ATLANTA—When long-time customer David Adams hit a minor “bump in the road” while making a phone reservation for an auto transport (AT), he knew this wasn’t the level of service he had come to expect from U-Haul.
Adams is a self-proclaimed “motorsports enthusiast” and amateur drift car driver in his spare time. He frequently rents U-Haul ATs in the Atlanta metro area to take his car to and from events.
“I love drifting and motorsports, I love being an unofficial representative of U-Haul every time I hit the track—and I take great pride in both,” Adams declared. “People usually see me pull up with a truck and trailer and they have questions about how much it costs and what the hitch requirements are. I always tell them how inexpensive it is and how U-Haul is always willing to find discounts for me.”
Shocked to hear “no”
David Adams, an amateur drift car driver, regularly rents ATs from U-Haul Centers in the metro Atlanta area to transport his car to the track.
After attempting to reserve an AT over the phone, a technical error resulted in Adams being told that nothing was available on the day he was requesting. Dissatisfied, Adams got off the phone.
“At that point, I was heavily disappointed because I felt as if I had been let down by one of the last corporations I felt I could trust,” Adams recalled. “No trailers? On top of that, no trailers with a month’s notice? I was ready to give up on U-Haul for good and take my business elsewhere when I decided to give U-Haul one last shot.”
Adams went to uhaul.com to reserve a trailer, hoping that the online reservation process would ensure him the trailer he desired. His “last shot” paid off and Adams was able to reserve an AT online.
“No worries, no fuss, no warning of it being not available, not even a mention of delivery,” Adams stated. “The following morning I received a phone call from the local office to confirm it would be there. I was very happy. I said to myself, ‘Now THIS is the type of service I’m used to with U-Haul.’”
Making it right
At the track, Adams is proud to act as a “unofficial representative of U-Haul” and frequently praises our customer service.
Adams has rented multiple trailers over the years without a problem, but one bad experience nearly lost this valued customer. In instances like these, when the customer had a negative experience, we want them to know U-Haul listened to their concerns and is working to ensure that the problem doesn’t happen in the future.
“This is why I send everyone to U-Haul when they have questions about trailer rentals because of your outstanding and amazing service,” Adams proclaimed. “I can’t speak highly enough about U-Haul.”
Not only did this situation give U-Haul the opportunity to strengthen its relationship with a long-time customer, it uncovered a minor glitch in the system and a training opportunity with the team member who took Adams’ call.
“I thought, ‘Wow, they really gave me the celebrity treatment,’” Adams recounted. “I was just amazed that such a big corporation really cares about the end user. Normally, the higher up the food chain you get, the less they seem to care about the customer. When I had vice presidents and presidents emailing me, it was awesome.”
When asked if he would continue using U-Haul in the future, Adams responded, “Oh, definitely! I think you guys are amazing. I’ve never dealt with a big corporation that is so involved with customer service—that’s something you don’t see a lot.”
