Complaint Review: UHaul - San Francisco California

It started with an on-line reservation. I was advised that I would receive a call the day before telling me where to pick up the vehicle. No such call was received so I called the number from the reservation printout and they said I should call the local office, they couldnt transfer me. I did but got no answer or voice mail. I tried three times. They never called.

Today I went down to 1575 Bayshore, San Francisco and got the truck. After documenting numerous minor damage and noting that the tank was 3/8 full I signed the form and drove off in the truck.

I got about a half mile and it stopped. I called the local office and they said they had no replacement truck and I should call the emergency 800 number. About that time I got the truck to start and drove several blocks until it stopped again. This was repeated a couple of more times before I gave up and called the emergency number.

They told me that the only problem was that I hadn't followed the cold start procedure. I said I didn't know anything about such a procedure. They said I should have been instructed in it upon getting the truck and there should have been a decal in the truck telling me about it. No and no. I asked if I could file a complaint about having been treated like that, as I was currently in a dangerous position in a dead truck. He gave me the national number but couldnt transfer me.

After many minutes on hold they said I would have to call the district number as they couldnt transfer me. I did and the District office rather rudely told me I should call the local number I had called in the first place. The person I spoke to hung up when asked his name. So I called the local office and they said I would have to talk to the manager, but he wasn't in and never returned my call.

After spending two minutes going through the cold start the truck started and ran fine to the place I was to pick up fresh sod. The sod needed to be planted soon so I was in a hurry to get it home. The truck started fine and went a half-mile. Again it stopped. Again I went through the two-minute cold start procedure. It started and went about a half mile. As I was getting near home, I repeated this 4 more times.

When it stopped again I called the emergency number back. They said it would take at least a half hour, probably more but did not know where I would be serviced from. They asked for all sorts of data that was already on my reservation. They insisted on a number starting with 7, 8 or 0 but I couldn't find one. I kept asking that they get someone coming out then deal with the so-called required number (which I never did find).

Finally they faxed something somewhere and gave me a order number and 800 number to call if it got to be too late. Then I got the truck started and drove to within a block of my house while on the phone with the emergency number folks.

I walked to the house (a steep uphill block) and called the 800 number. They said the problem was my fault because I had accepted the truck with too little diesel fuel in it. They would not send a tow truck but would send a mechanic. I said I just needed the truck drug up to my house so I could unload the grass before it died. No, and if it turns out that you are low on gas U-Haul will charge you a service fee for sending out the mechanic. I had only driven the truck 5 miles. It still had over 1/4 tank of fuel. It was stopping up hill, down hill and on flat -- not a fuel problem--not my fault.

When he again implied this was entirely my fault I asked for his name, he hung up.

My wife and I drove down to the U-haul office. Still no Manager - left him another message with a friendly guy behind the counter. My wife found the first name of the guy I talked to at the 800 number (it turns out that was in the same location where I got the truck). He wouldn't give his last name. But another guy there agreed to come up and take the truck from the bottom of the hill in my neighbourhood.

We met him there and lugged the grass into our cars to get it home before it died. He would not sign for receipt of the truck so I cannot prove that he took it. He called my wife a b***h. Two hours later I got a call from the local office wanting to know where the truck is. I don't know where it is at this point. No one knows how to get in touch with the manager. This is a Saturday on the last of the month, not a good day to leave absolutely no one in charge.

A second person called looking for the truck. She said there were many complaints about the location and I should call the manager's boss. He seemed mostly interested in finding out how I got his number and said someone would call me back.

The problem is not one person. I experienced a pattern of unempowered employees, 800 numbers not linked for ease of transfer or linked to data already on file elsewhere, call centers understaffed vs. predictable demand and a general lack of care for the customer throughout my contacts today and yesterday. I would have been in even more risky positions had I lacked a cell phone, creating considerable liability for U-Haul.

Jim

San Francisco, California

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