Are you thinking of renting a moving truck instead of hiring a moving company to move your belongings to your new address? Although it may sound like a sensible thing to do, you should consider the risks before picking up the phone. Sadly, some rental truck companies are known to deliberately hide facts from you. So here are 5 things that rental truck companies do not tell you.
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“Your reservation doesn’t mean much to us.”
One of the major problems with rental truck companies is non-compliance. You constantly hear customers complaining about making a reservation weeks in advance and go to collect their truck on the day of the move, to find out there is no truck. Then the rental company will tell you nonchalantly that there is nothing they can do.
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“The quotes we give you are only for the sake of advertisement.”
Rental truck companies often offer incredibly low prices to get your business. Once you sign up, they will slap you with every fee they can think of. To be on the safe side, they usually tell you that their prices continually fluctuate to respond to market changes. Some truckers hide the fact that there are different fees for in-town and out-of-town moving until you have signed the contract.
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“The worst time to come to us is when everyone is moving.”
When the demand goes up, rental truck companies do not waste any time to hike up their rates. This usually happens at the end of the month, when everyone is moving, and during the three months of summer when students move. You will probably be able to save money by booking in advance, but they won’t tell you that. In any case, there is always the danger that they may not honor your reservation.
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“Most of our truckers our moonlighters.”
Never believe when truck rental companies tell you they have a complete crew of highly trained and experienced professional truckers in every location they serve. Most of the truckers they employ are moonlighters out to make extra cash simply because it is not profitable to employ a dedicated staff in every location.
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“Our trucks are as good as brand new.”
Rental truck companies show you beautiful pictures of trucks just out of the factory and tell you that their truck are as good as new. In reality, many of their trucks are almost in a dilapidated condition through overuse and you would be very lucky to get one that can cover the distance without a hitch.
For these reasons, you should think long and hard before renting a truck for your move. Rather than rental trucks, moving companies can be cheaper and much more reliable. Check out five reasons why hiring a moving company isn’t as expensive as it seems.