U-Haul Fail

Let me share my frustrations with U-Haul with you.

Friday, I picked up Ray from the airport with just enough time to make it to our appointment with U-Haul to have a hitch installed and pick-up the enclosed trailer we would utilize to load up my bedroom suite for transport to Indiana. The folks there were timely and had our hitch installed in just over an hour. We left, ate lunch, and then went to another location to pick-up our trailer. As the kind man is hooking up the trailer we check to ensure the lights on the trailer work. Brakes…check. Blinkers…not so much. When you would turn on the blinker it would click once, then nothing. It wouldn't even work on the truck. So he unplugged the trailer from the wiring harness and we tried the blinkers on the truck…they worked. Maybe it's the trailer. So we unhooked from one trailer and hooked up to another, plugged in the wire for the lights, and again…brakes are good, blinkers are not. Hmm…sounds like the harness U-Haul installed has a bit of a glitch.

We return to the U-Haul facility who installed the hitch and harness and a young lady comes out, checks the wiring, determines the wires are good and states, "You probably just need a relay kit. Let me call my manager. He'll have to go get one." We're good with this. We simply need it to work so we can get the last of our belongings loaded up for the move.

She's gone for a while so I get on my phone and look up our truck and trailer/blinker issues and, yup, she's right, we need a relay kit. Ray called and talked to his brother and yeah, it sounds like you need a relay kit. I'm on the phone with my dad, yeah, a relay kit should fix that. We're standing around outside with the truck and are getting restless so Ray decides to go in and see how long it's going to take to get the kit there and installed. When he finally returns, his face is red and he tells me that the manager has decided that we don't need a relay kit and since he doesn't think we need one, they aren't going to go get one, but if we wanted one put on it was going to be up to us to get it and install it.

Now remember, U-Haul installed the wiring harness and the hitch. The lights on their trailers do not work with the wiring harness they have installed and they are now unwilling to expend any more effort to make it work.

I looked at Ray and communicated to him, in words that I will not type here, that they could come out, uninstall the wiring harness, remove the hitch and take back their trailer. I wanted my money back and we would leave the bedroom suite in Alabama and purchase a new one in Indiana.

We did just that. We arrived at U-Haul just after noon and left just after 6pm and had nothing to show for it. What a waste.

My advice: Use PODS. They drop the PODS container where you want it, it's even with the ground so there are no ramps to walk up while loading, you call them and they pick it up. You can either have them store it for you or tell them the location and date to drop it and they do. When it's empty you call them back and they pick it up. So very simple. We should have just called PODS like we did on the initial trip to Indiana. We just thought it was a good opportunity to go ahead and have the hitch installed on the truck.

Anyone else have a negative experience with U-Haul?

New Beginnings

The song says "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" (Closing Time by Semisonic). With a new beginning on the horizon, I find myself spending time reflecting on my journey thus far.

I moved to Florida, started a new job and got married all in a three month period. Makes you tired just thinking about it doesn't it? You should have lived it! Florida was wonderful. I met some great people, made a few friends and gained a new best friend in the process. The beaches and weather were amazing and I still miss a couple of the restaurants. There are days I still struggle with our decision to leave Florida, but the Lord had a bigger plan for us.

Alabama didn't quite welcome us with open arms. It was more of a barely cracked open door and a sideways glance. It took a while for us to find our place here. We were both promoted and worked crazy hours. The stay in Alabama has been right at 2 ½ years…I think the hours we worked are what have made it seem longer! I've definitely made friends here with folks who genuinely care and look forward to hopefully continuing those relationships on as I leave for Indiana.

Alabama brought about some challenges I wasn't ready to face, but have seemed to survive. Besides being in an overly stressful environment due to the nature of the grocery business and being in charge of the transportation of food to 100 stores (and sometimes more depending on if other DC's needed help),major health issues arose. Ray and I both gained a lot of weight during our stay here. We both ended up on high blood pressure medications and my anxiety kicked in again (something I've had under control for a few years). For a couple who aren't fond of doctors, we've gotten on a first name basis with ours.

As I look back over the last 2 years here, I am saddened by the fact that I am once again leaving a group of folks of which I have grown fond. I know the person taking my place will take care of them and continue to move forward, but it doesn't make it any easier to leave. I know my folks know that this was more than just a job for me. I know they knew I made it personal and honestly wanted not only what was best for our company, but for them as well. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it really is the people that make the work worth doing and my work was worth doing every day.

Friday will be my last day in my current position. Next week will be my move week to Indiana and I will start my new position at our optical facility the following week. I visited the facility a few weeks ago and I'm excited to join my new team. I believe this will be a great experience.


While I am downhearted about coming upon another end, I am excited for a new beginning.

Above all, I am thankful for Ray and I to be under the same roof again. It's been three long months and I do miss my husband. I've missed the support that comes from a face to face conversation, the comfort that comes from using him as my pillow on the couch, my personal heater under the covers and the relief I get when he hugs me at the end of a stressful day.

The chorus of the song says "I know who I want to take me home."

Ray, will you take me home?