PART 1:
This review is first about the specific location and then goes on to discuss issues about the U-Haul Company. I rented a 6'x12' Van Trailer (as it is listed on my contract) back in May 2019. I was moving from Eagle River (as suburb of Anchorage), AK to Tunbridge, VT which is over 4400 miles.
Fisrt when I called about a week out to confirm my reservation and availability of equipment I was assured that the equipment would be ready and that they would have enough time to clean and change out the tires on it. Again, the equipment I was renting was a 6'x12' trailer.
Nest, when I went to this U-Haul location (5700 Boundary Ave. Anchorage, AK. 99504) there were no places to park except for the handicap spot, and of course I didn't park there. I just assumed they had a bunch of customers there so I parked where I could (which was out in the truck lot). When I went inside there were no customers, and it was then that I realized that the employees took all the available parking spots. I feel that is not professional and definitely doesn't show me as the customer that I matter and that you want my business.
When I went to pick up the equipment on the 2May2019 they initially sent me out to the wrong location in the lot and did not walk out there with me to even check that it was ready to go. So I ended up walking back to get the manager who then walked out with me and it was obvious he was not sure where the trailer was located in the lot. Once we found it he assured me that it was ready to go and I took him at his word (FYI don't ever do that). I still did a quick walk around and didn't see and issues or damage that wasn't already logged.
As I stated above, my trip was from Anchorage, AK to Tunbridge, VT was over 4400 miles so it goes without saying that I expected U-Haul to have at least looked at the tires, and changed out or replaced them if needed. In actuality, the tires on the trailer weren't fit to drive across town. Over the next nine days, we experienced three separate incidents involving issues with the tires - all of which lead to delays and out-of-pocket expenses, and one of which could have been a fatal accident.
While driving through a heavy snowstorm in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia on Day 2, we had a blowout on the passenger side of the U-Haul trailer. Thankfully the accident occurred near a "brake check" pull over area, where we were able to safely stop the vehicle and inspect the damage. Luckily, we had cell service (which was very spotty in the mountains in Canada), so we called U-Haul Roadside Assistance (UHRSA). They first wasted 30 minutes trying to identify our location via GPS, instead of accepting my description of the highway name and mile marker, or our distance from the next town. When they failed to identify our location, the UHRSA representative then asked how far away we were from the US border, which was at least two days' drive back the way we had come. After wasting nearly an hour on the phone with them, while the weather got worse, the snow accumulated outside, the sun set and temperatures started to plummet, we gave up on UHRSA and took matters into our own hands. Thankfully I had AAA; within an hour of contacting them, they sent a flatbed tow, loaded the trailer, and got us safely in to the next town, Fort Nelson, BC. When we arrived to town, the tow company informed us that there was a 24-hour tire repair shop in town that A had shown no urgency to help us during our first encounter with them, we had to pay for a new tire out of pocket - costing us almost $300.
The same day that we had and replaced the first flat tire on the trailer, we also noticed that the remaining three tires were bald (i.e. exceptionally worn) and showed signs of dry rot. We contacted the manager of the Anchorage U-Haul location; his advice was to keep any receipts for out-of-pocket expenses incurred because of the trailer, and U-Haul would compensate us when the trip was complete. However, two days later the trailer developed another flat tire, this time on the front-passenger side. It must have been a slow leak, as it was not present when we checked into our hotel on 5May, but present when we checked out on the morning of 6May. From our previous experience with UHRSA, we gather that their customer service is neither knowledgeable nor timely in Canada; therefore, we paid for the flat tire to be patched so we could get on the road for the day (again out of pocket).
That day we passed through Edmonton, Alberta, which had a U-Haul location. I called them as soon as we got on the road for the day, and told them we would need the remaining three bald tires replaced. They directed us to make the request through UHRSA, which we did; UHRSA told us that they had scheduled us an appointment at Kal Tire in Edmonton. Will be continued, look for PART 2. read more