I recently rented a truck from U-Haul. On approximately March 29 I made an online reservation (#reference number 29357541) for a 17 foot truck and auto transport to be picked up on 4/3 at 925 Niagara Falls Boulevard Amherst, NY 14226.in retrospect I wish I had never rented any equipment from your company.
The following will explain why. The first problem I had was when the general manager of the facility (Terry Sahr) neglected to place the utility dolly in the back of the truck prior to my taking possesion of the truck.
Only after I had opened the loading door to the truck to begin loading the vehicle did I notice that the dolly was not in the truck. This required me to return to the facility to acquire the dolly whose rental I had already paid for. This act by your manager wasted not only valuable time but gas as well. He did hand write on my receipt an adjustment for the mileage but this failed to save me problems in the near future which I will comment on shortly.
Also, when I rented the dolly there was a promotion in which I could rent the dolly and furniture pads for a combined cost of $10.instead, Mr. Sahr charged me $10 for the utility dolly and $5 for the furniture pads. I also noticed this promotion at the facility in Baltimore MD also.
However, my chief complaint regarding the rental of the equipment is that upon the return of the equipment I was charged $100.09. Upon calling the regional manager in Baltimore, MD, "Mr. Wallace", at 410 325 1550 to inquire what these charges were for I was told by Mr. Wallace that there was a $29 refueling fee and a $25 cleaning fee.
When I attempted to explain that these charges must be in error Mr. Wallace was very rude and disconnected the line from me! For that reason alone I want a complaint filed against this person and I want the complain placed in his personnel record.
He is partly to blame for the feeling of disgust I have in this entire experience with U-Haul. As for these charges: the truck was returned in a clean condition. I was and am fully aware that doing otherwise would cause me to be charged a $25 cleaning fee. The only thing that was possibly left in the truck were 5 furniture pads and that is because I was under the impression that the $5 fee I pad for these pads was a rental fee. If it was, in fact, a purchase fee then these pads are my property and I want them returned.
Now! Also, I will remind you that I was already overcharged for these pads since, in effect, the fee should have been $10 for BOTH the dolly and the pads. Furthermore, it was necessary for me to call your customer service line in order to get the exact breakdown of the $100.09 charge since Mr. Wallace had hung up on me before it was possible for me to do so.
I also mentioned that I was charged $29 as a refueling fee. I was told that this was because I brought the fuel level to just below the level I picked up the truck (which was the 3/4 tank mark). Keep in mind that it was necessary for me to refuel the truck approximately 3 times during the period of the rental due to length of travel from Buffalo, NY to Baltimore, MD. The last time I refueled the vehicle the gas station pump stopped refueling automatically, indicating to me that the gas tank in the truck was full.
I did notice that the trucks fuel gauge indicated less than full upon re-entering the vehicle but I surmised that it must be that the guage was not reading correctly. Furthermore, having said that: why would I risk a refueling charge when it was obvious I had refueled the vehicle at least once? I did not want to risk overfilling the vehicle and cause a fire hazard by forcing more gas into the tank. Since the gas station pump stopped pumping automatically it indicated to me that the gas tank in the truck was full. Do you know how furious I am?
Here's what I'd like to see happen: U-Haul has overcharged me $100.09 in extra fees that should never have been placed. Furthermore, the furniture pads and furniture dolly fee was overcharged to me by $5 and the furniture pads should be in my possession since I did buy them. Also, U-Haul caused me to incur an additional $29.75 fee in overdraft charges from my bank because U-Haul charged these fees to my bank account as I was in the process of closing my account. (I used up the funds in the account, bringing it to a lower balance than the $109.09 that U-Haul charged me, in order to be able to close the account since I was switching banks since I was moving to another city).
To put it bluntly, I want each of these fees refunded to me immediately. Also, I want the furniture pads delivered to me, at U-Hauls expense. I am not willing to pick up the pads at a U-Haul facility because I no longer have a car. U-Haul has been a disappointment to me every time I have rented equipment from them. I rented a 28 foot truck from U-Haul when I moved from Syracuse, NY to Buffalo, NY several years ago. At that time, just as I was about to begin the drive to Buffalo with the truck full the engine lost its' coolant. After the mechanic showed up I finally pulled into Buffalo after 11 pm the night before I was to begin DENTAL school at SUNY Buffalo at 8 am. That is another unpleasant experience I will NEVER forget with U-Haul. Furthermore, a customer service manager has sent me $30 in U-Haul VIP Certificates for the troubles I have received on the most recent rental. I know that you will surmise that unless satisfaction is made regarding this rental you will have lost a customer for life. These certificates are worthless to me. You may as well provide me an address to return these to as I do not intend to use them.
Also, I refuse to give them to anyone else because, unless I am refunded the funds rightfully due to me, I will actively recommend that people go to your competitors such as Ryder or Budget. I will also explain to people that it ay appear that U-Hauls rate quotes may appear to be cheaper, but they have an unwritten policy to sneak in additional fees wherever possible and it will be more expensive to use U-Haul in the long run. This complaint will be duplicated on several consumer websites such as The Better Business Bureau (http://www.bbb.org/, complaint (http://usacomplaints.com/
I'll definitely never rent from you again, and you can be sure I'll steer my friends away from your company.
Please get back to me quickly about this issue. I hope to hear from you within 10 business days.
Scott
Baltimore, Maryland
U.S.A.
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