July 8 I reserve a pickup truck for July 9th online. My reservation is confirmed. The office here in altadena calls me to confirm.
July 9, I arrive on time for my rental. The clerk who is working with me (name witheld) begins the contract. I tell him I prefer to pay in cash. He explains I will need to put down 100.00 deposit.
Halfway through the contract, the manager of the store tells him that since I am renting a pickup or van, I MUST use a credit card. So we start over. I give him the credit card and a preauthorization of 91.43 is put against my card. I explain that I am STILL paying in cash when I am done, and he says no problem. I want the damage waiver and need to rent an appliance dolly. All no problem.
I take delivery of the truck. On prerental inspection, I do the walk around and the clerk CIRCLES the gas gauge where I verify the gas level and initial. This is all old hat for me (I have rented from Uhaul 4 times in the last 2 years). He marks down 1/4 tank of gas. I say no... Look again... Its 1/8th. He agrees and has ME mark 1/8 and initial. As I am driving away, I notice the odometer - 56 miles on the truck. Why do I notice it? Because its a new truck and it somehow didnt arrive with more than 1/8th tank of gas? I thought that was odd.
I complete my work - I drove EXACTLY 9.6 miles. I know I need to put gas in it. On the way back to Uhaul, I put in 6.00 worth of gas. As I am filling up (yes, it goes fast) I notice on my contract, computer printed, that the OUT mileage was 29 miles. THis was NOT the case. I realize that i never checked the out mileage. I was never told to. This was all part of UHAULS job. Already I am girding for a fight.
Sure enough, when I come back to the store, they ring me up for 36 miles.
I told him that the out mileage was wrong and I was never told to check it. He said that wasnt his problem. I explained to him exactly where I drove and showed him my gas receipt. He agreed there was more gas in it coming back than when I left but then he said "Well, we dont know that you put more gas in and we dont really know where you drove". At this point I just said "Manager please".
The manager explained to me that obviously it was somehow MY mistake that I didnt check the odometer even though I showed her that NO WHERE on the paperwork was I to verify the odometer - only the gas gauge (reminding her that the gas gauge is circled, not the out mileage). I then explain to her that I was not going to pay for someone elses mileage. I also stated that it seems that perhaps someone was either forgetting to login the IN mileage after a rental or...
That she was letting people drive it for free and that I wondered how many other mileage discrepancies there were.
This got her attention and I only paid for 10 miles.
NOWHERE in the paperwork does it tell you "Check your odometer reading because we let our friends use these trucks for free and dont login the miles"
Alas, the store doesnt end there. 2 days later, the 91.43 preauth is still on my bank account. The bank tells me to call the store. The store tells me to call the 800 number. The 800 number tells me "That is the policy" and "Transferring you to a customer service rep" only to get cut off. Finally a woman at uhaul tells me the credit card only policy for pickups and vans is nothing she has ever heard of and is going to try and call my bank to fix this... That was an HOUR ago.
When I rent a CAR, the preauth for ONE DOLLAR disappears the moment i bring the car back. UHaul tells me 3-5 business days. This is a SCAM. UHaul is clearly using float and BS numbers to inflate their own bottom line. I have, until the money is released, paid TRIPLE. The rental was 39.99 altogehter an additional 91.43. I am being forced to LOAN money to Uhaul. My bank said the hold WAS EXTENDED for at least 3 days. With the 3rd day being saturday, it would be until monday when I get my money back.
Before some of you mouth breathers talk about the central banking system and money clearing houses, let me remind you of something - WHen I make a large deposit to my bank account, they could hold it for 3-5 days. I can call EVERY DAY to check on it... The moment the money clears, the hold is OFF.
Well in this case, my deal with UHAUL IS OVER. My contract is complete. I HAVE PAID MY BILL IN FULL and completed my end of the bargain, yet uhaul seems to think its ok to keep my money for another 3-5 business days.
Puckmonkey
Altadena, California
U.S.A.
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