Stupid Fucking Truck Company

Do NOT rent a truck from Universal Truck Rental. At least not until they get their shit together. They are a small 1-way truck rental company based out of Ontario. Comparative pricing to U-Haul, but without the U-Haul problems...or so I thought.

All the booking was done via e-mail and phone. Steve, the guy I talked to, was super informative and very helpful. He e-mailed me a quote, we setup a time and all was good.

The day before I called and arranged a time to pickup the truck from their location at the truck stop. It managed off-site, so they had to arrange a time for someone to be there. We arranged for 10 am. I show up at 10 and no one is there. We wait until about 10:25, when the lady working there shows up. It is her first day on the job and she has no idea what's going on. The fax machine and phone aren't working in her little office, and to accept a fax at the main truck-stop office it's 7 dollars. She doesn't know any of this. She has no paperwork for us, just has the key to the truck. She doesn't ask us for any ID, or anything. We finally get the shit sorted out in the office, still with no paperwork, and go out to the truck. It's a big 24' 2004 International, nice truck. We do a walk-around, check for damage or anything, check the oil and fluids and start it up. She has no idea about any of this. How to do the walk-around, what to check for, or even how to start the truck. My dad and I are pretty handy with this kinda of stuff and have done it before, so we are fine. If some normal Joe Blow came along he'd be lost.

I fill out an inspection sheet that she has (but had no idea what to do with), and she took a copy for herself and I kept one. Again, she took no id, no drivers license numbers, nothing. She had no idea who we were, or if we were the right people.

So off we go. We load the truck and lock it down and all is fine.

The next day it doesn't start after lunch in Medicine Hat. My dad calls the number on a piece of paper in the truck for service. The guy that answers has no idea what's going on. My dad gives him the truck number, and it isn't even on file. He gives my dad another number, which he calls, and gets pushed through to another number. After an hour of fucking around with calling ppl a service guy is dispatched. He shows up about an hour later and it turns out the problem is a loose connection between the battery box and the transmission and started. Apparently this is a problem with all International trucks of this type, and will continue to be a problem until the wiring is replaced. My dad knows enough to have the guy show him how to jiggle the cables each time it doesn't start. This happens another 5 times throughout the trip, so it's a good thing he showed my dad, otherwise there would have been alot of service phone calls.

Upon arrival in Winnipeg, we unload the truck and go to drop it off at the drop off location 2 days early. Nice right? Well the guy there has never received a truck before. Apparently we are the first people to do this. I ask him where the nearest gas station is that has diesel, at which point he tells me that it's a gasoline truck. No, it isn't. Now tell me where a fucking gas station that has diesel is. He hums and haws and another customer at the counter tells me where one is. I go down, fill it up, and come back. He comes out and has no idea what do to to inspect for damage. All he checks is the gas guage, which is reading 6/8's. Now I just filled it up. Both tanks. $300. I KNOW they are full. I open the caps on both tanks and SHOW HIM that they are full. He says okay, and then writes on the form that the tank is only 6/8's full. We park the truck and leave. He has no idea how it works for charging me or any of that and that Universal Truck Rental will take care of all of that.

I come home and write an e-mail to my buddy Steve at Universal (the guy I dealt with in the first place) and said pretty much what I've said here so far. I dont' hear anything back. It's been over a week, and nothing. I even asked him to send me my receipt via e-mail or mail. Nothing.

So I check my credit card statement today. $2796.50. WHAT THE FUCK!?! I was quoted $2330, with $150 deposit. This would have left me with a remaing charge of $2180. Ummm...what? That's over $600 MORE than they should have charged me. AND it was charged back on the 31st...before I returned the truck, so there was nothing about the gas or anything. They just plain over charged me.

So I sent another e-mail, and left a phone message, but this is fucking bullshit. That's 1 month's rent.

Bullshit motherfuckers. I'm pissed.