U-Hell
For our recent move, I rented a 26’ Super Mover from U-Haul to carry our belongings across town.
When I went to pick up the truck, they handed me a small piece of paper that featured a diagram of the truck and told me to inspect the truck, marking the location of any pre-existing dents or scratches. After circling the truck and making all of the proper notations, you could barely make out the outline of the truck underneath all the ink.
That, along with the 129,000 miles on the odometer, should have been my first clues that this was not going to be a quality moving experience, but I ignored the warning signs, signed the contract, hopped in, and started driving to our old house to pick up the first load.
There were two things emblazoned on the side of the truck. First, it stated:
Gross Vehicle Weight: 18,000 lbs. Max
Second was the assertion that the truck featured a:
Gentle-Ride Van
They got it half right because, while it was indeed a “gross vehicle,” the ride was anything but gentle. In fact, the vibration inside the cab was so bad that two-inch gaps kept appearing between the doors and the door frames. I was sure that the doors were going to pop off at any moment, but when I tried express this fear to my friend Dan who was riding with me, the engine noise was so deafening that he couldn’t hear me.
The ride was so unpleasant that after making one trip to the new house in the truck, my wife refused to make the return trip in our “Gentle-Ride Van.” I think she was also a little embarrassed because as we drove down the street with doors rattling, engine whining, gears grinding, and chassis creaking, passersby would reel around in horror thinking that a cargo plane carrying malfunctioning band instruments was bearing down on them.
Another problem was that second gear didn’t exist. OK, to be fair, second gear existed, but it was easier to shift from first to third rather than spend the five minutes it took to find the magic combination of clutch position, engine speed, and expletives necessary to get the beast into second. (To accomplish this yourself, simply put the truck into first, let out the clutch, wait until the engine gets to about 162,000 RPMs, and then kick it into third.)
The emergency brake didn’t work, either. It was more like a “suggestion” brake, suggesting to the truck that it would be really nice if it didn’t roll down the hill, but it wasn’t going to insist on it. And once you got the loading ramp out, someone would have to climb underneath the truck and put it back on track before you could push it back in again. The air coming out of the air conditioner was hotter than than the air outside. Even the AM/FM radio was DOA. (Not that you would have been able to hear anything anyway, but still…)
All of this wouldn’t have been nearly so bad if, two weeks after our U-Hell fiasco, my brother-in-law hadn’t pulled up in a gleaming Penske moving truck that he had just driven out from the Bay Area. As I stroked the unblemished paint, listened to the purring engine, and eyed the spotless interior, he talked about how great his moving experience had been.
I hate him.
Comments
Anonymous
As a Penske truck rental rep, daily I hear stories like the one from folks from all walks of life, who unsuspectingly rent trucks from uhaul. It amazes me that they are still in business with the amount of negative feedback and stories our shop regularly hears about “puhaul”. My advice is if you are going to rent a truck, rent from Penske or even Ryder/Budget but from uhaul “just don’t!.
Dale Robinson
I just had a bad experience with Ryder. After loading the truck for a 700 mile trip I spent two hours waiting for two service station attendents to figure out a simple electical problem. This made me later getting away than I planned on. 30 miles into the trip the engin started to overheat. we got into our pacing car and went into town to see wha we could get done. I was told to get some antifreeze to fill it back up to drive it on into the station where they would have a look at it.
we filled the radiator back up and drove it into the station and avoided having it towed. We had to stay over night because the part was not available. We were told that we would get reimbursed for a room so we checked into a room. Next morning they told us that the part would get there at 11 am so we made the 60 mile round trip in our pace car and was back by 9:30. this made us late getting to our destination so we lost our volenteer help and to hire local workers to help unload. When I submitted the bill I was told it would take 8 weeks to process. now, 8 weeks later I got a notice that the breakdown was my fault and they were not going to pay anything. The mechanice told me that the hose had worn through because it was rubbing on an engine part. I think I’ll go to U-Haul next time!
JOHN ACEDO
I HAD A VERY BAD EXPERIENCE WITH U-HAUL. MY WIFE AND I RENTED A 26 FOOT JUMBO HAULER. THIS TRUCK WAS GOD FORSAKEN, IT WAS LOUD AND NOISEY, THE AIR CONDITION DID NOT WORK, THE TRUCK WAS SO OLD IT DIDNT EVEN HAVE THE PROPER SEAT BELTS, IT WAS JUST EQUIPT WITH LAP BELTS. TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE THE PEOPLE AT THE U-HAUL YARD WERE VERY RUDE AND INCONSIDERATE. I DID NOT FEEL COMFRONTABLE RENTING, MORE OR LESS DRIVING THIS BROKEN DOWN PIECE OF CRAP. MY OPTION WERE VERY LIMITED SO I CHOSE TO RENT THIS TRUCK. IF I COULD GO BACK INTO TIME I WOULD HAVE RATHER CARRIED MY STUFF BY HAND THAN RENT THAT TRUCK. THIS TRUCK WAS TERRIBLE. I ADVISE ALL YOU PEOPLE IN THE WORLD NOT TO RENT ANYTHING FROM U-HAUL. THERE EQUIPTMENT IS UNSATIFACTORY AND UNSAFE.