U-Haul stole $50 from me

homerdog

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I rented a trailer from U-Haul to move my stuff to my new apartment. It was ~$50 for a one-way rental 70 miles away so I thought that was pretty good.

As an aside, U-Haul does not rent to Ford Explorers because back when those Firestone tires were exploding and sending Explorers into ditches all across America, some group of idiots filed a class action lawsuit against U-Haul and got a few million out of them. Lunacy but oh well I had to use my friend's Silverado instead.

Because of all the trouble U-Haul put me through with the Explorer they gave me an extra day on the rental. Sweet.

So I return the trailer two days later a few hours after the due time knowing that they would charge me the $20 late fee. Fast forward two weeks later. I check my bank statement and there is a charge from U-Haul for $75.20. A little over the $20 I was expecting.

At the U-Haul location where I returned the trailer they informed me that the contract they had on file did not include the extra day so they charged me for two days late fees. Also they couldn't withdraw the $40 from my bank account when they tried because my paycheck hadn't cleared yet and I was pretty much broke from the move (although I did have the $20 I owed them in there). Because of that they charged me another $35 as a "collection fee". Hence the $75.20 charge.

Fortunately I saved the contract that I had signed which clearly showed I only owed them a 1 day late fee of $20. They apologized and said they would recredit my account. This was yesterday (Sunday) so they said the credit would happen today (Monday).

I called them to make sure everything went okay. Now they tell me they had do submit the issue to the national office and a senior supervisor would contact me in the next three business days to discus my options. What fucking options would they like to discus? Give me my fucking money back you assholes.

TL;DNR: U-Haul has stolen $50 directly out of my bank account without my permission. Always pay cash when renting equipment from U-Haul, otherwise you are apparently writing them a blank check.
 
Oh you don't even know Al. The midnight launch is in 1.5 hours. This is the most important $50 evar!
 
woah, you mean if you give a company your credit card details they can in theory take whatever they want with no safeguards
 
you mean if you give a company your credit card details they can in theory take whatever they want with no safeguards
This has always been like that. Credit cards are by far THE most insecure things there are with cheques close second
 
If this was a credit card you can reverse the charge and have the issuer go after them.
 
woah, you mean if you give a company your credit card details they can in theory take whatever they want with no safeguards

No. That's wire fraud - a felony.
 
It's a debt card so I dunno if the bank can do anything about it. I'm going up there today with my neighbor who's a lawyer.

They even admitted to making a mistake, so why they haven't made it right is beyond me. If I did that at my job I would A) probably be fired and B) instantly give the person the money back and then worry about making it right with my boss. Not the other way around.
 
If you're in the US, debit cards now have the same protection laws as credit cards.
 
It's pretty dangerous though to live a way where a company overcharging only $50 completely drains one's money reserves. Maybe reducing expenses, building up a financial buffer would be in order...
 
Credit cards are actually about the safest way for a person to make a purchase. If you dispute a charge you won't be out, but I'd certainly never recommend using your last $50 of credit.
 
Lol I haven't overdrawn or anything. I could still afford BF3 and everything :). And this is just my checking account we're talking about. Not that it changes the fact that U-Haul stole $50 from me, which I do not consider an insignificant amount of money.

Still haven't heard anything from U-Haul.
 
Trust me. If he goes after them, he will win.

I agree with Mize. It is called a "Charge Back" and your Bank/CC company Customer service will definitely take action if you have the records you note. If they gave you an extra day due to their disclosure error, got it in writing, and then they charged it anyhow your CC company will put those funds on hold--they may even get a penalty from their processing company.

Did they give you the number of the Uhaul guy? Don't wait too long. If he fails to call and resolve to your satisfaction flip your card over and call card services. You should have a prompt resolution in your favor. In general the CC company will, when in doubt, protect the consumer. As for Uhaul, iirc they have contracted outlets so the issue may be who is responsible for the funds. It may be if on entity collected everyone is passing the back because, e.g. if the local place refunded you they may not see the money back from corporate or vice versa.

Good luck, and again, call card services.
 
I went by there again today and they re-credited my account on the 25th. My bank account still does not reflect this and I know it doesn't take that long for a deposit to go through. It should at least be on there as "processing" even if the funds aren't made available to me yet.

I seriously think they are trying to screw me over and are lying about it. Off to the band tomorrow to see if they can help me.

At this point I feel like they should compensate me for all the time I've wasted on this. Of course I won't say anything but that's how I feel.
 
If the credit your account there is a credit-card receipt for it. If they didn't give it to you they're likely lying. Then again, banks love to sit on transactions.
 
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