A two part saga only 7 more levels of hell to go U Haul
UHaul Saga So hi. I was gone all weekend but now I'm back so I can update you on the oh-so interesting things that happen to me. (Read that with some ...
U Haul, Adventures in how to suck U Haul I had to move into my new house this weekend... it was quite the ordeal trying to coordinate the move in of six guys (we live on campus at U...
PART ONE
Reserved a one-way truck some weeks in advance. Was told my pickup-day/time by one of their smaller, independent dealers in Poughkeepsie, NY (the kind of gas station with 3 or 4 trucks). A day or two before the move, I was called and told that they weren’t going to open the gas station for business that day, BUT I could still get my truck there if I got there at 8:00 am - they would be open to distribute trucks from 8:00 to 8:30. I arrived at 7:50 or so. And waited. Turns out, two other parties were waiting as well. 8:00 and 8:30 passed. So did 9:00 and 9:30. Any phone numbers we tried to call were unanswered or unable to assist. It finally occurred to me that the local police would have contact information for the owner in case his place burnt down (no I did NOT torch it!). The local police called the proprietor at home who arrive another 45 minutes later. He only had trucks for 2 of the 3 of us, and wanted us to duke it out as to who got them. Professionalism at its finest.
Well I did get one (after one of the customers agreed to take an in-town, drive it 150 miles, and then drive it back!).
The return of the truck in Cambridge, MA: I made it to the return place just moments before the closing time I had been told when I called about returning the truck. Although the front door was locked, the side door was opened, and I entered to return the keys. The man behind the desk told me to “get the f*&# out of my business” and reached under the counter for what I can only imagine was a gun. I left and called the police, with whose help I was finally able to return the truck.
PART TWO
Now at the other end of the summer I need to move again. I called a different U-Haul center (not the one where I was nearly assaulted) a couple weeks in advance and reserved a truck for a Sunday morning (on the advice of the nice-sounding young man on the phone–”trucks come back in Saturday night and Sunday morning,” he said, “so you should have no problem.” He said it might be ready as early as opening time (7:00 am), and very likely by noon. They would call me when it was ready. No call on Sunday. No truck on Sunday. Monday morning early I call the regional customer service center, and was informed that people with trucks reserved for Saturday are still waiting for theirs.
Hmmm. What’s the point of reserving a truck for a particular day if it can’t be delivered? Has the U-Haul reservations system allowed many more reservations to be placed than trucks available? (A reason not to use them again!). I find myself stepping back and thinking about the business model: get as many reservations on people’s credit cards as you possibly can. If you have no trucks for them at the time, they are stuck and will have to wait you out. If you do have enough trucks, but people are returning them late so that the next patrons can’t get them on time, you’re making at least double money! the original rental fee from renter ONE, the late fee from renter ONE and the regular fee from renter TWO. In a sense, each truck can make more than double income. Now that’s a business plan. Too bad the customers are ticked off. But ever try to find a truck the day you need it from a competitor? They are in the same boat. No, the customer will have little choice but to stick with the original reservation which has them in the queue earlier than a later reservation.
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