u-haul?

why does u0haul do their auctions so much differently than the others ive gone to? Well first of all I called the facilities to ask when is your next auction and none of them will tell me and they say to call the corporate office. Then when i call the corporate office they say they cant help me and dont disclose that information. so they wont tell me when theyre auctions are. so i call the auction service itself, and even he wont tell me when their auctions are?! i was dumbfounded by this idea. all he would tell me is his auctions start at 8:30 sharp and gave me the "general" area where the auction is. he wouldnt even give me an address.

At this point i was extremely confused.

So i found the "general" area he was talking about and went. When i got there they had a $250  cleaning deposit and a 12 hour max to clean out the units. AND, on top of all of this, they let people GO INSIDE THE UNIT!?!?

I dont think i will ever deal with uhaul or that auction service ever again. the way they do their business was extremely hard to deal with and very bad customer service/public reltaions imo.

have anybody ever experienced anything like this?

Sorry to hear that - sounds like they have their own way of doing things.  

A few notes about the U-Haul auctions in my area (Mid-South)

1.  Like clockwork, our U-Haul auctions are ALWAYS on the third Monday of the month
2.  The caravan ALWAYS starts at 8:00am at the same location
3.  Any of the locations will tell you where, when, etc.  (No "corporate office" BS)
4.  They are the only place in the area using a legitimate, certified auctioneer (not facility owner/employee)
5.  Always have a good number of lockers up for auction
6.  Most of the locales are inner-city, so quality merchandise is usually lacking
7.  Crowds are normally moderate - less than 40-50
8.  They do charge $50 deposit PER LOCKER, which could get expensive if you win at several locations
9.  48 hours to clean out lockers (a little more if you ask)

Very helpful here.
Same as above as far as auction date. Same day every month.

48hrs to clear out. Though I saw paper work saying same day but they don't hold you to it.

They'll even give you a discount on truck if they have no reservation for one.

That said.....
This is all from hanging around. I've never actually won a u-hail locker so I can't say how they are to deal with after auction.
But very nice in all my dealings with employee's.

In my area, U-Haul only has auctions every 3 to 4 months or longer and they are silent bid. Can't remember if they have a cleaning deposit, it's been quite a while since I have attended one of their auctions. They are the only facility/chain that does silent bidding around here.

Uhaul will be different depending who "owns" that store.  You can tell that just by reading the responses already.  Here is mine:

1) Always on 1st Friday of month.
2) Listed in paper 3 weeks or so out
3) Starts same location/time then moves downtown
4) Is same regional manager every month
5) They will NOT answer the phone.  You have to show up and hope they didn't cancel
6) Have 24 hours to clean unit out

Quality of units is mixed.  The first location can be ok.  Downtown is normally mid to low quality.  Most of the storage is "converted" warehouse and factory space.  Rats are a BIG problem.  So you have to look & smell the units over very carefully.  Have seen a few decent looking units here but they are rare.  Normal to have dozen units or more for sale.  Crowds have grown over the months (50+), but was down to around 20-30 last month.  Will see next month.

ive bought 2 or 3 units at uhauls and never thought to much about it , do remember to bring dustmasks and gloves as i have never been in a clean one, also the ones in my area will give the person who lost their room your phone # without asking you first

ive never seen a room that looked great from the door at uhaul , but 2 of the 3 i got were good and the 3rd one rocked!(although i was choking on rat smell while cleaning it out)

Well, there are 3 U-Hauls in my immediate area and another 3 maybe 30 miles away.

They are all clean (some more than others) but no rat-infestations. One did have a cockroach problem, but that was only once in the last 8 years.

As to the auctioning process, the one's here are conducted by the regional manager.  If you are on good terms with the individual managers you can stop by and they will give you a general rundown of quantity and maybe even quality based on their short looks when cutting the locks.

The auctions are held on a very regular basis which allows for some planning on our part. If there are multiple auctions by multiple auctioneers, I will typically go to the U-Haul over the others.

The U-Hauls here are known for the integrity of their units whereas some of the more "independent" facilities have less reputable reputations.

No complaints from me about U-Haul.