I rented an excavator from ATS to pull stumps and bury them in my back field. When I first contacted ATS I explained to them that time was a factor as we only had a few weeks of good digging weather left before the ground would freeze. We discussed rates and I expressed concern that I would finish before the month rental and end up paying for time I wasn't using the machine. The whole time I was getting the feeling that I was annoying the gentlemen I was discussing this with by asking questions. Eventually I was assured that you only pay for the time you us and decided to go forth with the rental. On my end, I got everything in order, post-haste. I delivered the insurance binder and was told that they were having a difficult time finding a machine. A week goes by... I have to follow up with ATS as they were not calling me, leaving me to wonder when and If the machine that I already put a $2500 deposit down on, was ever going to show up. I was forced to call back a few times looking for info before finding out that they were now having a hard time finding someone to deliver the equipment as they gave their CDL-A driver "time off" finally, almost a week later, they managed to deliver the machine but not until 5pm the day before thanksgiving. When I approached the driver to see if he needed a hand, he replied flatly, "No." and walked away. Then when I got into the excavator I noticed that there was no thumb on the machine. Something I had been told a few times, would be. This was frustrating (not to mention I was paying for it by the week). Then I noticed that the door was hanging on by (almost literally) a thread. which meant despite the cold I either couldn't close the door, or had to climb in and out of the front window (no easy task). It took ATS three days to come out and put the thumb on during which time one of the tracks fell off the machine completely! (luckily I was able to fix it myself) and a bucket pin broke in half! (luckily I was also able to fix it myself buy stealing a pin from the clean-up bucket) So far I was not impressed to say the least, but also being a veteran operator, I knew that machinery in much worse condition was still used on job sites today and so I took It all in stride. That is, until the final bill came. I ended up finishing my project in three weeks instead of a month ( or should I say that my project was cut short due to weather, which wouldn't have been a problem if ATS was able to find a driver and deliver the excavator a week earlier) ATS came and picked up the excavator a week ahead of schedule and had assured me that the machine didn't need to be cleaned before picking it up, which was a relief as everything was now frozen solid. But much to my dismay, the bill was for over $5000! How was this possible when the rental cost for the month was only $3800? As I looked over the bill I saw that I had paid more because I only kept the machine for 3 weeks instead of a month. there were also a lot of added hidden fees they never told me about. For example I was charged $200 for the pin that broke! They charged me a cleaning fee after I was told I didn't need to clean it. And despite the fuel meter saying full, ATS managed to cram another almost $100 dollars with of fuel into it by charging me $4 per gal! That's only a few examples. All in all I felt totally taken advantage of and will NEVER rent from ATS again. read more