I've always heard, "If a customer has a good experience, they may tell one or two people. But if they have a bad experience they will tell ten." I'm going to tell everyone I know hoping they'll tell everyone they know about my recent, horrible, experience with Uhaul.
Background info:
I agreed to purchase a bed from a friend who was moving into an apartment in the West Village. Her cousin was also moving things from this apartment, so we decided to split the cost of renting a Uhaul truck and move it ourselves. We reserved a 14' truck, which was way more space than we needed, but only a $10 upgrade, plus $2.50 per mile. I had reserved the truck for 3 p.m. Total estimated cost $80-90 split two ways.
Ok, well due to scheduling conflicts we could not get everyone to the apartment until 4 p.m. to move, so I went to the Uhaul depot on W. 23rd (i tell you this so you won't ever go there) to pick up the truck. Upon arrival, at 4:05 p.m., I was on the phone with one of the girls at the apartment to explain the situation. I did not approach the counter at this moment b/c I think its rude to talk on the cell phone while dealing with another person. So I concluded my phone call then got in line (this is important for later in the story). By now there are 2 people in front of me, and apparently it takes 20 minutes to get thru a reservation, maybe because the staff lacks motivation and work ethic. Just a thought. Finally I get to the counter with my reservation. The lady goes thru the contract, noting that if I do not fill up the truck with gas to the amount it started on I had to pay $30 plus $4 per gallon. Ok, sign away. Please go wait at garage D for the dispatcher.
My friend and I wander down to garage D and no one is there. No one is out anywhere. We stand around for probably 10 minutes. I walk back toward the office and see a guy backing a van into the garage and asked him if he was the dispatcher. He said yeah, then looks at me and says, "Where are the keys?" "I don't know. I wasn't given any keys, I thought you would have them." "Nah, the office didn't give you keys? You don't have a little green paper with keys?" (in a tone indicating it was my fault). After lots of back and forth between the garage and office, they finally realize the truck I was assigned had no keys. So he went back into the office and got a new truck/contract for me. He walked us back to garage D and we waited at the edge for him to pull it out. I hear him attempt to start the truck 4 times before it actually catches and he can put it into gear!!! I said, "Are you joking me? You expect me to take this car?" I will not bother recounting the entire conversation, but my friend Jacob can vouch that this guy basically said take it or leave it, and that if I had asked for another truck, again, it would have taken even longer! It was a 1994 Ford truck, 15 years old. The alignment was terrible! I asked if anyone had ever been towed before. He said no, so I told him to wait for my call. (side note: there were plenty of very nice, new truck sitting in this garage. why those weren't offered up is still a mystery)
At 4:45 p.m. I pull away from Uhaul. I have to drive to the West Village (aka the maze) then to Brooklyn then to Queens and back to 23rd street... by 8:30 p.m. as told to me by the girl behind the counter.
Getting to the apartment in Greenwich Village was a driving nightmare, partially b/c of the size of the truck! Yikes! We loaded up and headed out (p.s. definitely didn't need a 14' truck). Drove to Brooklyn, dropped off the girls and their stuff, then out to Queens. Sadly, my staircase is too narrow for my bed frame to make it (its still sitting at the bottom of the stairs. i need to buy a screwdriver today). The mattress made it in! Hooray! We decided to just leave the bed frame because we needed to get the truck back before they closed at 9 p.m.
As always, driving in NY takes forever, so we rolled into the Uhaul depot at 8:45. I drove the truck into the garage. Wrong garage. Pull it out and re-park it. Go inside. I did not have time to take it over to the gas station because I was told I needed to have it back by 8:30 and it was now 8:45. I decided I wanted to contest the gas charge because I was 45 minutes late leaving with my truck. The GM reviewed security camera tapes to see what time I came in and left. She told me that I had come in, was talking on my phone and didn't go straight to the counter, so then I had to wait in line, did not apologize for the truck delay and apparently its my fault anyway because I had originally reserved the truck for 3 p.m. anyway. (so shouldn't the truck be ready and waiting for me?) Basically she kept making me feel like I was at fault and I was lying about being in a rush. She then goes further to say that while she was reviewing the tapes I could have taken the truck to the gas station around the corner and filled it up. I said I thought I had to have the truck back by 8:30 p.m. Again, making me feel I chose to not fill up the truck. I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS AN OPTION STILL!!! Why would I chose to pay $30 plus $4/gallon if I could take it around the corner for $15?!
The total bill was way more than I expected to pay and in the end I'm kinda wishing I had just gone to Sleepy's and ordered a twin bed to be delivered. It may have cost a little more but wouldn't have stressed me out to this degree! Nothing is easy in NYC, but this was my first experience of truly hating living here.
Luckily, an angel was working at Shake Shack last night. After leaving Uhaul, Jacob and I went to grab dinner. The poor guy asked the standard question, "How are you doing tonight?" And I nearly burst into tears. I said, "I've had the most stressful day. Really, really horrible." He held up one finger for me to wait one second, turned around and in 2 minutes produced a little cup of frozen custard for free! Maybe there are some people in this City who understand how to treat others.
Please Note: the photo is the truck we used and yes that is spray-paint on the side of the truck!
