I reserved a U-Haul 14" truck from their website for pick up at the Tropicana U-Haul in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, August 26. I reserved the vehicle for 24 hours and picked it up at 9:30am. I, at that time, paid $50.70 for the $19.99 rental rate, $14.00 for the "Safe Mover" insurance, and 15 miles @. 89 per mile, plus applicable taxes.
When I finished with the vehicle on Saturday, August 27, I put $15 in gas in the vehicle and returned it to the location at 8:30am. I was met by "Tony", a female employee who stated that the gas gauge looked fine and that the "gauge doesn't move until it's been driven a while". At that time, she said that there was no damage and everything looked good, so we could leave.
Later that day, I received notice that the St. Petersburg location was attempting to take another $40 off of my debit/credit card. They were attempting to charge me a $19.35 gas fee, along with other charges for mileage and additional taxes. I contacted their customer service department to make a complaint and I was told that a "promissory note" had been done by the location and that I needed to contact U-Haul's Collection Department on Monday, August 29.
On August 29, I contacted U-Haul's Collection Department and stated my complaint. I was assisted by Joseph Consiglio who gave me a file #168619, a refund for the $19.35 gas charge and a $15 credit voucher for future U-Haul services. At this time, I considered the matter closed.
Then, on September 6, I received noticed that U-Haul Phoenix, attempted FOUR (4) charges of $61.93, $46.45, $30.97 and $15.48. The charges were declined and I contacted Joseph Consiglio again via email asking why four fraudulent transactions, for four obscure amounts, were attempted without my authorization? I only received an email showing that my initial email was forwarded to a "Manny". The forwarded email from Joseph stated, "Manny: The caf referred to in this em had to do with fuel charges and there wasn't a conversation as to these other charges. I didn't know where this em should go to, so you're it."
At this time, I have not received any response at all from U-Haul regarding these obscure charge attempts. From what I understand, this is NOT an UNCOMMON practice with U-Haul, as there are hundreds of other customers over the internet that have had very similar problems with them overcharging or attempting to withdraw funds from bank accounts, only putting the customer in a financial hole of overcharges and overdrawn penalty fees. When I pulled up my Rental equipment contract #23311756 from the U-Haul website, it shows that the amount paid to date (9-12) is $63.28. U-Haul has received their money (in full) and is attempting to charge more for services not rendered.
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