U-Haul Moving & Storage of Apple Valley

U-​Haul overall is not my favorite company, but when I’ve had to move, they’re often the cheapest.
That being said, my fiancé and I rented a truck from this location for our move to Clinton in March. The office opened promptly, the owner was ready and waiting for us, super-​friendly, the truck was ready and looked brand-new…probably the best U-​Haul experience I’ve had. A good location.

My complaint is not entirely with the Clinton, MA Uhaul location — I am also complaining about the entire Uhaul company. I was stunned to learn that the world’s #1 moving truck and trailer rental company is so disorganized and unprofessional. I reserved online a 6′ x 12′ trailer two months in advance to be picked up at the Clinton location and decided to go to the location three days before my move just to check it out and make sure everything was okay.
When I first arrived at place (which is actually an apartment building converted into a Uhaul shop) the neon «Open» sign was lit, but the door was locked and a note was on the door saying to call a number because they were in the storage units behind the building. I called the number twice and no one picked up. I called the general manager’s phone number twice, no answer. I called the store phone, no answer.
I waited for about 20 minutes before the girl manning the shop showed up. I guess they don’t get much business here, so it is standard practice to just lock up the shop and disappear whenever you want. Also, the girl working here lives 90 minutes to the West in a city called Chicoppee and is forced to drive to this location because everyone else quit and they can’t hire or train anyone new. She couldn’t speak English very well.
Anyway, she can’t «find my reservation» on her computer with my name, but after I gave her my reservation number she did find it and asked me why I was at that location. Apparently on Uhaul’s computer system they believed that I was scheduled to pick up my trailer at the same location 90 minutes West where this woman was from. At this point she called every Uhaul location in the area and NONE of them had a 6′ x 12′ trailer. I showed her my original confirmation email that clearly stated I would be picking up my trailer at the CLINTON location, not Chicoppee. At this point she calls her manager in Chicoppee and eventually, in an exasperated and indignant voice, tells me that she will drive herself to Chicoppee and get the trailer for me and bring it there. Apparently, there is only ONE large trailer in Massachusetts right now. HOW THE HELL IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?
I felt happy that she said she will do that, but Uhaul should not be so disorganized, unprofessional and irresponsible. If I reserve something two months in advance, I should get exactly what I paid for without having to raise a stink to get it. I didn’t like this experience. It made my move WAY more stressful than it should have been.
So I called back the next day just to make sure that everything would be okay and a different girl was at the Clinton location who gave me the number of her manager. I started telling her manager what happened and she got upset with me and hung up the phone. I was angry, but not at her. She took it very personally.
So I called the Chicoppee office and spoke to an Executive Assistant there and she told me that there was no large trailer there in Chicoppee, despite the fact that the lady from yesterday told me she would drive there and get it for me. The only trailer I can get is in New Hampshire, about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I told her no. She offered me a 10 foot long truck instead with a car tow, which cost $ 500 extra dollars and wouldn’t give me any discounts. The truck was also only a half hour away though, so I said fine.
I sat angry for an hour and called back and told her I wanted the trailer in New Hampshire. I decided to not spend $ 500 extra dollars for something I didn’t need and decided to suck it up and drive to New Hampshire.
The next day at 4pm (one hour before Uhaul closes and one day before the move) my fiancée’s mother agrees to pay the difference for the more expensive truck, so I call back again and ask to revert my reservation back to the way it was (with the truck and car tow) and they agreed to give me the truck for the same amount as the trailer and I could pick it up in the next town over. I needed a car tow now and that too was in an adjacent town (but not the same town as the truck).
So, I got my truck and towed my car behind it for 14 hours straight. UHaul must think I am the most annoying person on the planet; but I finally got a deal — even though it wasn’t at all what I had in mind in the beginning.

I don’t understand the bad reviews of this U-​Haul location. Maybe there was a previous owner, since those reviews are 2 – 4 years old? I had a wonderful experience — the best I’ve ever had from any U-​Haul anywhere & one of my top vehicle rentals of all time overall. No problems, no hassles, total transparency & great customer service.
I booked a cargo van online from this U-​Haul location on Saturday for a 24-​hour period and used it yesterday. Before I booked, I called and spoke to the manager, Melissa, to get a few questions answered. She was extremely helpful and stress-​reducing, very flexible & totally professional. Some of the things she agreed to before I had even booked: allowing my partner to pick up the rental instead of heavily pregnant me so I could stay home with our toddler (car seats don’t fit in the van) despite the charge being on my card, that picking up a little outside the time I’d given was fine (offering clarification that if I ever wanted a truck that may not be true since those are in more demand & they have less of them), and that I could drop it back off after hours (explaining how exactly that would work). She reassured me that she would be there the next day in case of any problems and was happy to help.
On Sunday, when my friends who were helping us were running late and I was beyond stressed out, I called to speak with Melissa again. She was again pleasant, helpful & warm. At that point, she said it was no problem to pick it up at any time that day before closing (requesting that we try for at least 15 minutes before closing), which actually gave us an extra hour beyond what the U-​Haul website had stated. I was concerned that my partner would have to walk there, but she confirmed he could leave my car on their premises safely for as long as needed & could get back in to pick it up anytime. Melissa extinguished all my stress so I could concentrate on our own logistics.
All of the employees were helpful in person as well, from the woman who dealt with my partner at the counter and went over the rental contract with him to the man who did a complete walk-​through with my partner, showing him exactly how to use the parking brake when he didn’t quite understand.
My biggest worry when renting from U-​Haul is knowing that their vehicles tend not to be in the greatest condition regardless of rental location. But this cargo van was almost brand new & in perfect condition! It was super-​clean & surprisingly reasonable on gas — we had to fill it up back to half a tank & a half tank was about the same cost as filling up my extremely efficient high-​MPG personal car. It was quiet & drove extremely well.
We had rented for 24 hours to ensure being able to complete our task without being charged more, which was the exact same price for many less hours of rental. My partner & our friends finished our task in about 12 hours, so my partner dropped the van off in the middle of the night. He had no problem doing that or retrieving my car from their lot.
This morning I received a 100% accurate invoice showing the initial charge as per the U-​Haul website and the second charge for the mileage. It is a very clear itemized receipt for the whole rental from start to finish so I know exactly what I paid for which aspect of the rental (even better than what I got when booking on the website).
I’m very grateful to Melissa & all her employees for making this so easy! I would — and will — definitely use this U-​Haul location again & would even call them directly for price matching larger moves instead of the national 800 number if possible. Highly, highly recommended.

My brother had a similar experience at this Uhaul place, luckily I was able to meet him to jump the battery not once, but twice.
Disgraceful.

I have been to many different U-​Haul locations before and this one is the cleanest I have ever been to before, and the staff are very friendly and helpful with making a reservation or a decision on what size truck to get.
I have been to this U-​Haul 3 different times and I have never had a problem.

I moved from WI to MA. I have my entire house in this U-​Haul storage unit. Matt, the man who owns it has been so extremly helpful. He is flexible, and always available to answer my questions and help me with my concerns. I really appreciate businesses like this, in times of disarray.

Absolutely the most dishonest, fraudulent businesses I have ever had to deal with. In fact, I just signed up for a Unilocal account so that I could specifically warn people not to use this company. I don’t know if all UHaul locations are quite this dishonest, but here is the short of what happened to me:
Rented truck w/​1 dolly (have the receipt to prove this).
Used truck, but when I tried to start it to bring it back to Uhaul it would not start.
I verified that I had not left the headlights, interior lights, or any other lights on that would cause the battery to drain.
Tried to jump start the truck with my own car, no luck.
Call Uhaul who says that they are very busy and that it could be several hours before they can send help. They instruct me to leave the passenger’s side door unlocked with the keys in the glove box, which I do.
3 weeks later a charge for $ 265 shows up on my CC statement (this is in addition to the $ 92 I had already paid for the rental).
I call Uhaul, who says I abandoned the truck (big charge), charged me $ 8 gallon for gas (how can I put gas in a truck that will not start?), and then charged me $ 95 for a «missing» dolly, «missing» furniture pads, and a couple of other misc. charges thrown in for good measure.
The receipt they send me shows that 1 dolly was returned with the truck. The receipt I was given when I initially rented the truck shows that 1 dolly was rented. How can I be charged an extra $ 95 for a «missing» dolly when their own documentation shows that 1 dolly was rented and 1 dolly was returned??? When I try to call them they are arrogant and unhelpful. After months of going back and forth, I have no choice but to pay the money. I could take this Uhaul branch to small claims court, but I just don’t have the time. I only wish Unilocal would allow zero-​star ratings. Would love to see this place go out of business.