U-Haul – Treasure Island Mini Mart

Favorite haul… they are nice, friendly and very helpful. Service is 5 stars, 10 out of 10. It is easy to park your car overnight. Location is also ideal. I’ve been to a lot of Uhauls as a student and this one is by far my favorite. I will go out of my way to continue using their service.

The Treasure Island Mini Mart recently started providing U-​Haul truck rental service and I assume I was either the first customer or one of the first customers they had in their new endeavor. I made my reservation for a truck online and the next day they called me to confirm I would be there at 5:00pm, not once, but twice.
So, 4:45 rolls around and I get to Treasure Island, but I’m a little lost so I call the store to ask for directions (Google Maps on Treasure Island is HORRIBLE, NONE of the addresses are correct). The woman who answers is a little short with me because I keep asking her to clarify where the store is (she has a very thick accent that didn’t help things).
Lo and behold, at 4:59, I find the T.I. Mini Mart tucked away into some building, but I made it. I walk in, and the woman who I spoke with on the phone then informs me that she can not rent out the U-​Haul trucks, and the man who can rent it out, isn’t there. Umm… what?
She calls the man who actually does the rentals and he is in SF, BUT he is on his way back to the island. For those of you who don’t drive on the Bay Bridge at 5pm, it’s basically a parking lot. So, I must sit and toil around thier lack-​luster store for 40 minutes until this guy finally arrives.
5:40pm, he get there, apologizes and we start the rental paperwork. Except, rather than being able to quickly get me in and out after the interminble delay already, he doesn’t appear to be very computer savvy and I wait AN HOUR as he fumbles through the screen prompts and coordinates over the telephone with someone who apparently knows what to do.
I finally leave at 6:40pm (an hour and 40 minutes after my «appointment» they confirmed twice). This will definitely be the last time I use their U-​haul service, and I will certainly never shop there (even though I live 3 minute walking distance away).
The actual U-​haul truck I got only had 300 miles on it and was very clean. They were very nice and apologetic and did allow me to keep the truck overnight for no extra charge, but the fact remains that I had to wait FOREVER. Next time I move I’ll just use a place in the city (like the one off Market & Octavia) that is an actual U-​Haul rental store and not just a Mini-​Mart trying out a new endeavor.