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→‎Criticisms: These paragraphs discuss singular or personal problems (personal meaning the author). They do not represent an unbiased view. This may prove to be too pro-UHaul, but i will try.
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==Criticisms==
==Criticisms==
{{NPOV-section}}
U-Haul is widely considered to have subpar customer service at both the national and local levels.<ref>http://www.uhaulisbad.com</ref> Most customer disputes are seldom resolved, and even if an agreement is made U-Haul often does not hold up their end of the deal. <ref>http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/073/ripoff0073278.htm</ref> Service representatives are known to put customers on hold for unreasonable amounts of time, often lying about managers and bosses being "in meetings" or unable to resolve the current problem. <ref>http://www.uhaul-sucks.com/</ref>


The company has been criticized on their willingness to book rental reservations without guaranteed truck rental. However, it is impossible to determine the time, location, or volume of trucks inbound from other cities. UHaul uses trends set by previous years to try and determine the workload they can handle on a given weekend (which is the time most people set to move), and attempts to fill those reservations accordingly.
In 2003 U-Haul made national news after a customer widely criticized the company for their lack of customer service. In a letter written by the disgruntled customer U-Haul was accused of charging a $50 order cancelation fee after the U-Haul company failed to follow-through on a reservation made one week prior. The acting manager at the U-Haul location stated; "You know, you're the kind of customer I hate..." before having the customer removed from the U-Haul location. Shortly after the letter was written, the charge was reversed. So far no legal action has been taken against the company


Criticisms of UHaul's customer service general boil down to a few types of complaints.
The company has also been criticized on their willingness to book rental reservations without guaranteed truck rental. This has left countless numbers of people without truck rentals on days they need to move. <ref>http://dontuseuhaul.com/system.html</ref>

1) An inability to answer the phone in a timely fasion, or to receive the type of help the customer wanted via phone.

2) Poor customer service at the time of rental from the attendant.

3) Complaints about the actual rental equipment.

In order to properly address these, one must first realize that moving, no matter the distance, is one of the three most stressful situations a person can conciously put themselves in along with divorce and job change. Most customers of UHaul are already physically tired before they come to pick up their equipment. Because of the aforementioned inability to predetermine drop off locations, sometimes customers are routed as much as 30 miles to find the closest truck to fill their reservation. UHaul also reserves the right to substitute larger equipment than was originally reserved if the original equipment is unavailable. In most cases, the customer is able to be advised of these changes before the time of their pickup, but not in all cases.

As a result of these and other factors, customers are generally very stressed mentally. Other smaller factors, like the number of small scratches on the side of the rental equipment, or the amount of gas in the truck, become much larger sticking points for the customer than would be under less stressful circumstances. The UHaul employee, who is not moving and is not under the same stressors, and is generally able to see a small disagreement for what it is. This disproportionate level of importance leads to the common misconception that UHaul employees "don't care".

That is not to say that there are not apathetic employees at UHaul, just as there would be at any company, but the distinction should be made.

It is also important to note that UHaul employees are just people. When a person moves from point A to point B, their stressor ends when they reach point B. However, most customer of UHaul have yet to reach that point. Every busy weekend is a line of tired and stressed out customers, and that is the business of UHaul. It will be the same next weekend, and next month, and next year. Few employees realize these long term implications. UHaul pays it's employees well, and many find that they both unable to properly cope with the high stress of the job enviornment, and unable to immediately replace that income.

The previous 4 paragraphs have attempted to respond to the second of the Customer Complaint Types. The first customer complaint type is a direct result of the second. A customer on the phone is able to be put off for a short period of time, or flat out ignored, while arguements at the actual UHaul facility are dealt with.

In response to the third Customer Complaint Type, UHaul is able to deliver a lower price by renting equipment for a longer period of time before retiring said equipment. It is UHauls policy to perform timely and efficient maintenance of its fleet. UHaul is currently renting trucks that are up to 19 years old, and some trailers still in use were manufactured in the 1940's. The same business plan that allows for cheaper rental rates leaves a very real possibility for failure during use if proper maintenance is not performed.


==In popular culture==
==In popular culture==

Revision as of 07:01, 23 August 2007

U-Haul International, Inc. is a North American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen (1916-1999) in Ridgefield, Washington, who began it in the garage owned by his wife's family, and expanded through franchising with gas stations.

U-Haul is owned by Amerco (Template:Nasdaq2), a holding company which also operates Amerco Real Estate, Republic Western Insurance, and Oxford Life Insurance. The Shoen family currently owns about 40% of the publicly-traded stock corporation. The company rents trucks, trailers, and other pieces of equipment, but many franchisees also provide storage, LPG (propane) refueling, hitch and trailer wiring installation, and carpet cleaners, among other services. The use of older equipment and the company's many outlets across the country makes its services easier to access and more affordable than most competitors[citation needed].

File:P1000372.jpg
The U-Haul logo

Because of the company's ubiquity (there are 15,000 dealers across the country) the name is sometimes used as a genericized trademark to refer to the services of any rental company[citation needed]. The livery used on rented vehicles is widely recognized, primarily consisting of white and a thick horizontal orange stripe, in addition to a large state- or province-themed picture, known as SuperGraphics.

There are many other companies in the U.S. that run similar businesses, but the three most significant competitors are Ryder, Budget Truck Rental and Penske Truck Rental.

History

In 1945, at the age of 29, Leonard Shoen co-founded U-Haul with his wife, Anna Mary Carty, in the town of Ridgefield in the state of Washington. The company was started with an investment of $5,000. He began building rental trailers and splitting the fees for their use with gas station owners who he franchised as agents. He developed one-way rentals and enlisted investors as partners in each trailer as methods of growth.

By 1955, there were more than 10,000 U-Haul trailers on the road and the brand was nationally known. Distracted to some extent by growing his business, Shoen nevertheless took time for multiple marriages and eventually had a total of 14 children, each of whom he made stockholders. Shoen transferred all but 2% of control to his children when two of them, Edward and Mark launched a successful takeover of the business in 1986. Family scrabbling over the U-Haul empire turned to physical confrontations between some of his children at company meetings, even before the 1986 takeover. The takeover sparked a major family dispute that led to a $461 million judgment in favor of Leonard Shoen and others. In 1999, 85-year old Leonard Shoen suffered fatal injuries when he crashed into a telephone pole near his Las Vegas, Nevada home.

The Shoen family, currently led by chairman and president Edward "Joe" Shoen, owns about 40% of the company through their AMERCO holding company. AMERCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2003 and emerged in March 2004. The filing did not include or affect U-Haul operations.

Equipment

U-Haul's rental fleet is composed of trucks, trailers, and various other equipment. Heavy duty pickup truck and van cabs manufactured by GMC, Ford, and previously, International, are mated with U-Haul manufactured truck boxes in fabrication plants located at various places in North America. Many based on Toyota 1-ton pickups are also still in service but are no longer being produced. Five truck sizes are available (10', 14', 17', 24', and 26'), and multiple trailer sizes (4'x6', 4'x8', 5'x8', 5'x9' Ramp Trailer, 5'x10' and 6'x12', in addition to a two-wheeled "Tow Dolly" and a four-wheeled "Auto Transport"). U-Haul advertises that their trucks have lower floors which are built below the tops rather than above the rear tires like standard cargo box trucks. Some trucks also have an over the cab storage area called "Mom's Attic." These design optimizations somewhat compensate for criticisms of some of their equipment. The trucks are painted with graphics of different locations across the United States and Canada.

File:Uhauldealer.jpg
Kirkland, WA dealer in converted gas station with variety of trucks

Pickup trucks and cargo vans are also available at most corporate owned centers. The vans feature significant modifications for moving household furniture. Besides warning stickers, and bumper guards, recent vans have power windows, power locks, running boards, a cargo / driver compartment divider, and wooden slats on the inside walls. Those who plan to move queen or king size box springs should observe that they do not fit horizontally between the door openings of E-series Ford vans. Although the smallest trucks rent for as much as the largest trailers, they are subject to mileage charges and are less likely to be available on weekends.

U-haul has two main classifications for equipment in its fleet. The first type of equipment is known as "In-Town" or "Rotation". These are owned by the franchise or designated to a specific store by the corporation. These are intended for "In-town", pickup and drop off at the same location, rentals only. Generally these are older vehicles with many miles and extensive service histories.

The other half of the fleet consists of "One-way" equipment. These are all owned by the corporation and are used for one-way trips only, meaning pickup and drop off at different locations. Generally this type of equipment is much newer and will have far lower mileage. One-way trucks display the well-known state images while the In-town trucks usually have large decals with the rates advertised. Once a one-way truck has seen so many miles or number of major service calls it will be sold to center for In-town usage. Along with open trailers, the pickup truck and cargo van are available in town only.

These classifications only pertain to the trucks in the fleet, as all the trailers are considered one-way equipment; except for the open trailers which belong to the individual centers. Ramp trailers are the only open trailers that may be rented one-way. Often one-way equipment will be used for in-town rentals, however, in-town equipment should never go on a one-way rental.

All U-haul trailers require a "flat four" wiring mount (or adapter) and a 1 7/8", 2", or 2 1/8" ball with adequate hitch and vehicle towing capacity.

All trucks owned by the U-Haul corporation (including those assigned and decaled for use in Canada) display Arizona license plates that do not expire. Trailers and Auto Transports display license plates from a variety of states and provinces. Some license plates do expire, while others are permanent.

Ford Explorer

U-haul will not rent a trailer to be attached to any Ford Explorer. According to U-haul: "U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations. This policy is not related to safety issues. This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul." This extends to all production years and models (for example, the ban includes the Ford Explorer Sport-Trac) of Explorers, regardless of tire brand that is attached. Ford Explorers can, however, be towed by U-Haul equipment, and U-Haul also manufactures trailer hitches for Explorers.

The ban does not extend to sister vehicles such as the Mercury Mountaineer or Lincoln Aviator however, which are both essentially the same vehicle with different badging.

Rental rates

File:U-haul Truck.jpg
A U-Haul truck on the Coquihala Highway in British Columbia.

U-haul truck rental rates differ by usage. For "One-way Moves", pickup and drop off at different location, the rates are decided upon the need for that equipment at the destination; One-way rates include a predefined amount of mileage, usually judged by the driving distance from one location to the other with allowance for loading and unloading. If more mileage is used there is an extra-mileage rate that may differ from location to location.

For "In-town Moves", pickup and drop off at the same location, rate are fixed by the size of the truck with addition mileage charge. In town rates are for one "rental period", generally up to 24 hours on weekdays, 8 hours on weekends, based on availability of equipment. Mileage differs from location to location but is generally around 59 cents per mile on weekdays and 89 cents per mile on weekends. The pick-up trucks, cargo vans, 10' trucks, and 14' trucks rent for $19.95, the 17' truck rents for $29.95, and the 24' and 26' trucks rent for $39.95.

Trailers are exempt from mileage charges as they are not equipped with odometers. They are rented for 24 hours on weekdays or 8 hours on weekends. 4' x 6' open and 4' x 8' enclosed trailers are $9.95, 5' x 8' open and enclosed trailers are $18.95, and the largest trailers, 6' x 12' open and enclosed, are $29.95. The 5' x 10' trailers are also $29.95, but are very old and generally not available for rental.

It should be noted that any reservation made for "One-Way" use can not be confirmed until the day before the planned pick up, no matter how far in advance the reservation is made. This is largely due to the amount of "one-way" traffic going in and out of centers. It's generally uncertain what equipment will be available until 2-3 days before the pick up date.

Safety issues

In Canada, various news agencies have found serious safety problems on U-Haul equipment. In July 2005, the Toronto Star reported statistics suggesting that about half of U-haul vehicles in Ontario were not road-safe. [1] Shortly afterward, the Ministry of Transportation (Ontario) reported that, of 296 U-Haul vehicles inspected in the summer of 2005 (43.5% of all inspections performed), 58 (19.6%) were found to have out-of-service defects, meaning that they are not road worthy. [2] CTV followed in October 2005, conducting their own inspections across the country, and finding that all 13 rented U-Haul trucks failed to meet basic provincial safety standards.[3]

Replying to the Toronto Star, the company's Canadian officials cited its inspection policies and procedures that employees and dealers are expected to follow, and spoke of an increased effort to enforce these policies. In response to the CTV results, Canadian U-Haul vice-president admitted to not heeding earlier warnings to improve their vehicles' safety conditions, and said older trucks would be replaced.

In October 2006 CTV W-Five re-investigated U-Haul by renting trucks from 9 locations across Canada. The rentals were then taken to mechanics for an inspection. Of the 9 trucks rented, 7 failed basic safety standards and were not deemed roadworthy; the other 2, while roadworthy, had minor problems. [4]

In the October 2006 episode of W-Five, the Ministry of Transportation stated that if U-Haul vehicles are not road worthy by September 14, 2007, they will be banned from Ontario.

On June 24, 2007, the Los Angeles Times published a story on U-Haul's safety problems titled "Driving With Rented Risks".[5] There were also related articles published such as "Upkeep Lags In U-Haul's Aging Fleet"[6] and "Key Trial Evidence Goes Missing"[7]. Based on the investigative reporting done, U-Haul has been sanctioned numerous times by judges in various court cases and invariably settles out of court with each lawsuit. Former mechanics at U-Haul have stated they would never rent a U-Haul as many times paperwork was falsified to satisfy record-keeping while actual safety work was never performed.

Criticisms

The company has been criticized on their willingness to book rental reservations without guaranteed truck rental. However, it is impossible to determine the time, location, or volume of trucks inbound from other cities. UHaul uses trends set by previous years to try and determine the workload they can handle on a given weekend (which is the time most people set to move), and attempts to fill those reservations accordingly.

Criticisms of UHaul's customer service general boil down to a few types of complaints.

1) An inability to answer the phone in a timely fasion, or to receive the type of help the customer wanted via phone.

2) Poor customer service at the time of rental from the attendant.

3) Complaints about the actual rental equipment.

In order to properly address these, one must first realize that moving, no matter the distance, is one of the three most stressful situations a person can conciously put themselves in along with divorce and job change. Most customers of UHaul are already physically tired before they come to pick up their equipment. Because of the aforementioned inability to predetermine drop off locations, sometimes customers are routed as much as 30 miles to find the closest truck to fill their reservation. UHaul also reserves the right to substitute larger equipment than was originally reserved if the original equipment is unavailable. In most cases, the customer is able to be advised of these changes before the time of their pickup, but not in all cases.

As a result of these and other factors, customers are generally very stressed mentally. Other smaller factors, like the number of small scratches on the side of the rental equipment, or the amount of gas in the truck, become much larger sticking points for the customer than would be under less stressful circumstances. The UHaul employee, who is not moving and is not under the same stressors, and is generally able to see a small disagreement for what it is. This disproportionate level of importance leads to the common misconception that UHaul employees "don't care".

That is not to say that there are not apathetic employees at UHaul, just as there would be at any company, but the distinction should be made.

It is also important to note that UHaul employees are just people. When a person moves from point A to point B, their stressor ends when they reach point B. However, most customer of UHaul have yet to reach that point. Every busy weekend is a line of tired and stressed out customers, and that is the business of UHaul. It will be the same next weekend, and next month, and next year. Few employees realize these long term implications. UHaul pays it's employees well, and many find that they both unable to properly cope with the high stress of the job enviornment, and unable to immediately replace that income.

The previous 4 paragraphs have attempted to respond to the second of the Customer Complaint Types. The first customer complaint type is a direct result of the second. A customer on the phone is able to be put off for a short period of time, or flat out ignored, while arguements at the actual UHaul facility are dealt with.

In response to the third Customer Complaint Type, UHaul is able to deliver a lower price by renting equipment for a longer period of time before retiring said equipment. It is UHauls policy to perform timely and efficient maintenance of its fleet. UHaul is currently renting trucks that are up to 19 years old, and some trailers still in use were manufactured in the 1940's. The same business plan that allows for cheaper rental rates leaves a very real possibility for failure during use if proper maintenance is not performed.

In one episode of The Jetsons, the family moves their belongings, including Rosie to their new home on a rental space trailer known as "U-Fly". In an episode of Futurama, they tow a trailer called "U-Yank". There are also many movies that have U-Haul trucks/trailers in them.

In the episode Cape Feare on The Simpsons, a version of U-Haul is known as "L'il Lugger". It favors the same design and colors of U-Haul trucks and trailers.

References

  1. ^ http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1120429209880&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home
  2. ^ http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2005/08/10/c8916.html?lmatch=&lang=_e.html]
  3. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051021/wfive_uhaul_051021/20051022?hub=WFive
  4. ^ http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061020/wfive_uhaul_061021/20061021?hub=WFive
  5. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/uhaul/la-na-haul24jun24,1,4860340.story
  6. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/uhaul/la-na-haul25jun25,0,4870773,full.story?coll=la-home-center
  7. ^ http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/uhaul/la-na-haul26jun26,1,6691969,full.story?coll=la-default-underdog&ctrack=7&cset=true
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