U Haul Manager: Shawn HarrisonCustomer Service Manager: Todd Liars renting junk South Bend Indiana

I rented a 26 ft U Haul truck on April 30th, 2014. I sent our driver to pick up the U Haul at the Western Avenue location in South Bend Indiana. Upon arriving they measured the fuel guage on the level part of the parking lot and made notation at half a tank. Then moved the truck to the unlevel area of the parking lot for pick up. When my driver picked the truck up it had a difficult time starting, having to be pumped several times before firing up. We used the truck 4 hours over the alloted time (I called and made arrangement for this) and was charged the extra day (no problem there, although I believe if I'm paying for a day I should be able to keep it another day but that's another story). We used the truck for a total of 60 miles only 6 of which were loaded with items. We pulled into a station 2 miles from the drop off and put the tank at the starting level (1/2 tank) and it took 12 gallons (5 miles to the gallon). Upon arriving at the facility we pulled into the lot (uneven part). Upon inspection the manager Shawn said that it wasn't on the half mark and we needed to put more gas in it or he was going to charge us $30 plus $5 a gallon for the gas. We went directly across the street and put in an additional 2.5 gallons (now 4 miles to the gallon). I told shawn that the vehicle had problems starting and that the transmission was slipping and I would like to have a fuel adjustment. He said that it didn't matter and he wasn't making any adjustments. I paid the bill and said that I would be filing a customer complaint. He didn't care (now I understand why).

    I called customer service and filed a complaint (Thursday) and was told that I would hear from a supervisor within 72 hours. Tuesday I called to follow up and was told that weekends don't count and I would hear something by the next day (Wednesday). It is now Friday and I made my follow up call. All of a sudden they cannot find my complaint. So, Todd gets on the phone and tells me that these trucks are maintained every 5K miles and that the trucks read the same on the tank no matter what angle the truck sits and that 4 miles to the gallon is standard for these trucks.

Here's the truth: I am an SAE Certified Mechanic of 35 years so I know how many miles these engines get per gallon on average (not to mention the fact that we've rented the same size trucks from this facility and averaged empty loads at 8 - 12 mpg). Second... the gas guages float in these vehicles and are not "Stable" and float just going down the road. Todd was giving me a bunch of pad answers and everytime I challenged his answers he got defensive. You could tell he was just reading off the contract when I asked him specific questions. Furthermore, these vehicles, if checked every 5k would be in service for a slipping transmission. The attitude of the people that they put in charge of these facilities and customer service sucks. Whatever happened to "Take care of the customer?". We rent an average of $3K a year in trucks and will no longer do business with UHaul. I will not only refuse to do business with them I will also let all those I do business with that also use their facility to seek services elsewhere. As I review complaints against UHaul I see that they are no longer the trusted truck rental facility of yesteryear. Go to Penski or anyone but UHAUL.