November 2023 by Cherokee W.
Rude, Rude Rude and Rude I felt as if I was being managed and not given appropriate customer service from the time I walked into this U-Haul location in Seattle, Washington. There was a great deal of clutter on the floor of the store. I attempted to navigate around it and avoid the representative who was lifting a heavy load. While trying to find the front desk, I was tersely redirected to go along a different route. Once the rep had put down the load. She proceeded to the front desk with no smile and no interest in assisting me. I informed her I was scheduled for a moving van this particular morning and provided her with the necessary information and government ID with a photo. At that point she began to question the address on my DL and the address I used for the online rental. I informed her I was moving to a new state, hence needing the moving van. I booked the online rental to return the moving van the same day and to the same location. The rep then picked up her personal mobile and informed me she had to take a same day photo of me as part of my U-Haul driver's contract. I questioned this having used U-Haul in the past. A government photo ID was always appropriate. She condescendingly informed me, U-Haul had implemented this one year ago. I did not agree with this but complied because it was getting late in the day. I had to get my things moved out of storage and take everything to the Alaska Airlines Cargo Business to have my possessions flown out the same day. I also had a flight booked that evening for myself to return to Alaska. I completed the same day photo and signed the agreement papers. The rep showed me a key with numbers on it. Then said the truck was in a plotted location in the back. I spent 10 minutes searching for the van. I reluctantly returned to the store for assistance. Again, the representative acted as if I was bothering her and came outside to indicate the van was located at the far end of the back lot. When I did discover the van, it was parked in the far rear, behind the larger U-Haul moving trucks. The plotted letters and numbers on the ground, she indicated to, are faded. Now, I was pressed for time since it took a better part of an hour at the U-Haul store including checking out the van. I was deeply concerned that if I didn't return the van at the appointment time the representative would forward my information to the local police. Later in the day, upon returning the moving van on time, I pulled into the returns section ahead of another moving truck. I stepped out of the van, leaving the key in the ignition. The van was alarming loudly because the key was in the ignition. I gathered the remainder of my possessions and closed the door to quiet the alarm. The second truck driver exited his truck and proceeded to walk over to the rep who I dealt with that morning and another U-Haul rep. Both reps entered into a conversation with the second driver and ignored me. After a few moments of witnessing both reps had no intentions of assisting me to get the van checked in, I interrupt the trio informing them I had a flight to catch. That is when the second rep began to verbally attack and interrogate me as to where the keys were to the van. I sternly informed him the keys were in the van and walked away disgusted with the whole ordeal. Hard working individuals such as myself, will be more consciencious in how best to use our funds and stop blithely giving our money to business who in turn for our patronage treat us with such disrespect and loathing. It's time to start bankrupting businesses who hire reps lacking in customer service skills. U-Haul, take a few lessons from your neighboring business such as the Red Lion Hotel, Alaska Airlines and Enterprise Car Rentals, who all did a phenomenal job of assisting me in relocating to a new state. U-Haul, your business is an eye soar in the realm of customer service and your business is in grave need of excavation of the people working in your organization. U-Haul, how dare you criminalize a person(s) try to move from one state to another.
