U-Haul

This review is with regard to the store where I shopped for moving supplies (I did not rent a truck or a storage unit). I went to this South Loop U-​Haul three different times to buy boxes and supplies for my recent move from Chicago to LA. The staff here are a 100 times more friendly and helpful than the staff I’ve encountered at any other U-​Haul in the country (I’ve moved all over the U.S. many times). They helped me find everything I needed, made it a quick and efficient experience and even helped me load the boxes in the car. A great selection of moving supplies and a staff that cares about its customers!

I would give them 0 stars if I could. Advice: DO NOT GO HERE!!! The staff are thieves. We accidentally left a wallet with cash in one of trucks and since it was past business hours, we had to wait till the next morning to retrieve it. Arriving there early the next morning (as soon as the facility opened), the wallet was gone. After confronting the guy who checked the truck in, all he did was play dumb. We even offered to let him keep the cash if he would give us the wallet back. You are better off renting through any other rental truck facility: Enterprise, Budget to name a few.
TL;DR: DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. Staff are thieves!!!

This review will be for my overall experience with UHaul. I originally placed a matress, dresser and bed frame in storage at a Uhaul facility in Maryland. I rented a pod rather than the traditional climate controlled unit. The pods don’t sit in a climate controlled environment. The cost of the pod was a$ 100 a monthly.
I had the pod shipped here (via freight) by Uhaul to the tune of nearly $ 900. Yes, $ 900!!! That’s nearly as much as I paid for the furniture I was storing. Highway robbery… Uhaul is literally raping customers at every opportunity. Ah well, what are you going to do? I called the location in Maryland, paid the money and my stuff arrived in a week.
It was due to arrive on a Friday afternoon. Around 5pm the manager of the location, Jason, called me to say that the shipment hadn’t arrived. He apologized for the delay and stated he’d contact me as soon as it was delivered. I really appreciated his call. It was unexpected given the average (borderline subpar) customer service I had at the uhaul location in Maryland.
Jason ended up calling me again 20 minutes later to say my box had arrived. I ended up calling back to let an employee know that I’d pick up my box on Sunday. Originally I’d planned to hire movers but luckily my cousin was free and agreed to come tow the box with his truck.
We arrived at the south loop location just before 9am. The doors were opened before nine so by the time I got inside the wait was long. I waited nearly 20 minutes before being helped. The initial salesgirl couldn’t help me because her computer wouldn’t allow her to add a trailer to my box. The second young lady helped me swiftly. I was charged $ 17 dollars to rent the trailer. Another fee? For $ 900, my pod should have been delivered to my house and unloaded. Charging an extra fee added insult to injury.
Here’s the kicker! The raping didn’t end there. The truck I had was a Tahoe outfitted with a standard size ball. But the uhaul trailer hitch was smaller than standard issue. This seemed to be by design to bulk customers out of even more money. The gentleman assisting us radioed to see if there was a ball available that wrote could «borrow» but that unfortunately wasn’t friutful. (Of course not!!) So I had to pay another $ 30 for a new ball. They tried to force us to buy an adapter to light the rear brakes but it was too large so I returned it.
I unloaded my furniture swiftly and examined it. There appears be minor warping of a couple of the dresser drawers but other that all else seems to be ok. I’d wrapped the dresser and on matress in plastic before putting it in the box so that seemed to help. I also had a bedbug cover on the matress.
Overall I’m pleased with the customer service but the prices uhaul charges are outrageous. I probably would have done better hiring a traditional moving company. The customer service deserves 4 stars but the prices are a one star. I definitely didn’t plan smart when it comes to this endeavor. My pocketbook paid dearly for it too! Hopefully my experience will serve as fair warning.

So normally I hate storage places and u haul spots but this is by far the best experience I have ever had at either… first off I had a storage unit closer to my old place and the new place I was moving to but it was expensive and small but whatever right? It’s only gonna be there for a few months… So I go to the U haul place to get a truck and I meet Jason Zamora, dude is super cool and is friendly. He goes where is your storage at? I’m like up the street he goes. well you only need it for a month? I can give a a free unit… I’m like shittttttttt sold lol. So I ended up needing the unit for 6 months but I come in today Jason instantly remembers me (I have a thing about people remembering me shows you actually give a Damn) I get all my stuff out and get a truck and off to my new place. Overall great storage, great truck rental and they were featured on Chicago PD lol. Thanks Jason!

On October 25, 2014 I went to pick up a truck that I had reserved the previous day. With the truck, I also ordered a appliance dolly, utility dolly, and a dozen furniture pads. I was told if I didn’t use the furniture pads and utility dolly that were in the truck, then I don’t have to pay for it. I returned the truck with the furniture pads unused (with the green security tags still attached) and the utility dolly (also with the green tags still attached). They refused to refund my money. I still have the receipts to prove it. I took so long to review U-​Haul, because it just popped back up in my head when I seen a U-​Haul truck. I feel cheated and will never rent from them again. That was petty. I advise you not to go to this particular U-​Haul.

Sometimes Unilocal needs a star rating for the location and another for the staff.
This location has some of the nicest, most accommodating staff I’ve ever dealt with at a U-​Haul, and in the city that’s a high complement — you’d think they’d be tired of dealing with the clowns that get indignant because they showed up 45 minutes late to a truck pick-​up and somehow it’s the staff’s fault the truck was given away to another, more punctual client. Alas, they’re awesome. Hugs, y’all. And note, my commentary has nothing to do with the truck rental portion of the business, just storage.
Let’s get it out of the way. This building is where you go to get raped, murdered, and have your corpse stored in a locker to never be found again. Jimmy Hoffa might be here.
Seriously, this place is the pinnacle of creeps. From the make-​shift loading dock with spastic door to the freight elevator that sometimes works, sometimes locks you in, the feeling of extreme regret sets in fast. The floors are sturdy wood, but one wonders how long they’ll last given that rat traps are omnipresent and some of the staff freely speak of the rats that call this place — and your stored mattress — home.
There are cement slabs next to full-​wall murals of ballerinas upon which CDs from a local rap ensemble are scattered for the taking, along with invite cards to a party in Dolton, IL. It’s an odd juxtaposition; the ballerinas harken to days of grace and beauty, the rap lyrics keep it real with themes of envy, money lust, and them «phat swishers full of green»
Yes, I took a CD. I listened to the whole thing. I’m not going to Dolton, though. My next stop is to load up a truck with what little I left in that pit and move it anywhere else.

I wish I could give zero stars. I have used uhaul 4 other times myself and have never been so frustrated.
Truck Rental:
The truck was given to me with ¼ tank of gas. When I asked if there were other vehicles with a fuller tank, I was told it was standard uhaul policy to dispatch trucks as long as they have ¼ tank. I was then told that if the truck was brought back with less than ¼ tank, there would be an additional $ 30 surcharge. Call me crazy, but I think this is called price gauging your customers. Something to consider if you’re not looking to also throw in a trip to the gas station as a part of your move.
The check engine light was also on. The mover checked it out for me and said this makes the truck burn more fuel.
Storage:
The ladies at the front desk were very courteous and extremely nice, however the building itself should be condemned. Not sure where they got the photos they posted from, but I put up a few of my own for actual reference. There were areas of rotting wood flooring where a metal sheet was placed over it. Some parts also reeked of pot.
The place is an absolute maze with only 1 freight elevator and 1 small elevator (half the size of my apt elevator) — something to keep in mind if you are hiring movers by the hour.
I’ll try to wrap this up:
–Make sure you emphasize you do not want a unit that has a foundation beam going through it. Those things are huge and take up ¹⁄₃ of the doorway.
–If you are given a 24 hr access card, make sure you try it out before you leave. I was given a card that was never really activated.
–Pray that you will never have to get in touch with anyone at the facility after 7pm, because it just won’t happen.
Moves are stressful enough. I wish I read a review like this before signing up online for this facility.

I had a truly horrendous experience at a different Chicago U-​Haul, and it ended up being a major problem. Through a complicated series of events, this U-​Haul ended up helping me and they were WONDERFUL. So helpful, so explanatory, very customer-​service oriented and honest.
I will never use a different U-​Haul in Chicago again — I will always go to this one. Can’t say enough how much I appreciate their detail-​oriented approach.

I had a great experience at the uhaul location. I am giving it 4 stars instead of 5 mainly due to upkeep of building as it as an old warehouse and quite dated. However the service I received from Jason and his team was great. When my Uboxes arrived from out of state I got a call from him to let me know they arrived (which was an added courtesy I wasn’t expecting) and he offered a storage unit at this location to help save me money on additional moving help which he also didn’t have to do.
They let me look at a few storage units before deciding on one and I didn’t have to wait long at all to get my questions answered and my contract done. I’ve never been to a uhaul where it didn’t take a while to get anything done so I was actually surprised at how available his team was! He also helped me get extra charges removed from my account from a previous contract so he really went above and beyond.
What can you do if there were 5 people ahead of you? Moving is always a pain and takes longer than you think so just budget extra time for the unexpected:)

This place is awful! I had a reservation to pick up a truck and the wait was well over an hour! There were only two employees working and one of them must have been new because she had to ask the other person what to do every step of the way. I have previously rented moving trucks from Penske and Budget which were far superior experiences. Stay away if you can!

Every transaction here takes 20 minutes! OMG I want some boxes and I have to wait forever. This team has no sense of how to prioritize customer needs to maximize transaction speed.

I’ve rented Uhaul trucks before and I’ve always had a good experience. The truck has been clean, etc. This place is a mess! We checked in online (to save time? supposedly?) got there right at 9 (which is what time they open) and immediately stepped into a 15-​person line. We waited in line for our vehicle for over an hour. When we finally got the truck. it was filthy. The inside of the windshield had actual, visible dirt on it. There was chewed gum just sitting on the floor, and there were melted jolly ranchers in the handles and little cubbies. Horrible, horrible experience.