U-Haul ripoff I guess I'm the lucky one! Nationwide
After reading some of the mail by the other victims of U-Haul on your site I consider myself lucky! I had no troubles with reservations. I saw the truck on the lot, asked to rent it,put it on the plastic card and drove away to load up. Thirty miles down the road the rear-view mirror starts flapping in the breeze so I figure this will give me an opportunity to check why the oil and temp. light had come on a few miles back. After I buy a bungy cord to hold on the mirror I notice the puddle of fuel under the truck. Being a mechanic I pop the hood and locate the problem and relate my woes to the U-Haul hotline with the same results as most of the other letters i've read on this site.
They direct me to a mechanic thirty more clicks down the road. I can see this as a circle-jerk in progress and a waste of my time and some diesel dollars. I arrive at my destination in the Chicago area and try the hotline again. I get my confirmation number but alas, their solution is still a waste of my time. Can you believe that in a city this size the nearest U-haul service person is again, thirty miles away?
So the nieve and trusting soul that I am, I explain to Cindy that I'm a mechanic and she gives me permission to repair the truck myself with the promise of re-embursement, and the all important confirmation number! So I probably saved this company a couple hundred dollars in parts and service-calls, not to mention the the extra fuel I had to pay for to top off the tank at the return point. So I give the dealer the old parts that I replaced and wonder if he would be charging me a late fee if I hadn't worked overtime repairing and unloading the truck, but all's well, Cindy said I'll be re-embursed for my trouble.
It's been a couple weeks since the start of this fiasco, and I'm still waiting, but they should be coming in the mail any day now. Can anyone out there use a couple of twenty dollar coupons toward the purchase of "serice" at U-Hell
George
d.g., Illinois
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Alison
Hawley,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Don't lump us all together
#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, September 22, 2003
This is in response to Wayne's remarks.
Please do not lump all us independent dealers into one group. Yes there are those dealers that are just in it for the $$$$$. As an employee of an independet dealer I have dealt with the ones like that.
But there are plenty of us not like that. We check all trucks coming in. If there are any problems & the repair shop cannot come to fix them (they are 2 hours from us) we have another delear who does uhaul repairs 10 minutes from us & another mechanic 2 miles from us who handle major repairs.
I take offense to the fact that you lump us all together. And to be honest 99% of the complaints we receive are for bad customer service from centers. NOT independent dealers. I go out of my way for every customer. Reason being they are potential customers for our primary business.
With Georges problem. I can tell you that it may take up to 3 months to receive your $$$ back. I know from the dealer that does repairs by us that she sometimes does not receive her $$$ until about 6 months after submitting a bill to corp. office. You should have been taken care quickly & not left to do the repairs yourself.
Wayne
Virginia Beach,Virginia,
U.S.A.
do-it-yourself fixes??
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, September 22, 2003
George, it sounds like your experience left a re-a-l bad taste in your mouth, and I don't blame you! But, I'd like to insert a comment or two, and make some suggestions.
As a former general manager for this company, I quite often encountered problems with trucks already on-the-road and enroute to their destination. Customers were in a panic, desperate for help or assistance, stranded, out of funds...what to do??? For starters, although I may get a lot of flak for this comment--don't ever rent a truck from an independent dealer, whether U-Haul affiliated, or some other nationwide dealer. Quite simply, their motivation is NOT customer service, nor are they too interested in 'customer service' issues. They just want your money, and to get you In The Door, and Out Of The Door; they are not inclined to pursue mechanical fix-its, repairs, or upgrades. Heck, they're running a business, and this truck-rental thing is just something they do on the side; it's not their primary business.
But at (most) company rental centers, the general manager has a vested interest in ensuring that the vehicles he puts on the road are clean, well-maintained, and comfortable. In most cases, the manager has the resources to aggressively pursue any customer service issues right on the spot! And that doesn't include giving you a bunch of 'let's buy off this guy with some free coupons' kind of nonsense! It DOES mean that you can expect prompt, professional, aggressive concern for you, your investment in the company's product, and your time and needs. Do not, ever, go to an independent dealer. I don't care how much this company, or any rental company, claims how good its dealer network is. Truth is, they're not, and I'm sorry you had such a negative experience. I would (if it's not too late) suggest you pursue a more realistic consideration for the problems you encountered, rather than just a bunch of little green coupons!
Good luck, and don't write off the company because of one bad apple! There are some great managers, and some solid, professionally run stores out there nationwide.