One customer’s experience with PODS has her declaring, “I’m sick and tired of being ripped off.” We relate, girl.
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In a viral TikTok, Gabrielle Griffin (@gabrielle_griffin), who goes by GiGi, says she called PODS a few weeks prior to order one of its shipping boxes so she could fill it up for her cross-country move. She says she received a 30% discount, and the resulting price was $4,700. She decided to book it because she didn’t have to pay until a few days before the delivery, so she figured she’d shop around for better deals in the meantime.
U-Haul has a better price
She says someone named Nicole, who is presumably her partner and housemate, called U-Haul to book its moving boxes. Since the company’s boxes are smaller than PODS’, they ordered two. The company quoted them $2,300.
Here’s where the ‘slime ball’ tactics come in
After receiving a better deal from U-Haul, Griffin called PODS to cancel her reservation. Upon hearing this, the representative told her, “Well, I can get that price down for you. Let me see what I can do.”
She offered $3,379, which Griffin refused. This prompted the rep to ask who the competitor is. When she learned it was U-Haul, she criticized the company’s offering. “I wouldn’t ship my stuff in that,” the rep allegedly told Griffin.
Griffin says she told the rep that unless she can beat $2,300, she will be canceling. The rep then offered $3,100.
Likely exasperated at this point, Griffin declined once again and noted that she’s not happy it took her trying to cancel for the company to give her its supposed best price.
The rep responded that since she’s a senior employee, she has more power to offer deals than other representatives, and that had Griffin gotten hold of her first, she would’ve received the lowest price.
Griffin isn’t buying it, though. She says she’s over being ripped off and, before ending her video, questions, “Why is everything a negotiation?”
Both PODS and U-Haul got slammed in the comments
Commenters shared poor experiences with and warnings against both companies.
User Holiday wrote, “So we rented a uhaul truck to drive across the country. They reached out to us to give us a discount if we would take someone’s uhaul moving pod with us. We had no idea uhaul just let people who rented their trucks drive other people’s pods across the country. So keep that in consideration if you use them.”
A second viewer shared a similar warning. “Put an AirTag or something in your pods. Doesn’t matter who you go with. Sometimes they contract out and you never know,” they said.
One viewer said PODS left them hanging for weeks. “I moved across the country with pods and would never use them again,” they wrote. “Expensive, terrible customer service, and delivery took THREE WEEKS longer than they quoted. I had nothing but a suitcase for almost a month.”
Another shared an experience similar to Griffin’s. They wrote, “I called PODS when I was price shopping for my move, the sales rep I got was extremely pushy and condescending when I said I wasn’t going to schedule anything (the pod delivery time wasn’t going to work with that I was looking for) he kept dropping the price and saying ‘if you don’t schedule your move right now you will never get a price this good.’” Griffin liked this comment.
Storage Wars: PODS vs. U-Haul
When comparing PODS to U-Haul’s storage box option, U-Box, Move.com says, “PODS is better than U-Box in nearly every way. If you’re looking at containers, PODS has three steel construction sizes, while Uhaul pods have a single plywood option. If you care about insurance, PODS is the only company with at-home storage coverage. PODS also has the highest customer reviews in the industry, while U-Box has the lowest
The only drawback is that PODS has fewer locations. If you can’t find a nearby PODS facility, U-Box is a solid alternative—or you can check with one of our best moving container companies.”
Importantly, when comparing the two options on price, the site states that U-Boxes have lower quotes initially, but PODS offers a 10% discount to Move.com’s readers.
Forbes states, “U-Haul and PODS are well matched for their low-cost moving solutions. They are so similar, in fact, that the two companies ranked first and second in our best moving containers list, with U-Haul taking the winning spot thanks to the larger variety of services it offers.”
It notes that if you are moving to or within certain states, you will have to go with U-Haul because PODS doesn’t service them. Additionally, “U-Haul also provides vehicle shipping, tracking and full-service packing, which is not the case for PODS.”
@gabrielle_griffin Do your research… these companies be scammin #moving #movingacrossthecountry #colorado #uhaul #lgbtq ♬ original sound – GiGi
Still, U-Haul has its drawbacks. The outlet states that it has “broadly negative customer service complaints,” and that you have to rent a U-Box for a minimum of 30 days.
“Overall, the best moving company for you will always depend on your needs and budget, so it’s important to consider all aspects of your move before making a reservation,” Forbes concludes.
In an email to the Mary Sue, U-Haul shared the following statement: “U-Haul has been the moving customer’s best value for the past 80 years. Our U-Box solution continues this tradition,” stated Ryan Pink, U-Box Rate Analyst. “With U-Box, you will get the best rate, most destinations, and first-class support from U-Haul moving experts — no negotiations necessary.”
The Mary Sue contacted Griffin via TikTok comment and direct message. It contacted PODS via press email.
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