U-HAUL rates...THROUGH THE ROOF..UGH..(rant)

[momrek06]

My DS rented a UHaul truck today. He rented it at 9:10am and returned it at 12:07pm (3 hours)! TOTAL COST = $172.14!!! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT!!!!

He is not here but left the receipt on my kitchen table and I am BLOWN AWAY. He was charged $19.95 for the use of the Truck but charged $1.39 for the 89 miles he drove it = $123.71!!! WOW O WOW!!!! $123.71 for the miles. The truck was full of gas when he got it and returned it full of gas.
He also paid a "SafeMove/Tow (?) $14.00, a surcharge $14.48 so all those FEES added to a GRAND TOTAL of $172.14 to rent a Truck for 3 minutes shy of 3 hours.

When renting any equipment I guess in the future I should get a complete BREAKDOWN of every little ity bity charge. I thought to move a few pieces of furniture was going to run me like $50.00 TOPS!!!! Not anywhere near $180.00 for 3 hours!!!

 

[clh2]

Why wouldn't you get a breakdown of all the expenses before you agreed to the rental?


I don't mean to sound harsh, but you usually have to initial all of the charges - when you fill out the paperwork, so someone should have had an idea of the charges.

The one that I would question was the surcharge for $14.48. What's that all about.

 

[momrek06]

Why wouldn't you get a breakdown of all the expenses before you agreed to the rental?


I don't mean to sound harsh, but you usually have to initial all of the charges - when you fill out the paperwork, so someone should have had an idea of the charges.

The one that I would question was the surcharge for $14.48. What's that all about.

O that was so stupid of me . I was the one who called for DS when he wanted to rent the truck to move some furniture from one house to another. ALL I heard was "Ma'am, it is 19.95 for the day" and I know the agent mentioned other charges and THAT is where I made my mistake . Not writing all that DOWN and totaling it out. DAMN...
Yes, I still would like to ask DS what the SafeMove/Tow exactly is and the SURCHARGE as well?????

DS did all the initialing at the Uhaul Store....but that mileage thingy is WILD!
$123.17 for the charge!

A WORD TO THE WISE!!!

 

[Charade]

The same thing happened to me a few month ago. I rented a small truck from them and drove it about 80 miles (roundtrip) to pick up an old antique desk that was given to me for free. Umm.. well, after the U-Haul charge of about $150, I unloaded my "free" desk about 2 hours later. It's the mileage charge that's crazy. Plus, I wouldn't have wanted to drive that truck any further than I did. It was in bad shape.

I will never EVER rent from them again. Budget seems to be the cheapest. Heck, I probably could have fit that into the back of a regular van from Enterprise for even less.

 

[MosMom]

Wow, I just rented an actual 17' truck about a month ago with 130 miles in the agreement and paid $100. I think you got taken!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Wow, I just rented an actual 17' truck about a month ago with 130 miles in the agreement and paid $100. I think you got taken!

I would agree. I had a UHAUL for a whole weekend, drove about 85 miles.... paid $100 about 3 years ago.

 

[momrek06]

Wow, I just rented an actual 17' truck about a month ago with 130 miles in the agreement and paid $100. I think you got taken!

He HAD to pay a minimum of $34.75 (or 25 miles) whether he went that many miles or not. He actually went 89. SAME THING. We all have Trailblazers we probably could have fit the TV (52 in flat screen hi def tv 70lbs) NOT SURE about the QUEEN SIZE BED ..though...UGH...!

Yes, it is all typed up on this huge receipt...
$14.48 surcharge
$14.00 safemove/tow
$123.71 miles
$19.95 truck
AND the truck was one big pile of CRAP. He started it up and it smelled AWFUL, as this exhaust coming out of it . I was following him on the highway and he could go about 50 miles per hour...that was it...
Location: Northeast CT. pricey$$$

 

[clh2]

Taking the insurance is advisable. Most auto insurance plans may cover car rentals, most do not cover a "moving/cargo" vehicle. We've checked with our insurance co. - we ALWAYS get this insurance. (This one gets my attention - but I do not want to be responsible for damage to the vehicle - too many things can happen.

The next time you need to move stuff - you should try to find a Cargo van. I bet a queen size bed would have fit in it (although when I am uncertain about the dimensions, the rental company will tell what I need to know.)

The last time we rented a cargo van, we had an option of a cost per day plus milage (and the milage cost was fairly reasonable - which I for the life of me cannot remember.) or a higher rate that would include unlimited milage. For our last rental - we were needing the van for about 200 miles, and with whatever the rates were, it was about a breakeven between the unlimited miles and the cost plus milage option. Since we weren't familiar with the area we were picking up the furniture, we opted to go for unlimited.

We got the insurance, and 12 packing, the unlimited milage, and our total bill was just about $100. This was not a Uhaul renter, just a local place. We've always had good service there, the trucks are clean, and well maintained

 

[LadyyRedd]

Unfortunately, although he only kept the truck for 3 hours, the rate is for a 24 hour period, regardless of whether he returns it early or not.

The mileage rate seems HIGH to me though. I've rented plenty of trucks for various reasons over the last 8 years and the mileage has always been around 59 cents to 69 cents per mile. I wonder why the minimum on number of miles though, that's weird.

I am covered through my insurance policy for liability, so I always opt for the extra $15 coverage that would cover body damage, that the rental company offers. I decline liability though.

I know that different dates can run you higher. Like the first and last weekends of the month are always more outrageous than the other weekends. If you can rent on a weekday, even better.

I always rent from Budget www.yellowtruck.com and have had awesome luck with them. Plus, if you call the place directly (instead of reserving online - though I know you didn't book online), you can sometimes get them to make you a deal if you need something out of the ordinary. Back in Feb we moved my mom and wanted to get the truck fri night. I got the guy to agree to rent me the truck late fri (about 15 min before closing) to the same time on Sat night (24 hour rental that would normally have been considered a 2 day rental) and we were able to load stuff fri night. And since our return time was after their saturday closing time and they were not open on sundays, he said as long as I had the truck back by opening on monday, it would only be a 1 day charge.

Kimya

 

[cindrelly31]

Was it local move?? Usually for local moves there is unlimited mileage. I would definately question why they charge that amount for mileage when the federal rate is only $0.49/mile. If they are charging you a rental rate the mileage rate should be a lot less. Don't let them give you the "wear and tear" story.

 

[momrek06]

Was it local move?? Usually for local moves there is unlimited mileage. I would definately question why they charge that amount for mileage when the federal rate is only $0.49/mile. If they are charging you a rental rate the mileage rate should be a lot less. Don't let them give you the "wear and tear" story.

YES, it was a local move. I need to do some inquiring to this....I really am shocked at the MILES PRICE. 89 miles = $123.71!! To me that is HORRIBLE!
Charge was $1.39 PER MILE to drive this WRECK of a truck.
I need to call someone like the Better Business Bureau to find out if this is the going rate everywhere.....Hhmmm....$19.95 for the truck itself....but I paid 6 times that amount for the MILES that DS drove....YIKES!!!

 

[MosMom]

If we had gone over our mileage limit here, it would have been .49 a mile. I'm in the midwest but I can't imagine miles are worth nearly $1.00 more where you are. I would start calling around because this seems absurd.

 

[momrek06]

I actually just went to the UHAUL web site and typed in the city and state we rented from and right there in front of my eyes is the BIG FAT $1.39 per mile fee. AND get this one, the dude actually gave me a DEAL as I rented the 14 foot and only wanted the 10 foot truck (which is $19.95) so he gave us the 14 foot for the 10 foot rate. The 14 foot is $29.95!!!! (he was OUT of 10 foot and offered us the 14 foot)!

UGH UGH UGH !!!!!!!!!!

I guess where it is right there in black and white, there is nothing I can do about it..... I am usually such a good conscientious consumer, that this stuff gets me angry....

One of the replies was to try a cargo van..awesome..but UHAUL had it for .99 mile....not much better...see it is not the vehicle it is that miles fee that is horrible.

I AM STILL THINKING THIS IS NORTHEAST CT. and a pricey area!!!

 

[FreshTressa]

Ours charges $1 a mile...not quite as bad, but still high.

 

[MosMom]

Remind me not to move to CT.

 

[Sleepy]

2 years ago we rented a U-Haul. They were very specific on the breakdown of charges. In the event you did not take the insurance, they even had a detailed list of what certain things would cost if you got in an accident. For example, what the tail light would cost, etc. There were no surprise fees. Everything had to be initialed. And the charge was for a 24 hour period. Not hourly. They also charged more on Fri-Sun than the other days, so you did not actually get the great deal (for example, $29.99) you saw painted on the side of the truck.