United Rentals

I called and reserved a trencher to put in 3 french drains around 3 houses. I called Monday to check that it would still working standing water because of all the rain over the weekend, was told it would be fine).
Tuesday morning my son and I pick it and ring to home to use it. Just as I suspected it didn’t work in standing water. I called back to try and see what our options were.
Was told first that I would be charged for half a day rental and then could reserve it back for the weekend, all within a hour and a half of picking it up. I asked to speak with manager, Brent picked up and worked with me to make sure to close out my contract and then said i could come pick it up Friday for the same amount.
Brent, thank you for working with me and making a customer happy.

Let me start by saying how much I try to avoid scathing reviews. That said… here comes one.
I’ve had a bad experience in the past with United Rentals. I rented an aerator that three families would all be using to cut the cost of renting one separately. I was given a specific time to pick up the aerator… and it was not there. They called me two hours later. Needless to say… my neighbors were as unhappy as I was… except I was the one letting them down.
Here it is… a couple years later and all the places that reserve aerators are booked up. I decide to go back to United and «hooray!» they’ve got an aerator for me to reserve two weeks from then. I proceed to organize the neighborhood into days of use… since we will have the aerator for the whole weekend.
I arrived at United Rentals at the 11:30 time they gave me to pick it up. The guy behind the counter (the guy I made the reservation in person with) says he doesn’t have my name down. I can also tell by the look on his face that he messed something up… cause he knows I was in there and reserved it. He reads the two names he has renting their aerators to me to see if I know them… or somehow it was my alias… or some other asinine reason. Both people proceed to come in and leave with those aerators. The guy behind the counter calls two rental places… and only comes up with Home Depot maybe having one in an hour… but I can’t reserve it.
He apoligizes… and I leave determined to make sure I tell everyone about how incompetent their business is.
Why am I so mad about this? Five families planned their weekends around an aerator rental that would cost them each less than $ 20. Now, I’ve had to go to Home Depot and wait on an aerator in hopes of getting one… which I did… and it is now costing each family $ 40 to use… and you guessed it… two hours less to use it.
Not only do you make me look like an incompetent fool… United Rentals. You made the guy that organizes neighborhood projects and advises and refers people in home projects… let my neighborhood of 46 homes know what I went through both times I used United. I will only thank you for one thing. All may neighbors know to what length I’ll go to rectify a situation caused by myself or someone that did us dirty.
I expect so much more from a business of your size considering how bad the economy is. Thanks for calling two stores and giving me the «It’s up to you… sorry we screwed you» look. Never again!