Customer service was initially friendly and attentive. When I came back to the front desk to ask a follow-up question after inspecting the vehicle before driving off, the assistant manager and manager were both indifferent and responded as though they did not have the time to speak with me ("Give me a couple minutes, I don't have time to get up from my desk right now, ask him [the manager next to him]"), even though I was the only customer there. Additionally, the rental trucks all had various levels of damage/disrepair. The main issue was the fee per mile charged ($1.19/mile)... that is more than four times the rate of a u-haul rental center just 15 minutes south of this location. That's price-gouging.
Tyrone V
Customer Reviews for Empire Mini Storage
(U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer)
Testimonials From Recent Customers
Customer feedback is extremely important to us. We use these reviews to guide our efforts and improve our service. Everything that follows is direct from our customers, without any filtering or editing on our part.
Very rude on the phone regarding me parking the truck there overnight. Got charged an after hours fee even though check in time was 1:30ish in the afternoon supposedly.
PENNY FThey are ruthless and scheming. The owner called and said if I do after hours dropoff I will get penalties. So i was forced to drop off the morning when they were open. I returned the uhaul in better condition than I received it and it was clean. They claimed the back was muddy. It was just dust. They made me use a swiffer to mop the back. I should have believed the online reviews. This place should not be allowed to carey uhauls.
NAVID PFriendly service.
THADDEUS GEmployees rock, and are very spectacular!!!
MATTHEW MVery friendly & helpful staff at this location. Won’t go anywhere else in the future…
ANTHONY DBring the pickup trucks back. It is so valuable for small hauls.
RICK SThere were big screws sticking out of the van. About 7 of them. 2 of my movers plus my son got injured from them
TONI DEverything was efficient and went great! Very well run.
ANGELA BThe employees were super friendly and made the process smooth and easy.
Chris Mhigh quality of services leaves no chance for competitors, great company and the main decoration of the company is your employees. Thank you
Kairzhan GDennis and Mason were very helpful and friendly. Explained everything well. Appreciate them!
Deborah MTerrible and rude front desk, Dennis. Very bad customer service. Will not be returning in the future
Jeongfill YNot much
Jenna SExcellent Service; Very friendly employees. Thank you for your service.
MARTHA FNothing!
RICHARD PIt was the worst experince ever , I made a reservation with a week in advance and the day of pick up the truck was not there. They send me to another location where I supposed to have my truck and it was not . I reserved 26 feet and I ended with 15 feet . It was a 5 hours delay I and I need to do several trips . Unacceptable! I am done with you guys . Truly disappointed
FRANCISCO Lgreat help at pickup and drop off.
KERRY BProblem they would not accept trailer we agreed to tow and sent to location 12 miles away
Roger SA very rude elderly employee said he would check the truck and came back with a broom telling me to clean the truck that had animal hair (???) I am an allergic person, without any pets. It was a totally disrespectful situation. Only furniture was transported in this truck without any animal hair. They sent me more than 20 miles from where I had chosen, I put $100 worth of gas in the truck and they still charged me an extra $33 because they said it was below the agreed price. Agreed, great word! since everything that was agreed with you was not agreed upon.
BRUNNA NReally good experience
James GShow How open gas
MICHELE KAmazing 5 star
MICHAEL CSpecial thank to Dennis who made everything so easy and pleased for me and the family.
NAZARIO BEverything was perfect but the only thing that disappointed me was that they over charges for gas! 76$ for quarter of a tank?? Seriously?
NAZARIO BDennis and Marian provided friendly and informative customer service! They took the time to explain things thoroughly. Highly recommend.
MARI TYou guys were superb!
TARAH TQuick and easy!
LISA NThe service was great. The people who waited on me were great. The manager is outstanding.
EMIL MWE were surprised that we had to pick up the truck at this location. WE had planned to pick up close to our house in Oakland. The left front tire had to be filled with air and didn’t hold its pressure so that was stressful to deal with. Pretty unhappy with the pickup experience.
Vernon KThe representative who called me was a bit rude over the phone. When I picked up the phone I said hello and he didn't say anything so I said hello again. He chastised me for not saying hello when picking up the phone. Then he was very stern with me about needing the rental back at a certain time. I was supposed to have the rental from 9:30am-3:30pm (6 hours). He kept reiterating that I could not be late with my return. Better customer service would be to say, "Ma'am, we have someone renting the vehicle at 4:30pm. Will you be able to return the vehicle at precisely 3:30pm so we can have it cleaned and prepped for the next customer?" The answer would've been "Yes." It was a local move, so I knew I would be able to get the U-HAUL back in time.
Nhu-Y VOther U-Haul providers are closer / more convenient; but Empire Mini Storage has people who are the very best at service: very accommodating; they look for -- and find -- solutions. Good experience; they think ahead of me. Good business people. I've rented from Empire Mini before ... and will go out of my way to rent from Empire Mini again.
KEVIN OThe u-Haul app is a disaster. The people at our location we're great. The U-haul app was nothing but a pain. It did not keep the information I sent--I had to try to set it up about 7 times before it actually saved it--then it was not available for the people to read it in the morning. It should have stored all my info and it did not. Taking pictures of the Truck was also a disaster. It is laborious. F-minus grade....
Sherry GThis place Rocks, a well oiled machine. It could not have gone any smoother!!
Jeffrey PNothing I can think of. The employees were courteous and efficient, friendly. The van we rented was almost brand new, very clean and ran well. Especially appreciated the notation of the initial gas level, and how many gallons required to put it back to that level for the return. The initial rental reservation was made by phone, and very easy. Everything was clearly explained.
LINDA SThe truck was dirty and I had to sweep out dirt to avoid being blamed for it. When I returned the truck, the attendant was rude and condescending and blamed me for rubber foot prints in the bed of the truck that I did not create. He said he didn't appreciate the attitude and told me I could leave. I also rent a unit in the building and have rented trucks many times before. He was a caucasian man with a bald head. Unfortunately, I didn't get his name.
Jeffrey BGuy was rude and sarcastic. But I guess he’s related to the CFO of U-Haul so nothing happens but this guy shouldn’t be working in customer service. So disappointed with how we were treated. We could have used another truck company which we will next time.
JONATHAN EThis was a terrible experience. The truck was very sketchy. Both door seals were falling off leaving the driver with the smell of fuels and fuel while driving the truck. They were in place when we picked up the trucks but continuously fell out when the door was closed or while driving. The truck was also extremely loud and made scary noises while driving. And to top it all off on Friday afternoon at 3:30 PM the location called me and asked if I was going to make it back to the drop off location by 9:15am the next morning because they already had this truck rented out to the next customer, and they didn’t want to make the next customer angry. This was so incredibly infuriating. I was at the time a paying customer who was in possession of the vehicle, why was the “next” customer being prioritized over me? What if I wanted to keep it for a week? Would I be then told no? What the heck was I supposed to do? I was now feeling pressured to “make sure I got it back in time so that I didn’t make the next customer angry”. This was such a terrible business practice. I am furious and will never use U-Haul again. When I dropped the truck off ON TIME yesterday the person working the counter was the same man who called me, and he didn’t even address the very rude comments and conversation from the day before. This was so stressful and added so much stress to an already very stressful few days of moving. I told the people at the counter that I wanted a partial refund, and they said there was nothing could be done.
Brian DDenis was detailed, descriptive shared as wisdom good at recommendations. Did a great job.
LISA PDo not trust this company
JUAN RWhy the AC of this truck is not working? Why you overcharge people for a trash truck like this? Why your gas level on your paper is higher than it is in this trash truck? The guys who are working there are really noce but that’s doesn’t help.
Reginald LInterior and exterior of first truck offered was caked with dried mud. I requested a replacement truck which was only marginally cleaner. The operator of this location is very rude to customers, and has been for the 3 years I’ve used this location. He remarked about the muddy vehicle by saying “we are more interested that the interiors be clean”. I told him I was moving furniture and di not want clean furniture coming in contact with a muddy exterior. He seems to confuse efficiency with customer service.
JAMES MEverything was great, the staff was friendly and reassuring. Make sure that customers buy the insurance it's so worth it.
Lisa WDennis is very efficient and professional!! 5 stars for the establishment and to Dennis .
LUCIVANIA NFront desk attendant was very rude and unprofessional. Was not customer friendly for no apparent reason. Crazy fees to add on top of that.
BRAYAN LThe drivers door on the truck I rented was very hard to close properly. I would recommend that servicing occur on this door, as it was partially open for much of my driving.
CURTIS TBest U Haul experience, employee efficient and quick check out and in.
CHRISTINE EStaff were super helpful, gave clear directions
JOAN WTodo esta muy bien ❤️🩹
ROSA SI've rented a lot of uhauls over the last few years moving kids to and from college and this was definitely the best experience in terms of customer service! Highly recommend!
VICKY BReservations are rarely correct or even made when asked and/or confirmed. Very frustrating and service/staff is awful over phone. Very rude and unprofessional. I would use a different company but there is no one else. Way to ruin an already stressful time and then having to deal with a truck that is not there for you or the wrong size, then staff that treats you like it’s your fault and could care less. . What a nightmare.
Darcy SThe owner/U-Haul representative was extremely rude, ver unreasonable, with an unacceptable attitude. I rented a truck from this location, and returned early utilizing after hours infrastructure available at the location, and U-Haul app function for e-return. Contract was successfully closed out, got a call 5 days from the owner and get yelled at for dropping off sooner, and he said “I will charge you late fee for dropping off early” (!!!) and charged me after contract close out for late drop off. Very unacceptable treatment of customer. Without me mentioning complaining to U-Haul, he said “go ahead and submit a complain to U-Haul, I don’t care, I don’t work for you!”
BEHNAM FThe person that rented me the truck was rude
JONATHAN MI picked up at 10:30. The cashier tried to pressure us to return the truck by 4:30 even I had it reserved for 1 day. I realized that particular size was all reserved for next day, she wanted to make sure it will be available. The truck transmission is really bad it struggle shifting badly.
HICHAM RI was scheduled to pick up my truck at 9AM. I had a strict deadline to be at my moving location by 10AM which was less then 5 miles away. The office said there was a huge systems outage and that I couldn't complete my rental until it was resolved. This issue delayed me by over two hours. Needless to say it was a major inconvenience and problem. The kind gentlemen at the office suggested I let you know. I have no idea what type of compensation U-Haul might provide for this type of inconvenience, but anything would be appreciated.
VICTOR BI made my reservation (89540265) on July 9th for August 17th. At 5:22 pm on August 16th I got an email with notification that my reservation was updated. When I reviewed the changes, I found out that I was moved to completely different location. Which is far from me (over 13 miles in North direction) and is not convenient at all - Why would I pay for extra miles I don't need to drive. You advertise a "Reservation Guarantee" with $50 refund - "should U-Haul, through its own fault fail to meet time, place and equipment size of your truck, trailer or towing equipment" - u-haul didn't meet place and I would like to claim that refund please.
Andrii BEverything’s good!
SANTIAGO CThe gentleman that checked me was courteous and helpful to my needs. The process was quick and I was able to get everything I needed in a timely manner:)
JACOB K