Uhaul problems
Question:
I have moved 4 times and have helped other people move locally. One couple moved from Windsor ONT to Halifax, all with U-Haul and perfect experiences. I would not hesitate to use them again.Any though?
Answer:
I had a terrible experience with U-haul Dartmouth two years ago, and a similar experience to yours from a franchisee outside
Wolfville. After letters and threats, I finally got compensation. I will
avoid U-Haul in the future, at all costs.
I bought a truck from Uhaul when I moved from Edmonton. It was going to be
~$4,500 to rent it for the trip, or I could buy a used one from Uhaul for
$5,500. I bought it, drove it here, used it for storage for almost a year,
and then sold it for just over $3,000. The truck worked perfectly the whole
time I owned it. It passed Alberta Commercial Vehicle Inspection before I
left, and passed Nova Scotia Safety Inspection when I sold it; with the
exception of a marginal pitman arm (which the Uhaul mechanic told me about
in Alberta).
I saw the Uhaul special on TV, and although there was merit to the report,
much of it was sensationalized. When a loose battery hold down qualifies as
a "safety failure" and "explosion hazard", I start to wonder just how bad
the Uhauls tested actually were. I would like to see stats on how many
accidents and incidents are resultant from poor maintenance on Uhauls. I
have been screwed by Uhaul on trailer reservations before. I would
certainly go to great lengths to avoid using them.
I guess even with UHaul, the odd person can have a decent experience.
However, UHaul is notorious for:
- telling you that you have a reservation and then not honoring it.
Basically, they keep no truck inventory information, so when you show up
to pick up your truck, it's a crap shoot whether you'll get one or not.
I have seen people literally in tears at UHaul depots near Toronto,
sitting on the pavement in the rain with all of their possessions
because UHaul didn't have the truck they'd reserved.
- this policy on reservation also falls over to other moving equipment.
So, if you've "reserved" furniture blankets, for example, dont expect
them to be there when you pick up the truck.
- the trucks are in notoriously bad shape. In the W-Five test, they
rented trucks in different cities across Canada and NONE of them passed
inspection. You should watch the report. It's quite scary, actually.
- There customer service is absolute crap. Here in Canada, it's even
worse, IMO, because their call centre is out of Atlanta, and the
representatives dont even know where Canada is. I have also found the
people who run the UHaul outlets to be rude and unhelpful.
Unfortunately, in Canada, they seem to be the only company that
rents trucks for one way moves, so it seems to be either them or the
movers (or figuring some way to get the truck back).
Again, glad to hear someone had a decent experience, but keep in mind
when you did rent from them that you were probably driving an unsafe
truck and it was only luck that kept something bad from happening.
Submit Your Comments and Answers
