Richard G. and Jerri Lynn Boyd

richboyd "at" speednetLLC.com

                                     (c) September 2001

U-HAUL BOYCOTT PAGE

THE TRUTH ABOUT U-HAUL

                Our Experience Moving with U-Haul

Uhaul International, Inc
Edward (Joe) Shoen
2727 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Mr. Shoen,                                                             September 15, 2001

U-Haul really made our move difficult. The last week in July 2001 we reserved a 26 foot diesel moving van for the 1st of September 2001 paying the deposit on that day. Because of the Labor day weekend we wanted to make sure we had the van on that day. U-Haul assured us that there would a van for us on that day. I have a letter of confirmation dated August 2, 2001.

We had to be out of our house on the 1st of Sept 2001, so the new owners could move in.

Well, we didn't get a U-Haul Van on the 1st or the 2nd or the 3rd. It wasn't until about 3:30 PM on the 4th of September that we were able to get the moving van. We phoned all day Friday, 31st August and all day Saturday 1st of September and always the same answer: "We don't have a van available for you, Mr. Boyd". One time one of the people who answered the phone said in anger " well call Ryder  then".

My question was (and still is) why did they promise me a moving van, take my money, and then did not have a Van for me on the first day of September?

Most of our furniture and belongings sat outside the night of the 1st of Sept, and then we were able to put all of our possessions in garages and other buildings for two more days and nights while waiting for a U-Haul van. I have photos of our furniture and other belongings as they sat outside. Thankfully it did not rain that night.

We finally got a Van about 3:30 PM on Wednesday 4th of September and made our move on the 4th and fifth of September, 2001. Incidentally, we were moving to Rogers City, Michigan about 4 1/2 hour drive in the van, which was a gasoline model and cost us twice the amount over diesel.

I had people waiting to load the van whom I was paying by the hour. I had people waiting to Unload the van when we reached our destination. I had to pay them regardless of whether they were working or not.

I have to tell you that this was one of the worst experiences of my life and I would never use U-Haul again!

U-Haul please contact me at your earliest convenience. Our number was 09035863.

Richard G. Boyd
568 W. Friedrich Street
Rogers City, Michigan 49779

Contact me for more information RichBoyd "at" speednetllc.com

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Here is a another Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

===============================================================
From: "Richard G. Boyd"
To: ChoochieFace@aol.com

Anne,

Thank you for you letter. I am really sorry that this has happened to you. Unfortunately, the money grubbers at Uhaul could care less about us. I have come to that conclusion by reading the complaints I receive from my web site. Americans are so upwardly mobile and always moving that Uhaul will never hurt for business. Here is the address of Mr. Shoen at Uhaul.

Uhaul International, Inc
Edward Shoen
2727 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Send your letter "return receipt requested" but I sincerely doubt it will do any good. As long as Mr. Shoen can buy his Mercedes and Cadillacs and maintain his mansion in Arizona, he doesn't care. Keep a copy of the
letter and record every detail for small claims court later.

You will probably need to take Uhaul to small claims court. Check into the small clains court in your area and see what you need to do. I think Uhaul will settle with you before they go to court.

In the meantime I would like to post your letter on the website. Only when we get enough complaints will our government act to put a curb on Uhaul.

Richard G. Boyd

 Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

==================================================================

Subj: U-Haul
Date: 9/15/01 4:53:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: boheme@7cities.net (boheme)
Reply-to: boheme@7cities.net (boheme)
RichBoyd@speednetllc.com

Richard:

My experience was very similar to yours -- I, too, had a "confirmed
reservation" and paid a $100 deposit to U-Haul for a 14' truck the morning of 9/1/01. I received a voice mail at 4:00PM on Friday, August 31, advising me to call the Regional Office about my reservation, and that they'd be in the office until 8:00PM. I didn't get home until 8:30PM, but called at 7:45AM on Saturday (the 1st). At that point, I was told that my pickup location had changed and that I could pick up my truck anytime after they opened at 9:00.

I had asked some friends to help me with the move, and they drove the two hours from their place to mine, arriving around 10:00. We went immediately to the pickup location where there not only was no truck, but the operator claimed to know nothing about the reservation.

He called the Regional Office, who claimed that they had left me a message stating there was no truck available and said the best they could do was to MAYBE have a truck by 4:00 that afternoon (there was apparently only one available truck, and it was out on a local move). We tried calling the national number, and got the same response.

We called the Regional Office a couple of times, trying to get them to do
something about the situation. Their rep actually hung up on my friend one
time, and before that was yelling at him via a speaker phone. The last time
I got on the phone with them, they finally admitted that they hadn't
actually left a message that there was no truck, but that *** I *** should
have called the pickup location before going and that's how I would have
found out. I pointed out that I'd called THEM at 7:45 that morning and
asked why they hadn't told me then there was no truck. They never
could/would give me an answer.

You'll find my most recent posting to the U-Haul message board right below yours ("Should change name to 'Screw-Haul') -- please note that U-Haul purges negative messages on a VERY regular basis. This is apparently the one thing that they're actually good at. They erased my first listing, as well as a very informative post from another woman who experienced the same problems we both have. If you want your message to be widely-seen, you really need to re-post it regularly.

The one good thing I can say about this whole experience is that I did get
my $100 back within a reasonably short period of time. We were also able to rent a truck from Budget that same day, so I was able to get moved on the day I had planned (tho' about three hours later than we'd anticipated). I will never, EVER use U-Haul again, and will strongly discourage others from even trying to use them.

If I can give you any further information, please let me know. (You're also welcome to use this on your webpage or in any other form.)

Kaye

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subj: BoycottUhaul.com - underway.
Date: 9/17/01 12:29:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: mark@sporkstorms.org (Mark Stratman)
To: mark@sporkstorms.org

Hello, and thanks for your time.

While spending yet another eternity on hold trying to resolve the
countless nightmares I've experienced with Uhaul, I was browsing their
site and message boards.

I soon came to realize that I am far from alone in my frustrations.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm currently putting together
BoycottUhaul.com, a place for people with bad Uhaul experiences to post,
discuss, vent their annoyances, and hopefull deter others from making
the mistakes that we have.

The site is nearing completion, but I have yet to get an internet
connection installed (it will be hosted on my servers). I suspect that
things should be up and running within 2-3 weeks.

Anyhow, the main reason I am writing is to ask permission to repost on
my site, your messages from the Uhaul.com message board.

If you have no problem with that, let me know. Even better yet, if you
would like to personally post your story on the site when it becomes
available, let me know and I'll email you when things are operational.

Thanks a lot,
Mark Stratman
mark@sporkstorms.org

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Subject:
Date:
Sat, 24 Aug 2002 20:04:09 -0400
From: "Deborah Rimkunas" <Deborah@cserv.net>
To: RichBoyd@speednetllc.com


Mr, Boyd, Only the names have changed!! My daughter and her family are, ( as I speak) waiting for their RESERVED UHaul truck. They reserved a 26' truck over 2 weeks ago...have people on both ends waiting to 
help, her husband beginning a new job on Monday morning, no beds left set up and the absolute RUDEST people on the phone to deal with at UHaul.What recourse does a person have as the corporate office keeps 
deferring her calls back to these jerks!! She is so upset and I am 4 hours away, not much help to them....better business bureau?

Deb,

>From what I have surmised--- Uhaul's top man Edward Shoen doesn't care. With thousands of American on the move every day, nothing hurts their business. I have written 2 registered letters to him and never heard a word in return.

My suggestion is to keep every piece of paper from Uhaul and take to small claims court to recoup some of the money. Write things down for the court.

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Richard G. Boyd

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

===================================================================

Subject: U-Haul experience
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 20:48:58 EDT
From: ShortErin3@aol.com
To: RichBoyd@speednetllc.com
Mr. Boyd,
I too have recently had a terrible experience with U-Haul. On July 18, I contacted the 800-GO-Uhaul service to reserve a 10-foot truck. I requested a local U-haul dealer approximately 10 minutes away from my house. The evening prior to my truck pickup, I was contacted, via a phone message on my machine, that my pickup was not at a local, nearby U-haul, but a 40 minute drive. I was forced to drive 80 minutes, roundtrip, before I could even start my long day of loading a truck, filled with my belongings, then driving over 2.5 hours north to start unloading 
as well. This was only the beginning of a very unpleasant U-Haul experience. The parking break light indicator never lit, so I was unaware if the emergency break was engaged or disengaged. It started pouring rain, and I later found that the truck LEAKED, damaging my furniture and belongings. One of the worst events was that fact that the windshield wiper blades kept moving off their tracks while in use. Since it rained for quite a while, this made visibility next to impossible, thereby putting myself and other drivers at risk for an accident. I cannot believe that U-Haul allows trucks like this to be on the road. Obviously, U-Haul care more about their money than they do their customers. I did write to Mr. Shoen. I have not heard anything in return. I was wondering if you had 
heard back regarding your experience? Thank you

Erin Griffin

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rich

Thank you for such a quick response. Not what I received from Uhaul to say the least. I went to your website and it was amazing that there were so many complaints for the same things. From what I have read customer service is definitely lacking more than just a little. Our experience was very similar and I would like to share. Feel free to post on your website as well. 

We reserved a 26 foot Uhaul truck a month in advance for our move. Our
confirmation letter was received on August 2, 2002 for our move on August 23, 2002. The morning of August 23, 2002 we were told they
weren't sure they could even have a truck for us that day.  We had several family members that were set to travel from Indianapolis to
Glenview (North of Chicago) to help with this move. Needless to say the day had much added stress that you don't need when making a move
out of state. Everytime I called I sat on the phone for at least 30 minutes!!! and twice I was disconnected and had to start over.
I was literally hung up on the night before and told to call the
1 (888) 758-5358 in the morning after 7:00 am. I did that and was on hold again for 30 minutes and already received the recording that
they were experiencing a high volume of calls and to please be patient.
This was a self move from the military. My son had to put in his
request for leave 30 days in advance. The only thing they offered us was
more milage because we had to drive to a location 50 miles
away and back and an extra day. The extra day did nothing for us because my son still had to report back to Glenview on his original
date of return from leave. I, like you, feel that nobody really cares what
kind of service you receive as long as they eventually get you a
truck. I spoke to Lisa in Corporate Complaints this morning. They only
thing she could offer is a $100.00 gift certificate to use at UHAUL
AGAIN!!!!! Why would I want that?? I will never use Uhaul again and would not recommend it to anyone that I know. I did ask her to have
Scott Ortiz to give me a call so I could share my experience with him. I
am checking today with our local Better Business Bureau to see
how to go about turning in a complaint. I will have to find out the address
for the Chicago Better Business Bureau. Do you know how to
obtain there address?

I, like you, feel that the only way to get this out to the public is on
websites such as yours. Because I found out very quickly that Uhaul
(in any capacity) does not care at all about the customer. The customer
service I received at all levels was horrible!!!

I will let you know what my outcome is. Thank you for your time and
efforts!!

Cindy L Hutchison
American United Life Insurance Company
Retirement Services
Manager Mail and Files
Phone: (317) 285-1730
 

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Here is a Boycott Uhaul web site

http://w3.one.net/~marc/pages/uhaul.html

Subject: U-haul hell details...
Date:  Tue, 27 Aug 2002 22:06:25 -0400
From: "SELENA FAITH" <EJD914@msn.com>
To: RichBoyd@speednetllc.com

Mr. Boyd,

My name is Eric J. Dougherty and I am the person who contacted you about U-Haul hell. My experience started when I called and reserved a truck to move from Boca Raton, Fl to Miami. I talked to the owner of the local U-Haul and was told I couldn't get the truck until 4 pm the next day, but there would definitely be a truck.  He called me at 11 am the next day and said that they were having trouble finding a truck because they were busy, but would indeed find a truck within the designated time.  He said that he would call back by 3 pm that day and let me know what was going on. By 3:30, no phone
call, and I decided to call him. He said that they were still working on it and that I should contact Erma, a corporate rep to resolve the situation. He apologized for the inconvenience and said that they would work with
us and take care of us. He said that we should not expect to pay for a dolly or any extras that we would need. This could not have been farther from the truth. I tried calling him back 15 min. later but he had already gone home for the day. 
I then proceeded to call Erma and explain the situation in nothing less than in a controlled and professional manner. She in turn was nothing less than completely rude and seemed to be completely uninterested in what I
had to say. She simply stated that it was my fault for making the reservation the day before and that the local store owner should have never promised that the truck would be there, he knew full well that there were no trucks in the area. 
She told me that there was a truck available about 30 min. away from where the original pick-up was located and that it would now be a two way trip instead of the aforementioned one way. I told her that this was
unacceptable because of money issues, time issues, as well as the fact that I was paying a pro-rated week in the apartment that I was supposed to have moved into by now. She said again that it was MY problem, not hers. I
called several other locations in the area who would not even give me the time of day and received several different numbers from them for the corporate office. I called them all and after many transfers ended up in the same places. I spoke with a woman I thought could help, but she put me on hold to call Erma and get her story. 
When she got back on the phone she berated and patronized me and would not let me complete a sentence. She then said in so many words that she didn't care, said she was now disconnecting the call, and hung up on me.
During this time I was nothing less than cordial to these "people". I called Erma again and she said the she would continue to look for a truck in the area and would be in the office until 7 pm. I called her back again at 6
pm and was told that she had gone home for the day by her extremely rude assistant.' 

So, here I am, losing money as we speak, not knowing what to do. I thank you for the prompt response you have already sent. Unfortunately, I do not have a confirmation letter, only a confirmation number. Again, he has my credit card info, and I am wondering if they can use it without my signing anything. Thank you again for your time. I am extremely irritated and demand satisfaction. I sincerely hope that you and I as well as everyone that
has had to deal with them get compensated for their troubles. Thank you again....


Eric J. Dougher

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: RE: # 26447662 (800)354-3279 <-- Sam Shoen -Richard in Aptos 
Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 00:22:22 -0700 
From: "Dave Hartley" <dave@localcomputermart.com> 
To: 
<James_Shoen@fc.uhaul.com>, <Gary_Horton@fc.uhaul.com>, 
<Gary_Klinefelter@fc.uhaul.com>, <Uhaul_Public_Relations@fc.uhaul.com>, 
<laura_stormant@fc.uhaul.com>, <matt@righettilaw.com>, 
<Uhaul_Customer_Service@fc.uhaul.com>, <Cindy_Stephenson@fc.uhaul.com>, 
<emove@fc.uhaul.com>, <RICK_MORROT@fc.uhaul.com> 
CC: 
 <HaulerNorm@aol.com>, <ChoochieFace@aol.com>, 
 <boheme@7cities.net>, <mark@sporkstorms.org>, 
<Deborah@cserv.net>, <ShortErin3@aol.com>, <Cindy_L_Hutchison@aul.com>, 
<madoc_ab_owain@hotmail.com> 


Hello brothers Shoen & compatriots- 

In spite of having a confirmed reservation... 

I got NO truck today. 

As you might imagine, this is a VERY BAD situation for me. 

It could cause me to lose the lease on the house I'm supposed to move into 
in Seattle. 

I might have a problem getting my $2,000 deposit back on the house I'm 
supposed to be out of tomorrow. 

I wonder how recently you've been sued over something like this? 

Even though you might equivocate over your level of committment to me, I do 
believe that a court would see this as a contract, which you have 
unilaterally dishonored. Not to mention the incredible rudeness and bad 
faith on your part evidenced by the fact that you never even bothered to 
contact me to let me know of any problem, and so- denied me of any ability 
to make a back-up plan. 

You have thoroughly abused my trust. 

I do hope that you have a truck for me first thing tomorrow. 

The potential cash damages to me are in the $5,000 range. 

I'll bet a smart class-action lawyer could do a lot with the 1,630 websites 
that can be instantly found by entering "complaint" and "u-haul" into a web 
search engine. Doubtless a more thorough search would yield 10,000 or more; add a little advertising... wow! -could be a real humdinger. 
Maybe even rattle the skeletons in the closets? 


Dave Hartley 
www.Mr-Notebook.com 
www.localcomputermart.com 
Santa Cruz, CA (831)423-4284 

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Subject:  Uhaul
Date: Tue, 03 Sep 2002 12:18:46 +0000
From: "Robert Spelman" <madoc_ab_owain@hotmail.com>
to:RichBoyd@speednetllc.com

And here I thought no one would ever look at my little U-Haul rant page :-) 

Thanks for the info, sorry you and your friends have had bad experiences 
with them as well. You know, I have problems going there to buy BUBBLE PAK of all things, to wrap my arcade boards in for shipping? Sheesh.. they really need to work on their customer service guidelines. Never had this much trouble at RYDER.

Robert Spelman
 

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Rob Carlsons Move with UHAUL

Next time it will be Penske!

Subject: Uhaul
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 18:03:46 EDT
From: BIGMARTYM@aol.com

lto: RichBoyd@speednetllc.com

If ever you want any inside info, I worked for five years in a Uhaul repair shop. The stress caused the splitting of my marriage, and many other personal problems. Uhaul is one screwed up company, they care nothing about the safety or condition of their trucks. It is a policy handed down from Joe Shoen to never turn down a reservation, they are told to always say yes, even when there are no truck available. One Marketing Company President I know of rewards dealers by telling them "take all reservations, if we can't fill it we will give the dealer 50 bucks" I have nothing but horror stories from my time served. There are good people that want to do good in the company, but all and all they just don't care. I am in the same line of work now, but it is amazing how much more pleasant it is working for people who care about customers.

Subject: U-Haul Experience
Date: Tue, 24 Sep 2002 09:57:45 -0700
From: Dawn Healy  dawn.healy@shaw.ca
To:  

Hi, Mr. Boyd - I was surfing through U-Haul sites trying to find a lead as
to where I could lodge a complaint when I came across your e-mail and those
of people who have written to you. Some of the stories are unbelievable and
seem to make mine pale in comparison, however, I felt my mood get a little
calmer when I realized that so many other people beside myself had problems not only with U-Haul equipment, but also with U-Haul staff and/or agent representatives.

I am in British Columbia, Canada. We went to the local U-Haul agent in
mid-July and paid a deposit on a 26' truck that we were to pick up on August
29th. My husband was out of town at the time that I realized he should have
ordered the truck for August 30th. My husband phoned the agent and changed the date but, to be on the safe side, next time he was in town, he made a personal visit to the agent to make sure the date change was okay. He was told it was and he was also advised that he could pick the vehicle up at 9:00 a.m. on the morning of August 30th. A month went by where my husband was again out of town; about two weeks prior to our moving date of August 30th, he was back in town and went back to the U-Haul dealer to ask if there was any possibility of picking the vehicle up a bit early - i.e., late
afternoon of August 29th. He was told that was not possible because we had
it reserved from the 30th and we could pick it up no earlier than 9:00 a.m.
because their business did not open until 9:00 a.m. A week before our
moving date, my husband again phoned the agent to make sure everything was in order. At that time, the agent advised him that a change had been made and that this company was no longer the agent and we would hear from U-Haul directly as to who the new agent would be and where we could pick up the vehicle. Two days before the move we still had not heard from U-Haul so my husband called them and was advised they were still working on getting 
an agent in our area and that they would call him first thing the next morning,
the morning prior to our move. We had heard nothing by noon so my husband
called U-Haul again and again was told that they were working on it and
would call him at about 5:00 p.m. that evening - 16 hrs. prior to our
confirmed time for picking up the van. U-Haul eventually called us back at
around 6:00 p.m. and said the van was confirmed for pick-up at 9:00 a.m. the
following morning, however, the new agent site was in a town that was a 6
hour round-trip drive from our departure point. He was told he shouldn't
arrive to pick up the van too early - preferably no earlier than 10:00 a.m.
If we were to do that, by the time he picked up the van, did the paperwork
and drove back to our departure point, it would be close to 2:00 p.m. - five
hours later. My husband and son left our town at 5:00 a.m. and returned at
1:30 p.m. and then had to start loading our possessions onto the van which,
had things gone the way they should have, meant that they were starting to
load the van at a time by which it should have been more than half loaded
had we been able to start at 9:00 a.m. We had to pay for my son's gas for
taking my husband out of town to pick up the vehicle, plus gas for his own
return trip, gas for the van and we also used approx. 300 km. of our free
mileage allowance to bring the van back. We had hoped to leave at 5:00 p.m.
and at least get partway into our journey. We did not finish packing the
van until 8:00 p.m. and then had to stay overnight in a hotel - another
expense. We got a little less than halfway through our trip the next day,
stopped at a store for groceries, came out and the van wouldn't start - the
time was 4:45 p.m. My husband phoned the U-haul emergency breakdown number, was put on hold for nearly an hour and when he explained the problem, the U-Haul staff told him the problem was due to there only being about 1/4 tank of fuel. When my husband insisted it was not a fuel problem but something mechanical, the U-haul staff member hung up on him. My husband phoned back, was on hold again for almost an hour and again was told it was a low fuel problem and was also told because it was a diesel vehicle, he would not be able to get a boost. That was as much assistance as we received from U-Haul. With the alternative being just to sit in the parking lot, my husband eventually got a boost and we drive to a gas station and filled the tank with diesel, after which he went to start the ignition and nothing
happened - even though we had a full tank of fuel. We got another boost.
We did not want to continue our trip not knowing if the vehicle would break
down along the little travelled roads of northern British Columbia at night,
so we had no choice but to stay in a hotel. Once in our room, my husband
called U-Haul again; told them it was definitely not a fuel problem and the
person he spoke to said he would contact the U-Haul service rep. in the city
we were in and call us back in twenty minutes. An hour and a half later he
still hadn't called so my husband called him, only to be told that he
couldn't ask to speak to anyone specific; my husband insisted and was
finally put through to the fellow he had spoken to and who hadn't called him
back. My husband was told that the service rep. was not available until
Tuesday - this day being Saturday meant that U-haul was quite prepared to
let us sit and wait for three days before repairs could be done. My husband
asked for the name of the service rep. and then proceeded to try and track
him down himself - it took all of five minutes! The service rep. contacted
U-Haul for authorization to fix the vehicle, arranged for a mechanic to do
the repairs and less than an hour later the van had been repaired - the
alternator had to be replaced - but we had to leave it running for an hour
and a half so that it would charge up. Our expenses for that downtime will
not be covered by U-Haul. Had U-Haul done their job, our downtime would
probably have been no more than two hours, we would have arrived at our
destination late, but we would not have had to stay overnight where we
incurred hotel and meal expenses.

My letters and e-mails of complaint resulted in us receiving $30.00 worth of
gift certificates - which I will be returning. The annoying part for me is
that the complaints have all been re-directed from U-Haul in Arizona to the
British Columbia or U-Haul Canada offices for follow-up. How can Canadian
offices follow-up up on the incompetence, rudeness, unprofessionalism of
staff in Arizona. Word of mouth is a powerful tool and I intend to use it
on every occasion where I hear of someone planning to use U-Haul.

Dawn Healy  

British Columbia, Canada

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

10/07/2002

I was just doing a web search for the U-Haul reservations web site, in order to reserve a truck. After reading these horror stories, I will not be utilizing the services of U-Haul. I wanted to thank you for the ``heads-up``, as it appears that you likely saved me from a major problem with this loser of a company. 

Thanks again, Todd. Todd@blackhawksfan.com .

BudgetTruck Rentals             Penske Truck Rentals

July 1, 2002

U-Haul International

Attn Customer Service

P.O. Box 21502

Phoenix, AZ  85036-1502

Re:  Rental Document #00002180

Dear Customer Service Manager;

I am writing to describe our experiences with U-Haul during the week of 6/23/02 to 6/30/02.  I have notified my Discover Card representative to dispute your charges for the truck and auto transport trailer.  I have phoned U-Haul to resolve this dispute to no avail, and I have sent an e-mail to U-Haul customer service.  To date, the dispute has not been resolved, and the intent of my letter is to provide a more complete explanation of why I am not obligated to pay for the rental.  If the payment issue has been resolved by the time you receive this letter, then my intent is the let you know how your customers are being treated by U-Haul representatives and local mechanics. 

We reserved a 17’ U-Haul truck and auto transport to be picked up in Berwyn, IL through www.uhaul.com well in advance of our pick-up date of 6/23/02, and I called to confirm the reservation on 6/21/02.  I was told a U-Haul representative would call me the day prior to our pick-up date.  I received no such call.  When I called the U-Haul regional office in Chicago on the pick-up date of 6/23/02, I was told that you would try to find me a truck.  At 3pm I received a call that a truck and auto transport were available 20 miles away in South Chicago.  I told the U-Haul representative I did not want to drive that far in city traffic and was told it was the only truck available.

(1) I drove to Hosea’s Auto and Truck Service at 5900 S Wabash Ave (Dealer # 043250), which is in a bad neighborhood, and spent 90 minutes trying to work out the rental with a very nice but incompetent woman.  The main problem was that she didn’t have anything larger than a 14’ truck but still wanted to charge me for a 17’ truck.  I was told that this was a busy season for U-Haul and another truck was unlikely to come available.  I took the 14’ truck and a rickety auto transport and was told the billing could be worked out at my destination.  The whole ordeal took 3 hours. 

(2) We loaded the truck and started out.  When I tried to stop for a tollbooth, I almost crashed into the car ahead of me because I had no rear brakes and no brakes on the auto transport.  When I applied the brakes on slightly wet pavement, the front wheels would lock up and the truck would skid sideways:  sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left.  We also had a check engine light at that time.  We called U-Haul from Bettendorf, IA (Reference #837326) and some very helpful mechanics came out and noticed the torn and worn out tires on the auto transport.  They took the truck for 20 hours in order to rebuild the rear brakes and replace all 4 tires on the A/T.  They said the check engine light was nothing to worry about, to just keep an eye on the gauges and all would be fine.  We had to add brake fluid to the A/T because the reservoir was completely empty.  We drove on through Nebraska with an intermittent check engine light, and noticed the truck didn’t have much power on the hills.  We drove slowly onward, thinking it was just heavily loaded.  All the gauges displayed normal conditions.

(3) In Sidney, NE, we stopped for gas, and the truck stalled in an intersection.  The engine would start, but would die as soon as it was put in gear.  After 15 minutes, we were able to get it out of the intersection and called U-Haul (Reference #839647).  A mechanic came out after an hour and the truck started and ran fine.  He told us it was vapor locking.  Nothing could be done except to lighten our load by off-loading the car from the A/T, and drive during the night when it was cool.  We waited until evening and drove on.

(4) The truck stalled again on I-80 outside of Cheyenne, WY.  We waited by a busy freeway for 30 minutes until the truck would move, and then pulled off to let it cool for an hour.  We off-loaded the car we had been towing, and drove back to Cheyenne for the night.  Frustrated by our lack of progress, and very tired, we called U-Haul.  We sat on hold for over an hour with U-Haul, only to be hung up on (no Reference #).  We called U-Haul early the next morning (Reference #840342), and asked for a new truck.  We were told that a new truck was a last resort, but that you would send out a mechanic.  Mechanic Brandon arrived from a nearby Conoco.   Brandon tried to run a diagnostic on the truck’s computer and couldn’t find anything wrong.  I explained the symptoms and he told me it was probably fuel additives and he couldn’t do anything.  Despite our protestations, he left.

(5) I then took the truck to John’s Rental in Cheyenne (Dealer #049049), and told him of the problems.  John replaced a spark plug wire he thought was shorting, and suggested that we leave the trailer, and again drive during the cool hours of the night.  When I asked about the fuel system, he said he didn’t have a new fuel filter for it.  We left the trailer behind (putting more than 1000 miles on our car, which we wanted to avoid), and started west from Cheyenne.

(6) The truck stalled on a hill out of Cheyenne when the temperature was only 75˚, and we returned to Cheyenne, certain that the problem wasn’t fixed.  I took the truck into a Ford dealership where I knew they could diagnose and fix the problem.  The service manager told me it needed a fuel pump, and they could fix it that day.  I called U-Haul to seek authorization to pay for it, and you refused.  U-Haul wouldn’t work with the dealer.  U-Haul would, however, send a mechanic from Laramie, WY with a fuel pump.  The mechanic from Laramie called us, and told us to pack the top of the engine with ice and drive slowly to Laramie.  These mechanics (A-1 Service in Laramie WY) were by far the worst and most patronizing.

(7) However, we did as told, and arrived in Laramie.  I told the mechanic that the truck still didn’t have any power and we wanted the fuel system checked.  He said the lack of power was to be expected as we’d just gained a lot of elevation.  He said it was vapor locking, a flaw with this model of truck, and we would need to keep the engine iced and drive only at night.  The high temperature that day had been 85˚.  We asked about a fuel pump and the mechanic said the Ford service manager didn’t know what he was talking about.  They put some transmission fluid in the fuel tank and said to call if we had any more trouble.  We asked for a new truck, and he told us he didn’t have one and if he did it would only do the same thing.  Angrily, we continued on.

(8) One hundred miles later, the truck stalled again on I-80 in heavy traffic.  We again waited with a very nice highway patrolman until the truck cooled off.  We drove to a gas station 10 miles west of Rawlins, WY, and called A-1 Service (remember the guys from Laramie?).  The manager said we were almost out of the trouble because we would soon be descending into areas where high humidity would cool the engine more effectively.  We had never observed high coolant temperatures.  He suggested we go to the U-Haul dealer in Rawlins.  So we tried to call there for 30 minutes with no answer.  Assuming they were closed at 6pm on Friday night, we waited out the warmer hours, wasting more time that we didn’t have, and started off at 7:30pm.

(9) Twenty miles outside of Rock Springs, the truck stalled again.  We called U-Haul; and, after being on hold for 40 minutes, asked for a new truck.  We were curtly told to call the Traffic Office at 9am the following morning (Saturday).  We drove on to the Rock Springs U-Haul dealer (Center Street Service and Towing, dealer #049550), and asked for a new truck.  They recommended we drive it to Salt Lake City and have a new fuel pump installed, though it might take a day or two.  This was Saturday 6/29/02, and we both had to start work in California early Monday morning.  So the dealer changed the fuel filter, and put more transmission fluid in the truck.  I drove it a bit, and it still ran rough in the cool of the morning.  Only then did we get a new truck, and we spent 2 hours transferring our load between trucks.  We drove all day and night (without problems) and arrived at our destination in Salinas, CA, late on Sunday. 

I understand that trucks break down.  But I was given a 14’ truck when I had reserved a 17’ truck.  I was given a truck, which was completely unprepared for a trip from Chicago to California.  I was given a truck, which was a safety hazard to drive.  I was given an auto transport with bad tires and no brake fluid in the reservoir.  I was delayed more than 3 days on the trip.  I had to stay in motels waiting.  I was forced to unload and reload a packed truck.  I was forced to drive my personal vehicle over 1000 miles although I had contracted with U-Haul for an auto transport trailer.  I was refused competent service from a Ford dealership.  And I was forced to take advice from incompetent U-Haul contractors who didn’t perform fuel system diagnosis but suggested vapor lock of a fuel injected engine and fixes like putting ice on the intake manifold, driving only at night, unloading the A/T to reduce the load, replacing a single sparkplug wire, a fuel filter, etc.

Therefore, I hereby give you notice that I will pay not one cent for this nightmare.

Sincerely,

Kate Alftine

904 Provincetown Dr

Salinas CA 93906

kjalftine@aol.com 

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Dear Mr. Boyd

Good day.

I though I might add my experience concerning U-Haul to the many that you have listed on this site. I submitted the following information on their Internet based “Customer Action Form.” I received an apology from U-Haul and was told that there was nothing they could do since the truck had been rented over a year ago. They also indicated that “they PURGE ALL THEIR RECORDS AFTER ONE YEAR.”

My response to the section of Customer Action Form titled: “My Concern Description”


Dear Madam/Sir

I have never received my $100.00 rental deposit for the truck that I rented.

I experienced tremendous difficulty with the truck in question, including:

a) The heater in the truck didn't work,

b) The rear right signal/brake light didn't work,

c) The loading ramp was damaged and necessitated tremendous physical effort under the truck in order to slide the ramp into a usable position.

d) A small section of the steel trailer floor was literally torn, and bent upward in such a way that one of my “helpers” actually tripped over the damaged section of floor, and

e) One of the passenger cargo rails was ripped away from the truck wall, and was left dangling at the rear end of the “cargo trailer.”

In addition to these complications, I found it nearly impossible to contact customer service. Several times I was asked if I might call back in an hour or two (as many customers were stranded on major highways and were in greater danger than I was parked in a driveway).

Clearly the London location that dispatched the truck had failed to do a proper circle check of the truck. How could one truck have so many problems that had gone undetected? Negligence is clearly at the heart of this matter!

A gentleman by the name of Corey (associated with “Road Side Repair,” reference number 603147) was both helpful and professional. Lucy on the other hand (the Southwestern Ontario customer service rep.) was completely unprofessional. Her passive aggressive and volatile customer service tactics left much to be desired. I had lost tremendous time because of the complications with the truck. When I indicated that I was experiencing time constraints (due to truck disrepair) and that I would be addressing the matter with customer service, she assertively indicated that “I had better not contact customer service with time related complaints” as she was prepared to dispatch another truck. What an obnoxious young woman! In her mind, the willingness to dispatch a new truck was more than sufficient to compensate the great disruption to my schedule. Moreover, she was asserting what I should and should not do. Unbelievable!

Lucy is certainly due for some interpersonal effectiveness training!

On account of the compromised safety of the truck (faulty rear signal/brake light), I requested that the truck be picked up (in lieu of dropping the truck off at a specified location – this may also be indicated in the Road Side Repair Ref # 603147).

While waiting for the truck to be picked up, I received a call from a local U-Haul agent, George Squires (721 Bayview, Barrie, ON, 705-721-7320), requesting that I drop the truck off at the nearby U-Haul location (at the intersection of Essa & Mapleton in Barrie). He indicated that this would be of great assistance and would negate the need to dispatch a crew on the weekend to pick up the truck. I relayed my concern that I was to drop the truck off at a specified location, and he assured me that I could return the truck to any U-Haul location without penalty.

I swept out the truck (including the cab), returned the truck, left the appropriate paperwork – signed and completed as per the specification on the contract. To date, I have received no refund of my $100.00 deposit. I am incensed, and I am eager to pursue this issue.

My response to the section of Customer Action Form titled: “What Can We Do To Help?”

Please ensure that my deposit is returned, or show transactional evidence that the deposit was issued. As to the state of the truck, what processes do you have in place to ensure that my complications are not a regular occurrence? How do you ensure that such processes are adhered to? How will you increase the necessary rigor of your dealers/agents to ensure that they are working in the interests of your customers’ safety? How will you convince me that process improvement will greatly reduce the kind of complication that I experienced with your company?

Sincerely,

Michael DiFabio    suenmike@sympatico.ca

 Budget and Penske still care about their customers.

Hello...............thanks for this site, so i can vent my frustrations about U-haul.................we reserved a truck and picked it up on time. after spending 4 hours loading it, my husband saw fluid leaking from the bottom. it turned out the truck was leaking gas and oil!!! the truck also had no signal lights, as we were leaving the next morning we started calling for help from the dealer and from customer service..............both were rude to say the least...........one rep asked 'what do you want us to do about it'...and others hung up on us...............after numerous calls and several hours, a repairman arrived. he fixed the gas leak, but as it was now dark, he said we would have to take the truck to mechanic at dealership the next morning.......................we cancelled our plans to leave and took truck there only to find that there was no mechanic. as we were on a tight schedule, we had no choice but to drive this dangerous truck 800 miles. what should have taken 12 hours, took us 2 days and cost us over $600.00 in lost payments on the villa and hotel stays. we had to stop every 100 miles to replace oil that kept leaking out, and still no signal lights!!........................as i paid them over $800.00 for this wreck, i am now trying through amex to get some satisfaction. i doubt it, but its worth a try. thanks again for letting me vent,

Thanks, 

S. LoBaido  Kaycap@aol.com

Dear Mr. Boyd,
My name is Cori and my boyfriend and I had a really horrible experience last month with Uhaul, and are trying to get the CEO's name, email, or anything that we can. Would you be able to help us?
Thanks, Cori

Here is my story with Uhaul........

My name is Corinne Seebauer, and my boyfriend and I were so excited about moving. We delegated things to do to get ready for the move. He took over renting the moving truck. Well when he told me that he had rented a U-haul. I was not sure what to expect. I had always used a competitor. We decided that the reservations were made so we would keep them. It's hard and stressful enough with moving, that at the very least your truck that you’re paying so much for, should not have any malfunctions. I do understand nothing is perfect. I would never expect perfection. I do understand justification though. The reservations were made for the Spring Valley branch in Columbia, SC. U-haul called my boyfriend on Thursday October 24th. The reservation was made for Friday October 25th 2002 at 9am.

When we arrived at the Spring Valley location the gentleman informed us that our truck was out there. Well when our confirmation called to let us know what we were getting they failed to ask us automatic or stick (same as when the reservation was made). The employee proceed to call other locations to see if they had a 26ft truck that we could rent and the appliance dolly. The West Columbia said that they did have one available. The man gave us directions and said that he was not going to charge us the cancellation fee, which I don't understand how we could be charged that anyhow. Trust me that is beside the point.

We arrived at the West Columbia location and the nice girl helped us and made sure that we understood that the truck was on empty, and needed to go straight to the gas station. Gave us a coupon for $10.00 off when we bring the truck back just for making sure that there is at least a quarter of a tank of gas in it. We did keep receipts and your West Columbia location has copies of these as well. The gal was bringing the truck around and had to stop because it ran out of gas. She put some gas in it and sent us on our way. We turned out of the parking lot and took a left, I didn't even get .2 of a mile away from the center and break down #1 happened. I got the mechanic to look at it, and he said "aw, your alright. It's just cold, she'll be fine!!!" So off on our way we go "again". We filled up with gas and proceed on US Interstate 26. No sooner than I got in the middle lane going for an exit, I lost 20 mph, and all of the buzzers went off like the first time. As I was trying to get to the emergency lane I tried to find the flashers. I found out after my father got there where the flashers were on this truck. It was a screw that you had to push in. The button was rigged. This began to worry me. Had the truck for less than 15 min and already on break down # 2. Keep reading there are more breakdowns. We called the 800 number that was in our contract. Finally someone picked up and got our info and said that there would be someone calling us back in about 30 min to find out where we are and what it is doing. We did get perturbed being the fact that we have people waiting on us to help move and we are not there. About an hour later the mechanic pulls up behind the truck and we told him what it was doing. He went straight to the fuel pump, where he just hooked the wires together again that came undone. They were rigged as well. Okay so now we are on the road again. This time it breaks down at one of our destinations. We jiggled the wires again and after about the 3rd time it started, we decided it was not going to last any longer, so drove it to the apartment, and finished moving without it. On the way back, I had blue lights behind me. The police officer pulled me over for not having taillights and not having headlights. He just told me to make sure that someone followed in front and behind me. At about 2 am we were going to move it to another place in the parking lot where it would not be in anyone’s way, and it was not starting this time. It would not even turn over... This is breakdown #4. I called the 800 number again and the lady said that I would have to drive it to the U-haul center. I told her that it would not start and she told me that she could send someone out here to start it, but it was my responsibility to get it back to the store. Well I told her about it not being safe to drive and about the headlights, and brake lights. At that time I had a call on the other line. It was the mechanic from Carolina Fleet; he was trying to get my directions. I gave them to him. He was here in like 30 min. His conclusion was that it was the starter. This man made plans and said that he would take care of it. This is the nicest person of anyone that we came in contact with in your company all day. He is not even directly related to your company.

I called Susan, the manager the next day and I was given the one hundred dollars back for the one hundred dollar check that I wrote for deposit. However we gave Susan our receipts and she made copies of the gas receipts. We paid $30.00 and were not able to use it. Susan said that she would be back in contact with us. Just to see how long and if she would get back in contact with us, we have waited. It is now 17 days since our contact with her. I do not feel as though we were compensated for our time, and for my phone time that is ..25 cents a min. I did not even mention that. I am least worried about that. I am however worried about the $30.00 in gas that we paid and were not able to use.
I have been in customer service for 11 years now and I have never treated someone like this. I am astounded at the way that we were treated, and still are being treated. I am just as upset today as I was the day this happened. This is why I have waited to write this. I wanted to make sure that what I was typing was indeed needed. I now know that it is. I would appreciate action to be taken. If you don't want to loose myself, and others as customers please make this right.

I am so upset with Uhaul, customer service emailed after the first attempt with this letter and said they would have a man by the name of Ron Putnam which is the Marketing Company President, and he has yet to get back in contact with me. If anyone has any suggestions please email me at Tazzzmaneia@hotmail.com..... Thanks.....

Cori

Budget and Penske still care about their customers.