When I rented a Penske truck to move from Kansas to Florida, I expected a truck that would get me to my destination and protect the items inside. I did not purchase extra insurance for accidents or something being stolen. I figured that would be up to me to prevent, to some degree. I didn't know that Penske trucks have a propensity for water leaking in during the rain. If I'd known that, I would have chosen a different company. It should be expected that a truck you rent will keep water out. It's just a freakin box surrounding items in cardboard. Cardboard does not like water. The box, therefore, needs to keep water out.
Penske gives people complaining one option: online contact form. I've done this several times now, and never a response. I think it's apparent that the company would prefer to just ignore all complaints and wait for lawsuits so that their lawyers can earn their money. I'm sure it's complicated by the fact that a lot of people want to scam large companies for all they're worth. Basically, I asked for an offer to make me happy. An apology and maybe some kind of offer to pay for books that were ruined because of the poor performance of the Penske truck. I got nothing, so I wrote about it and waited and sent a form and wrote about it and waited. Now I'm writing about it again.
Penske basically ruined our move. The company had nothing to do with other things that went wrong with the new house, and we're not blaming Penske for a dishwasher that was hooked up wrong or an infestation of bugs in the house. That was not Penske's fault at all. Boxes of our stuff that got wet and were ruined--that was totally Penske's fault. And the company won't even respond to suggest I stop writing about it and just sue them already, which is what I assume the company waits for.
Most of us don't want to sue, and Penske knows that. Brian Hard must have this as the Penske motto somewhere. And yes, that's apparently his real name. Roger Penske, assuming he's still alive, must be proud of a company that provides him enough money to play around with race cars while ruining the moves for Christian school teachers. Sweet deal for him; bad deal for us. Actually, I'm sure that when Roger started the company, he dealt with complaints in a way that was fair. If not, the trucks would have disappeared long ago. His name would have been synonymous with a working vehicle and happy customers. Or at least customers who were made happy after a complaint. That's not the Penske of today.
I guess I'm going to have to send the next letter via real mail. Maybe Mr. Hard likes to open real mail. I wasn't looking to actually initiate a lawsuit, but it's looking like I really should try something more, so it'll be letter in writing, Better Business Bureau, my credit card company, and then whatever it takes to sue the truck rental company. It's not like I'm even looking for all that much. I didn't even say I'd need the full amount of my rental back. But now I've wasted time, effort, and goodwill. In fact, I'd be willing to work on a class action. I bet there are many people out there who have contacted Penske only to be ignored, and maybe many of them as a result of leaking trucks. With 50,000 trucks, what if they all have the same flaw, and what if Penske's official response is no response? It's bad business, but the company was probably in bad shape when it sold to Mitsui, and it's likely the deal would not look as good if leaking trucks was a known problem.
[UPDATE]
I received an email from a representative with Penske. Basically, I was thanked for writing about my problems. I suppose that means that after a year, someone in management at least knows about this issue. However, there was no offer of a resolution or of an investigation into problems with the trucks, so that's where it stands over a year after the incident.