Richard G.  Boyd

                  THE TRUTH ABOUT UHAUL'S INSURANCE                                

                          More U-haul Nightmares

My number one advise is to warn people NOT to give their credit card number to anyone at U-haul.  Pay cash -- this way --  they can't add other charges to your card unauthorized by you. (I just found out that Uhaul won't do business with you unless you give a valid credit card) When a business won't take plain ole cash, you should now something is wrong.

Beware of buying insurance from Uhaul to cover belongings, etc., when you use Uhaul.  They own the insurance company and I have heard they pay very few claims.

To contact any of the people in these messages replace the word "at" with the @ sign in their email address.

A small donation is appreciated for the maintenance of this site.  Use the Paypal button above to donate as little as one dollar.  Or mail a small donation to R.G. Boyd, 568 W. Friedrich Street, Rogers City, Michigan 49779.   Thanks

       Email me at: richboyd"at"SpeednetLLC.com

Hello.

I was looking for information on Uhaul and came across your website. I just moved last week using Uhaul and it very nearly turned into a disaster. The truck was so dangerous I almost lost control at least twice and it took us two days to travel less than 4 hours. I agree with your postings, trying to get customer service through Uhaul is nearly impossible. I have been transfered and hung up on from nearly every department. 

There is a positive side though. I began sending emails this morning to customer service. By the time my sixth email went out I recieved a phone call from the Regional Manager in Dallas, who prior to the emails would not talk to me, he completely refunded all of my moving money and the receipts for my two nights in a hotel. He told me that corporate was calling him left and right to resolve this, so he was willing to do whatever it took. Maybe pass on to your readers that sometimes persistence does pay off.

Thank you,

Nathanael Campbell   nathanael at austin.rr.com

To Whom It May Concern:

Over the past 7 to 8 years, I have (conservatively) rented 5’ x 8’ open utility trailers from U-Haul at least 50-60 times. We built our last home and recently purchased a fixer-upper. These trailers have served us well.

Recently, we moved to Redding, California. Everyone in Redding has been very friendly and courteous. Almost all of the businesses up here truly seem to appreciate us as customers. The only exception has been the U-Haul Store.

We have frequented the U-Haul on Cypress Avenue (here in Redding) at least 12 times to rent a 5’ x 8’open utility trailer. I have not had a positive experience yet. The men behind the counter are constantly rude. I feel that I am being more of a burden or nuisance to them rather than an appreciated customer. When it comes time to hook-up my trailer, I have waited as long as 10-15 minutes while 4 or 5 different men walk by and completely ignore me.

The main reason I am writing to you is actually for a reason that is much larger and completely unacceptable. Last Friday (June 24th), I rented a trailer from the Cypress Avenue store. I rented the trailer in the morning and planned on returning it that same day. By the time I returned the trailer, the store had closed. I took the same action that I have taken many times in the past. I placed the paperwork through the door slot and placed the trailer next to the bay where it belongs. The next morning I left for work. I work for the local Fire Department.

Sunday morning I received a call at work from my wife. She explained to me that a man named Chuck from the Cypress Avenue U-Haul store had called our answering machine and left a message. She said that in his message he explained that the trailer had not been returned and that the police would be notified. He also said that if I were pulled over that I would be taken to jail! Keep in mind that my wife and 4 children were listening to this message. My children then began to ask my wife why Daddy was going to jail. They obviously did not understand the circumstances.

I was in complete disbelief. I had returned the trailer that same day I rented it. I quickly called U-Haul. I explained the situation to the man that answered the phone. He placed me on hold and came back about 5 minutes later. He said, “Yeah, we do have it. I’ll take care of putting it into the computer.” There was no apology.

This sort of customer care is completely unacceptable. I think it is obvious to say that I will NEVER do business with U-Haul again. I can only hope that this situation gets taken care of internally so that customer care in the future will not be jeopardized.

I have saved the recording on my answering machine should anyone care to listen to it.

Todd A. Garber
(530) 370-8377

LETTER:
Wendy Arnott
************
Easton, PA 18045

U-Haul International, Inc.
2727 North Central Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85004

July 20, 2005

To Whom It May Concern:

My story begins on June 18, 2005 when my fiancé and I went to the local U-Haul facility on 3040 Mt. Carmel Avenue in Glenside, PA in order to secure a one-way rental truck for the following day, Father’s Day, June 19, 2005. We were to move my belongings from Glenside, PA to Easton, PA, approximately a 50 mile drive. The employees at the location stated that there were no one-way trucks available, but that we could secure a local truck. After some consideration, we decided to move forward with the local rental and bring the truck back to Glenside after we moved and unpacked the belongings in Easton. The only real problem that we could for-see was bringing the truck back by 3:00PM. We secured it and were on our way back to Easton in order to get good night’s sleep and pick up the truck at promptly 9:00AM, as we had a busy day ahead of us. We also secured two gentlemen friends, whom we paid to help with the move.

On June 19, 2005, we left the house in Easton, in two separate cars, promptly at 7:30AM, so that we wouldn’t be late to pick up the truck. After dropping my fiancé and the two friends at the house, I arrived at the U-Haul facility at 8:55AM. There were a few college-aged gentlemen also there at that point obviously waiting for a truck to pick up as well. As the minutes ticked by, I was getting more and more frustrated. Firstly, I was ready to get the move over with. Secondly, I had three people at my house waiting to load and unload this truck, two of which I was paying for. Thirdly, I was getting concerned about the 3:00PM drop off time and wondering how on earth we were going to be able to swing it. Around 9:15AM, an employee was dropped off by his Mother and was also in the mix waiting for the employee with the key to arrive. There were more and more people showing up and we were all waiting to rent our respective trucks and be on our ways.

I finally decided to leave at around 9:45AM to see if there was another means of renting a truck through U-Haul via my computer and the phone. I called the next nearest U-Haul facility; they didn’t have a truck. Next nearest, no truck; next nearest, no truck. Every 5 minutes or so my fiancé would call the facility to check to see if anyone had shown up with a key. I called the 1.800 number that one of the other facilities had given me and was on hold for around a half an hour, while they were “trying to reach the manager of that location to open the door”. When I did finally get off hold, the customer service person told me that she would call back within the hour to let me know if there was another truck available and come to think of it, I never did receive that call. At that point, my fiancé called the location again with no answer. I decided to drive there to make sure that they were just not answering the phone. There was not a soul there, as I suppose everyone was a little of tired of waiting. I was mortified that I was paying two people to stand around and do nothing and I was wondering what my next step was going to be. I went back to my home in Glenside and made the final call to the local facility at 11:00AM. Much to my amazement, an employee answered the phone and we went to get the truck.

We arrived at the local facility and the gentleman behind the counter was arguing with the gentleman in front of us stating that he was late to pick up his truck. I’m thinking, “No kidding he’s late”, as he was probably one of the many customers waiting from the get go. My fiancé and I just looked at one another and shook our heads. We were next in line and the employee was kind enough to waive our 3:00PM drop off and stated that we could drop the truck off after hours. We went to the house to finally load the truck up.

The packing of the truck was not very difficult. It only took about an hour and a half to load. The truck was packed and ready to go when my fiancé noticed that the front, right tire was completely bald with the belts showing (see photos), and even I, with no car experience whatsoever, know that this is not a good thing. We decided to go back to the local facility to get the tire replaced on the way to Easton. The employee (also the one that got dropped off by his Mother at 9:15AM) stated that there were no other tires that he could switch out. At that point, I made a conscious decision to have my fiancé drive the truck and I would ride in the passenger seat. I thought that if we had a blow out and got into an accident and something serious happened, at least we would both be together. I arranged to have the two friends drive my car behind us, just in case there were any problems. I also, at that point, called my Father, informed him of the situation, and let him know that I wouldn’t be able to see him on Father’s Day, as I was afraid that something would happen to my fiancé.

As we were getting back in the truck, there was customer in the parking lot arguing with another employee regarding the truck not being clean. As we were in back of the truck in question, we could clearly see that the truck was clean. The employee picked up a miniscule piece of paper, no bigger than a quarter, and stated, “It was not in broom clean condition and we will charge you $25 for this”. I thought to myself, “What if that miniscule piece of paper was a $50 bill – would U-Haul have charged them then???”. My fiancé and I just looked at one another once again, shook our heads, and got in the truck for the ride to Easton with our two friends in tow.

The ride to Easton was, thankfully, uneventful. The truck was unloaded, the friends were paid, and we were now “moved in”. Since we had a “local” rental, we now had to bring the truck back down to its original pick up point, Glenside. As bad as the tire was, I again, did not want my fiancé to drive on his own. Again, I would rather us be together if anything happened. We even toyed with the idea of calling the local U-Haul in Easton, but by that time it was after hours. So, back in the truck we went to Glenside. Driving back, the brake light kept going on and off. If the tire didn’t kill us, certainly having no brakes would. I remember thinking that we should just leave it on the side of the road and have U-Haul take care of it. I also remember thinking that our lives were at risk, the truck was seriously un-safe, and quite frankly, unfit to drive.

We dropped the truck off in Glenside, picked up my fiancés truck and took the ride back to Easton. We were frazzled from the day; the two-hour wait, the risk that we both just had taken, and the disappointment of my Father.

I called the next day, June 20, 2005, to see what the charges would be on my credit card ($142.11). I had a ballpark figure in mind and I was surprised to find out that it was higher than I expected. I asked the employee why it was higher, and she stated that “You used the dolly – the seal was broken and we are charging you for it”. That is the point where I decided that I would write a letter to your company. You see, we have a dolly, we had no need to use U-Haul’s dolly and didn’t. And after the fiasco we saw with the woman being charged unnecessarily, we were certain that the truck was in order when we dropped it off, which included a visual inspection of the seal that was NOT broken.

I have used U-Haul on many occasions, as you were convenient and close to the areas where I lived. I used your services to move to and from college. I used your services to move locally in Rhode Island, Colorado and Pennsylvania. This was, by far, the worst experience that I have ever had with your company. We lost time – time waiting for the employee to open the door initially, time fearing for our lives, and time spent with my Father. Time, unfortunately, is something that we will never be able to get back. I will not be using your services again.

Sincerely,

Contact Wendy to see scans of truck
Wendy Arnott   warnott1 at msn.com

Dear Rich,

My name is Antony; I am a computer network engineer from India who is currently working in Teaneck, NJ.

I happened to find your site on a desperate search about the cheatings going on with U-Haul.

I just wanted to share my experience too. I rented a 10ft truck from U-Haul Saddle Brook office on 7/9/2005; as I rented a new apartment on Saddle Brook and wanted to move my stuffs from my old apartment in Hackensack. My Pregnant wife who was working in Syracuse, NY was taking a break from work and shifting to NJ with me. I was in real hurry and didn’t checkup Mileage while picking up, or dropping it off. I always used to rent cars to drive up to Syracuse every week; I had pretty much high regards for companies like Enterprise and Budget and never faced any issues with them.

I picked up truck about 5.00PM Saturday, did two trips between Saddle Brook and Hackensack, drove above 18 miles in Total. I dropped off the truck at Saddle Brook u-haul about 10.00PM. My wife was with me while picking and dropping the truck and a friend of mine was with me full time during the shift and drop off of the truck. The truck was really bad, other than that my move went on fine.

I nearly fainted on 07/16/2005 seeing my credit card was charged $530.24!! After numerous calls to their regional office and Saddle Brook office, they said I have done 180 miles!! Can you believe? Just two trips between Saddle Brook and Hackensack which are about 4 miles apart!! I tried speaking to their regional office, even went in person to their Saddle Brook office and none of that helped. Numerous times they put me on hold for hours and hanged up on me. Finally, they are calling me a liar and claiming that I have really done all these miles. They do not listen, and just turning down my request for checking previous and after rental records saying that it is all fine. I am really surprised how such a company is surviving in a great country like US.

I told them I am going straight to the cops and U-haul representative threatened that the cops can do nothing!!

This is huge money for me, and I do not know what to do. I am a temporary worker in US and all my intention is to save little bucks during my temporary stay here and go back to my home country.

I just wanted to warn everyone who might get in to an unavoidable situation (avoid it at any cost if you can) to rent a truck from U-Haul. Please be extra careful. I know a guy who takes a camera with him to shoot mileage readings whenever he rent from U-Haul.

I also happened to see in your website one Mr. Tom had faces the same issue like me from Saddle Brook U-Haul. So I guess this is the way they work, avoid them at any cost.

Any advice is highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Antony Abraham   Antony.Abraham “at” google.com

Like some of the other people on here have said, my story is not as bad. I did get a truck when I got there. My troubles came after I returned my truck. I rented a truck for a local move. It was in-state. Only 42 miles. This is the 2ND time that i had rented from U-haul. The first time wasn't a bad experience. This time I rented the truck. A diesel only. I was told to return the truck by 6:30am. Well they don't open until 7:00am. But I had done it before so I was like o.k. Well I put down a $100 deposit. When I returned to pick up my change they told me that I still owed another $20. They said because the truck wasn't fueled back where it was. Know i know that is a lie. I am a hard working woman with a small child. And if you don't put the gas back where it was, there is a $30 refueling charge plus $3 a gallon that they had to refuel. They said it cost $15 to refuel it plus the $30. I was only supposed to be charged $63.00. Instead they charged me $7.00 for a dolly i didn't use. $45.00 for the gas that I know wasn't right. I don't just have $45 to just throw away. So all together i was charged $119.90. Now they say i still owe 19.90 for the rest of the fuel they had to put back. I think it is just a ripoff that they got going on. I have called and called to customer service and they constantly tell me that someone will contact me. And until this day no one has called me. Now when I call they give me the run around. They end up connecting me to the rental location that I rented from. And talking to them there gets me nowhere. This has been going on since 6/21/05. This is REALLY getting tiring. This ongoing process takes so much out of you.. Hopefully I can get this resolved soon. Thanks for your site.. I needed to vent. 

I can be reached at:  NASTY_RED_1 at YAHOO.COM

Hello Rich,

The following attachment is long, as it details a 17 Journey Into Hell, but if you take 5 minutes to read it all -its unbelievable!

The situation was made all the worse by the indignity of waiting long (ie one and a half hours) on hold for assistance, only to be answered by CSRs who had no knowledge about Canada, or even the major cities of Canada.

Read on!

Rev. Michael Nicholas

PS: further to my request for a refund, they have offered a 30% refund, then dont seem to be able to do the math. 30% of $2451 is $735 -they are offering $450.....

                                           ******
June 17: made an on-line reservation

June 23: told to pick up truck in Quesnel (Quesnel is a 3-hour drive from my home!)

June 24: picked up equipement. Noted immediatly that a/c didn't work, but dealer had already left to go home, before I even got the truck off the lot. Engine wouldn't turn over. Had to get truck battery jumped.

June 25: called UHaul regional "shop" about a/c. Told to go through Raodside Assistance operator. On hold 45 mins with Phoenix, and finally hung up.

June 26: called Phoenix again about a/c. Regional shop called me to say no one available to do repair on Sunday. Man who called from shop said he would "get back to me on Monday". I waited for the call, but he didn't call back. 

June 28: drove to Calgary. Called Phoenix about a/c. Alberta shop called back, and repairs were made. 

June 30: to Saskatechewan, where truck developed serious problems. Limped along shoulder of highway 150kms to Swift Current. Called Phoenix (on hold 45 minutes). CSR didn't know where Saskatchewan was. (We only have 12 Provinces up here -how could she not know the name of them?) 

June 30: Regional shop called. Told to take truck to nearby UHaul-contracted garage. Mechanic said stalling was because I put "cold gas in a hot tank". Told me to continue on my trip. Truck stalled leaving garage. Same mechanic reached uder hood and disconnected TPS (throttle position sensor), "so that it won't tell the computer there's a problem and shut everything down". 

June 30: left Swift Current 7pm in shuddering, stalling vehicle that wouldn't go faster than 30kph. Truck died on highway.

June 30: called Phoenix (on-hold 1 hour, 23 minutes!!!). Again, CSR didn't know where Saskatchewan was. 

June 30: Regional shop called. Told me to get a motel, and he would try to find a garage and tow truck. Night in motel

July 1: called Phoenix to provide my contact number (at motel) for Regional shop. (on hold 55 minutes.)

July 1: Truck towed into Moose Jaw, but didn't tow auto transport! Night in motel 

July 2: picked up truck at garage. Garage called regional shop to request another truck be prepared for me. I was told to drive the truck as far as Regina (another 150kms) where I'd get another truck, and UHaul employees would do a trans-load for me. But therewas no auto-transport to use!

July 2: Went to carpet dealership next door which was listed as UHaul dealer, to pick up replacement auto transport. But, they had ceased to be dealer on June 30th. They directed me to another UHaul dealer in town; drove truck there, but that business had moved June 30 to a new location! Carpet dealership employee told me there was one overlooked auto transport left behind their building. Drove to Regina.

July 2: at UHaul centre in Regina, staff knew nothing of my situation, and were belidgerent about providing a new truck and doing a trans-load. Finally told to come back in the morning "since we're too busy now, and we close in an hour". Night in motel. 

July 3: arrived at UHaul centre at opening, but had to wait til 11:15 to be assigned a truck. Was given a form to sign to authourize a trans-load. As only one other employee was available, I did the trans-load myself!

July 10: completed my journey without further incident. Had to drive hard and fast to make up lost time, and arrived 1 day later than allowed by contract. Unloaded at destination, and returned equipement to local listed dealership (a small garage). 

July 11: Called garage in morning and was told to move truck, as garage was no longer a UHaul dealership!( Arrived to be met by UHaul employee who wanted copy of contract for new truck and autotransport. I was not issued a new contract when I picked up the new truck in Regina.) UHaul employee took key and copy of original contract, and drove off.

For this horrible and protracted experience, I had to pay UHaul $2451.00! 

  Rev. Michael Nicholas   rev2 at hotmail.com

I am moving in a few weeks to Toronto and was considering using UHAUL, however after perusing your site and reading the horror stories related here I will definitely not use them.

Thanks for the warning,

Yaron Reichsfeld
mailto:Yaron_Reichsfeld at dortec.intier.com

Hi Rich,
I found your website while searching for a local U-Haul rental location...
I was pleased to see that so many people have taken the time to write letters explaining their experiences so that potential future customers of U-Haul could be warned. I very much appreciate that you have all spoken out and will heed your warnings. I will take my moving truck rental business elsewhere!
Thank you, Rich for spending the time to maintain your website! It provides the opportunity for that all-town-everyone-knows-everything-about-everyone-else type security of knowing who you are doing business with before you do business with them.
Thanks again,

Julia  juliapisces at yahoo.com

Hello Rich,

My name is Trish Phillip and my husband worked as a general manager for Uhaul for 7 yrs. He ended up suing them when he got hurt on the job and his management would not come to his aid so he could go to the doctor. Plus many, many, other injustices this company did to my husband. Long story, but his case was dismissed thanks to the new Calif. Governator we voted in. He changed the workmens comp law in Calif. (by the time we got to court) and dismissed all cases where the injured worked was not totally disabled. Plus I think our attorney screwed up as well. Anyway, Uhaul would work my husband 50-70 hrs a week with no compensation for overtime, which is against a federal law on working managers overtime without pay. Walmart is going through the same law suit by taking advantage of salaried workers.

We hate Uhaul and would like to join your club.

Regards,

Trish Phillip  tphillip at nettsolutions.net

Hi Rich,

 I felt I needed to tell you my experiences (note the plural) with U-Haul.

 In November, 1991, my family and I moved from Scottsdale, Arizona, to Nebraska. We rented a storage unit in Scottsdale and paid on it for nearly four years. In September, 1995, we finally went back to collect our belongings after buying a new home in Missouri. Luckily we had not used a U-Haul storage unit. When we rented the U-Haul truck, it was on empty, and we were told where the closest gas station was. We made it to Missouri without problems. When we arrived in Cameron, Missouri, we unloaded our belongings and took the truck to the local U-Haul. We were charged an inordinate amount of money to fill the gas tank. I informed them that we had received the truck on empty and that's how they were getting it back. They proceeded to inform me that their policy was to provide a full tank upon rental. Of course, we all know what bull this is. Needless to say, I just let it drop. With the price of gas today, you can bet I wouldn't have!!! 

Second nightmare is far worse. My daughter moved from her apartment in Grandview, Missouri. I rented a small trailer to pull behind my Blazer and also rented a storage space for her at the Ruskin Heights U-Haul in Grandview, Missouri. I used my credit/debit card. Without my knowledge, my daughter had NOT paid her storage since I'd rented the space for her. (I firmly believe that U.S. Bank and U-Haul may indeed be owned and/or managed by the same people). In April, I received a notice that I was hundreds of dollars overdrawn. When I went to the bank's website, to my surprise I find that U-Haul has put in a request for over $200 and US Bank has okayed it!!!  I immediately called the bank and was informed that they would be glad to help me, but that U-Haul would have to be paid before anything could be done. Of course, I questioned this as I was obviously telling them this was an unauthorized credit to my account. At any rate, I went through all the steps. My daughter called Ruskin Heights U-Haul, but could never speak to the manager. One of the other employees did inform her that the manager knew it wasn't legal to use my credit card, but he just decided to try it to see if it would go through!!! 

On May 23, 2005, I received the following email from US Bank.  

Thank you for using U.S. Bank email.

It appears that your research has been completed today.  Please watch your account for a credit back within the next few days.  You will receive a letter notifying you of the results or your dispute.

If you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

 Sincerely,

Joanne
U.S. Bank 24-Hour Banking and Financial Sales

Needless to say, I have yet to have a credit to my account, nor have I received the letter. Much to my distress, today I was doing some on-line banking and lo and behold, there are TWO charges on my debit card from Ruskin Heights U-Haul...one for $204 and odd cents and another for $475!!!!  Obviously my daughter has not paid her storage bill since the last time, however, what bothered me most is the fact that the bank once again accepted an UNAUTHORIZED credit to my account.  

I immediately sent an email to US Bank, stating that if a charge of $250 was not authorized, didn't it stand to reason that a total charge of nearly $700 definitely would NOT be?  An email was sent because I couldn't seem to talk to a real person on the 24-hour banking line. Unfortunately, the U-Haul place was already closed, so I have to sit and stew for the entire night, with my blood pressure probably nearing the stroke range!!!.   

Any suggestions on what I can do?? Although I know my daughter is at fault for not paying her storage, I authorized a one-time use of my credit/debit card, so what they have done cannot possibly be legal. To whom can I turn for satisfaction? 

Thank you very much for letting me vent. I think maybe my blood pressure has gone down some  

Sincerely,