One star, and that is generous. Reservation #83319706.I have used U-Haul for more than 30 years, including renting three long term storage units in North Carolina since 2017. This was the worst experience I have had with the company.I reserved a 10' truck at U-Haul Moving & Storage of Timberlake on Timberlake Rd — the company store closest to where I actually needed the truck. Five days before pickup, U-Haul silently dumped the reservation onto a neighborhood dealer, Metal Craft Garage at 903 Buchanan St, with no explanation and no consent. That garage is well out of the way of the original store and of the load address in Forest. It sits on a side street with abandoned houses. It is not a place I would have chosen to wait with a rental truck.I reconfirmed with the dealer. They still had no moving blankets and no dollies. Their solution was to send me to the U-Haul company store nearby on Park Ave. That store did not have blankets either. I had to make a third stop, at the U-Haul dealer on Lakeside Drive (Lakeside Deli & Mart), where a decent employee actually had blankets. The location I reserved in the first place — Timberlake — could have prevented this entire detour.Why U-Haul is farming truck rentals to an under-equipped, inconsistently staffed garage a few blocks from a full company store is beyond me. Staffing at Metal Craft is part-time and unreliable. When I returned the truck at 1:00 PM on a Thursday — inside their published weekday hours — the place was locked and dark. The QR return and the app return both failed. Someone on a Ring camera told me to drop the keys in a box. I refused. There would have been no inspection, no paper trail, and no confirmation the truck was even received.I then stood in 95-degree heat on that same empty side street, with abandoned houses around it, waiting for my ride, and was covered in mosquito bites. I have a diagnosed mosquito allergy. Sending a long-term paying customer to an unstaffed lot in that condition is a safety problem, not a “minor inconvenience.”I would not send anyone to Metal Craft Garage. If you need a U-Haul in Lynchburg, go to a company store and do not let them reassign you to this dealer.
Michael B
Customer Reviews for Metal Craft Garage
(U-Haul Neighborhood Dealer)
Testimonials From Recent Customers
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