UHaul basically has just bent me over my desk and had its way with me.
I reserved a truck for tomorrow because I am moving. I called up today to figure out when I could pick up my truck and surprise they have canceled my reservation without even telling me and now I am left with no truck and no way to move.
That the fuck am I supposed to do?
I have a mother fucking reservation number, they already charged my credit card some bullshit $5 fee but I will not be getting a UHaul truck tomorrow.
I asked the white trash customer service lady if it was company policy to randomly cancel reservations without even calling the person and the bitch smacked her gum and was like “Oh yeah, we do it all the time.”
[Seinfeld]
Clerk: I’m sorry, we don’t have a car available for you.
Seinfeld: But I have a reservation. The reservation keeps the car here.
Clerk: I think I know why we have reservations, sir.
Seinfeld: I don’t think you do!
Audience: Wild applause
[/Seinfeld]
Call the U-Haul place back. Tell gum-smacker you want her supervisor, NOW. If she doesn’t have one, or claims to own that franchise, tell her you’re calling corporate customer service and you’ll escalate this until she delivers the truck herself, does all the packing, driving, and unpacking, and pays YOU for the priviledge.
OK, that last might be a bit excessive. But this is U-Haul’s CS number (1-800-789-3638), and I expect you will get satisfaction if you call them and tell them what happened. This is NOT U-Haul’s standard way of doing business (I’ve used them many times and never had a problem), and I don’t think they’ll be at all happy to find out that one of their employees is claiming it is.
Ryder did the same thing to me when I moved last year. U-Haul bailed me out, sorta - they had a truck twice as large as I needed, which I took anyhow. It broke down later that day (but after we’d finished moving, thank god).
I think both companies can get away with abysmal customer service because (1) nobody used them more than once a year or so; and (2) because there are really just the two of them in the market, you don’t have any real option to go with another company.
Well, one time when this happened to me, the fellow at the counter said, with a straight face:
“Making a reservation reserves a truck, but not a specific place and time.”
Me:
Him (again): “Making a reservation reserves a truck, but not a specific place and time.”
So, in whatever passes for U-Haul’s reservation system, our truck, instead of being in Charlottesville on August first, was, perhaps, in San Diego on July 20, or maybe in Bangor, Maine on August 7, or perhaps Peoria in the year 2525. Our truck was now a mere leaf in the stream that is the space-time continuum.
I have no explanation, but that was his answer.
tramp, if I had a truck, I’d help. But your entertainment center would look damned silly riding on the roof of my little car. Best of luck to you.
I will never forget calling the UHaul place to confirm my reservation and hearing loud rap music (I like rap, just not at customer service) and the sound of a party in the background and trying to shout over the music to the rep…
The same EXACT fucking thing happened when I went to move my mom. She had reserved a truck, paid the $5 fee, and when we called to find out when we could pick the truck up, SURPRISE, reservation cancelled.
They made no attempts to contact us regarding this or anything. They made good on a truck for that day, however it still pisses me right the fuck off when I think about it.
tramp,
Maybe there is something you can do, or at least add to another’s ability to do something. I’ve pasted a link below for rants regarding businesses. Take these rants with a little salt, however, when the same story keeps coming up over and over, there must be some truth to it. There are 40+ complaints re: U-Haul.
I was investigating a cell phone provider & did a little research here. I found they all had complaints, so it came down to the those with the fewest, least objectionable, complaints.
This is exactly consistent with my own few unfortunate attempts to rent things from U-Haul, and those of several friends. They cancel reservations all the time, or simply don’t record them in the first place. And if they do actually save your reservation, they take no action to make sure they’ll actually have the thing you reserved. I can’t believe they stay in business.
The one time I rented a truck from Ryder it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. I’ll never rent anything from U-Haul as long as I live, and I encourage anyone who asks to do the same. They’re one of the worst companies I’ve ever dealt with.
Well, a couple of years ago I did get my UHaul truck when I was supposed to. I returned it after I moved, then about four hours later got a call from the place telling me the truck was “damaged” and I was responsible for it. I told them I had my receipt, my deposit back, and everything indicating the truck was returned properly and how in the hell was I supposed to know what they did with it during those four hours!
The woman “threatened” she was going to call the corporate headquarters on me – I told her to go ahead. Never heard anything else about it, but likewise I’m avoiding UHaul.
I’m pleased to report that my first (and only first so far) experience with U-Haul went well. I flew one-way from Boise to Wichita to help a friend move here. I made a reservation to pick up a truck in the Wichita area. When I was called the day before to have my reservation confirmed all was well until he told me that his business (an auto body shop that rented U-Haul equipment on the side) was only open until 3:00 PM (it was a Saturday). I told him that my flight would not arrive until that time, so he agreed to stay at his shop until I showed up. His shop, as it turned out, was only a few blocks from where my friend lived. The whole process went well. The only difference was that I had a 17’ truck and had only requested a 14’ truck, so I was charged for the price of a 14’ truck rental. I’m glad it turned out this way since it turned out that a 14’ truck may not have been big enough. The truck ran well, had a damn good AC and handled well throughout the entire 1,400-mile trip, and turning it in upon arriving back home was a no-hassle experience.
My experience was good, but as with just about everything else in life, YMMV.
As in, ridiculous for making the complain, or ridiculous that any employee of theirs would do this, you must have misunderstood? In either case, using that word is a definite no-no if you want to keep the customer happy. Maybe you should call corporate, next, and demand to talk to the CEO. His name and the corporate 800 number are listed on the U-Haul website.
Man, I’ve rented from U-Haul at least 8 times over a 10-year period, and I never had a lick of trouble with them. shakes head
I’m unfortunately not surprised this is happening to you. I’ve heard similar stories about U-Haul before. A coworker has had similar experiences, and he will now only rent from Ryder.
I’ve used U-Haul probably 3 times, and thankfully haven’t had an issue. On the occasion where they didn’t have the size truck I reserved, we actually got a bigger one, and weren’t left holding the bag. I hope you can resolve this, because I’d be shitting bricks.
tramp, I feel your pain. We went through the exact same crap with UHaul a month ago when we wanted to rent a small truck to haul some scrap wood and other detritus to the city dump.
I made a reservation about a week ahead of time, but when they didn’t call to give me a pick-up time, I called them. Lo and behold, my reservation was cancelled and they gave me some line of bullshit about how I had called and cancelled it! I think not.
We ended up hiring a private hauler. Lesson learned. In the past I had only dealt with Ryder, and in the future they will get my business as well.
Anyone in DC have a large truck I could borrow…
