U-Haul of Brighton

I’m blown away by the service that I received today 01÷29÷16 by Gabriel Wong (store manager). I made an appointment to get a trailer hitch installed on my Toyota Sienna van. I arrived at 9:26 am for my 9:30am appointment and was told that it’ll be about a 2 hour job. Gabe came out to greet me at my van, he then took my van in immediately and started the work. He was constantly updating me on the progress because he knew that I was pressed for time and I had my 2.5 year old toddler with me as well. The store got slammed with customers and the staff was limited so Gabe was rendering his assistance a lot in the store as well. I’m so impressed with this young man’s customer service ethics and ability to multi task in such a crazy environment. It was 11:25am and my van was finished in time for me to drive over to Newtonville to uplift my 5 year old from school. Gabe thanks from the bottom of my heart, you deserve a gold medal and should be promoted to higher management. Best of luck!

I wish I could give this place 0 stars — because there was not one positive thing I can say about this place. We waited in line for almost a half an hour to pick up our trailer — we were not told we needed to bring our own adapter — so we were forced to pay for one. We told the guy our move was over 2 hours away and he assured us that this trailer would make it. Well… not true — we made it to our driveway filled the trailer and the tire went flat — we then waited for 2 hours for a service call — that guy was GREAT — but he told us the tire had 3 plugs in it and never should have gone out — so he changed the tire and off he went. The next day we made our move and went to return the trailer — guess what it wasn’t hooked up correctly to our truck and the lights on the back were broken. If the hitch failed for some reason the trailer would have fallen right off — well great! So all in all the U Haul of Brighton is terrible. Stay away. I am still waiting for a call from U Haul for a refund. I recommend using anyone but this place.

We purchased our hitch there 2 years ago and they did a great job on the install. Today we came in to see if they could help us with our squeaky bike rack and they very kindly tightened the bolt for us even though they are in the midst of Boston Moving Madness. Excellent customer service!

Awful service. Waited in line for an hour even though I made a reservation. The employees there were rude. It rubbed off on the customers that even the people in line got rough towards each other. I also left a parking permit in the truck I rented. I called the next morning and they say the truck was still there and they will check and get back to me. Not only did they not get back to me, they leased the truck out to someone else. I went to the office in the afternoon and they told me there wa no parking permit found, but when they truck comes back, they will check again. They never did. Even when I called back to enquire, the guy on the phone was belligerent.

How a company like this stays in business is beyond me… The rank and file put up with the low pay as best they can $ 10hr…but seems like they select their management team from local dung heap of the virtual unemployable… Apparently some facilities have their store management live on top of the retail facilities… I suppose to help defray the cost of renting a normal apartment.
I go in to buy some mattress covers — I pick 2 up and proceed to the checkout. After waiting for a about 5 mins to process the sale I realize the clerk has a confused look… Apparently the stock hasn’t been entered in to the system so that it’s on display but I can’t take it and I can’t buy it. lol
It is later explained to me that manager is off the premises when he is in fact supposed to be on floor…(the staff tell me -) Jim Malone– I hear from an employee that this particular manager frequently takes off to eat even though they’re should be a supervisor on the floor at all times… Correct…OK…
Later when the item gets entered into the system that i can buy i find out that the register in question is closed out and can’t take cash. haha .My debit didn’t have enough at the time. Fine — i go to the other register… but am informed will take a long time to process… Wow…not the employee’s fault i’m sure… I can cleary tell that the employees are sympathetic and clearly annoyed to be working in such an unprofessional environment. All in all 4 items to buy and it takes me around 25mins to finally leave with merchandise .Real slick… lol. Maybe instead of the name Uhaul it occured to me that it should be renamed U-​Suck –because of the money that gets extracted from your wallet. Here, they make a killing off of renting to all the Boston students, selling their «insurance» (the vehicles are all covered anyway believe me) and their crappy service.
I did a little research and it appears the only reason the company scrapes by is through long time brand recognition and heavy market penetration –numerous locations… ie. they spend a lot on real estate. In my experience Penske (far more professional from what i observed) or Budget is a better bet if they are in your neighborhood– live and learn.

The most ridiculous customer service ever. We purchased hundreds of dollars of boxes and moving supplies online (noting that they encourage you to buy liberally as they will buy any unused items back). Two weeks later we went to return a few pads of paper and one roll of moving tape. We did not have a paper receipt as we purchased everything online and apparently UHAUL deletes orders from their system after 10 days (wtf?). Our online confirmation order receipt was useless. It took almost 45 minutes and a call to the «boss» to return $ 23 worth of supplies. SO insane and ridiculous.

I’ve used U-​Haul of Brighton for several moves now and will likely continue to use their service for future moves. I have run into a couple of problems with U-​haul, but never anything major. In my experience most problems can be avoided if you:
–book online. In Brighton, you need to book your vehicle/​equipment WEEKS in advance, especially if you’re moving on June 1 or (heaven forbid) September 1, they won’t have anything for you if you just walk in the day of and that’s not their fault.
–show up to pick up early. Get there early to get your vehicle, odds are lots of other people are moving on the same day you are and guess where they are going? Uhaul!
–always keep your receipt and signed agreement until after you receive your final bill
–make sure you give yourself enough time to finish your move when you book, even moving a 2 bedroom apartment could take 8+ hours depending on how far you’re going.
A few days ago, U-​haul accidentally overcharged me for fuel (the employee could not find the keys for the original vehicle for which they printed my paperwork and rather than making us wait he gave us keys to a different vehicle and said they would update the information but they forgot to update the amount of fuel in the vehicle). I called U-​haul and their customer service representative was very nice and she apologized and helped me file an «objection» which she said could take 3 days for the district manager to review. After I got off the phone with her, the district manager called me a minute later and said he would reverse the fuel charge. I was nice to them, they were nice to me, problem completely solved.
Bottom line, moving sucks. Renting a van/​truck is cheaper than hiring movers so just be smart about it and you won’t have a problem!

Made an appointment for a trailer hitch installation and was initially pleased with the customer service over the phone. They outlined the amount of time it would take and told me some local restaurants and parks where I could entertain my children during the 1.5 hour wait. Arrived for my scheduled appointment and was told it would be 4 hours because, «something came up.» I get that things happen and totally understand but would have appreciated a call given that I had a scheduled appointment. Had I known that the wait would be so long I would have made alternate arrangements in advance to either not have my children or to reschedule. The manager was rude and dismissive. The person helping me was kind and I felt bad that the staff was put in an uncomfortable position. Will never use this location again. Multiple people in line that day had issues including some that were told their reserved truck was not available. Again, management was extremely rude! Not the only game in town and certainly not the cheapest.

This place is awesome! I haven’t ever had to rent a truck for moving (hired movers and had friends help before) but service was great. Reserved a truck online the night before I needed it, was able to get in and drive away within about 15 minutes.
Ended up costing me about $ 20 less than I was expecting, and it was really easy to drop off after hours. I’m sure September 1^st here would be a nightmare, but in the off-​season, it was a breeze.

Reservation pick up time had to be pushed back yet they didn’t allow an allowance for the return time. Total nonsense

This uhaul location saved my sanity on the cusp of moving to California from Boston. We were greeted with kind, candid, professional service. Though they were short-​handed clearing snow from the blizzard with a rush of rental returns, we received patient attention immediately. Jim Noble, the gentleman that helped us, was fully candid in explaining our options, helped us understand fully our challenges in attaching a tow hitch and trailer to our truck and hitched it quickly, securely and safely, allowing us to hit the road that day! I’m writing this from California, so I can attest that the workmanship, professionalism, knowledge and integrity of this uhaul location and particularly Mr. Noble are top shelf! Should I ever have another uhaul experience I hope it is even half as satisfying!

When I called to make the appointment, I was told I could park my car there for the day. When I arrived, I was told there was no parking. I might have chosen a different location had I known that when I made my reservation. Annoying. Also, when returning the vehicle, I was told there was a $ 25 charge to refold the blankets. Refold the blankets? I was never told that. I was pointed to a SMALL label inside the back of the van that I couldn’t see it. Way to go UHaul to earn some extra green. The whole thing felt like bait and switch. $ 19.95 painted on the side of the van. Cost me over $ 150 at the end of the day. Disgusting.

For the abridged version: we had a terrible experience and would not recommend U-​Haul. For the long version:
From the minute we set foot into the store, our experience was bad. We had rented a U-​Haul box with a «guaranteed» delivery date for our cross-​country move. The plan was to rent a trailer to tow the box to our apartment for loading and return it to U-​Haul for shipment. The day we were to pick up the box, U-Haul’s fork-​lift went down and they couldn’t load my box onto the trailer. These things happen, no big deal. I asked for a solution so that we could get them our belongings for shipment. They said the only solution would be to rent a truck to load at our apartment, unload at U-​Haul, then reload into a box on-​site. They proceeded to tell us that this would cost more money than the trailer rental. Obviously this didn’t make sense as the issue was with their equipment, not ours. After much back and forth, we figured out a reasonable solution. Having to load, unload, and reload was an inconvenience but one that we were willing to bear in order to get ready for shipment. If that had been the only issue, I would have given them 3 stars.
After the shipment was picked up and en-​route, I noticed that the guaranteed date changed from what we had originally reserved. I called to make sure it would be delivered on-​time for the original date and they assured me it would.
My fiancée and I flew down to meet the box. When we arrived, I had yet to receive confirmation of delivery. I called U-​Haul and they informed me that the delivery was going to be three days late! Because it was late, without a bed or any of our stuff, we were forced to stay in a hotel until its arrival. Additionally, I had made the flight with my fiancée only to help unpack and was flying back to finish up a few more weeks of work. The plane tickets were purchased under the assumption of a guaranteed delivery date.
We filed a claim with the company, explained the experience thus far and gave them the expenses we had incurred (hotel & airfare for 1). We were told that there would be a ruling on our claim within 3 business days. 8 business days later we still hadn’t heard. I called and was told that my claim had been marked resolved and no one had informed me of a ruling. I filed another claim and within 24 hours, I was finally contacted by U-​Haul. We were informed that they were going to grant us $ 50/​day ($ 150 total) for the late delivery. They blamed the late delivery on the shipping company and said that they may be able to reimburse us for hotel expenses but airfare is generally out of the question. I sent them receipts expecting an email within a few days regarding a reimbursement. When no notice ever came, I followed up with a message for the guy I had been dealing with. He called me that evening and left me a voicemail saying they weren’t going to reimburse us for anything.
After a week and a half of trying to chase this guy down for an explanation, I have given up. They shuffled me from one customer service agent to the next. After transferring me (what felt like) 25 times, they succeeded in avoiding me long enough for me to throw in the towel. From the start, the company didn’t take responsibility for their service they committed to provide. When they didn’t meet their GUARANTEED delivery date, they made a lame effort to make us whole, leaving us on the hook for hundreds of dollars incurred because of the missed delivery date. If you aren’t going to take responsibility for a guarantee, don’t make it! It is bad business to treat your customers this way. We will not be going back.

First of all, one of the guys here has an EPIC beard.
Also, he’s super-​polite; he held the door for me, despite having a coffee in one hand and a clipboard in the other.
Check-​in was amazingly easy. Again, the guys at the counter had great attitudes, joked with me, gave me all the paperwork I needed and were really helpful. They knew the height of my van so I was able to drive on Memorial Drive with confidence. What’s more, they explained the terms in MASSIVE detail and were really communicative regarding all my questions.
Awesome service on the front end.
Now, my van was a bit dirty inside. It needed a sweeping. But hey, it was cheap. $ 19.95 right before move-​in weekend, $ 0.79 a mile, and I was going straight to a storage facility and back. The deck is a bit high for heavy things, but it’s a great size for a small price, and it REALLY fits EVERYTHING in a small space.
Overall, awesome rental. Vans are less unwieldy than those box trucks and much cheaper, so totally go with them!
In the end, I brought the van back all swept out, clean and right at the half-​full line. The guy who checked me in had an awesome app that showed me my total, my refund (because hey, you should ALWAYS over-​estimate in these situations), and gave me an emailed receipt.
The technology is great. The guys are really friendly. The products are worth the money.
Don’t bother with dollies, blankets or boxes. Go to Home Depot for that. But the heavy lifting here is where it’s at, and the service can’t be beat.
I even gave a call to their service line while in the van, and I got right through to their service center. VERY friendly lady, went out of her way to get me info, and hey, on a Sunday morning, I can’t expect much more.
I will totally use this place again in October when I move out of that storage unit.

TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE SERVICE! I arrived 7 minutes before it opened, and it opened 7 minutes AFTER opening time! There was already a line when I arrived. I was the 5^th customer. I was finally helped at 0942 and my van reservation was until 3 pm. I asked if 4 pm was okay since I was here early and I lost nearly an
an hour waiting in line. I was told I had to return the truck by 3pm or else I’d be charged an entire second day!!! The staff was incompetent, unfriendly and illogical. I have been using U-​Haul for the past 9 moved in 12 years. Because of THIS location, I will never return and use Penske and Budget from now on. And I will be moving A LOT the next 5+ years. u-​haul lost a loyal customer today.

while the location was convenient, there were several unattractive features.
–extremely rude and entitled sales «agent».
–terrible return canopy for equipment (barely fit 1 14′ truck in it)
–phone number never works
–my truck smelled like cigarettes. probably because their staff smokes nonstop.
–they charged me an extra day of rent on my uhaul truck by mistake, and never fixed the problem, despite multiple calls to regional headquarters, etc. etc.
would avoid this place and the underpaid /​poorly trained staff like the plague

Wow, I just came in to rent a box truck for a few hours. I had a question regarding the pre-​inspection of the vehicle and was asking the staffer for clarification when the general manager Louis Cardona interjected, yelled at me for 15 –20 min and said that I needed to either rent the truck or get out of his store before he called the police. I can’t remember ever having been talked to so poorly by a customer service provider. I left with out renting as I couldn’t trust their integrity after that interchange. A frustrating waste of time and a damper on a nice winter morning.

Surprised at the low reviews. I booked two U-​Hauls (for two separate days) back in June, was confirmed for both days via email and phone, and then came to pick up and go. Both moving days (⁸⁄₃₁ and ⁹⁄₀₂) went by without even a hiccup in our plans. Guys there were friendly and informed us of all possible charges and an estimate of our final cost before heading out.
Also, you can rent a Rug Doctor there — they pretty much have everything you could possibly need for moving in/​out. Great location and staff.

My boyfriend and I had reserved a uhaul truck about a month before moving, scheduled to pick up ⁶⁄₂₈. Received a call two days before saying that they have no trucks available at any of their locations for the days we RESERVED. Not once did they apologize or even seem like they had tried to look into this or accommodate us in anyway whatsoever. Basically called to say your reservation meant nothing we have no trucks sucks to be you.
Terrible customer service and clearly not reliable, would not recommend to anyone.
After several phone calls we were able to find a Budget truck in Arlington, I’ll follow up with their service. As of now I know they are more expensive but at least we have a truck.

I rented a van today for a small move. Had absolutely no issues. They opened right on time, I picked up the van, dropped it off. No extra fees, no upselling, and helpful people behind the counter.
I only waited 2 – 3 minutes when I dropped the van back off as well. Would definitely go to this location if I need a truck/​van again.