My family planned a trip from Orange County CA. to Pocatello ID. I estimated that we would travel 1,800 miles.
I rented a Ford E-350 15 passenger van from United Van Rentals (UVR). Upon driving the vehicle I noticed a slight shake in the steering wheel slowly becoming worse. Additionally when driving at highway speeds the van would swiftly pull to the left - changing lanes within seconds. (I have video footage)
I had called UVR on the afternoon of the 4th of July to express the safety concern of the unsafe vehicle. They did not return my call that day. I called them again the next day to express my concern and the safety of my family.
Within a few hours, a representative (Louis) of the company returned my call. I expressed my safety concerns with the vehicle; I was assured that they would coordinate a local company to do a thorough inspection of the van. The representative offered to call me back as soon as he secured a repair facility to inspect the vehicle.
Several hours had passed, I called UVR to follow up and Louis indicated that he needed his bosss approval before he could authorize anything. He asked me if I knew of any repair facilities in the area. At this time I informed him that in addition to the Van steering wheel shaking and the severe pulling, the inside of the front tires were worn beyond the OEM tire wear indicators, they were nearing bald. I had also reminded Louis that my family of 5 had an 850 mile trip back to California. At this time he had suggested that I take the van somewhere to get it checked out.
There was a BIG O TIRES approximately 3 miles from our hotel, I decided to take the vehicle to the facility located at 731 North 5th Ave. Located in the city of Pocatello. I was greeted by service advisor. I explained the situation and they indicated that he would pull the van into the shop and inspect it.
It was determined that the front tires needed to be replaced immediately, the front and back tires needed to be balanced and the front end alignment was dangerously off. I gave Big O the contact information of UVR and he indicated that he would call UVR to explain the technical details of the needed repairs. I called UVR to inform him that he should expect a call from BIG O TIRES.
At this time the amount of time spend coordinating and waiting has exceeded 5+ hours of our family vacation. The van was pulled out of the shop and the service advisor indicated that they did exactly what UVR allowed.
I asked him what that was and he indicated that they replaced the 2 worn tires, rotated the rear tires to the front and put the new tires on the rear. When asked why they didnt put the new tires on the front he indicated that UVR refused to do the alignment and he didnt want the tires to wear prematurely.
At this time we finally left BIG O TIRES. The following days we had done very little driving, none of which was on a freeway.
On Saturday 07/07 we planned a 30 mile round trip to Lava Hot Springs ID. Immediately upon entering highway speeds I noticed that the Van was still violently pulling to the left, at this point we began videotaping the drivability and safety concerns of the van. I immediately called and left a message with UVR to once again express my concerns and frustrations with the vehicle safety and their unwillingness to keep my family in a safe vehicle.
Furthermore I questioned why they didnt have this safety issue fixed? The UVR representative indicated that his boss (John Germaine) did not approve all the suggested repairs. At this point he couldnt answer these questions and I requested that speak to John Germaine and the representative gave me his contact number (310-720-3720).
I left a message for John, expressing my concerns and frustration. Mr. Germaine left me a message indicating that he was frustrated that I called him, he also mentioned that he wasnt being cavalier with the repairs, however he wasnt going to spend $80 dollars on an alignment that he could have his ASE certified mechanic do for $50 bucks. He went on to say that he has had bad experiences with BIG O TIRES overcharging for repairs, he mentioned that the van was possibily in need of ball joints, not an alignment. Lastly he mentioned that he replaced the tires. (I have saved his voice message)
Since July 7th I have left several messages for Mr. Germaine and he has not returned my calls. I have called the location where I rented the van and they have not returned my calls. I filed a claim with the BBB and expressed my concerns on most social media outlets.
Additionally the company has not released the $350 fuel deposit from my credit card.