Chris and his wife moved recently. To do so, they rented a truck from U-Haul. They planned ahead, booked their truck in advance, and did everything correctly. They just had the audacity to request a truck that wasn’t located an hour away from their new home. This was apparently too much for the U-Haul infrastructure to handle.

He blogged the chain of events;

June 17th-9:30 a.m. -Called local U-Haul. Woman took my info, including my credit card information. I told her where I lived now and where I was moving to and she said she wasn’t sure which location would have the 24-foot truck I needed. She put it into the “general reservation system” and someone would be in touch shortly. She told me I’d be charged per 24 hour period.

June 17th- Noon-Finally received a voice mail from “Radford” who said he had the truck. I called back, He was on another call and put me on hold. The call disconnected. I called back and was immediately disconnected again. I called back a 3rd time, Radford said he didn’t know what was happening, but would leave the phone off the hook while he finished with the other customer. Eight minutes later, after listening to his entire conversation with the other customer, he picks up again. To verify, I asked if I would be charged per 24 hour period; if I pick up the truck at 4 p.m. on Thursday and can’t have it back by 4 p.m. on Friday, would I be charged an entire second day? He said that is two days. I told him what the first woman said and he informed me that the woman who I spoke to before was wrong. After setting up the reservation, he gave me a price quote of $39.95 (1 day). I again asked if I would be charged one or two days because I’d be returning it late on Friday. Then he said that I’d be charged just one day (contradicting himself).

I asked the location of the truck pick up the truck. He’s over an hour away, not even close to either moving location. I told him it would be impossible to get the truck back to that location because of the move. I asked if there was a closer location I could drop the truck off at after the move. He said no. He said he’d put me back in the general reservation pool and someone would be in touch.

June 18th – Noon-Twenty-four hours later and still no call. So I call the general U-Haul 1-800 number. I give them my reservation # and he tells me that I need to talk to my local agent (the original woman) and transfers the call. It hangs up. He did give me the number before he transferred so I call back myself. I get someone different. I explain the entire situation and she tells me that she’s found an available truck near my new house and that someone from that location will call me shortly.

2:30 p.m-No call. I look up the number for the U-Haul office that is supposed to contact me. I give my reservation # and speak to a gentleman. I explain the entire situation again. I tell him when I need the truck and that I may need it later on Friday and could I bring back after 4 p.m. on Friday? He says he can’t authorize that and I need to talk to the regional reservation department and he would transfer the call. I begged not to be transferred. I told him I’d been transferred all over and I’m just trying to book a truck! I even warned him that if he transferred me I was just going to use another company. He said to please hold and he will transfer me to the correct location. The phone rang forever and hung up on me.

2:35-Enraged, I looked up Enterprise and verified that they also rent 24 ft trucks. I call the closest location. A professional sounding man answered the phone. He set everything up and he’s fine with my pickup date and getting the truck back whenever is easiest time and location for me. He tells me if the location is closed, they have a drop box for the key. He reserves a dolly, furniture pads, and straps to make my move easier. He tells me about all the truck features and thanks me for calling and using Enterprise.

I didn’t have to give my credit card in advance. I only talked to one person who picked up on the first ring. It took less than ten minutes. It’s $30 more a day, but I’m paying for the service, which is worth it if it makes an already stressful move much easier.

It’s now June 21st. I still haven’t heard back from U-Haul and they have my credit card information.

Enterprise picks you up. U-Haul makes sure you don’t go anywhere.

See, and here I thought that the point of calling ahead was to ensure that they would have a truck for you. I am clearly naive.

U-Haul gets into the “staying” business [Great Moments in Christory]

(Photo: kb35)

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