U-Haul Company

the last time I moved I scheduled the uhaul truck rental several weeks in advance. I was only moving about 10 blocks but I had a lot of stuff to move. I even gave them a creditcard # over the phone.
I show up on the friday morning of my move. there is a freaking line out the door! i amnot concearned because I have a reservation right?
Wrong!
It turns out that for some reason or another, «my» truck hasnt showed up. I look over to my left and see roughly half a dozen trucks lined up. I aks why I cant have those. I am told those are reserved. Well guess what, I HAVE A RESERVATION! No dice. I ended up renting a truck from another company at the last minute.
I was told by a former regional manager of uhaul that it is common practice to bump local moves for folks that are moving across country. They get more money from those guys and it lets them rotate stock around the country. If you really want to nail a truck down, show up with cash to make your reservation. a week ahead of time, and do your move not on a weekend, not on the end of a month.

haha, I guess I am not the only one who doesn’t like this uhaul?
Back when I moved to Berkeley I drove an uhaul up from sunny SoCal. My itinerary was to drive from Bellflower (where I rented) and drop it off at this Berkeley location. I didn’t just decide to drop it off here, IT WAS PLANNED TO BE DROPPED OFF HERE. So I drive up the truck to their parking lot and walk in to get some help. The guy working behind the counter was on the phone so I figured he was talking to a customer or at least a potential one. NOPE! He was frickin talking to his «homey,» his words not mine. He put me on hold for the longest time because he was making personal calls. Not only that, but there was another guy who just was not helping AT ALL. He was on his break so it was kind of understandable, but geez. After some time I just said, «excuse me, can I get some help here?» Guess what… he gave me the finger. Not the finger you’re thinking, but the hold on one sec finger. Finally, after getting some help, after waiting forever, after he knew exactly what I was there for, he simply tells me the lot is full. The WHAT? The lot is full and he can’t take anymore trucks. He tells me then that I need to drop it off at another location and sends me to downtown Oakland. Excuse me? How is this my problem? Take the damn uhaul and YOU guys bring it over there. They say they can’t and to just drop it off there. I was like; I’m new here how the hell am I going to get back to Berkeley? Are you guys going to give me a ride back? Had I known anyone in the city this would not have been an issue, but I didn’t. His answer to me was, «public transportation.» Rather than fight a losing battle I begin my journey.
So not knowing the area at all I search for this other uhaul and find it eventually. Now I am just further in a strange city I know nothing about. I get everything checked and turn the uhaul in. At this point I have never taken a bart, but have heard about it. I ask the woman behind the counter where the nearest bart station was. Apparently it was a couple miles down the road and she wouldn’t recommend walking there. She calls me a cab and they tell me 15 minutes. 45 minutes later I get fed up for waiting for this cab and just start walking down the road. Four miles down I find myself at the bart station wondering what to do. Ok, I’ll admit it’s not brain science, but you were all there at one point in time. Needless to say, I asked people which train to take and ended up in San Francisco instead of Berkeley. F***
Stupid me 2 months later needs a truck again and goes back to this same uhaul. I wait over an hour just to get some help…

I walk through the door at this location and I strangely think of the butter scene from Last Tango in Paris.

Once upon a time, Laurel F. was forced out of her beloved home by a heartless, evil witch of a woman (whose story will be told another day). A trailer had been put on reserve at the San Pablo U-​Haul for the occasion. In order to avoid the crowds, Laurel and her associates arrived at the U-​Haul just as it was opening. Besides the employees, they were the only people there.
It still took our protagonists over an hour to escape. Sans trailer. Which was not on the premises, despite the reservation.
Where did the time go? It appears to have been sucked into the same vacuum as the aforementioned trailer. What were the U-​Haul employees doing that prevented our heroes from making a timely exit? Whatever it was, it was well-​disguised… as it sure looked an awful lot like NOTHING. Such baffling behavior, combined with inexplicable gaps in time and the unfathomable evaporation of a material object, earns the San Pablo U-​Haul top billing in the Authoritative List of International Mystery Spots.

i followed everyone’s advise on going to the eastshore highway location instead. granted i waited until the last minute, but eastshore didn’t have any trucks available that day. it was also in the middle of august. so i was forced to go to the san pablo u-​haul adn you know what? not that bad.
maybe i was expecting it to be unbearably difficult to get a rental, but it was basically painless and quick. maybe they’ve changed management or staff, but they’re really not bad. my brother and i got there at 8 in the morning and we were in and out in a little over 15 minutes — which i consider quick. luckily i didn’t have the same experience as everyone else, although my brother did say they screwed up the mileage when he returned the truck. but he corrected them and they fixed it.

I didn’t believe all of these reviews.
Then I rented a truck.
OH MY GOD. One of the worst experiences of my life.
Really. BELIEVE IN Unilocal! DO NOT RENT FROM U-​HAUL!!!

I had a horrible experience at the Uhaul on San Pablo. My reservation was somehow «canceled» by a mysteriously unidentifiable person and no one cared to do anything.
Luckily the lovely customer service rep at the 888 number found me a truck in Richmond. The Uhaul in Richmond is a totally different experience with a very caring, capable staff and amazing manager.
Seems like the rest of the organization is perfectly normal but the San Pablo location really sucks and they have the most uncaring, rude and useless staff.

I would rather carry individual boxes and pieces of furiture from one place to another than use this U-​Haul again. I would give it zero stars if I could.
I recently read in the Daily Cal that the City of Berkeley voted to close this place down for parking their trucks on the street. One can only hope…

I’m proud to be part of Unilocal when I see that everyone is in agreement with the miserable experience they have had with a business.
Want to wait in line for an hour early on a Saturday morning? Go here.

Unilocal is forcing me too give this place a star, ugh. I wish I could go for 5 middle fingers instead. :)
I’ve had horrible experiences with the Uhaul Berkeley. I don’t think it’s even necessary to recount them, as there are enough horror stories on Unilocal to prove the point — if you use Uhaul Berkeley, you will very likely get screwed.
If there is any question as to whether or not you should use Uhaul Berkeley, got to Google and type in «Uhaul berkeley.» I just did, and found many lists of complaints in addition to Unilocal,all on the front page. Additionally, I found reports of this locations disregard for the local neighborhood and how they’ve racked up tens of thousands of dollars in fines for willfully ignoring the law. This location operates in such a manner that I’m confused as to how it’s been allowed to operate at all, on legal and business levels. It’s insane.
Bottom line, don’t go to Uhaul berkeley. Don’t chance it. I would HIGHLY recommend that if you go with Uhaul, do so with an authorized dealer, and not a corporate store. I’ve dealt with a couple of authorized uhaul locations who were mom and pop shops and they were very, very nice. Perhaps it’s best just to go with a Uhaul competitor, considering Uhaul’s complete and utter failure to make good on a location of theirs which has caused prolonged pain to its customers.
Run away, run away!

Having helped a few (good and nice) people move, I have seen the total uncaring, incompetence and downright fleecing of customers at this location. Never have I seen one business single handedly turn normal human beings into frustrated, angry, crying, potentially homicidal (of the U-​haul employees) defeated creatures. How they treat, allegedly try to cheat, and just plain abuse their customers is disgusting.
If you, and there are so many, have rented from this u-​haul location and experienced any of the following, you should report them to the Better Business Bureau. Also, you should write to corporate and the local news channel. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. The location on eastshore is WAY better.
List of Offenses
1. The first of the month rolls around every 28 – 31 days. They know this is the busiest time. They do not hire more employees so there are even less people to help during a predictable peak time.
2. The employees do no work. Customers will wait in line for hours and the employees will blatantly be sitting behind the counter, smoking, and doing *&^*& nothing while people grow increasingly homicidal. The wait in line is usually more than an hour and up to three and employees will be picking their noses and rapping or some other nonsense behind the counter.
3. There have been several reports of employees extorting customers. The employees know they have a captive audience because people assume they are a monopoly and know people are desperate.
4. They will try to charge you for damage or cleaning when the trucks were already damaged and the trucks are dirty/​stinky/​etc. Plus their trucks are allegedly usually in violation of some California code.
5. They allegedly will try to charge you for mileage you never drove, blatantly mis-​marking the mileage when you check in.
6. They do not have the truck you reserved, in the size and time designated ever. If you complain, then they allegedly threaten to give the truck (that is not yours, and for half the time) to someone else. So most people end up paying more, either because they have to keep the truck longer because they didn’t have the right length of the reservation, or because they had to wait in line so long, or because they were basically abused into taking a smaller truck that required more trips. (Also they will try to give away your truck if you happen to be in line, but since have been waiting in line for more than an hour, you are not up at the counter at check in time).
7. They will let «cute girls» cut in line, and give them trucks when they don’t have a reservation, and then creepily flirt with them for 30 minutes when there is no one else to help customers.
This business is an example of how monopolies, poor management, and ethical complacency lead to abuses.

Without going into a two hour tyrade, I will simply say this was THE worst «customer service» I have EVER experienced in my ENTIRE life.
I am talking a 2 week nightmare, more stress and tears than I care to recount, and permanent damage to my brand new car caused by their ridiculous excuse for employees. Who then proceeded to STAND AROUND AND RAP AND DANCE for TWO HOURS while I waited on them, and then to hit on me.
And Mike, the Manager? Dodged my phonecalls for a week and a half. I finally gave up. What a lowlife.
I wrote to U-​Haul corporate as well and didn’t hear anything. This place is infuriating and I hope it burns down.
DO NOT GO HERE. EVER.

I’ve never had the bad experiences everyone else had, but it’s definitely not good here. My main problem is getting enough hours on the truck — the rate is for 24 hours, but they try and get you to bring it back after 5 hours or so. And at 4 PM, when you bring it back, there are tons of trucks?!? this past time the gas tank didn’t rise even though i put in more than enough gas. I convinced the staff member to move the truck forward a few feet, and viola, the gauge moved up. I’ll definitely try someone else next time (which is a shame, because I live very close to it now).

Oh my gosh, I should have read everyone else’s Unilocal reviews before I decided to use U-​Haul (AGAIN!!!). I was there three times today, and finally have a truck for use tomorrow… I understand that when the first of the month falls on a Sunday it is going to be busy… but I think if I were running U-​Haul I would pay staff overtime to work these occasional nightmare days. Sadly, there were only two employees to attend to the needs of a dozen or so frustrated customers (maybe more the second time I went in the middle of the day — I went once in the AM, once around noon, and once in the evening).
Does anyone even read reviews regarding moving supplies and companies?
I think we block the moving experience out of our minds once it happens — it’s the only way that people ever move more than once in their lives.

This would be ZERO (0) stars if I could.
Moving is already stressful enough… then to deal with this U-haul’s crap just takes the cake.
I decided to go early on a Friday to pick up a truck because I knew they would run out. Had to wait an hour in line. There were people «working» but they werent helping the customers. I also should note here that they overcharged me too.
After getting my truck, drove it home since I was in a hurry to pack that night. The next morning, when moving all my stuff in, I realize that the entire inside smelled heavily of URINE. It smelled like 10 bums pissed all over it.
I tried calling the store for an hour while moving, but no one answered. So I moved all my stuff in the urine-​reeking truck since I had to drop the truck off at the Fremont location by a certain time.
All of my stuff smelled like urine for weeks. I had to get a new bed because I was so disgusted by the smell.
When I returned the truck at the Fremont location, I complained and the guy offered to give me a discount. However, after he saw that I got it from the Berkeley location, he said he couldnt do anything and to go talk to them.
Tried calling again, no answer. Drove back to Berkeley, waited an hour again to talk to the manager (Mike), and with attitude he basically tells me its my fault since I didnt bring it back. It was then I noticed that the phone was non-​stop ringing on low volume and the employees just dont pick up. He was sooooooooo rude! He told me off! I was in shock at how much nerve he had so I just left. I have never been so infuriated in my life.
I ended up calling U-​Haul corporate, told a secretary about how bad this manager was. She said she would pass my complaint on, but I never ended up hearing anything from them.
This place is really terrible. This happened two years ago, yet I still get angry just thinking about it. GRRR

False advertising… plain and simple. $ 19.99 my ass. Try to get that truck!

If I could give a rating of zero stars I would. But I can’t. One star means 20% of a full score which is already very generous! My horror story is thus:
I’m trying to do all my moving in one day so I can return the truck at the end of the day before it closes. So I get there early in the morning and I’m third or fourth in line. This can’t take long, I think, but I was in line for about an hour!!! There is no reason why you cannot deal with three people in about TEN MINUTES.
I was asked to refill the tank up to halfway, but the receipt indicated to fill it up to a quarter full. So when I returned the truck, a quarter full it was. I only find out at the day’s end that the odd mark that the guy had circled on my receipt meant I needed to fill it to halfway. OK, there was a miscommunication. Most places will let it slide. But not U-​Haul!
So to avoid an extra fee the guys were «nice» enough to hand my keys back and tell me to fill up at the gas station around the corner and then bring it back… so I go back outside to the lot and the attendant there says, «Oh no! I already parked your truck behind other trucks!» So he says, «Just give me twenty bucks and you can drive one of these other trucks around the block and I’ll report you as having filled up the tank.» At this point I just want to get out of there – did I also mention I was waiting in line for about an hour on the return as well? – so I fork over the money and take a truck around the block… only to notice that it WAS my truck the entire time. The guy just wanted to pocket twenty bucks! And getting gas would have probably been cheaper anyway!
At least he did let me slide on the gas when I bought the truck back, unfilled. But let’s recap, shall we? First of all, service is mind-​numbingly slow, as if the place was run by retarded, armless monkeys. Secondly, they have no consideration for their customers. And thirdly, they have no problem with hiring liars and cheats.
AVOID IF YOU WANT TO HAVE A GOOD DAY.

I give them two stars because the dude backed down and didn’t make me pay for the 500 miles I didn’t drive in the 20 minutes I had the truck.
yes, if you can believe that, they were actually going to charge me for the 500 miles, even though it was clear I only had the truck for 20 minutes (to take a mattress to the dump). I should’ve marked the mileage before I left anyway as a backup plan. However when it was clear what happened, and they still were trying to charge me, I was stunned.
The truck itself was fine. The people were the main issue. I would always make sure to call the day of your reservation to make sure your vehicle is there and then definitely mark everything on that vehicle including the mileage. Also, give yourself time as the waiting times at the desk can be long and ardurous

The service here was so terrible that I transcribed the conversation (
) and e-​mailed it to U-Haul’s national customer service. They didn’t do anything about it.

This U-​Haul location is incompetent, cruel, and heartless. I’ve used them the last 3 times I had to move, and they let me down each time. I’ve reserved the truck I needed for moving about two weeks ahead of time and called a few days before the move to confirm my reservation, but on moving day, these reservations mean jack shit. It’s just like the Seinfeld rental car bit, except U-​Haul will not kiss up to you by offering an «upgrade» to a better (read: available) vehicle. They will most likely downgrade you to a smaller truck or van. On the last move, I was so stressed out about moving that when they gave me the smallest van they have because the correct size truck I reserved was not there, I CRIED!!! Not even a weeping girl could melt the cold, cruel hearts of the U-​Haul employees. They couldn’t be bothered to make good on the reservation I made, and threatened to give the van to someone else if I didn’t take it on the spot. Needless to say, I had to move that day so I took the van and had to make several trips, incurring more mileage for which I had to pay. I am pretty certain that one of the circles of hell are reserved for the mean U-​Haul employees.
UPDATE 2÷29÷08: Apparently, the CEO of U-​Haul announced his cell phone number on TV and asked customers to call with any complaints. It’s posted on the Consumerist (
) so bring that with you when you pick up your truck and call as soon as there’s a problem.