# I pit Uhaul! Or: Anybody can just take a reservation! It's holding it that matters! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 28, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607 "2004-06-28T21:12:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/21 "2004-06-29T15:33:53Z")
> [@GraphicsGal](#): > > My local UHaul would not take a reservation and forced me to call the National number. When they tell you to do that, it basically means that they know they don’t have a truck available, but that they are following the head office policy of never declining a reservation. If you try to book locally, and they tell you to book nationally, then just walk away and find another carrier. At least you got the 5 bucks back. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GraphicsGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@GraphicsGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraphicsGal)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/22 "2004-06-29T16:22:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > When they tell you to do that, it basically means that they know they don’t have a truck available, but that they are following the head office policy of never declining a reservation. If you try to book locally, and they tell you to book nationally, then just walk away and find another carrier. > > At least you got the 5 bucks back. 🙂 Well, this is a handy little piece of info to know! Thanks a lot mhendo. It is very sad that this kind of stuff goes on. How often does one have to rent a truck, and how is one supposed to know such tips? Where was this thread in the weeks before I moved on May 23? And I WAS happy to get my $5 back. I hope the very snotty young woman I spoke with multiple times at Uhaul regional gets some sort of painful, chronic disorder that’s named after me… ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/23 "2004-06-29T16:33:38Z")
**Debaser** , I would get her stuff out of there just to be safe. They just might try to use it as leverage. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/24 "2004-06-29T16:50:02Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > **Debaser** , I would get her stuff out of there just to be safe. They just might try to use it as leverage. Ugh. Do you realize what a tremendous pain in the ass that will be? (You may be right, though.) Anybody have any knowledge on this? ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/25 "2004-06-29T17:07:09Z")
I recommend borrowing a pickup from a friend and just making several trips. Or renting from another company. IMHO, it isn’t worth the risk, though I have no experience with your situation. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/26 "2004-06-29T17:33:37Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Anybody have any knowledge on this? IANAL, but you said she was your fiance, not your wife. Unless your name is also on the storage unit, I don’t see how they can hold her responsible for your bill. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/27 "2004-06-29T18:28:05Z")
It’s under both names. I don’t think there will be a problem. It is a different Uhaul location that I have the dispute with than the one where the storage unit is. I’m hoping that they don’t cooperate much, and are owned and operated seperately. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/28 "2004-06-29T22:19:07Z")
> [@liirogue](#): > > I recommend borrowing a pickup from a friend and just making several trips. Or renting from another company. I love the idea of pulling into a UHaul storage area in a Ryder truck. ---
**Author:** ![liirogue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dbc845/32.png) [@liirogue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liirogue)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/29 "2004-06-29T22:46:25Z")
> [@Tastes of Chocolate](#): > > I love the idea of pulling into a UHaul storage area in a Ryder truck. If you spin it right, Ryder might rent the truck for free… advertising in the lion’s den and all that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/30 "2004-06-29T22:46:53Z")
Just to echo others in the thread, U-Haul sucks shit. Their uniformly awful customer service would be enough to make me never rent there again even if they did actually know how to take and hold a reservation, which they don’t. I honestly can’t believe they’re still in business, considering how many people use their vehicles to move. When you move, you’re already stressed out – the last thing you need is to find out that you don’t have a truck to move with _on moving day_. Yet it happens all the time. I’ve had excellent luck with Ryder so far, though. No more U-Haul again, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/31 "2004-06-29T23:16:54Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > When you move, you’re already stressed out – the last thing you need is to find out that you don’t have a truck to move with _on moving day_. Yet it happens all the time. Well, their slogan _is_ “Adventure in Moving”. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/32 "2004-06-30T01:11:21Z")
Are you sure that “de-activating” the card will work? I know that companies can charge stuff to your credit card even after you cancel it, if you’ve signed a contract that says you’ll pay. If not, I could check into the Ritz and stay a week. Then before check out I could just “de-activate” my credit card and take off. Right? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/33 "2004-06-30T02:16:50Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Are you sure that “de-activating” the card will work? > > I know that companies can charge stuff to your credit card even after you cancel it, if you’ve signed a contract that says you’ll pay. If not, I could check into the Ritz and stay a week. Then before check out I could just “de-activate” my credit card and take off. Right? :dubious: When I worked for a credit card processing company I learned the 3 things needed for a company to charge your card. 1. Proof that the card was there. Either the receipt showing it was swiped (the receipt number will begin with an S) or an imprint of the card. 2. Proof that the customer was there. This would be your signature on the receipt. 3. An authorization number. When your card is charged or a pre-authorization for a charge goes through the credit card company gives an authorization number for the transaction to say that they did verify the funds were on the card and blocked them aside for the company. If a company has these 3 things then you are pretty much stuck with the bill. If they are missing one or more, they can still charge the card but you can dispute the charge and the company will automatically lose. ---
**Author:** ![GraphicsGal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@GraphicsGal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraphicsGal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/34 "2004-06-30T10:47:58Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > When you move, you’re already stressed out – the last thing you need is to find out that you don’t have a truck to move with _on moving day_. Yet it happens all the time. This was EXACTLY my main bitch. I was beyond stressed when I moved. Having to spend several hours the day before my move (which was on a Sunday) screwing around with uncooperative and unhelpful people just made me want to scream. I suspect that many people are so grateful to get the move behind them that they lose the will to write rafts of blistering letters to and about UHaul… ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/35 "2004-06-30T13:25:21Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > Are you sure that “de-activating” the card will work? > > I know that companies can charge stuff to your credit card even after you cancel it, if you’ve signed a contract that says you’ll pay. If not, I could check into the Ritz and stay a week. Then before check out I could just “de-activate” my credit card and take off. Right? :dubious: Sure. I don’t see why you are skeptical of this. If the card is turned off, it cannot be charged by anyone. It’s like cancelling it. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/36 "2004-06-30T13:57:15Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > When I worked for a credit card processing company I learned the 3 things needed for a company to charge your card. > > 1. Proof that the card was there. Either the receipt showing it was swiped (the receipt number will begin with an S) or an imprint of the card. > > 2. Proof that the customer was there. This would be your signature on the receipt. > > 3. An authorization number. When your card is charged or a pre-authorization for a charge goes through the credit card company gives an authorization number for the transaction to say that they did verify the funds were on the card and blocked them aside for the company. > > If a company has these 3 things then you are pretty much stuck with the bill. If they are missing one or more, they can still charge the card but you can dispute the charge and the company will automatically lose. I’ll take issue with this post in a minute. **debaser,** first of all great rant! Well formed, well explained, well spoken. I’ve used U-Haul twice in my life for multi-state moves and never had a problem, but I’m usually lucky in these areas. **Cyros** , I’m not going to challenge your work experience, but I will offer what I had happen as anecdotal evidence. I tried to buy Valium over the 'net. It was an outfit based in Austrralia. 2 hours later the credit card company (Bank One) called to say the card was invalid as some company in Germany tried to charge $382. (In addition to the original fee.) The solution was the account was shut down and a new card with a new 16 digit number was issued. In short, call the original card issuer, tell them any charges from the earliest date you can swing are not authorized, and you get a new account number. You still owe your original debt, but U-Haul doesn’t have the new number to bill. No guarantees, but it worked for us. Good luck with the move, btw. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/37 "2004-06-30T21:00:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Sure. I don’t see why you are skeptical of this. If the card is turned off, it cannot be charged by anyone. It’s like cancelling it. I’m thinking that if you signed the contract and secured it with a credit card, it can indeed be charged. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/38 "2004-06-30T23:00:02Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > **Cyros** , I’m not going to challenge your work experience, but I will offer what I had happen as anecdotal evidence. > > I tried to buy Valium over the 'net. It was an outfit based in Austrralia. 2 hours later the credit card company (Bank One) called to say the card was invalid as some company in Germany tried to charge $382. (In addition to the original fee.) The solution was the account was shut down and a new card with a new 16 digit number was issued. > > In short, call the original card issuer, tell them any charges from the earliest date you can swing are not authorized, and you get a new account number. You still owe your original debt, but U-Haul doesn’t have the new number to bill. Ah, but the difference is that over the 'net the company can have neither the proof that the card was there nor your signature authorizing the charge. To be honest, even if the charge had been legitimate, you could have disputed it and won (of course the credit card company keeps track of things like this so you can’t just do it willy nilly [love that phrase]). I would venture a guess that the card was cancelled and a new number issued purely to prevent further fraudulent charges from appearing. As far as telling your card company that any charges are not authorized, if a company can produce the proof the card was there, the proof you were there, and a valid authorization number then it doesn’t matter if the card is cancelled, shredded, mangled or what. The combination of those 3 things is proof that you and the card were present at the time of the transaction and the credit card company verified that the card was active. Of course, this hijack really doesn’t relate to the issue in the OP as I doubt that they would have signed off on charges they weren’t going to pay. I posted to clarify for **PunditLisa**. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/39 "2004-06-30T23:49:26Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > When we moved from Minneapolis to St. Paul (about a 10 minute drive), we had a whole houseful of stuff to move, so we reserved a 40 foot truck. > > When we arrived there day of the move, they didn’t have a 40 foot truck for us and instead rented us two 24-foot trucks for the same price. My wife was going to go off on them until I pointed out that, for the same money, we were getting 8 more feet of truck that was easier to drive and park… Where were you renting a 40’ truck from? That’s firmly in tractor-trailer territory. AFAIK, U-Haul’s largest truck is 26’, and for normal people accustomed to driving cars where you can see out the back, it’s huge enough. Another thing I haven’t seen in this thread yet is (around here, at least) you can’t even get a truck for a whole day on in-town moves. You can have it for the morning, or you can have it for the afternoon. And they seem to truly expect people to get the truck, drive it to wherever, load it, drive it to the new wherever, unload it and return it to the U-Haul shop in four hours. Heaven help you if you need to make more than one trip. Last time I moved, I used a local company. IIRC, it might have been a Ryder franchise, despite the truck being plain white. Picked the truck up on Saturday morning, and as long as it was back by the time they opened on Monday, they were fine with it and only charged for the mileage. Our move was fast-paced, but we didn’t have to kill ourselves, and I returned the truck on Saturday night, just to get rid of it. Doing the move in four hours to suit U-Haul would have been impossible. Oh, the last time I used U-Haul, the driver’s door fell off the truck, and the automatic transmission was only semi-automatic. Once I got the hang of over-revving the engine, taking my foot off the gas and stomping it back down to force a shift, it worked OK. Between that and the typically under-powered engine, getting up freeway ramps was a treat! ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607/40 "2004-06-30T23:54:38Z")
Jeeze **Debaser** thanks for the scare rant. We’re up for a move on the 5th July got my fingers crossed. They say they have a truck and we are in a major metro area so I’ll have to take their word for it :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-uhaul-or-anybody-can-just-take-a-reservation-its-holding-it-that-matters/252607.md?page=3)