This has taken awhile to get out, but I am sure it is still happening. First and foremost, let it be known, that u-haul does not check their trucks to verify that they are ready for the road. A truck may break down at any time and you are at the mercy of the company. If the company does check, this particular store said that they do not.
My story is that i rented a truck to pick up furniture and move it, as well as my existing furniture, to a new apartment and i was severley limited for time. I reserved the truck well in advance, 2 weeks, but when i go to pick up the truck, they have no record of my reservation, so they don't have a truck waiting for me. But... They have a record of my deposit, so they feel obligated to help me out. I thought i had gotten lucky, because the store had a truck that was ready for pick up for a one way trip in after 24 hours, so all i had to do was return the truck by then. Agreed.
It was too late to do a same day pick up for weekend use at different store. So, i go to the store to pick up my furniture. Park in the loading bay and go to the register to check out. I come back to the truck and guess what. The truck won't start. My first impression is that i killed the battery, but i didn't leave anything on.
I call the store i rented from and they say, "sorry, but there is nothing we can do." then i talk to a "manager" and he tells me to call the home office. I call the company and they tell me that a rep is on the way and they should be there in 4 hours. Huh? 4 hours? My family was with me and they had driven the car, so they were able to go home, but i had to sit there in the loading bay while the store closed and the employees went home and then as the manager was prepping to go home, generally the last to leave. Him and couple of others stayed by my side, because they couldn't leave with me sitting there and even the general manager of the store was nice enough to come check me out. I am being sarcastic. This was all embarrassing, but i did learn something.
I was lucky. This happens all the time with uhaul trucks, they said, and one time a family had bought approx 10,000$ worth of furniture and broke down on the highway on a very hot day and had to wait for a mechanic to come, same time frame, and then wait for a new truck because the old was beyond instant repair. Finally, the uhaul man comes to fix it. At least they were right in the time frame it would take... About 4 hours. He looked at the truck. There were several things wrong with, but the one that stuck out in my head was the corroded battery cables, the major reason why the truck wouldn't start. Luckily he was able to fix it.
I was then able to say goodbye to all my new friends and continue on with my life after the hour repair time. I got back to my apartment, but do to night noise policy, i was unable to do any loading. I was done for the night and 6 hours behind schedule and still under pressure to return the bum truck so they could send it back out on a oneway trip. Morning comes and i get packed. I go to the new apartment and unload the truck.
Get ready to go get the second load and, again, the truck won't start. Again i am lucky, because it seems last night was after hours, which is why it took so long. Today is only an hour and a half. Not so bad. The people that the truck was blocking in only had to wait that long for uhaul to own up to its responsibilities. During that wait time, i was calling the company and store and couldn't get any satisfaction. I, obviously didn't feel like i owed them a dime. But, they said since the truck was in my possession, functional or not, then i was still obligated to pay the rental and put gas in it. Oh yeah, return it on time.
Eventually i was given a small consession, but small, like the dolly would be free. I have vowed to never use uhaul again. If they just checked the truck mechanically before they sent it out, then there wouldn't have been any problem. Corroded battery cables would have been found. The whole time i kept thinking that they were going to send this truck for someone to drive on the road and they could've gotten stuck at any time on their trip. The store i rented from thought the whole thing was just ridiculous for me to want the problem resolved and poor service compensated.
At one time they had me ready to throw blows because one of them actually laughed at my situation. All this for truck that i shouldn't have had to begin with, but the reservation was made properly. If you get anything from this story, at least make sure that the truck you are renting has been checked mechanically or do an engine inspection yourself and call to confirm reservations. At that time, uhaul had 3 different screens they had to go in and enter information to complete a reservation. That is what i was told, anyway.
Oh yeah, i forgot to mention that an important safety feature of the truck, driver side mirror, was stripped and wouldn't stay in place. A nice little fact to find out on the highway.
Steven
tacoma, Washington
U.S.A.
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