Penske Truck Rental

My friend needed a truck for moving. She ordered it online a couple days in advanced and it was ready on a Friday afternoon when we went to pick it up. The rate was $ 40 for 24 hours plus $ 0.79/mile which was the cheapest we could find by far. This location was cheaper than the locations in Brooklyn and Queens as well. They also didn’t push insurance or extras on us which was nice. We were a little shocked when he gave us our total because they put a hold for something like 100 miles but it was correct once we returned it and he adjusted it to our actual mileage. The truck was clean, the AC worked well, and we had no issues with it. My friend ended up running late the they had already closed for the day (They close early on the weekends so beware). She called the customer service and they were nice enough to waive the extra day if we returned it by 7am the next morning. When we returned the truck we were charged the extra day however when we let him know what we were told over the phone he found a note in the computer. I would make sure you get the name of the person you spoke with just in case there’s an issue. Overall it was a good experience and I’ll look to this location first the next time I need a moving truck.

Well, we were close…
After reading all the bad reviews I decided I really needed to get after these guys, leave nothing to chance.
Greg did a fine job for me. Reviewed the prices, put it all in a pdf’d quote, and emailed it to me. I called him a couple times and also dropped by in person, twice, just so they’d know who I was. HINT: IF YOU HAVE A WRITTEN QUOTE THEY CANT CLAIM YOU CONFUSED THE DATE — GET IT IN WRITING MORONS!
Lo and behold the day I show up to rent, trucks galore! Mike did a fine job for me day of pickup, or so I thought…
My rental is one way, let’s call it $ 1300 for the sake of this example, 4 days, mileage included. Smooth sailing.
I return the truck a day early and the nice check-​in fella said «boy they sure charged you enough didn’t they»…then he proceeded to give me the tricks for a lower rate.
HINT 2: RENT EARLY, WAAAAY EARLY. CALL THE DAY BEFORE AND TELL THEM XYZ GAVE YOU A RATE $ 300 BETTER, THEY WILL MATCH.
The ordeal is over…
…then the AMEX bill comes.
On the same day as my rental, but in a separate charge, they’ve arbitrarily billed my Amex for another $ 500 — WTF?!?
I called, spoke with Frank, he said «the agreed upon amount was $ 1800»…nonsense!
HINT 3: COPY WRITTEN QUOTE COME IN HANDY, AGAIN, MORONS!
Long story long, I hammered on him a while, got the requisite «speaking to my manager» comments, he tries to change terms of original $ 1300 agreement, HAS NO EXPLANATION FOR THE EXTRA $ 500, claims he’s gonna refund it and I don’t trust that he will.
HINT 4: GET AN AMEX MORONS!
After sorting it with Frank I exercised my rights as an AMEX cardholder and notified them as well so if Penske doesn’t handle it the charge will go away one way or another…
…but what a hassle — thanks for nothing Mike.

While it may appear this location has improved their level of customer service over the past few months I caution you to fall into this trap.
I needed a truck for Labor Day weekend and knew I would be traveling quite far in my vehicle (~800 miles). After mentioning this to Mike on the phone he was able to help me out with a discount. I told him I needed to call back and confirm this price would work and did so within about an hour. I was well aware it was a big moving weekend in NYC and that he was going out of his way to help my situation.
Upon arriving to pick up my truck I was greeted by an unpleasant employee (who I will not publicly name). He told me he could not locate my reservation by name or phone number and asked if I had ever been given a Reservation #. Luckily I had made a note of the details of my reservation, including employee name, pricing, and Reservation #.
After I provided this information I was told my offer could not be honored as the system «indicated» my reservation had been for a different weekend. The employee tried to offer me an option that would have nearly TRIPLED the price. After refusing to agree to those terms, he went on to «cut me a deal» which still would not come close to my original agreement. After multiple accusations by the employee that I must have confused my weekends and not provided the correct dates (which I had been planning for weeks), I decided this was a lost cause and needed to get on with my move. After finally agreeing to higher terms than originally agreed upon I disclosed my estimated return time (remember this part) and left the store quite furious.
Days later, after driving for 8+ hours and unpacking the vehicle, I return to the store at 2pm (which was an hour earlier than I had indicated a few days earlier). While pulling up to the store I noticed another Penske vehicle parked outside with a gentleman leaning against it on his phone. Guess what, the store was CLOSED for the day!
Apparently the employee forgot to tell myself, and at least one other customer, that the store had abbreviated hours and now I was stuck with the vehicle an extra day. After calling the customer service number and speaking with a lovely customer service rep (she truly was great) I was told a solution would be discovered. The phone rep put me on hold only to return with a colleague on the phone with her who could help me. Guess who, THE SAME GUY I spoke with Friday.
He again accused me of being wrong and got very heated. He told me that I could return the truck in NJ or park it on the street overnight and return the next day. After explaining that neither option was possible because of long distances and the unsafe streets of NYC, I told him I would pay to park it across the street but would like to be reimbursed as this was due to a lack of clear and transparent communication. I was told he would «split» the cost with me but upon returning my truck, this was QUICKLY forgotten.
At the end of the day I should have trusted more online reviews. Both Unilocal and Google Reviews point out similar issues. Within the last two weeks it appears as though missing reservations have occurred multiple times. I can only imagine this is a clever sales technique to lure in customers and then claim their original terms cannot be offered.
If you decide to do business with this store ensure you’ve prepared yourself for a miserable experience (on top of the already miserable process of moving).

Moving sucks. Balls.
But Chis and Mike were incredibly helpful.
Chris always responded to my emails promptly, usually within a few minutes.
And Mike went the extra mile to reformat a form that I needed to print out when I was in North Dakota.
He really went over the TOP to be helpful. Not something I was expecting.
Will definitely use them again.
But hopefully I won’t have to, because I don’t want to move again for a long time.
Because moving sucks. Balls.

We dropped off a Penske truck rented in Charlotte NC. Because of one-​way streets and closed streets, it was a challenge to figure out where to park the truck when I was close to this drop off. If I had followed the instructions provided by the informative person who answered the phone, I would have gotten it right the first time! He was also helpful in directing me to a gas station just a block away to avoid the Penske $ 8/​gallon if the tank was not full when returned (the tank WAS full when I picked up the truck in Charlotte).
I parked the vehicle a couple of blocks away where I saw the back of a lot filled with Penske trucks. When we walked to the office, they didn’t hesitate to offer to go pick up the truck, rather than ask me to go retrieve it and navigate the neighborhood again. This was top notch service in my opinion and a rare find in NYC.
This is the topper… this small office for pick up and drop off, primarily staffed by men had a CLEAN, well supplied restroom! Certainly unexpected for a truck provider and in Manhattan.
If you need to rent a truck, this is the place to go!

I wish I could give zero stars. They had a record of my reservation, and even though I got an email confirmation the night before saying my truck was ready for me… but when I got there, no truck. They didn’t offer my any help (while a local place– Chelsea Truck Rental-​was kind enough to call all over New Jersey and Manhattan to try and find me a truck). They just told me there wasn’t anything they could do. So there my friends were, waiting at my apartment where all my stuff was boxed up, and there I was, standing in midtown without a rental truck. It was a total nightmare.

I was going to be moving from Manhattan to Chicago a couple of months ago and reserved a truck (I reserved it online and then called to make sure that my reservation went through. Additionally, I had with me a printed confirmation number and email from Penske stating that my rental truck was «filled with gas, and ready for me to pick up») at this Penske location several weeks in advance. Come moving day morning (bright and early), we went to pick up our truck and were told that they didn’t have it for us! We were told that several trucks that were due to be in had not been dropped off from other Penske locations, leaving this location several trucks short. What’s more, the gentleman working behind the counter told us that it was his day off and that he was mad that he had to be working that day, and when it came to our moving truck, his reply was «I dunno what to tell you, we don’t have a truck for you».
I quickly called Penske’s 1800 number and spoke with several representatives and managers who informed me that it was a mistake on their end, and that the only trucks they currently had available were in NJ (AKA very far from us in Midtown). Well, that wouldn’t work. Luckily, I noted a Budget Rental Truck Company very close to this Penske location, and ran over there to ask if they had any available trucks. Budget was able to get me a truck immediately and send me on my way in 15 minutes!
To add insult to injury: a couple weeks later, my credit card was billed $ 100 from Penske for not cancelling my reservation. Well, I TRIED to use my reservation– but there was no truck for me on moving day. I thought that at least that was clear when I spoke to the representatives on moving day. I quickly called Penske and told them to remove the $ 100 fee from my credit card, which they did… after 3 days, and after having to call them back to make sure that they did it.
I cannot begin to tell you how stressful of an experience this was for us. I had put faith in Penske when I made my reservation for a truck rental that the truck would be there, and that if it wasn’t, that they would at least be able to provide me with another. Penske failed on all accounts.
I strongly urge that you do not use Penske when considering moving in the NYC area.