customer service representative

mécanicien automobile

maintenance technician

automotive mechanic

technicien de maintenance

U-Haul

I worked at the Niagara Falls location for two months, and unfortunately, my experience was far from positive. I resigned just four days ago, (July 27, 2025) and I feel it’s important to share the reasons why.

The workplace environment was highly unstructured, with no formal training provided. I was expected to learn on the job with minimal guidance, which made it extremely difficult to perform my role effectively — especially when dealing directly with customers. While a few team members were supportive, many appeared disengaged and unwilling to contribute meaningfully.

 I was often assigned to outdoor duties, spending entire shifts parking and organizing trucks in extreme heat, while others remained inside the air-conditioned office on the computer. Support was inconsistent and, at times, superficial. When I brought the situation to the manager’s attention, her response was, “I had to deal with the same situation (working outside) for six months when I started working for U-Haul.”

While I understand and respect her experience, I believe it’s important to recognize that two wrongs don’t make a right. I’m confident that it is not company policy for someone to be limited to one aspect of the role at the expense of learning and contributing to others.

A balanced team effort, especially during the training period, is essential for both personal development and the overall efficiency of operations. Ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to learn all key aspects of the job sets the foundation for a stronger, more effective team.

Most concerning was the poor condition of equipment and the disregard for company policy. For example, many of the tow dolly fenders were visibly and severely damaged, an issue plain to any customer, yet they continued to be rented out with no corrective action, and total disregard to the company image/reputation. 

During training at the truck service shop, the head mechanic made it very clear that under no circumstances should trailer brake fluid be manually topped up by staff. He emphasized that when brake fluid is low, the equipment must be immediately taken out of service and properly reported — in accordance with head office policy, which all managers are expected to follow. Despite this, when I encountered this very situation and informed the manager, the guidance was dismissed, and the brake fluid was added manually; a direct violation of safety protocol. This incident points to a broader concern regarding how operations are managed at the store level.

It appears that minimizing equipment repairs may be driven more by cost-saving incentives than by safety standards. The fewer the repairs, the more savings for the store, and subsequently, greater bonuses for management. 

Similarly, there is a noticeable trend of running operations with insufficient staffing; which seems to be a deliberate strategy to reduce labor costs, again contributing to financial rewards at the management level. While these decisions may appear fiscally sound in the short term, they risk compromising staff safety, customer service quality, and the company’s long-standing reputation.

Additionally, assigning employees to duties outside of their official job descriptions, without proper training or consent,  is not only unprofessional but unethical. If someone is hired for a specific role, they should remain in that position unless they willingly choose to take on additional responsibilities. This can be looked at as  another cost-cutting tactic, designed not to improve operational efficiency, but simply to reduce payroll expenses and further boost management bonuses. These practices not only compromise employee safety and morale, but also send a troubling message to customers and staff about the company’s true priorities. It is a systemic issue that requires immediate attention from upper management and head office leadership.

To make matters worse, when mistakes occurred, which were inevitable due to the lack of training, I was still held accountable. This added considerable stress, especially when trying to assist customers without the knowledge or resources to do so. I often found myself unable to help, leading to customer frustration. Some would look at me, clearly wondering why I wasn’t stepping in, not realizing I had never been trained for that aspect of the job. That feeling of helplessness was demoralizing. I would sometimes step outside just to avoid the embarrassment, and that weighed on me heavily.

I was also required to complete U-Haul’s online training modules, but not during work hours. Instead, I was expected to do them at home, as I was immediately placed on operational duties during my shifts. This completely defeated the purpose of structured onboarding and made the learning process unnecessarily difficult.

Overall, the job felt purely transactional — with little regard for employee development, team cohesion, or long-term growth. If you’re looking for a quick paycheck, it may suffice as a temporary role. But if you're seeking a position that offers fulfillment, support, and professional development, I would strongly recommend looking elsewhere.

To Upper Management: This feedback is not intended to be disparaging but is offered as constructive criticism in the sincere hope that it prompts meaningful reflection and change. By addressing these concerns, U-Haul can continue to grow, improve its work environment for all employees, and preserve the strong reputation it has built over the years.

I genuinely wish the best to those still working there, and I sincerely hope that management takes meaningful steps to address these systemic issues. 


For such a large, successful corporation, they really could afford to pay their workers better.  But they don't and they won't.  Their company would benefit - it would be better for customers - if they would hire people for the call center in more areas than just arizona and the one other place they have it, but they won't because of the minimum wage difference.  They don't want to pay more than $7/hour to call center employees even if it means giving the wrong information to customers who are put through to the call center when the location they are calling is too busy to answer the phone.

This is a high stress job because it is very fast paced, with tight schedules and stressed out customers.  Working in customer service can be grating anyway, but when people are moving, they are very stressed out and can be rude and demanding and impatient.  It is very busy.  Uhaul's rates are by the day, but come month end, with so many people moving, we would have to charge people the daily rate for their rental, but tell them that they can only have a truck for 8 hours.  Its BS.  

And the parking lots are TERRIBLE.  With all their profits you'd think they'd do a better job of getting a parking lot big enough for all the traffic.  I started out at a UHAUL in a small city.  The parking lot was so bad.  Pot holes everywhere, trucks everywhere and only four parking spots for customers, and hardly any space to turn around.  I thought when I moved that the new UHaul location I'd be working at would be better seeing as it was the head office for southwestern ontario.  It wasn't!  It was just as bad, if not worse.

I was good at this job because I am good over the phone confirming appointments and dealing with the computer scheduling system and I work well under pressure.  I didn't mind actually RUNNING to get trucks for customers when we were busy to get them on their way faster.  For working there for over a year I got a 75 cent raise and I'm pretty sure the first 50 cents was just because that when I moved to the new city, they have a higher cost of living so that is their starting off point for anyone.
If they had paid better I probably wouldn't have looked for another job because I work well under stress and my coworkers were nice.  But for that lousy pay, it is not a long term career for me.

This company does not provide anywhere near adequate compensation for the demands it levels on its staff, especially management staff.

Work-life balance is non-existent as a manager, as you are expected to dedicate every waking moment, whether on-site or off-site, to your store and are treated with disdain for trivial things like going to the hospital with an injury or illness, suicidal depression, family crises or any of the other little things that really shouldn't be impeding your work. Also, never expect a moment's peace as your phone will be ringing non-stop, as your personal contact information will be freely given to anyone who asks for it.

While there are some rewarding aspects, such as when you help someone in a difficult situation make the move they need, they fall far-short of the extreme levels of stress the job provides. Budgeting for personnel (the single-most important element of the job, especially in busy centres) can generously be described as shoe-string and you are expected to typically operate with less than half the staff actually required to perform the job.

Training is spotty and limited, primarily relegated to online training courses that are rarely adhered to in reality due to the severe short-staffing.

Upper management is inclined to offer platitudes for workplace issues and try to sweep problems under the rug rather than deal with them. Expect any support you ask for to come in the form of "here's some courses to look at," "the budget is bad for everyone and I have no control over it" and "let's just be about it." Expectations are based on the hypothetical perfect store and not reality, and you resources are below bare minimum.

Compensation is the pinnacle of lowball. As a front-line CSR, don't expect more than minimum wage for at least a year, and that will only change by putting your nose to the grindstone and going above and beyond... Very much worth the extra buck per hour. As management, you will be salaried at well-below standards for management positions, have zero overtime and be eternally on-call. Expect upper management to treat you like an indentured servant -- they will. When you factor the number of hours you actually work, even BEFORE factoring in work done outside the office, expect that your per-hour income will actually end up being less than minimum wage -- it will be.

On the plus side of everything, you might learn how to drive a forklift and get some neat pins after years of service.

I first started U-Haul in the customer service rep position at the front desk in September, which is considered the off-season for reservations. I found it was a reasonably relaxed couple of months, with only the end of the month (moving time) being the most stressful time I've had at a job. This had to do with lazy coworkers as opposed to anything else. I had an easy transition in, but quickly found out that the fast employee turnover rate meant I had a lot of responsibility early in. Also, I had no manager for the first couple months I worked there, and only through an amazing supervisor was I able to learn as much as I did because there's no formal training and it's mostly a learn on the job place. This ended up being a problem when you'd have management sensitive problems with customers and you were alone on staff, while the other departments didn't want anything to do with you. We'd constantly get overbooked by the reservation department, and have to tell the customers ourselves why they couldn't get their reservation. There was no accountability. I've had customers yell at me, lying about their bills and would not leave until they got a discount, but no supervisor to talk to them and no one to provide me support. I've had to hook up trailers in snow storms for customers for hours on end, and stay hours after my 9 hour shift with no break cleaning up and returning customer phone calls. I've had to tell someone the cops were coming while he was trying to destroy our property by myself. All this for minimum wage. What's worse is only a few workers, the women workers, had to deal with the customers at the front desk. Being a woman myself, I had to do both the indoor and outdoor job, having the same tasks as the men, but they were only trained outdoors. Despite being called customer service reps, their only job was to occasionally give a customer a rental while I'm inside following up with and taking calls, dealing with sales of store merchandise and storage sales. I felt like I was burdened with a lot more of the responsibility and needed to know so much more because I did both jobs, and despite bringing this up with my manager, I was told it was the best they could do.

While working at uhaul, it was nerve wrecking because of how customers can get but it built me me up to handle the toughest of situations and allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them. That I appreciate so much about working here, that you’re able to learn. The job contains a lot of responsibility and urgency but it was also fun because my co-workers made the work environment not so stressful. My duty was booking reservations in person or on the phone, making contracts, handling legal documents, getting keys or other equipment for the customer, giving u-box or storage unit access or information, completing orders and or checking out customers items, answering inquiries on the item, doing vehicle or trailor inspections as well as doing the vehicle or equipment return on your phone. It’s overall a good amount of computer, phone and hands on work. It also helped that the manager was nice and understanding when u start working and encourages your learning at the job. When hired you’ll be given a paid training shift and will be learning while assisting customers but the system of most things are easy since it tells you what to do almost on the computer. A heads up is you will have to do uhaul courses online and exams when hired because like I said the job contains responsibility and you have to know your safety and other information regarding equipment or contract making. Sounds like it’s too much but trust me it’s worth it. I gained more skills and a better back bone there than I did at anywhere else and I appreciate that so much. It was a stressful job at first but I kept learning along the way and it got easy, sometimes it actually is still stressful and hectic but with good management and a good team you’re able to overcome it. 

Work hours schedule varies every week depending on location's budget
They expect you do work more for less pay. Doing a $30/hr type of work but paid minimum wage.
Cheap company, no lunch breaks, trainee status for almost a year with no benefits and raise.
Co-employees just like to work smart and let hard work passed to new trainees.
Company pays you peanuts. That's why they get monkey employees.
CSR asked to do a lot of things in the yard like painting the curb with green, mowing the boulevard, throw trash in dump
Manager does not give equal number of hours to employees. But gives always 40 hours to his favorite even though the location is not busy for the week. Favorite employee just stays inside the store staring at the computer while other CSRs do the hard work outside.
Other CSR do not check and clean the trucks that they dispatch to customers.

Manager schedules favorite employee during special holidays for 1.5 times pay rate.
Uhaul does not pay overtime. If you worked more than 40 hours this week, they will carry over the excess hours for next week.
Uhaul does not welcome labor unions. Most of the employees here are relatives.
It is not an equal opportunity employer. If they don't like the way you look and speak, they will let you do all the hard work in the yard. They will only train those with good looks to handle rental contracts and just let them work smart for the whole day
Some senior csr trainees who are not even asst managers, supervisors or managers will tell you to do the hard works that are supposed to be their job to do it.

Typical Day at Work
- Rental Contracts for trucks and trailers
- Contracts for Storage and other storage related issues 
- Managing inventory
- Sales items and cash related responsibilities 
- Checking and cleaning equipment etc

What I learned
- how to work in a fast paced environment under immense pressure
- How to deal with unreasonable, and exceptionally rude customers 
- Accommodating customers under any circumstance
- Dealing with the unrealistic expectations of management 

Management
- Management needs IMMENSE improvement 
- unrealistic expectations from staff 
- require employees to do work not listed in their job description 
- the pay does not support the amount of work the management
- When Management needs you they will work you like no tomorrow, but when your availability decreases or they find someone else, they don't prioritize your needs no matter how much longer you have worked their than the others 
- When your not available as often they just stop giving you hours no matter how many times you remind them your still an employee there

Co-workers
- Possibly the only part of the job that is enjoyable 
- co-workers are fun to work with and create a stress-free enjoyable environment

Hardest Part of the Job 
- Dealing with unrealistic expectations and workload with1 minimum pay 

Most Enjoyable Pat of the Job
- Customers ( the fun and interactive ones)
- Co-workers

U Haul as a company I think its great help to the public by providing the rental trucks, storage, hitch sales and installation and sales of moving supplies, U box at very good rate that most people can afford. From work part if you get to work under a good store manager and Marketing company president you'll be fine.  If you work for U haul store that sells all the things that I have mentioned above including trailer rentals you are gaining a lot of good experience in all these products which is really good on resume. For examples by working at Uhaul storage experience will open door for  to work as manager at storage facilities, Renting trucks and trailers will help you get job as managers at Vehicle rental companies etc.  Will see some worse customers because U Haul is ready to rent on cash on specific trucks and rent storage units too on cash. When actually they should just do credit cards only for all vehicles rentals, storage rentals and Ubox. Its time the company needs to bring some change. Renting on cash leads to stolen vehicles, more unpaid bills and more police reports. Company is ready to lose lot of money on this. But what about the mental health of employees who has to deal with these problems?
 

Management is very supportive about their employee's life outside work.  They will accommodate requests from employees regarding family matters as much as they can, and I definitely admire them for  these things.  The only flaw that I saw during my time in Uhaul is proper training for new employees, especially for employees who are required to drive Uhaul vehicles.  Before Uhaul, the biggest vehicle I drove was a seven-seater van.  After Uhaul, I experienced driving vehicles up to three times longer than a seven-seater van.  What surprised me was no one ask me if I have experience in driving cargo trucks as big as the 26-footer or even pulling trailers as long as the Transport Carriers during my hiring process.  I ended up studying  how to drive the unfamiliar vehicles on the road (hands on)  the day i started working and lucky enough to survived without an accident considering I'm not entitled for any benefits. Its all about numbers in my line of work(which is not suppose to be), that caused  some changes my driving attitude and realized the job is not for me.

I consider my life in Uhaul as a challenging experience.  I learned  a lot of things about the company and co-employees. It's a great place to start for young individuals who still live with the parents and doesn't have any bills to pay.

U-Haul cuts every single corner in existence to get their flagship $19.95 rate, and it's the team members who pay the price. To avoid paying benefits they keep all positions part time (except management), so every store is staffed by a motley crew of people who only work there a couple days a week and don't take it seriously as it's not their primary source of income. 

The company creates the illusion of having the "best rate" by completely obfuscating their rate and reservation system. More vehicles are packed into their yard than what could possibly fit and when customers can't pull in or out because the lot is packed full it's the staff who have to deal with the chaos. And when renters find out they have to pay more than $19.95 or their rental vehicle isn't at their requested location, it is the staff who they will take it out on. 

Staffing levels are kept at a bare minimum so there's seldom enough staff to handle renting, returning, and cleaning vehicles. Staff who work outside in rain or snow cleaning trucks and dragging trailers around by hand earn the same wage as someone who sits at the counter doing paperwork all day.

It can be a decent job in the short term for a bit of income if you have no other choice and don't get too emotionally invested into it.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Customer service representative 11 salaries reported	$19.86 per hour
Mécanicien automobile 2 salaries reported	$21.00 per hour
Maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$22.50 per hour
Automotive mechanic 5 salaries reported	$32.00 per hour
Technicien de maintenance 5 salaries reported	$23.20 per hour

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