U-Haul Moving & Storage of South Sarasota

I would give this place no stars. Horrible customer service. We rented two storage units, went one day over our mth witch was free, then he charged us 400 $ instead of pro-​rating the one day he charges use full price and says you want your stuff don’t ya?! Never would use this place!!!

Why must I give it 1 star?!?
Called UHaul on a Saturday to make an appointment to have a trailer hitch installed. They said we could have it done tomorrow (a Sunday). I was surprised, but happy to hear they were available to do this on a Sunday. The receptionist said someone would call back to confirm appointment. Someone named Buddy called back soon after and said, it was booked for 5:00 am Sunday morning, so they were sure there was a mistake. Nobody would be available on Sunday, let alone at 5:00 am. Thank Goodness! They said we could come in today. Saturday at 3:00. OK, we can do that, book it. UHaul calls again to confirm our 7:00 am appt. on Sunday. Nope. ‘Just talked to Buddy and we are coming today at 3:00″. OK. «About how long will that take?» Response — «I can have it done for you in 30 — 45 mins.» Great! Rearrange schedules/​car pools to get kids to music lessons, play dates, etc. and meet with the person selling the camper (the reason for the hitch to be installed).
Arrived at UHaul at 2:55pm Saturday. The parking lot is jammed with returned vehicles, trailers, new customers, etc. It is already VERY apparent that this place is under staffed. We find a parking spot and check in for our 3:00 appt. I explain that my husband has a few questions for the technician before he starts the work. Receptionist says «talk to Angel… he will be doing the work, he just walked outside». We find Angel. He is slammed. Moving returned vehicles, trying to free up space in the parking lot, etc. Seemingly working alone. There is one other guy, but he is moving at a snail’s pace and not at all helpful. He asks if we are returning a vehicle and we say we are the 3:00 trailer hitch install. He’ll be with us as soon as he can. He gets to us 25 minutes later. We explain what we need, all good. How long will it take? He replies «honestly, we are so busy, I don’t know where the other guy went, if he left or whatever, could be an hour or more.» There is a Gecko’s across the street, we can wait there. Meanwhile snail boy is shirtless, whistling, moving returned vehicles at mock speed through the parking lot. I comment to my husband, he’s going to kill someone.
Off to Gecko’s we go. Angel calls us on the walk over, is it ok to make a cut where the light kit will go? Yes. We have lunch.
Receive a call during lunch, I answer, can’t hear the caller. We leave Gecko’s thinking that might be UHaul.
Get back to UHaul and Angel says he was trying to call. (Once). He needs to make an additional cut to fit the lighting kit. OK. How long will this take? It is after 5:00. Husband says «2 minutes? Chuckle, chuckle». Angel says 30 mins or more.
At this time I go into the office and ask for a customer service number. I want to be heard. Receptionist is not helpful. We were so busy before… I am behind an already irate customer. Just give me an 800 number to call.
I don’t want to complain to Angel and waste any more time. We now have children that need rides from earlier said appts. and we are over 30 mins. from home and have not yet picked up our camper!
While I am in the office, snail boy (previously shirtless) is sitting behind the desk, with his feet propped up, shoveling food in his face, and has the brilliant idea to add to the conversation «is this where I file a F@#ing complaint about UHaul?!?» Har. Har. I can’t even look at him. He says «sorry ma’am». So sincere.
I call the 800 number and am redirected 8 times. 8 TIMES! Finally it connects to what sounds like a fax machine. Perfect. Someone contacts Angel. Exactly what I DID NOT WANT TO HAPPEN. Angel is the only one trying to make this inept business location succeed!
I see the Manager’s name and number on the door. Buddy! I remember that name from this morning! I call, leave a voicemail, he calls right back. I explain, Buddy, I’m tired. We have been at your store for over 2.5 hours and my car is still on lifts. I would rather discuss it Monday.
Angel finishes, returns our vehicle. We try to drive away, he knocks on the window…“you haven’t paid yet.” REALLY!!! Receptionist didn’t run the credit card yet? We turn around and return to the office.
While Angel is trying to check us out, he receives a phone call from Buddy. That’s it. No charge. He’s not happy about it. I try to tell him, I was on your side today… I told the manager you were working your ass off… but, but… he storms off. Perfect ending to a perfect UHaul experience. Almost 3 hours of my life I won’t get beck. Newsflash… time is a bit more precious than the cost of a trailer hitch. Nice try, but you fell way short.

Rented a 26′ U-​Haul from here this week. Drove it to Chicago, nearly 1,500 miles. When I received the truck at 730 in the morning, the transaction took approximately 10 minutes. The clerks had me sign a handful of documents, sold me some rope, handed me the keys, and told me the truck was out front. They finished tossing in the last of 6 bags of furniture pads and said, «Have a nice trip!» Considering I’d never driven anything this large before, it was a nervous trip back to my mom’s apartment to start loading — but I was on a tight schedule. The packers and loaders would be there in a couple hours.
As I drove the mile or so to the apartment, I notice a loud rattle in the cab, but I was more interested in staying in the middle of my lane than the cause of that.
After we got the truck loaded — front to back, it was time for me to shove off. When I got in the cab, I tried to put the center console/​armrest down. No go. It was jammed in about an 87 degree position. And the rattle I heard? That was the top of the armrest banging against the back of the cab. It wouldn’t latch shut. I stuffed my hoodie behind it and took off. No time to return it, and besides, I’d already been told there were no more U-​Hauls left in Sarasota to rent.
About an hour into the trip, I turned on the wipers due to misting rain. They were shot. They merely streaked across the window. That’s when I also noted the scuff marks where the edge of the wiper streaked across the window. That was even more worrisome later in the evening when it rained again.
A couple hours later, when the sun set, I turned on the lights. Instead of lighting the road, they kind of glowed. A little like the kerosene lamps on an old Model T. Quaint, but anything but safe.
In the end, this truck made it the 1,500 miles to Chicago, despite the bad wipers, armrest and headlights. But, at 116,000+ miles, I’m pretty sure that’s due to the nightly prayers my mom says for me and not because of the proper care taken by the good folks at U-​Haul before they let this truck go off the lot.
Should I have done a better job of inspecting the truck before accepting it? Yes, of course. Should I have returned it when I found the bad armrest? I had no good option if I did that, unfortunately. I trusted the vendor to provide me with a roadworthy, safe and comfortable vehicle to complete my move. Perhaps I expected too much.
I will not be renting from U-​Haul again. There are too many competitors out there and the stuff I was carrying is too precious to take chances on. Here’s hoping they do a better job.