Yesterday I needed to move some things from my SO’s parents house to a storage unit. They are moving out of state and we would like to keep lots of stuff that would otherwise be thrown away.
Several weeks in advance I reserved a 10 foot Uhaul truck for a one way trip of less than 100 miles to get the items from the house to a Uhaul storage center in my town.
The day before the move, I get a phone call from what sounded like the stammering 17 year old pimple faced clerk boy from the Simpsons. He tells me that they do not as yet have a truck for me. I tell him that I have a reservation and will be needing a truck. He assures me that they will have a truck once one is returned. He actually uses the word “guarantee”.
Since I have been now guaranteed the truck which I had already reserved, I proceeded to just wish for the best. I drove an hour and a half and showed up at the Uhaul at openning time: 9 am. I sigh with relief as we pull into the lot because there are several trucks sitting about. Surely, one of them is for us to use.
It was not to be. I am told inside that my truck isn’t there. I tell him I don’t need a 10 foot truck, I’ll take anything. He persists. I can’t have any of the trucks. While I am waiting other customers show up and pick up the other trucks right in front of me. I ask why they have reservations that seem to matter while my reservation is seemingly useless… the clerk insists that all customers are equally important.
This is where I lose it. You see, I’m not a highly emotional person. I don’t enjoy giving people a hard time, and I don’t enjoy arguing with people. I still tip waitresses even when the meal sucks, because I know it’s not thier fault. You get the idea.
But this clerks’ seemingly intentional ignorance about the situation just pissed me off. I demanded that I get a truck. I asked why I was getting screwed over while other customers where getting trucks ahead of me.
He insisted that the problem was that I was a one way move. All these trucks are in town trucks, he said. They must be dropped off here. I needed a truck that day. So, seeing as it was my only option I said OK, fine. I’ll take an in town truck and return it here. Finally, a solution.
Nope. He tells me he still doesn’t have any trucks. I look out the window and point to a 14 foot truck sitting in front of the building. “Give me the truck!” I tell him. He says that that is someone elses truck. Now he’s just busted. I tell him that now I know he is full of it. The one logical reason that he gave me has been taken away and he still isn’t giving me a truck.
I never used profanity and didn’t use any personal insults or anything like that. I didn’t want to piss him off and needed a truck that day. We went for a drive to get a bite to eat and some time to think. I called other places to try and get another truck, which is difficult at the last minute.
When we return, the clerk has good news for us! Someone cancelled and now we can have a truck.
We get a 14 foot truck. This is too big for our needs and our stuff bounces around inside. We had reserved the smaller 10 foot truck on purpose.
We get the truck in town. This means that we have to drive it back (3 hour round trip) once we are done with it. It also means that we have to pay more money for this, because we are now paying for mileage.
So, we have something that we didn’t want at a higher price than we were promised and it’s completely inconvenient as well! We’ve also wasted half the day dealing with this shit. Good job Uhaul!
Once the truck is unloaded I decide that I’m going to fight back. I call up the Uhaul where we rented from and ask what will happen if we don’t return the truck.
Clerk tells me “Then you would be abandoning the truck.”
I say “No, I’m not. I’m leaving it right here, at a Uhaul location.”
Clerk says if I don’t return the truck he will call the police and report it stolen.
I tell him that this is absurd. The police would simply be angry with him for wasting thier time. I offer to call the police in both the departing and destination towns to explain my story and tell them where I am leaving the truck.
Clerk doesn’t bring up the police again.
I ask him how much he will charge me for not returning the truck.
He says “A lot.” After pressing him he says $150. The clerks at the location where I am actually say that they might charge me for the cost of the truck: $30,000. I tell them to go ahead and try.
I let the clerk on the phone know that I will dispute any bills greater than the original $177 one way charge for the deal I had made three weeks ago. I apologize to the clerks at the destination Uhaul because this wasn’t their fault and I was not rude to them.
I call my credit card company to find out how much Uhaul has charged me. $1. Just enough to run my card, and the massive damage hasn’t hit yet. I tell my credit card people the situation and that I don’t want to pay Uhaul and any punishment charges from them will be disputed by me. They suggest turning off the card for a while so it can’t be charged. Great idea. Card is now off.
I went home and made a martini, and it tasted damn good. Big companies all to often step all over the people they do business with. It’s fine for them to back out of a deal (the reservation) and screw me over. But, when I try to do the same thing back to them, they can just charge away on my credit card as punishment. Or so they thought.
Just because it’s the right thing to do, I will pay them the amount originally agreed upon for the one way trip. I’ll eventually send them a check and turn my card back on. If they do charge me on that card ever, then I will fight them with my last breath. Just because I’m joe sixpack and they are a mutlinational corporation with armies of lawyers doesn’t mean that they can push me around. Fuck em.
Oh, and I’m now on “the list” and can no longer rent from Uhaul. Bloody fucking shame that is.
