forest foundation

Awesome Uhaul Customer Relations!

Uhaul, Usuck! Seriously, Dave Cygielman and I found out the other day what a horrendously terrible company Uhaul is (at least the one located at 4417 Hollister in Santa Barbara - never go there). Dave and I rented a 14 foot Uhaul truck in order to go pick up some things from a house in Hope Ranch. Some people Dave knew were moving to Michigan and they had offered us some furniture which we arrived in the Uhaul to collect. So after loading a few pieces into the truck, we try starting the thing, and guess what? It won't start. Understandably confused by the problem, we call the hotline number posted in the truck and after being transferred at least four different times (where a different operator asks the same question every time), they walk us through several different experiments to start the truck, non of which work. They then tell us they'll call back. After waiting half an hour, we finally get the call from Uhaul Central that a mechanic is on his way out to see us. Great! W'ell be on our way in no time! Then we get the call from the mechanic - he's on his way from Lompoc and will be there in a little over an hour. So after an extended nap in the van (p.s. Dave snores), the mechanic gets there, does his thing, and tells us the starter needs to be replaced. Finally he switches out the starter, and after a mere four hours of wasted time, we're on our way! Oh yeah, I should also mention that by this time it's so late in the day that we can't complete the move. So here's the positive/negative tally for the day:
Negatives - nonworking truck, poor Uhaul phone-assistance system, extremely slow response time, four lost work hours for Dave and I, incomplete move.
Positives - None.
But it's all well and good. I mean, our truck didn't work and we weren't able to accomplish what we rented the truck for in the first place. We won't be charged. Wrong! Not only is the staff at Uhaul extremely rude dealing with us, but they still charge us full price for the rental, just short of $50!
Here's a hypothetical situation to put what happened to us into perspective. You rent a boat to take you and some friends out on a fishing trip in the ocean. About a half hour out into sea, the boat breaks down. After calling for help, you're stranded out at sea for half the day. Finally, after several hours, the tugboat arrives to pull you in. By the time you get back to the docks, it's late in the afternoon and the rentals for the day are due back. So they didn't give you a boat that works, you didn't get to fish like you were supposed to, and your entire day was wasted. Should you then be responsible to cover the cost of the boat rental? The answer would be obvious to most people, but I guess if you're Uhaul, the answer is yes.

posted by forest foundation @ 3:43 PM