I have used U-Haul in the past and have always known them to be a reputable company. When it was time for my next move I didn't hestiate to choose U-Haul over their competitors. I set up a reservation online and received an instant auto-reply assuring me I would get a response from a local place by 5 pm the next day. I happily went to work at my call center senior customer service job the next day. I do not have access to call out except on breaks and then I have to step out of the building to use my cell for security purposes, but I regularly stepped out and tried to keep track of things. There was no call.By the time I got home the local Customer Service Line that handles arranging local rentals was closed.
On Saturday, a bit concerned as I knew I had to be out of my apartment by midnight on Sunday, I took an unplanned break for 15 minutes (for which my boss let me hear it) and called to arrange a truck. I figured, hey, they're busy, I understand. I was offered a truck, but out of my city which I also figured was my fault since it was a late rental. I was happy, I had a truck I was going to pick up that night, even an evening early rather than first thing in the morning!
Then there was a problem. The phones were crazy and I had to stay until 7 pm and could not pick up the truck, so I called the local place. The woman said "oh, you cancelled that truck." This confused me as I had been on the phone with customers for the last 4 hours. I told her there must be some mistake. She said they had rented out the truck already, very quietly and sheepishly sounding as if she knew it was a bad situation. I insisted I had not called. She told me a woman had called in "by that name" and cancelled the reservation. I asked when. She vaguely said "a couple hours ago." She said "maybe I can fit you in tomorrow." I informed her I would check with my sister—maybe she had done something I wasn't aware of, though I couldn't figure out why she would. I said, but there is a 50.00 cancellation fee, thinking my sister would not do something so ridiculous as to cancel a truck we needed at 50.00 and then rent another one. She said she had informed this woman of the fee and she had said it was fine. Confused, I got off the phone and called my sister, who was not available as she was running things over to the new apartment and doesn't have a cell phone. I left a frantic message asking her to tell me what was happening and I'd check my cell when I got off work. This was at 4:30.
When I got home at 7:30 I had 2 frantic returned calls from my sister on my cell telling me that she had NOT cancelled the rental and had no idea what was happening, and yes we NEEDED THAT TRUCK. She went to the closest U-Haul and asked what was going on. After my sister pushed for details, the representative (who was the only helpful one this whole scenario) told her that it said in the system that the U-Haul facility had cancelled the rental and written in there "customer not informed!" I was stunned. They then told us to FAX MY CREDIT CARD INFO to a random fax number at some central facility to get ANOTHER reservation. This sounded so unprofessional and insecure, there was no way I was going to fax my personal information to a random fax number. We were given NO customer service number. So we called whoever we could find. Who could we find? Customer service in ARIZONA. No one was around to help in my local area on the EAST COAST.
When I finally got general customer service I spent 1 HOUR on the phone. I started with the reservation department, who told me they could not help me "with this bad situation, " which was the only recognition I ever got about this situation. I figured, ok, it will get better, this will get escalated, it's a major company, I'll be taken care of. As a customer service representative I tried to be as patient and understanding as possible. Then I was connected to a contact person, who from what I understood took information and directed people wherever they needed to go, which was odd to me and I couldn't understand why they couldn't direct connect me, but I thought, hey every company does things differently. I explained the situation. The representative expressed NO empathy, or even sympathy. It was like talking to a computer. She hardly spoke to me. The only response I got was when I expressed dismay at the potential damage to the U-Haul image and how if it were the company I work for I would be so embarassed and distressed. She said "oooooh." Then she connected me to ANOTHER representative and assured me that I would be taken care off.
By this point I had checked my credit card and found that I had been charged the 50.00 cancellation fee, when I hadn't cancelled it! I explained the situation to the representative.By this point I was in tears I was so upset. I needed a truck. I'd been lied to and the situation blamed on me and my familiy. I'd been charged a cancellation fee for something I hadn't cancelled. I was asking for SOMEONE to hear me and help me. I didn't get it. I was treated as if this situation was just a minor inconvenience and that I wasn't in tears. And at the end of all of this where did I end up? After being disconnected in the transfer and having to call back to get connected again, I was back at reservations. Yes, I had to make a new reservation. Was I guaranteed a truck? No. Was a guaranteed a refund? No.
And what did U-Haul's senior customer service tell me at the end of all of this?"I'll contact the location and let them know you didn't appreciate the inconvenience."
I am SHOCKED. I have never heard of such kind of behavior in a company, to not only cancel my reservation, which I would not have known if I had not contacted them, but to have it then blamed on me and my family and charged a cancellation fee, lied straight to, and then acting like if they made another appointment for 9 am the next morning they would be doing me a big favor since I cancelled in the first place. And to top it off, the central customer service was unsympathetic and disorganized. This kind of business behavior is unacceptable. I cannot help but feel that someone walked into this company with a pocket of cash and rented the truck and then they just lied to me, because what else could they do? And U-Haul central customer service is completely unhelpful. I could have called my bank and filed a claim against the company and gotten more assistance.
How could this situation have been worse? It could have been, believe it or not. If I hadn't called this afternoon and had instead showed up and ended up with no truck, a 50.00 fee, a charge from my landlord for not being out on time, oh yes and at least 1 hour on the phone being told nothing can be done for me and being treated like just a problem they don't want to deal with. I have my bad days as a customer service representative, but I never let my customers know it, and no matter how exhausting it is to deal with difficult situations, it is my job.
And where do we stand for tomorrow? We were given the area 800 number and told "someone would call me by 10 am" since they are "still renting out for that day" as if I am so lucky. I couldn't help but point out to the representative "but how can I believe this will be taken care of when I was promised that I would receive a call at 5 and never did, and promised I would have a truck, and didn't." Unfortunately, he had no answer. At least the reservation representative sounded like he cared—after 1 hour with the other 4 representatives I'd talked to, I was shocked.
If I had once been told "I'm so sorry Ma'am, I am appalled this happened to you, we'll make sure you're taken care of and definately address the behavior of that location" this post would not be on here.
Laura
Providence, Rhode Island
U.S.A.
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