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UHaul - their 'guaranteed' truck rental was NOT guaranteed. And the free month of strorage is a scam! Phoenix Arizona
I decided it would be easier to just submit a copy of my initial letter to UHaul in Phoenix, AZ. From my understanding, this is where complaints about the company are sent:
July 11, 2013
U-Haul International
ATTN: MANAGEMENT 2727 N. Central Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85004
RE: Reservation number XXXX989
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing regarding our recent experience with UHaul. We have our house up for sale, close to closing. We were told by our realtor to be out of the house by June 27th, so we made arrangements for this to happen.
On June 17, 2013, we originally made a reservation online for three pods from UHaul. We received a phone call to verify the order, the lady was very nice. She suggested we go to a nearby UHaul and look at the pods to make sure they would work. We get to the nearest UHaul only to find that they will not work, as UHaul gives the exterior measurements of the pod on the website, not the interior measurements, in which case the interior measurements cut half a foot off of every side, making it so that our couch won’t even fit into the pod. We had to nix that plan.
We then looked at 20’ trucks and decided that would be enough to fit our house into. We went online on June 18, 2013 to reserve a 20’ truck. Our reservation number for that is 20486989. At this time, we were also offered a month free at a storage facility – a list of storage facilities was below this offer, so we were under the assumption that we should pick from those facilities. NOWHERE in the offer does it state it has to be a UHaul facility or any other specifics making us not think that we shouldn’t pick from those storage facilities listed on UHAUL’s website at the time of the offer – more on that later in this letter.
Back to the truck rental. On June 19, 2013, we received an email stating someone would be contacting us on the day of the reservation. This made us nervous as we wanted to get this paid ahead of time so that we would be all ready to go on the day we were to get our truck (June 23, 2013). It also told us to call to set up arrangements. We had tried calling several times over the next couple of days and every time we did, we were told that the reservation was there, but they couldn’t take payment. We didn’t understand why at the time.
June 21, 2013: we receive an email stating that our 20’ truck reservation is ready to be scheduled. We were told via the email to simply log into our account at myuhaul.com and select our pickup location and time (something we had already specified when we made the initial reservation). We confirmed this information but still were unable to pay for our truck – we were told that we pay when we pick the truck up. According to your email on this day, UHaul states to go online so that we can save time; and guarantee our equipment will be ready – when and where we need it. This is far from the truth of our experience. We were offered express pay through the website, but told that we had to pay when we picked up the truck. This didn’t make any sense.
June 23, 2013: 9:19am – we received a voicemail from Shelby at UHAUL stating “…the closest truck we have available for today will be at 2110 East Locust St at Dollar Rental Car in Omaha, NE. I will go ahead and set that as your pickup location. If you have any other questions, give us a call back”. This wasn’t even our pickup location specified in our reservation, so this had us very confused. It didn’t make sense to us, but we could work with it – until we find out they are not even open on Sundays.
June 23, 2013: 9:41am – we receive a text at our phone number (402) 320.9191 as follows: “Hi we have a UHAUL ready for you today. What time do you want to pick up?” – we were not even aware if we were to reply to this or not. A copy of the screenshot is below (screenshot #1).
Screenshot #1: Screenshot #2:
June 23, 2013: 10:45am - we received another text at the same phone number: “You UHAUL res 20486989 is scheduled at 2110 E Locust St in Omaha at 12:00pm on 6/23/10. Call 402 558 1012 to confirm.” A copy of the screenshot is above (screenshot #2). We call that number and are forwarded to another number, only to be advised after 15 minutes that the place where we are to pick up a truck is CLOSED!
June 23, 2013: 10:46am – we received and email at our email address: “Dear GINAE SMITH, We have a 20' Moving Van and Furniture Pads reserved for you and guaranteed today 6/23/2013 at 12:00 PM. We are located at 2110 E LOCUST ST, OMAHA, NE 68110, and our phone number is (402) 558-1012. If this does not work for you, please call us or reply at . Sincerely, DOLLAR RENT A CAR 2110 E LOCUST ST OMAHA, NE 68110 (402) 558-1012 “. A copy of this email is below (screenshot #3).
Screenshot #3:
That is the same information we received in our text (above). The exact same number and place we attempted to call just a minute earlier and were forwarded to the UHAUL 800 number because the place is closed. Let the headache begin.
We attempt to call the 800 UHAUL number for help, only to be helped by some snotty woman with a horrible attitude. We inquired into the truck rental, explaining we received the messages – all of them guaranteeing a truck at noon, but the place was closed. She said she didn’t know – she just knows that she doesn’t have any trucks available. She then said that there would possibly be a truck in Lincoln at 4:30pm – Lincoln is an hour away from Omaha – we were NOT going to drive that far to pick up a truck and waste all of that gas. Let alone the fact that the truck ‘may or may not be there’ – we cannot go on a whim. By the time we would get there anyhow, the place would have been closed. This was simply not an option. We asked to speak to her supervisor and she would not let us. She told us that no one was available and we could call back at 9am Monday morning. This does no good – we had a truck reserved for the 23rd – emails, texts, and voicemails guaranteeing a pickup at noon. She hung up on us. What kind of customer service is that?
We called the number back again and we spoke to someone who was actually nice and helpful, we believe her name was Shelby, and now that we think about it, she was the one who called and left a voicemail on my phone earlier in the day. We explained the situation to her again. She tried to give us the number to the place where the truck supposedly was, we told her we had called that already and the place was closed. She was confused. We again asked to speak to a supervisor, this time actually having our request honored, or so we thought. We spoke to someone named Josh, he told me he was the supervisor on duty – we once again explained the situation. He said he didn’t know how that happened and said he was putting us on hold to try to figure something out. He came back on after a minute or two stating he had to look further into this and asked to put us on hold again. We sat on hold for nearly 20 minutes waiting for him to come back on the line –then the line disconnects. Dead. Nothing.
Again, we called the UHAUL number back. No one could find Josh. Apparently he does not exist, although we were just talking to him 20 minutes earlier. We again explained the situation to the gal that answered – she told us that no manager at that office could help in regards to what we needed help with. She gave us a regional number to call, stating to call and ask for a certain lady (we can’t remember her name, but we have it written down somewhere). We hang up and call that number – just to be connected with someone in Massachusetts. He asked how we got the number after we asked for the gal we were told to ask for, only to be told she will be in around 9am on Monday morning. We again explained the situation. He asked what state we were in, and we told him Nebraska. He then stated we needed to talk to someone at another number – once again giving us another phone number to call.
We call the next number we were told to call, and finally, after waiting on hold for 25 minutes before even talking to anyone, we finally get a hold of someone, just to explain ourselves yet again. We are then told that there are no 20’ trucks available in our area, that there might be one available tomorrow. Does UHAUL not understand the concept of a reservation?!? Guarantee us a truck in more than one way, then tell us that there is no truck? How is this right in any manner at all? We reiterated again that we have planned our whole move around this UHAUL truck – this puts us back a day (actually two days due to the weather); we lost our moving help as everyone had to work on Monday the 24th, which in the long run makes things harder on us. Ryan missed an opportunity at a job, another huge negative. She then tells us that there is a 26’ truck available – we told her we planned on gas based on 20’ truck, but she told us that was all there is – that we could use that for the price of the 20’ and she would take $50 off and that we could take offer that or cancel the reservation all together. So what choice do we have when we plan our move around the truck?!? It left us no option.
We finally got the truck around 3:00pm on June 23, 2013 after having to drive across town to pick it up. We don’t understand the point of asking of a preferred pickup place if this is going to happen. We then receive a text at 4:16pm stating that our truck is ready for pickup at 8920 Maple Street (after we already have the truck at home) – seems a bit strange and delayed to me (see Screenshot #2 above).
Now onto the other issue – the storage facility.
When we made the truck reservation on June 18, 2013, the UHAUL website offered us a month of free storage. It did NOT specify that it had to be at a UHAUL owned or a UHAUL dropoff location. Nothing on the UHUAL site told us that we could not get a month free if we chose from any of the storage facilities listed on the UHAUL website below the offer of the free month. We chose a place from a list of storage places given to us on the UHAUL website which were listed on the screen when the offer was made to us – and, from the look of it, they were the ones we had to choose from.
Fast forward to June 27, 2013. We arrive at the storage location that we chose (AAA Storage Inner Loop, LP) and gave the lady in the office the reservation information. She asked for payment. We explained the situation about the free month offer – she stated her company uses the UHAUL software, but they do not participate in any free month offer.
We immediately called the UHAUL phone number and, yet again, explained the situation. The gal on the phone proceeds to tell us that we have to rent at a UHAUL owned facility to get the month free – we told her that that was not advised when we made the reservation – she just said she didn’t know and that’s what she can tell us. We asked what they had available around where we were at and she tells me a 5x5x8 unit. We laughed and hung up. That’s a closet. We have a 26’ truck – 20’ filled up to move our household belongings. Our belongings wouldn’t even come close to fitting into a unit of that size. We called around to check on other storage units, but the place we were at was the only one with space available and close by (we did not have the gas or mileage or time to be driving around to hunt down a storage facility at the last minute). We were stuck. We rented, much to our discontent. We were very much misled by UHAUL about getting the month free, and it put another crunch in our budget.
We do not feel as though UHAUL understands the extent of this horrible experience. The hardships it has caused. The headaches. The frustration. No one should ever have to go through what we went through with our UHAUL reservation. It was a nightmare. A pure nightmare.
Let us reiterate that we had everything in order on our end, based on the guaranteed reservation from UHAUL. We had help with moving furniture on June 23rd; however, we ended up getting the truck so late that we lost that help. We wanted to get loaded up on the 23rd as we knew it was to rain on the 24th; which it did, which delayed us even more. Ryan was to start a job on the 26th, that did not happen because we couldn’t get the truck packed in time to get out of town in time – thanks to UHAUL.
UHAUL royally screwed up our move. It’s been a pain since the start and we honestly cannot believe a business is still in business after our experience. We happened to run into a gentleman at UHAUL when we dropped the truck off in Round Rock – and from what we hear from him, UHAUL does this all of the time. This seems to be a very common experience – even sending decoys in to check on managers to see what they tell customers when they show up and a truck is not ready as it was guaranteed? Sneaky UHUAL, very sneaky. And wrong.
When offering a review of UHAUL, UHAUL should also offer a review of the customer service people at their 800 number – the service we received, for the most part, was downright awful. The person at the counter at the pickup location off of 89th & Maple in Omaha was very nice, understanding, and definitely sympathetic when we told him what happened prior to us finally getting a truck. However, he can do nothing to help us out. He just rented the truck. Our problem lies with UHAUL’s overall handling of the overall reservation (both truck and storage) – from start to finish.
We are writing to request a discount off of our rental for our hassle with everything – from start to finish. It was an absolute nightmare. We were offered $50 off when we were told we take the 26’ truck or cancel the reservation – that is a smack in the face after what we have experienced – and that was before we found out about the non-existent free month of storage once we arrived to where we were going. That $50 discount didn’t even get applied to our bill – another smack in the face, another lie.
We are writing to request a full refund of the price of our truck rental ($946.96). We will not ask for reimbursement of the cost of gas, but we do want reimbursement of the cost of the supposed ‘guaranteed’ truck rental that was truly not guaranteed. That was misleading. It was an absolute nightmare. We cannot emphasize this enough. We are not simply just two people moving our belongings to another state. We have four children that are also impacted by what is going on. The problems, lies, etc that we have had wrecked havoc on us. It put a big damper into moving plans. Our thought is that a guarantee is a promise. One shouldn’t guarantee something if they will not have it when and where they say they will. UHAUL broke its promise. We suffered losses on not only time and money but Ryan lost out on an opportunity in another state for work. We have suffered from headaches, anxiety, - we could go on. IT WAS A PURE AND TOTAL NIGHTMARE WORKING WITH UHAUL AND THIS ‘RESERVATION’. We want reimbursement for the disruption, problems, lies, etc.
We are also writing to request a refund of one month of storage fees at our storage location ($124.00). As described above, UHAUL made it look like those were the acceptable locations at which we would receive a month’s rent free. It was misleading and nothing can be done at the last minute when we get to the unit and things are not as they were to be.
We look forward to hearing from someone immediately.
Thank you for listening to extremely frustrated customers.
With all due respect,
***********************************
I received an automated email from them offering $75 towards use of their services. They don't seem to understand that we will NEVER use UHaul again. I want our money back. This is a complete joke of a company!!
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Logical_Thinker
Wisconsin,There's always two sides...
#4General Comment
Tue, September 24, 2013
This is the email you received.
EMAIL SENT TO CUSTOMER 06/19/2013: Customer Name: ginae smith Pickup Date: 6/23/2013 From: OMAHA, NE To: ROUND ROCK, TX Someone from U-Haul will call your on the day of your reservation. Equipment is in high demand for your move date and we are asking for your patience as we work to fill your reservation with equipment that is arriving into the area on the same day as your reservation. Please be advised that you may have to travel to pick up your equipment, but if you work with us, we will get you moved. In order to serve you better, please email us or call 1-800-553-3377, and let us know how many miles you will be willing to travel to pick up equipment in your preferred area. The more flexible you are, the faster you can be served. Thank you, UHC OF NEBRASKA Regional Traffic Office
That points out you knew it was a possibility you would have to travel.
The fact the location was closed it definitely a mistake on U-Haul's part. No doubt about it. However they were trying to help you:
06/23/2013: customer called in wanting to know where she could pick truck up...only location with availability is closed...called MCO to see if anything could be done for her...customer hung up before I could get through with MCO
Then there is this:
06/23/2013: cust called in and was sent to location that was not open. looked around and found jh [26' truck] @ 4:30. Cust hung up on me. Then wife calls back and I offered the $50 res guarantee, told we will call when something drops off or the truck in lincoln. Cust started name calling in the back ground, and put the husband on the phone. Refused jh, hung up.
It doesn't appear that your side is as innocent as you make it seem. Also, like the other user said, you used the truck; you don't deserve a discount of any type, especially because you already got one by receiving a bigger truck at the price of the smaller one after REFUSING to take it initially.
The voucher for the storage coupon has an asterisk (*) where it says "Get your first month free!" on the website. Scrolling down to read the disclaimer it clearly states: "At U-Haul and participating Affiliate locations". That's pretty simple to understand. It's only good at U-Haul storages, and the affiliates do not have to honor it at their discretion. Just because a business rents the trucks does not mean they are a U-Haul center.
I'm sorry that everything was so inconvenient for you, but it seems to me like you brought it on yourself. They had a truck for you to fix the one and only problem they caused and you refused it. Granted you ended up using it anyway, it is not their fault that you we're running behind. That is your fault, and yours alone. I wouldn't recommend you to use U-Haul again solely based on the fact you are completely oblivious to how the business works.
Ginae
Omaha,Nebraska,
No credit given to your 'reply'
#4Author of original report
Fri, September 13, 2013
It’s difficult to give any credit to your reply not only due to your lack of spelling and grammar skills, but also due to the name calling. To personally attack me in the matter that you did is immature and uncalled for. This is a site to voice experiences – both good and bad. The ‘mix up on their part’ just so happened to completely screw up our scheduled move. There is not one bit of our experience with UHaul that was pleasant. If you are too ignorant to not see that and to not understand the frustration, headaches and stress of what we went through, so be it. Get off your high horse that you think you are on. People like you are what cause problems in this world because you think that your s**t doesn’t stink and you want to try to cause a rise out of someone because you have nothing better to do. We went through the experience with UHaul and it was hell. I am making others aware of our situation so that they can have fair warning. It was a nightmare. And we are not the only people to go through this with UHaul. After voicing our issues, I see the same issues with others in every part of the country. And yes, a reimbursement of some sort is very much warranted with the problems that we had.
Please, explain what ‘assumptions’ are being made on my part? The ‘assumption’ that the truck they guaranteed will be ready because they say it is ready at a certain time and place? Anyone in their right mind would ‘assume’ their truck is ready and waiting after a phone call, voicemail, and several texts and emails confirming the ‘guaranteed’ reservation for a certain time on a certain date at a certain place.
‘In the grand scheme of life this was nothing’ – to you, perhaps; but to us, it is a huge issue which wrecked nothing but havoc on our move.
Again, yes, I am asking for a refund of some sort. Sure, all of it would be swell. Do I expect all of it refunded? No. Do I expect them to do better than a $75 certificate to use their goods/services again? Yes, I do. No one in their right mind would use a good/service from a company again if they went through hell with that company! Either way, who are you to say that I do or do not deserve a refund? It’s not your place to make that statement.
Please also explain what responsibility there was on our part? What did I miss? What does our responsibility entail here? I do not see how any of this was our fault at all.
Point in fact, a reservation is a reservation. And Uhaul guaranteed (UHaul wording, not mine) that reservation by noon on the day we reserved it. Do you know the definition of ‘guarantee’? Several definitions of ‘guarantee’ are as follows: “a usually written promise: such as (a): a promise that the quality of something (such as a product that is being sold) will be as good as expected;(b): a promise that something is true or real; a promise that something will happen or be done; an assurance for the fulfillment of a condition.” UHaul did not adhere to its guarantee of having a truck for us at the time/place that they themselves guaranteed through numerous calls, voicemails, texts, and emails. The place UHAUL ‘guaranteed’ the truck was at was not even open that day! UHaul did not keep to their guarantee and they caused a huge stressful mess of our move. So, please, tell me how any of this my fault? What responsibility is one to take from my end in a situation like this? Please explain as I am not sure what else I could have done.
And, please, do not play the drama card. The only ones who mention drama are the ones that are all about it. There is no drama here other than what you are trying to cause.
I question if you are a UHaul advocate of some sort? This situation has happened to many people, not just us. I see nothing but reports of problems. I am posting our negative experience with UHaul as well. Yes, we do want some reimbursement for our troubles – UHaul caused nothing but problems by not having their ‘guaranteed’ rental available. A guarantee is just that - a formal assurance or promise, esp. that certain conditions shall be fulfilled relating to a product, service, or transaction. Nothing about our ‘guaranteed reservation’ was fulfilled when promised. As well, they should not be offering a free month of storage if they are not behind the offer.
The old saying goes – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it! No one needs your negativity, abuse, name-calling or otherwise. This was our experience – not yours. And our experience was awful. One would think that a company would want people to keep with their business. UHaul apparently does not care. We want others in the world to know our experience so they do not go through what we went through. We will never use UHaul again and I hope others see this and decide to go with a company other than UHaul. I don't see how they can stay in business when they continue to treat customers the way that they do.
Tyg
Pahrump,Nevada,
Sounds more like...
#4General Comment
Thu, September 05, 2013
Sounds more like you are just looking to get money. So there is a mix up on thier part and a s**t ton of assumptions on your part. How does this justify asking for the full rental price of the truck AFTER you have used it. In the grand scheme of life this was nothing. You made a lot of assumptions and you take no responsability for your part in this. Im pretty sure you wont be getting anything back in the way of a refund. Mainly because you want the full value of the truck rental AFTER YOU HAVE USED IT!!! You dont deserve a refund of that level. That level of refund is reserved for situations such as say a uhaul rep slugging you. Not just because your reservation was messed up. And point in fact a reservation is not locked in. Add on to it that uhaul has no control over WHEN a customer brings back a vehicle. This means a reservation is just that. You wanting a specific truck reserved. If the truck isnt available at the time of your reservation then guess what, you have to wait. And thats all this situation was. It may have been aggrivating and frustrating. But dont sit there and post what is in essence BS drama and expect them to give you all your money back. Especially after you have used it for your move. Your own posts state that your cash strapped so anyone reading your post would come to the same conclusion I have. Youre just trying to get some money.
The level of self-entitlment you are displaying in your post is SICKENING!! Youre really a very ill person. YOU DONT DESERVE A REFUND! Get over yourself princess.