U-Haul International

I reserved a 14' truck on June 28 @ 11:15. The manager had some trouble working her computer and so I was not off the lot until almost 11:30. She asked that I bring the truck back by 3:30. She called me at 3:15 and said, "Please tell me you are on your way." I replied that I was, in fact, on the highway and headed her direction to arrive shortly, though perhaps a few minutes late. She said okay. She called again at 3:28 and, without any greeting, screamed (literally), "Mr. H... get that truck back on my lot right now!" followed by a threat to charge me for another day and also to assess a $50 reservation cancellation fee (since there was a customer waiting for the truck at 3:30). I told her that I would never be able to travel the few miles left in two minutes while sitting in highway traffic.. She began to get irate and I told her to calm down and to not continue to threaten me with outrageous fees, which prompted her to hang up. I arrived at 3:47 and handed her the keys (with 1/4 tank MORE gas in the truck than when I received it!). When I got my bill, she had charged me $183 for the four hour rental (which included double charge for the truck and dolly, mileage, and a $50 "cleaning fee"). Ironically, I watched the next customer drive away in the truck and I never say any cleaning going on. There was not a scrap of paper in that truck that required $50 worth of cleaning. Clearly, she had taken advantage of having my credit card information and set out to "prove a point" by running my bill up. I called the Area manager to dispute the charges and asked only to pay for the mileage and rental I actually used.

After speaking with the Area Manager, Matthew Davis, I was even less impressed with the quality of employees and customer service. After explaining the number of ridiculous fees, Mr. Davis still refused to simply make it right by refunding the extra charges (after all, the next reservation drove off the lot with the truck so no harm was done and Uhaul lost no money). I simply wanted to pay for the services I received. He did agree to refund the fraudulent "cleaning fee" of $50 (ironic since I literally watched the next renter drive away in the truck and I did not see any “cleaning” going on). However, he then reversed his course and went against his own word when I asked what further steps I could take to be heard about the remainder of the money. When I mentioned arbitration, Mr. Davis said the following (you can’t make this stuff up): "Arbitration is a big word for me. I'm just a country boy." He then said, "Well, if you're going to try to go above my head, I'm not going to refund any of the charges. I'll just let them deal with all that." After pointing out his lack of integrity and childish behavior, he agreed to honor his word. He maintained, however, that “It’s real busy at the end of the month and she had someone who had reserved the truck. She did nothing wrong there. If you go over one minute we can charge you another rental period.” For a military veteran (USMC) and police officer to be treated with such disrespect and poor behavior is outrageous. Nobody should be treated this way. I would advise any interested parties, including those who believe that customers can and do still hold influence by withholding their business, to avoid using this location (2770 Neiman Industrial). The truck was due back by 3:30. I handed this woman the keys at 3:47 . How ridiculous and greedy can these people be?