U-Haul Hell!

So I finished moving my gear out of my old place, and completed my first week as a “couch monkey.” The loading and unloading itself, other than the half-ton pool table, went very smoothly; many thanks to my wonderful friends who helped. Unfortunately, getting the TRUCK from the house, to the storage unit, and back to the rental agency, was another matter entirely.

I picked up the truck, already running, from the U-Haul facility in Falls Church with nary an issue. And the drive from there home, all of 8 miles, went well also. It wasn’t until we decided to move the truck from our first parking location that things got a bit ugly. To make it easier to load the gear from the upstairs, I parked out front, and Karl and I loaded all that gear. Then, to make it easier to load the gear from the downstairs, we were going to move the truck further back on the side, all of 16 feet.

Now, 8 miles, no problem, so logic would say 16 feet, also no problem, right? Wrong. Not when you have to push it because the damn thing wouldn’t start. Now, I don’t know diesels, but I’m fairly certain that the whole put the key in the ignition and turn it thing still applies. Well, I called the rental place, and they told me to call roadside assistance, which I did. An hour later a grizzled old man shows up. He tells me that he fixed the same truck last week, the very same 200000 mile “cross-country traveler.” Well, he sprays ether in the air intake (I think; I should have the luxury of not having to know) to start it, then tells me to keep the thing running because it shouldn’t be on the road.

Well, we continue the load with the damn thing running, reeking of diesel, and head off to the storage facility. Unfortunately the loading dock is indoors, preventing said advice from being followed. After sitting for a half-hour or so, all me gear unloaded and neatly filed in storage, it was time to leave. And everyone did, except Turtle, Wanda, Nub, and myself. Because the truck wouldn’t start. Again. Less than 5 hours after I picked it up.

This time the rental agency wouldn’t even pick up the phone, so it was ANOTHER call to roadside assistance, and ANOTHER hour wait for the mechanic. But after the hour wait the roadside assistance people call back and tell me that Henry’s Towing will be ANOTHER hour, because they’ve got a call ahead of me. So we wait for that hour. Then I get a call from Henry’s Towing telling me that they’re just now getting on the road. From Baltimore! So we’re going to have to wait ANOTHER hour? This would bring the wait time up to 4 hours in a 7-hour period of not being able to use the truck, but what are we supposed to do?

Luckily Turtle is a bit of a gear-head, and, not too long after, is finally lucky enough to get the thing running. Also, luckily enough, I’ve pared my gear down enough, either by donating it, selling it, or flat out giving it away, that I only have one load. This means we can take this non-roadworthy P.O.S. back to where it came from and get our money back, right? Wrong! Because when we get there, Steve, the “manager,” thinks otherwise.

He feels that because I was able to “do something with the truck” that I should not get a refund. I try to tell Steve what I was able to “do with the truck” was watch over it for 4 hours and make sure it didn’t go anywhere, under its own power or otherwise. I thought about telling Steve what I’d like HIM to do with the truck, but decided not to.

I still plan on writing to U-Haul with a strongly worded message about their customer service. Steve obviously didn’t care about one individual because he had people rolling in there like mad while we waited, but maybe the district, or even the national office, will feel otherwise. Bottom line: DO NOT RENT FROM U-HAUL. You know why? Because while we were stuck there at the loading dock, blocking other movers, a shiny new Budget rental truck, probably all of 1-year old, backed in next to my beat-up, used-up, washed up U-Haul truck. And you know what happened after THEY unloaded THEIR gear? That’s right. They drove away. THAT shouldn’t be the most impressive part about ANY story.