Universal Truck Rental, Local and One Way Truck Rental

If you are considering renting a truck from here I ask that you read my experience before you make your final decision.I decided to rent a truck from Steve despite the reviews I had seen from other people that had had a bad experience, due to the seeming simplicity of my rental and the cost, I thought surely what these people experienced could not happen to me. I fully regret my decision to do so now and wish I had have gone with a reputable company and paid the little bit extra.I picked up the truck and started the rental agreement that had been emailed to me and signed. Steve called me later that day and said there is now a new location for me to drop off the truck, in a different city than agreed, mind you. I mentioned at the time that this was likely not possible on my send as I had already made arrangements, he was nice at this time and informed me to let him know what is possible on my end. I double checked things on my end and when indeed this did not work for me I informed Steve. He then threatened me multiple times (via email and text), stating that I was breaking contract and that if I do not drop the truck off in the new location he would have to charge me more and in his words said I can charge you what U-Haul would charge or you can pay the daily rate". No where in the terms and conditions and the rental agreement I signed

An excellent experience from start to finish gives me great pleasure to offer a 5 Star rating. We have rented straight trucks from Steve Baty at Universal Truck Rental various times over the past 8 years, going from the Ontario GTA to Alberta and Vancouver Island.We have found that Universal trucks are well maintained, ready for pick-up on time and not once have we encountered problems on the road.Having never met Steve Baty nor staff in person, I have found them to be exceptionally professional and accommodating in every way possible either by phone or email.I like that their contracts are clearly written stating what is offered to the client and equally as clear what is expected from the client in return.Highly recommend this business to anyone needing reliable equipment.

They should take one way out of their name because it is a lie.

I moved from Vancouver to Victoria and this company was a late find. Steve was super helpful and accomodating to ensure that my move was economical and let me have the truck for a few extra days which really helped. Customer service was amazing, truck was in great condition, and I really liked the wireless pickup and drop-off. Pricing beat all competitors. Will use again/recommend! Thanks.

Worst rental truck possible, go down the sreet to discount for new reliable truck, Steve will try and give you a truck that isnt road worthy.

My circumstances didn't allow me to end up using Universal Truck Rental but I made a reservation with them over the phone and Steve provided all the information I needed and was extremely helpful.When I ended up having to cancel my reservation they promptly issued a refund of my deposit providing excellent customer service.I will be using them the next time I need a moving truck and will definitely be recommending them to friends and family.

Steve was dishonest with us. He bad-mouthed UHAUL generally, and told us UHAUL trucks don't have All-Season (M+S) tires, and were illegal to drive on BC Hwy 5 (aka the Coquihalla).It was false. UHAUL trucks have All-Season (M+S) tires, and are legal on BC Hwy 5.Super glad we went with UHAUL - they were also able to offer a one-way rental, whereas Universal was not. That saved us 10 hours of driving and a bunch of stress.Steve provided misinformation about the tires in an effort to have us rent from him. This was despite the fact it would be super inconvenient (as he could only offer a two-way return-trip rental).That's sneaky - not good business.

The good : affordable prices, and even honoured the rate for a one-way rental from Vancouver to the Okanagan, with the condition that I return the vehicle to Burnaby, along with extra rental days and twice the kilometers to accommodate that requirement.The bad : no one did an inspection of the vehicle on the lot before renting it to me, and I was on the Coquhalla summit at sunset when I realized that the vehicle had no working headlights, no working dashboard lights, and the HighBeams only worked if you held the dimmer switch on by hand. In addition, the horn had been rewired to a small pushbutton under the steering wheel, suggesting that the vehicle wiring had been changed in order to install a device on the dashboard, probably a GPS locator or a killswitch.The ugly : I emailed Steve to let him know the situation, and try to come up with some solutions, but Steve insisted that I had to return the vehicle to the lot in Vancouver, despite this meaning I had to take a day off work in order to be able to avoid driving at night -- since the rental vehicle was almost certainly illegal to drive at night.Renter beware : be sure to inspect your rental vehicle in its entirety before driving it off the lot, to avoid the risk of driving at night without headlights, a serious hazard to yourself and everyone else on the road.Totally unrelated advice : the British Columbia Department of Transportation oversees the regulations of all commercial vehicles and has a handy phone hotline and online form you can use to report a company if their commercial vehicles appear to be unsafe or illegal to operate.