me $200 for my inconvenience.
To make matters worse upon worse, I had to rent Allied Van Lines to bring the rest of my belongings, because of the error in judgment by G & S Automotive and Ryder. My young daughter, our pets and myself were traumatized by this whole trip. I feel Ryder and its representatives are responsible for putting my daughter and I in danger.
My daughter and I cringe when we see a Ryder truck, actually just the name Ryder makes me sick to my stomach. These people have shown no remorse what so ever.
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