U-Haul® Reviews
U-Haul has no regard for their customers. The truck was in good condition. Customer service through U-Haul (800 number) is terrible. Local customer service at independent operator was alright. I chose U-Haul because they are well known, but I probably will try to use Ryder or Penske next time. During the ordering process on the web, U-Haul tries to get you to hire helpers. This (eventually) takes you to MovingHelp.com (powered by U-Haul). That site is terrible. For example, there is no contact phone number. The guys I tried hiring there never showed up. That let me to HireAHelper.com which worked out well.
This worked out really well for me. I rented a truck, loaded it with help from my parents, then they drove it while my spouse and I drove my car. At the end I hired helpers to unload, which was a good idea because carrying things upstairs is much harder than carrying them downstairs! Everything about U-Haul goes smoothly -- the boxes and packing material is great, the trucks are great. Note that the U-Haul packing tape is inferior to Scotch packing tape.
This was a 26' truck for a 2-bedroom apartment (largish apartment), but was way too big. Lots of leftover space when loaded, but ok. Uhaul changed the pickup location the evening before I went to my desired pickup location (at 7am) only to find out that the truck was at another dealer 7 miles away. They sent an email the previous night, but didn't call. I was busy packing not browsing through emails then, so I didn't see the change of venue. To his credit, the manager at the preferred store was cleaning out another truck for me to use, but I had already gotten on the phone to get a ride from the one location to the other and didn't hear him say he would to that for me. The official truck was a big "screw you" to whichever location got it. We did the walk-around, and the guy told me to note any locations with damage that weren't already marked with an "X". Well, there were several hundred X's on the truck if not more. There was one long scrape along the top edge on one side that wasn't marked, and we noted that. What I didn't see and he didn't remark about it was that the top of the truck was damaged and patched with aluminum tape, and that it would leak. Well, one rainy drive later, and I found water on my stuff. Luckily, we bagged the important and delicate stuff, but the road grime on it all wasn't too nice. I found his note on the backside of the form and his comment that I had been told about the patch. Nope. We also couldn't get into the yard of the receiving Uhaul dealer since they were not open at the time I was supposed to return the truck, but luckily there was a broken gate in the back and ultimately, we returned it ok, but not without lots of phone calls and "I can't help you's" from friendly staff and after-hours customer service agents. Anyway, all's well that ends well I suppose, and the move was fine, but lots of details were not very well handled. We usually do a Uhaul trailer, but our cars don't have trailer hitches now, so the big truck was our option both ways on this trip. We just picked them because we always seem to use Uhaul when we do it ourselves. An interesting tidbit: when booking online, pick a backwater drop-off location where Uhaul doesn't want to receive a truck after a one-way trip and they'll offer you a very good discount to drop it at a more reasonable location (one that you'll most likely prefer too). A little experimentation may save you 30% like it did for us.
Customer service was excellent when I booked the truck but I was called the day before I was to pick up the truck that the size had been upgraded and would have to be picked up at another location. Not too big of a deal until the charges were increased and not at the agreed upon price with the original booking person. The person at the pick up location was polite about it and had to call his supervisor to get the matter straightened out and the price corrected. Drop off was fine. Gentleman even called the car rental place for me. I didn't have any problems with the truck except one. With my bad knees it was hard to get up into the cab. Poor guy at the pick up location had to get a stepladder for me to use. I had to bring a step stool to use during my 6 hour trip and rely on the kindest of strangers to hand me the step stool once I got back in the cab. All rental truck companies might want to think about adding that extra step to these high cabs. Some of us aren't as young and flexible as we used to be. I was leaning towards two companies and U Haul was selected because of the great customer service when it was booked. I'd probably use them again but I hope I never have to move again.
I don't think you can go wrong with Uhaul. Just don't expect the equipment you want on short notice. Always place a reservation the ensure you have what you need. The truck we had was pretty new with only 19,000 miles. Customer service has always been good with Uhaul. We chose due to convenience and pricing. Yes we would use Uhaul again.
Got the exact van I requested. The 24 footer was easy to drive and did the job. A 27 footer would prob have cut one or two runs off the move but would also have been a lot more cumbersome. Excellent price compared to some other companies. Was the van pretty? Not particularly but it was smooth, had air conditioning, and did the exact job I needed. No complaints at all and would do it again.
The 26 foot truck was older. It has a oil level dash light illuminated when I picked up the truck and was advised that they had checked it out to be a sensor, and they verified the oil level. The suspension was poor. The brakes squealed during breaking, and I observed heat cracking on the front rotors. The breaking was adequate, but would have traded the truck if schedule and availability had allowed. The pickup location in Orlando and the drop off location in Gainesville GA were extremely polite and helpful.
