There are a handful of things in this world that make me absolutely, bat shit crazy and poor customer service is real high on that list. Standing angrily in a U-Haul Shop in Moncton, NB, I could feel my blood pressure rising and it was eating up all my energy to not roll my eyes at the pair behind the counter.
I swear, my head was going to explode if I was asked what my name was onemorefuckingtime.
After being given three different pickup locations, two pickup times, receiving a 7 am phone call from a customer service representative and waiting in a cold parking lot for more than 20 minutes for someone to actually release the truck to us, I was over U-Haul long before the trek from Halifax to Moncton could begin. U-Haul’s Social Media team, I will admit, are excellent. Now, please train your front-line staff.
We picked up the truck to find the fuel level at 7/16 – not too bad, and with $100 at the pump we filled ‘er up. The drive used 9/16 of fuel according to the tank. I’m no mathematician, but perhaps you can see why I was confused to receive a bill for $47.59.
So, naturally, I inquired.
Oh, the $30 late fee will be waived, they told me. I owed $15 in fuel, plus an additional $2.59 in taxes. $15 in fuel. That would barely move the needle in my parents’ car, it wouldn’t move the needle in my Dad’s pickup truck and I don’t even know how the hell you measure that in a truck that requires $100 to fill it from half.
And the photo of the fuel gauge we took at drop off? It was at the same level the fuel gauge was at when we picked it up. But, because I didn’t think it was worth a fight over $15 and the slight inconvenience of going to pay it, I decided I’d skip my Starbucks fix for a couple of days (no I didn’t, I swallowed the $15 charge along with a Venti Eggnog Latte).
I left work early (sorry, Qimple friends!) tonight to go pay my balance so I could also make my 6 pm meeting with a new friend. I drove to the location. I parked my car – twice, they needed me to move first. I went into an empty shop and waited.
And waited. And then I waited some more.
And then someone came in. I shared the information U-Haul had previously shared and asked them to look me up by phone number. They said they couldn’t. I said bullshit. I went out to my car, searched my email account to find my contract and invoice numbers. I shared them. The response I was met with?
You can’t pay here. You need to come back tomorrow at 11 am.
My response? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
Not my finest moment, I’ll admit, but this isn’t rocket science. I looked the clerk squarely in the eye and asked if she’d ever taken a payment before. After 30 minutes of trying, tweets back and forth with U-Haul and not one, not two but four failed attempts to get ahold of the area manager, they finally figured it out.
And I left realizing that they would both be rolling their eyes until they were dizzy behind my back. I’m a bitch, and that’s fine – because I’m a bitch who gets shit done.
imashleymi.com 
Good for you!! You can’t fix stupid!!
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In no way does this make you a bitch. If I had been faced with that, I would have lost my mind all over them… Seriously… I think that the fact that everyone is alive and well and standing speaks volumes about your self control. Also? Thanks for the U-Haul heads up… good god.
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I think that, in our society, women who stand up for themselves and/or make a stink are labeled as “bitches” while men who do it are “just being men”. I can assure you those two U-Haul staff members thought I was one gigantic bitchface. 🙂
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Yes, you are right about society. We are sad, sad people.
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Utterly ridiculous!
We’ve had U-Haul woes in the past, as well. This, however, takes the cake!
And you know how I feel about somebody taking cake!!! 😛
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Now I want cake. Better go bitch it up at SuperStore and see if I can get me some. 🙂
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At the very least get a FREE cookie!!
😀
*hugs*
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I’ve never once dealt with U-Haul that there wasn’t some giant clusterfuck at some point during the process. Horrible company renting shitty, poorly-maintained trucks.
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Unfortunately, it seems like everyone I’ve spoken to was left with a bad taste in their mouth after dealing with U-Haul. Their call centre is a bloody nightmare. At least the social media team has their shit together, though. Because U-Haul Cares. *gags and pokes self in eye with sharp object simultaneously*
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WOAH.
All the power to you. Seriously. I’ve learned to embrace my inner bitch more as I get older (in appropriate situations that call for it of course) and it’s honestly made me a stronger person and kicked any push-over tendencies to the curb.
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It’s hard to do sometimes, because we girls are brought up to be polite, “good girls”. Kate White’s books have been an amazing help for me to let go of my doormat tendencies 😉 Have you read them? She’s such a badass.
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The saddest part of this is that customer service is actually rather easy – and pleasant – to provide. I really don’t get it that companies refuse to invest in it. Good for you that you said what you thought of them!
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I understand that people have bad days etc., etc., but as you said – it’s not hard to provide basic customer service. Unfortunately, a lot of companies miss the mark on this. See also: training. Neither of the two staff working on this occasion was knowledgeable in how to bring up an account on their software. That’s unacceptable.
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Having a low tolerance for bullshit does not make you a bitch. If it did, I’d be one, too.
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