STUPID U-HAUL

ok, so i rented a u-haul trailer to tow a vehicle a few mile and the guy at the shop put it on and said i was good to go. i got to the vehicle, parked in the street and lowered the ramps and proceeded to load the car...thats when everything went haywire!

the couple was not tightened down and the axels on the trailer acted as a pivot point for the tounge to become airborne when i started to pull the car on. so i eased it off, but the tounge scraped the liftgate on the way to labnding on my bumper and breaking my liscense plate frame!

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so i called the manager and he said to bring it back in so he could look at it...by the time i got the trailer back on the hitch (and secured!) he waqs gone for the day. so, now i have to deal with getting an estimate and filing a claim with their ins company and have to borrow a car for a week or so sibnce i am too young to rent! i'll never rent a u-haul again!

anybody elsehave problems with them? or know what it'll cost to have my liftgate fixed?

I always double-check their wiring and trailer hookups. It is their fault, but I would have checked everything first.

'cept that i had no idea it tightened down...as a matter of fact when i had to reconnect it, i had to call the manager. thats how i found out that the guy messed it up...he didnt do what i did to tighten it down (i watched him). it even felt more secure on the ride back becuase the first trip was really rough...(even though the empty trailer tracks great when properly connected).

did you check out the pix?

yea. Doesn't look too bad. When I needed a whole new tailgate it was estimated at $1200. But that looks like it could be fixed pretty easily. Still gonna cost some bucks though. The dent is uniform the entire way down and exactly in the middle, maybe just get it repainted and leave the dent?

well, i paid the extra 8 bucks for the insurance (good thing since i dont have full coverage) and they said it would be covered...so it'll be on them. its just that i will be without my truck for a week and i am too young to rent a vehicle (you have to be 25 or on your own policy with full coverage and a few grand available on a credit card)

If their insurance is paying for repairs then their insurance can work out a deal with a rental company so you can rent. Your parents may have to cosign. I did this when I was in an accident and the b!tch's insurance was paying. I was 20.

parents wont cosign. i'm hoping they'll just give me one of their new chevy 1500 uhaul trucks for a few days (after all, they are a rental company, right?)

Originally posted by udmsvt
anybody elsehave problems with them? or know what it'll cost to have my liftgate fixed?

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U-Haul -- just the mention of the name makes my blood boil. Let me tell you how much fun I've had with them.

About 5 years ago I needed to move out of my dorm and into an apartment. Trusting U-Haul, I planned to do it on a Friday, and it was "anything that isn't moved out gets thrown out" on Saturday. I booked a truck about a month ahead of time, and when Friday came I took the day off from work and headed down to U-Haul with 4 friends.

I get to the counter and the guy says "Oh, well we weren't able to get you a truck." What? "Yeah, sometimes we can't get them." I seriously wanted to choke the dipshit. There was one truck on the lot and I asked why I couldn't take that one. He said that was booked for Saturday and the people were coming early to pick it up. You can imagine how that made it even worse for me, but I was able to keep my cool. I ended up talking the manager into letting me borrow that truck if I promised to return it the same day (which sucked, since I had originally planned on doing a one-way move and dropping it off at a different U-Haul).

My second encounter with U-Haul was 2 years ago, pretty much the same situation, except this time I called the night before to make sure they had a truck. I get there and guess what, there isn't even ONE truck on the lot. I can't imagine how red my face must have been when I walked in there, but I did my best to speak calmly. Where is the truck I rented? "Lets see here, oh, you have a trailer reserved." No, I don't, I reserved a truck. "There weren't any available, so we gave you the next best thing!"

At this point I think I went into shock, because I agreed to the trailer thing -- which now meant I'd be making 3 or 4 trips instead of 1. So I wait outside for 15 - 30 minutes and someone finally comes out to hook it up. All I have on my Explorer is the trailer ball on the bumper, but they say it is fine. Then the guy goes back inside for another 15 minutes and comes out with this wiring harness, and says I'll need to buy that since it stays on the vehicle -- and it is $90. I glared at him with a look of death as I took the box. He goes inside AGAIN, and I start reading the package. 'Locate rear wiring cable -- cut like 15 different wires -- splice in this harness .....' I go get the guy and I'm like What the hell is this? "On that year (91) you can't just snap them on, you have to cut wires."

I dropped the harness on the ground, walked outside, unhooked the trailer, and drove away.

So that's my experience with U-Haul. And why I have named them the very unimaginative "U-SUCK".

I had a similar incident with a U-haul auto transport. Except mine was more of a frightening one. They hooked me up and I drove A U-haul 17' truck and auto transport to pick up a Rav4. I stood over the tongue guiding the guy on the trailer. The dipsh^t guns it onto the transport and the tongue comes off the ball hitting me between the legs and lifting me in the air. Then slamming me down as the car moved forward. I stumbled to get out of the way and ended up on the ground with the bumper of the Rav4 about 4-6 inches from my face. The idiot just about drove off the transport smashing me in the process. Luckily when it came back down it landed right on the ball.

"That's why I'm like f**k u-hual!"

Moral of the story? It seems a common conclusion that Yes, some of the people working for U-Haul aren't the brightest stars in the sky. So double check the work.

All the U-Haul places I have been to, granted a bit slow and one or two a bit "Deliverance" in character, they have always checked MY work when I hook it up myself. Then I check theirs. I have never had a problem (knock on wood) though YES most of the time U-Haul is a Cluster F*#K.

Cheers.

I agree with all of your that UHaul sometimes isn't the best place, to put it politely.

But:
1) always double check your trailer connections if someone else does them and
2) NEVER stand close to the tongue of an auto trailer when it's being loaded or unloaded! Even a properly hooked up trailer can snap up with 5000 lbs concentrated on the tail.

I forgot to list the one time that I actually did get a truck. Last year when I moved yet again, I gave U-Haul one last shot. Different city, different location.

I did get the truck, but I made 3 phonecalls confirming that I had the exact thing I asked for. First thing I noticed is that the truck had NO gas in it, and the receipt said it had 1/4 tank. I was really surprised that I made it go the gas station on the amount of fuel that was in it. Next is the brakes -- if I had some paint to stir I could have just set it on my knee when I hit the brakes. I got all my stuff loaded up and headed out to my new place, and I hear police sirens. I check the mirror and there are 2 cops right behind me. I pull over and they come up on both sides of the truck, all pissed off that I didn't stop sooner (I didn't see them). Come to find out, the rear turning signals don't work, and I cut someone off that didn't know I was changing lanes. I was lucky to get out of there without a ticket.

When I finally return the truck, already feeling like I was screwed again by U-Haul, I go into the office to find a whole family sitting there. The father is applying for a job -- he speaks no english and his wife knows very little. After about 15 minutes I finally get the attention of the guy at the desk, and he asks me to be polite and wait my turn. No joke, I was there for over an hour just waiting to return the truck.

U-haul :thumbdwn:

i rewired a uhaul last spring on the way home from phoenix to minneapolis on the shoulder of I70 at 2 am somewhere near Kearney nebraska. we were driving along and all the sudden the lights on the trailer cut out, so i went back there and found that if i moved the wires just so they would come on, but any jiggling would make them quit. Luckily i had like 90 feet of 12 gauge in my truck (remember i had all my posessions) and i sat there in the dark and rewired the brake lights and turn signals using ducktape instead of electrical tape and just braiding everything to attach it. it worked the rest of the way home, and when i got here i dropped it off and told the guy he might want to check the wiring... he said "ungsh" i said "well i had to sort of jury rig it to make it" he said "here's your recept" i bet its still running just the way i left it. anybody seen a big ol' trailer with the wiring attached with camo duck tape?

Originally posted by AlaskanJack
The dipsh^t guns it onto the transport and the tongue comes off the ball hitting me between the legs and lifting me in the air

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OUCH!!!

Rental Cars

udmsvt - Enterprise rents to over 18 as long as you have a full coverage policy.

U-Haul - Yep I have had my own dumb-luck with them. Ended up getting my last rental for FREE cause I complained enough when I turned it in. The lady at the local shop was like here is an 800 # if you have any problems let me know. I think i called the number 3 times and was on hold for 45 minutes (speaker phone) before i got to talk to someone. FINALLY talked to them and they wanted to know everything. I hung up, called the local person and she gave me a different 800# to call and I got right through. Ended up getting the trailer for free and a good chunk off my hitch.

My U-Haul story isn't exiciting or anything..........but enough to PISS me off!!

I made plans to take my X out to W. VA to meet up with CoryL. The truck had no rear bumper (aka, no plate), the rear diff was shot, bad tires, just put on AALs and shocks (no road test), battery is shot, rear sway bar was hanging off, and the wife wanted to ride with me, so I decided to trailer it out there. Called the local U-Hauls 2-3 weeks in advance asking about car-haulers. I ended up making reservations with one store.

The big day comes. It is COLD and raining like crazy. To be thrifty, I wait until the afternoon to pick it up so as to have it back by the next afternoon and only get charged for one day. I show up and start doing the paperwork..............and in the middle of this, the guy at the counter asks "Have you ever driven with a car dolly before?" Um, car dolly? I don't want a car dolly. "What did you want?" A car hauler, a trailer. "I don't have any of those." :fire: Make a few calls.................none available in the Richmond area!!

Long story short. I go home and lay in the mud to retighten everything in the rear and removing the sway bar, double check the lugs on the wheels I just put on (THANK GOD!), and drive the unsafe beast in the pouring rain for 5 hours out to W. VA, while the wife follows behind me (oh yea, she loved it). Basically, the U-Haul guy F'd up the whole trip!

Robb

The thing that pisses me off the most about u-hual is that they make you buy that $10 doller "adapter" WTF! Do they purposely wire the trailers backward so you have to buy them? A flat4 connector should fit so why do there trailers need them.

well, i was fine with my 4-flat harness that i bought for 8 bucks on e-bay. they didnt try to get me to buy an adapter, but...
when the damage happened, the manager told me to bring it back in so he could see it (and i did) but he was gone for the day. so, they changed out trailers and sais they would take care of the paperwork upon return. when i brought it back they said that the trailer that i was returning was rented to someone else 2 hours prior (even though it had been attached to my hitch for a day) and the only other one they listed (which was the first one they had given me) was already rented out, so they showed that my original was cancelled and that i never rented one. nobig deal, EXCEPT that they want their money and i need rental paperwork to file a claim (since my orig. paperwork was now void). after about an hour of them debating which one of them f-ed up and rented a trailer that didnt exist, i had to tell them to make up a trailer number to rent me, then check it back in so i could be charged and have my paperwork!

i have already filed my claim and got 4 estimates for tha damage ranging from 360-700 for the repairs. i now get to wait for one of their adjusters so i can get my truck fixed, and i still cant reach the manager to demand that he loan me a truck while mine is in the shop.

since i do not have full coverage and am under 21, NOBODY will rent me a car...but since it waqs u-hauls fault, they aught to get me a loaner.

the store manager is the worst...he is rude, never in the office, and he would not give me the claims number...i had to go around him, but he still insists on seeing the truck. i told his people that i work 40 hours per week plus have 18 credit hrs at a university that is a half hour away, so i can not set up a time to meet with him!

hopefully, i'll actually get my truck fixed in a timely manner and they will provide me a truck (hopefully).

at least i do have one thing slightly pleasing...they said i could not pull the trailer (2100 lbs) carrying a 4-door ex with an F-250, they said i would need a 350...thats funny because my explorer sport did just dandy. i had to tell them i was pulling an escort to get around it, but i pulled a 4-door 91 ex on a 2100lb trailer with a 2-door 93 ex!

Originally posted by buch434
Do they purposely wire the trailers backward so you have to buy them?

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Yes.

Moral of the story? It seems a common conclusion that Yes, some of the people working for U-Haul aren't the brightest stars in the sky.

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Youre being quite charitable, based on my experience with U-Haul.


I'll spare you my U-haul story except to say that it ranks up there with the others.

I have to share this exchange I had with a U-haul guy once when I rented a trailer:

Him: We will just use these Scotchlock connectors to splice into your wiring.

Me: No you won't.

Him: Yeah, we do it all the time.

Me: Youre not doing it to my truck, those things will screw up my wiring harness.

Him: We never have a problem with it.

Me: I'm sure its not a problem for you, but you aren't going to do it to my truck.

Him: If we don't, you will have to pay $8 for the 'special' adapter.

Me: Well, I'd rather pay an extra $8, than have you destroy my wiring harness.