Alex and Nicole—two hardworking, honest artists—rented a U-Haul truck for what was supposed to be a simple transition from New York to North Carolina. What followed was a catastrophic breakdown in corporate accountability that’s now going viral across TikTok, YouTube, and social media.
U-Haul was hopelessly slow to respond to their plight after the rental truck was stolen out of a metered parking spot in front of a popular hotel. They are now living out of their Jeep when they should be working on opening the inn they recently purchased in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Alex and Nicole’s whole life was inside that truck: their furniture, electronics, priceless musical instruments, expensive cameras, and irreplaceable memories. It was all gone—stolen from right under their noses. While the thieves are ultimately responsible for their own callous act of evil, U-Haul rented the couple a defective, insecure truck. It was not even the truck they actually reserved. A UHaul franchise manager gave them what he had on the lot after their originally reserved rental choice went to another customer before they arrived.
Their replacement truck was much larger and harder to maneuver, park, and secure properly. The truck had a broken lock latch that was rusted and unfit for use. It must have been a breeze for the truck thieves to check out what was inside before they even broke into the truck's cab to steal it. You can see the actual truck and hear about the damage done by the thieves in Alex and Nicole's own words on one of the videos they posted on YouTube about their ordeal:
🔗 Watch it here
Much of this ordeal is also recorded for posterity on Nicole's Facebook page, where posts include her sharing of a news report done by a local network about the truck theft:
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19DTwwF85v/
Corporate Cowardice in Action
Instead of acknowledging responsibility immediately, U-Haul was unresponsive until the founder of this site reached out to them on behalf of Alex and Nicole. Nicole’s email records a full chain of communication attempts met with boilerplate responses (one was even generated by an AI prompt UHaul reps left in the email by accident), silence, and indifference. The local store manager was quick to point fingers and slow to take action. The company’s so-called "Customer Care" department offered vague condolences, not sensible solutions.
The rental giant's franchise staff didn't even inspect the truck before renting it out. They didn't fix the broken lock that made it a thief’s dream. They didn't address the vehicle's faulty blinkers and tail lights. And they actually even kept right on charging the couple long after the theft was reported to police and corporate customer service representatives.
To begin with, the switching out of trucks, trailers, and other equipment is a phenomenon UHaul is specifically known for. While we don't publish all the complaints that come into us as a result of this site, the most common complaints come from people who often get their equipment swapped out irresponsibly. This is primarily thanks to a huge disconnect between corporate booking procedures and local franchise owners preferring to give walk-in, cash-paying customers their preference. The people who planned their moves months beforehand and placed equipment reservations they thought would be honored are often told to go pound sand when trying to pick up what they reserved. Instead, they get whatever is left on the lot, even if it's impossible to accomplish their particular move with that option. Corporate bookings, no matter how far in advance they are placed, are basically meaningless and pointless under these circumstances.
Nicole and Alex, like so many other UHaul clients, were forced to rent a much bigger vehicle than they were comfortable driving. To make matters worse, in order to appease them to eat the extra costs and take a truck they didn't actually order, UHaul pitched their "Load Share" discount service. This left the couple with the responsibility to tow an additional trailer behind their oversized rental truck, which they would have to take from Philadelphia to Cincinnati. The UHaul staff made this program sound like a great way to earn a discount, but the additional "per-axle" tolls, gas money, and time spent on the delivery detour actually cost them more than they bargained for. The larger truck also meant they could not park the vehicle in a more secure parking garage with security staff and surveillance cameras. The clearance limits made that impossible with the much taller truck.
The UHaul Load Share program essentially makes the company's customers into temporary independent contractors. Instead of earning a paycheck, these customers earn discounts on their rental equipment for doing the corporation a huge favor that would obviously cost UHaul a lot more to contract out to a professional delivery service or driver.
Even worse? Alex and Nicole were essentially mocked when they attempted to sort out their dilemma through the insurance company UHaul uses. It doesn't take long to figure out why UHaul's insurance carrier would be slow to handle claims like this, either. Repwest Insurance Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of U-Haul's holding company.
The couple is still trying to get answers from Repwest, and they have been lambasted with repeated references to an "optional insurance policy" they could have paid for with their rental. They were treated as if buying U-Haul’s SafeMove coverage on top of the extra rental costs they were saddled with would’ve magically fixed a busted latch on a defective truck they should never have been given in the first place.
Social Media Erupts
The raw emotion in Nicole’s viral TikTok and other social media posts have generated a ton of negative attention for the company. Their pain is now public.
🎥 TikTok – @sunflower_ballet
🎬 Nicole’s full video breakdown
In these videos, you don’t see actors or influencers—you see real people who trusted a billion-dollar company. They were both big fans of UHaul before this fiasco. Now, they're left with nothing for believing the company would stand by them in a crisis.
This case is one of the worst we have ever encountered since this site went live. You see grief. You see frustration. You see what happens when corporate America treats people like disposable revenue sources instead of human beings.
What They Lost
Nicole and Alex lost their furniture, clothes, kitchen supplies, electronics, artwork, and so many irreplaceable mementos. Nicole's grandfather's Purple Heart medal was even among the items stolen from the truck. They lost an estimated $500,000 worth of items in the incident, not to mention their sense of security and trust.
Now they’re left to rebuild from scratch. Their GoFundMe details just how devastating the theft was:
💔 GoFundMe – Help Alex and Nicole Rebuild After Theft
They’re not asking for luxury—they’re asking for dignity. For a chance to start over after U-Haul left them exposed and empty.
The Bigger Picture: This Isn’t Just About Alex & Nicole
Thousands of customers have similar horror stories. At FuckYouUhaul.com, we’ve heard from people across the country who were stuck with renting inadequate equipment, bogus late fees, false damage claims, and broken promises. This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s a very disturbing pattern. UHaul is well aware of their systemic truck-swapping issues, and the company still hasn't taken adequate steps to fix the recurring problem.
U-Haul continues to make millions renting out outdated, inadequate equipment while dodging accountability for what happens next. If they cared about their customers, they’d fix their broken fleet and overhaul their joke of a claims process. But they don’t. They’d rather blame the victims.
Joe Shoen Agrees to a Refund, but His Gesture is Too Little and Too Late
UHaul CEO Joe Shoen finally provided some limited help to the couple after we sent a particularly scathing email to him and his support staff recently. He called Nicole personally and then sent a written apology with an announcement that he would provide a full refund. His entire responsive email is included below:
From: Joe Shoen <Joe@uhaul.com>
Date: Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Subject: Re: Nicole Marie Polec and Alex Lowry Potential Lawsuit
What You Can Do
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Support the GoFundMe campaign set up by Alex and Nicole: Help Rebuild After Theft
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Tell your U-Haul horror story to us at www.fuckyouhaul.com by emailing rich.bergeron@gmail.com
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Demand change: Tag @uhaul on every social media profile you have, and call them out for their shortcomings.
Provide Pro Bono Legal Assistance: If you are a lawyer who is willing to take this case on as a pro bono effort and help Alex and Nicole get some justice, contact Nicole through her Facebook page.
Let’s make something clear: This isn’t just about a bad rental experience. It’s about lives disrupted, trauma compounded, and a corporation that continually refuses to do what’s right when they drop the ball and treat customers like second class citizens.
We stand with Alex and Nicole.
U-Haul: You owe them more than an empty apology and a rental refund. You owe them justice. You owe your customers a comprehensive revamp of your policies and procedures that result too frequently in irresponsibly swapped rentals and customers being allowed to leave your franchise locations with hopelessly substandard equipment.
