Despite having a “confirmed” reservation for YESTERDAY U-Haul STILL doesn’t have a truck for us (turns out “confirmed” means “depending on availability” and is basically a scam so you don’t go rent somewhere else), so we are busily moving an entire two bedroom apartment in our trusty ten-year-old Toyota wagon. Is that low-rent, or what? Blogging during breaks, delaying breaking down the desktop station and moving over to the laptop once and for all. Next trip – the exercise machine.
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Actually had a great reservation – picked up truck in Gresham OR – with the fuel needle on the low end of the 1/4 mark. Returned the truck to Livermore, CA – the fuel needle at the low end of the 1/4 mark – they claimed it was 1/8. $50 charge – and they refused to let me take a photo of the needle. That amounts to about $16.00 a gallon.
Renter beware of u-haul fuel charge, Make sure you take picture of fuel gauge before and after renting the truck. Uhaul manager checked and registered the fuel gauge at pick up time with me but did not perform the same when I returned the truck. I have learned my lesson that never returned the truck after hour or before office closing. Make sure when returning, there is someone from the truck/car company registered and agreed the fuel level. I was 100% certian that I had returned the truck with same fuel gauge level. When I picked up the truck, the manager mentioned that I can returned it after hour too, just drop off the key in door slot and pick up receipt next day. I did as suggested, next day when I picked up the receipt and to my surprise, they charged $39 for fuel. I disagreed and talked to the manager who registered the fuel gauge when i picked up the truck. He claimed that it was 1 line lower than the original guage. I argued for a while and he asked me to check the gauge while I was there. Now, this is not fair that they did not registered fuel gauge right the way at the time of returning. I had a feeling that they tried to make extra income by just let the truck run in the parking lot to burn down the fuel level so that they can charge extra for fuel. If they are so honest, why they do not make it a company’s policy to register the fuel gauge at time of picking up and returning the truck.
Now, let’s suppose that I did not return the fuel at the same level as he claimed, how much gas could be burned for total of 5 mile round trip. Do you think I could have burned 11 gallons for 5 miles round trip. ($39 devided by $3.50/gallon) The 5 miles distance was shown on their receipt. Don’t you think this is a ripe off and unethical to consumer?
Yes, Uhaul’s awful customer service has been well-documented, and even worse than that, their poor vehicle maintenance and safety standards have caused injury and even loss of life in several cases. If you or anyone you know are thinking about renting a Uhaul, I strongly urge you to check out http://www.uhaulsafetyalert.org. It is so important to become and educated consumer and to help spread the word!
Uhaul has a lot to learn in the rental business. Their customer service at the local pickup and drop off centers absolutely sucks. Then there’s the quality and safety of their vehicles – they are scary at best. Brakes that are about to go out, poorly serviced, high mileage with low care, etc… it’s like an American driving through the worst streets in Iraq with an umbrella for protection. The odds of something bad happening are horrible.
Penske I’ve found uses newer and much better serviced trucks. Give them a shot.