Uhaul Story

How U Haul Saved Our Behinds U Haul

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U Haul may not be the most popular rental company, but let me tell you a story–the story of how U Haul saved our butts.

In 1994, my husband and I decided to pack it all up and play Beverly Hillbillies. We rented a 26 foot truck, packed two households worth of stuff into it (tough packing, considering the uncooperative ramp), hooked an auto transport behind it (to haul my ‘73 Mustang, which was packed to the dome light), and off we went!

Due to spectacularly bad planning (and poor packing), we didn’t leave Utah until the 3rd day of a 5 day rental. Not smart. We did not have a place lined up for us in SoCal. Even less smart. In fact, you could call it stupid. But we were confident that fate would intervene, and all would be well.

Fate did intervene on our behalf. No angels or winning lotto tickets, though. Our miracle came in the form of mechanical difficulties. Typical with U Haul, you say? Perhaps, but oh, so fortuitous!

The truck chugged along like a trooper until we hit that famous killer of poorly maintained vehicles–Cajon Pass. Suddenly, downshifting didn’t seem to have any effect. Hitting the gas was equally ineffective. We reached the top of the pass at a crawling 15 mph. We weren’t too worried at this point–after all, who expects a U Haul truck to clear Cajon easily? We realized something was seriously amiss when, on the downside of the pass, we continued to chug along at 15 mph. In fact, 15 mph seemed to be our maximum speed, regardless of grade.

Ever try driving I-15 at 15 mph? In rush hour traffic? Exciting, to say the least.

We took the Rancho Cucamonga exit (an enlightening experience–I had always believed Rancho was a fictional place created for Bugs Bunny’s benefit), and quickly discovered that the hamlet of Rancho Cucamonga does not believe in gas stations. We sputtered along for miles (at 15 mph, of course), searching wildly for a place for our truck. Preferably, a place with a telephone. It took almost an hour (15 miles?) to find one.

U Haul’s customer service was a joy–they demanded the number we were calling from, then told us we were on our own when we couldn’t provide them with that number (Rancho doesn’t believe in putting phone numbers on its pay phones). I wound up having to call my mother in Utah to play go-between. After almost 3 hours (the truck is due back the next morning, mind you), U Haul agreed to send a tow truck. Yippee. . . ?

Four hours later, that tow truck actually arrived. A truck the size of your average Ford Bronco. No way that puppy was pulling our 26 foot truck with the 17 foot auto transport. No way, no how. The driver called for a larger truck, then disappeared. Uh–thanks!

Hubby and I sat back on the grass near the phone and waited. And waited. You get the picture. Our wait wasn’t completely uneventful, thankfully–after 2 hours, a shoplifter ran from the nearby convenience store, shot straight for our rig, and dinged up the brand new paint job on my Mustang while vaulting over it. That was exciting.

Another hour went by before the new tow truck arrived–a biggie! The driver, Steve, was great. He towed us to a yard in the next town over, and helped us unpack the Mustang so we could drive into LA to find a place to sleep. He even offered up the locked shed at the tow yard to store my guitars. Steve was a very nice man–no, he didn’t work for U Haul.

A call to U Haul the next morning brought the news that the truck was unbailable. We had two options–they would give us a new truck (making it necessary for us to unload the old one, load up the new one, then unload it again when we found a place), or they would leave the truck at the tow yard, locked, until we found a place. They would then tow it to our new place, help us unload it, and take it away.

YES! We were no longer looking at having to pay the daily charge for keeping the truck over contract. We were SAVED! We were SET! We took our time finding a place we liked (which wound up being the same community Steve, our tow truck driver, called home), and, at our convenience, U Haul delivered our possessions to our new doorstep. Curbside service–what other truck rental company does this for you? This made the broken ramp much less a problem–we weren’t the ones unloading the furniture! U Haul even paid for our hotel room and meals!

So I say USE U Haul! Rent that truck! Sure, it’ll break down, but that breakdown could well give you the time you need to settle in! Use U Haul, and you may get a nice hotel room in Santa Monica, with free food!

Seriously, now–I’ve rented four U Haul trucks in my life, and every one of them had mechanical problems. One had bad brakes, and the roof leaked, soaking all my possessions during a rainy-day move. One had no second gear. The last one, used to move back to Utah from SoCal, had no interior lights (including dash lights), and a broken stabilizer bar on the auto-transport–again, exciting, but not the sort of excitement I need on a 16 hour drive.

Life may be a gamble, but renting a truck doesn’t have to be. Call Ryder.

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