A man from Tennessee says U-Haul charged him almost $200 for damage he never caused. TikTok user @wolfgangkw2 rented a truck from a Johnson City location for a short trip. The next day, he found a surprise charge of $197.86 on his debit card. “I know they’re doing this at more locations,” he said.
According to Motor1, when you rent a U-Haul truck, the company offers damage coverage for $15. The man turned down this protection because he only needed the truck for a 40-mile round trip. He thought he would take responsibility if anything actually happened. But he says this choice made him a target for the scam.
The man explains that U-Haul makes money when customers say no to the protection. If you pay the $15, U-Haul has to cover any repair costs. But if you don’t pay, he claims the company blames old damage on you and makes you pay for it. He says they take existing damage from previous renters and charge it to people without coverage.
The company doesn’t tell renters to take photos before leaving
The biggest problem is how U-Haul handles photo documentation. The man says U-Haul doesn’t clearly tell customers to take pictures before driving away. Instead, the company sends a text with a photo upload link only after you’ve already left. He claims they do this on purpose to catch people without proof.
Even though he didn’t get the text right away, he recorded a video of the truck before leaving. He noticed scratches on both sides and filmed everything. This video ended up saving him from the fake charge. This isn’t the first time Tennessee residents have faced troubling situations that made headlines recently.
The morning after returning the truck, $197.86 was taken from his account. He called customer service and was told the charge was for a large scratch on the right side. The representative said he was being charged because he didn’t upload photos or buy protection. When he asked about checking photos from earlier renters, she said none of them had uploaded any either. He thinks this sounds impossible.
He claims the representative actually found proof that the damage existed before his rental. But instead of telling him right away, she hung up and called the physical store location. When he went to the store, employees still asked him for proof even though they knew the damage was old. Unusual incidents involving Tennessee businesses have been getting attention lately.
He showed them his timestamped video that clearly showed the damage. Employees kept looking at the video closely and asked for frame-by-frame proof. The refund only happened after he started telling other customers in the store what was going on. One couple said they were thinking about canceling their rental after hearing his story.
A manager finally gave him the refund but didn’t apologize. The manager told him to “be nicer to the customer service representative next time.” This response seems ridiculous after being falsely charged almost $200. The man plans to talk to a lawyer about what happened.
Published: Dec 1, 2025 11:45 am