U-Haul Renters Beware

[tngramma]

I made reservations with U-Haul for my DS and DDIL 2 weeks in advance of their move. They live at Ft. Belvoir, Va and are moving to Ft. Meade, MD. I was told someone would call the day before the move to confirm the location and time to pick up the 26 ft. truck. When no call came we called them, sat on hold for 45 minutes to finally be told they were sorry but no trucks had been returned so we would not be getting one. They explained with this being the end of the month and a weekend it is their busiest time. I was assured when I made the reservation everything was a go.

The day of the move we went to Budget and they had no truck available either. But about 30 minutes later Budget called and told us they had a 15 ft. truck we could have. The lady was so nice and helpful. So now we had to make two 50 mile trips to get the move done during the weekend.

With all the moves military personnel make everyone should be aware that U-Haul will make reservations but they are only good if they choose for them to be. I know the Army would have moved my DS and DDIL but they were trying to save money by doing a diddy move.

These people know they have you over a barrel and you will jump through hoops when you are out of time.

 

[jmskinner]

Reminds of the Seinfield episode "so why make a reservation?"

Having the military move you doesn't always go smoothly either. Our last one, the truck didn't have enough room for us after picking up two other families. So our stuff ended up on two different trucks and the second one didn't make it until the next day!

Glad you got the kids moved though.

 

[Shorty82]

U-Haul isn't that great all around. They advertise lower rates but the truth is their daily charge is less but they charge more per mile than their competitors so in the end they cost more. They also do not do a good job maintaining their trucks and some of the trucks are quite old.

When me and a friend moved into an apartment together a year ago we did some research and went with Penske. We were able to get a large truck at a good price. The truck was in good shape and drove well, like a large van. Penske replaces half their fleet every year so you will always get a late model truck with relatively low milage from them and all their trucks have automatic transmissions.

OTOH, a while back I helped a coworker, his DF, and her kids move into a house they just got and they rented from U-Haul. I wound up driving the truck as it had a manual transmission and my coworker doesn't know how to drive a stick. The truck was very old and drove like a semi, the steering wheel was like the ones in semis even. I hated that thing and was glad to return it to the lot.

I had no trouble manuvering the Penske in tight areas but the U-Haul was hard to manuver anywhere, especially in tight places.

U-Haul also advertises lower floors but that causes there to be wheel wells inside the cargo area you have to work around instead of the flat floor the other companies have.

I've heard so many nightmare stories about U-Haul it isn't even funny. Driving that U-Haul just confirmed for me why I will never rent from them myself and why I tell others not to.

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

We're in the process of PCSing after only being here for 7 months. We're moving about 1 hour outside of where we were leaving before being stationed here 7 months ago. Go figure! I agree U-Haul is horrible. We went through budget for the first time and had a great experience. We will be going through Penske this time because they give a better discount to military personnel.

 

[rparmfamily]

That stinks!

We haven't done a DITY move in a long time, but that's because they have given us orders where you can't DITY. (like Sicily, Hawaii)

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

That stinks!

We haven't done a DITY move in a long time, but that's because they have given us orders where you can't DITY. (like Sicily, Hawaii)

I wish we were going somewhere like that. At least I'll be closer to my family. That makes it all the worth.

 

[rparmfamily]

I'm sorry. At least you'll be near family, right?

We love the adventure of moving. I also hate it too. LMAO...

 

[a_sailor's_wife]

oh yea we'll be very close to them Right now we're stationed more than 21 hours away. At least we're still in the US and if I needed to drive to them I could. That's the good thing. However, it might be more of an adventure if we were overseas. I'm sure one day we'll explore that part of the world

 

[natenapril]

Oh NO!! I just reserved a 26 ft truck to make our DITY move. I hope this does not happen to us. UHUAL is the only company in Fairbanks

 

[rgf207]

UHAUL is a racket. I love their advertisements for 19.99/day in huge numbers. Then in the small print there's all the other charges. I rented a uhaul for an in-town move. Well after my 19.99/day charge, I ended up paying a little under 100.00 after gas, fees, mileage, taxes, etc.

 

[tngramma]

Oh NO!! I just reserved a 26 ft truck to make our DITY move. I hope this does not happen to us. UHUAL is the only company in Fairbanks

Did you call the 800 number or did you call your local U-Haul renter? We used the 800 number, don't know if that makes a difference or not. Someone we spoke to on moving day from U-Haul told us they never guarantee a certain size truck for a certain day.
If I were you I would make calls to be sure what is going to happen. This was a nightmare.

 

[tngramma]

I wish we were going somewhere like that. At least I'll be closer to my family. That makes it all the worth.

I bet your family will be happy you are going to be closer to them. I know when my kids were only 4 hours away I was very happy. Although now we live with them part time to take care of grandchildren, 7 and 6. I tell everybody we are Military Parents and move frequently because of new orders. New orders for our soldiers and new orders to us from them. lol

 

[natenapril]

Did you call the 800 number or did you call your local U-Haul renter? We used the 800 number, don't know if that makes a difference or not. Someone we spoke to on moving day from U-Haul told us they never guarantee a certain size truck for a certain day.
If I were you I would make calls to be sure what is going to happen. This was a nightmare.

I made the resv. online. I am sending DH up to the place today to confirm that they will have a truck for us.

THe confirmation did say they could exchange the truck for a similiar or greater size one

Why did I let DH talk me into a DITY move?