Over the weekend I finished most of my move. I had moved all of my
machines a couple weeks ago except for one where the cabinet I made was
5 feet wide. As it turns out, the 5'x9' trailer is really 4'10" on the
inside. And the guy I normally rent trailers from didn't have the
6'x12' open uhauls...

So I rent the biggest truck my normal uhaul guy has. He asked me if I
wanted the appliance dolly. I said no because I already have one...
nearly identical to the uhaul one in fact. He calls me today with the
total saying that it includes the applicance dolly rental. When I said
that I tried not to rent the dolly, he tells me that I didn't sweep out
the truck either, which is normally a $25 charge, but he didn't charge
me for that. And mentions quickly under his breath that he can't go
back and change the total now. For the record, I didn't sweep out the
truck. But it was about as clean as it was when I got it, which was
nearly perfect. My knee-jerk reaction is to find another u-haul
dealer. And I've rented from him maybe a dozen times in the last three
years.

So back to my 5' cabinet. I had to rent a trailer from another rental
place, not u-haul. It seems that no u-haul dealer has open 6'x12'
trailers. I called five of them. The central u-haul 800 number says
they want $5 up front, and they'll call me tomorrow with the address of
someone who has it. This is chicago though. So I'm sure they would
come up with someone clear across town.

The cost to rent the open 6'x12' trailer from this other place was $60.
Now I'm no cheap skate. But this is about twice what u-haul charges.
I (politely) asked the grumpy old man behind the counter why it was so
high. I asked, "What am I getting for twice the money? Am I getting
better service? A better trailer?" I mentioned that I would rather
work with a privately owned place like that, even if the price is
higher. But there's a point where it doesn't make sense anymore. He
complained about how u-haul is self- insured, but they have to buy
insurance and that's what it costs to put a trailer on the road. He
can't help it if they're giving them away. While every u-haul dealer
in town sells out of their trailers every weekend, this guy had a lot
devoid of people and full of a couple dozen trailers.

What's happening? I'm I getting old or something? I would never treat
my customers like the u-haul guy did. We're on a first name basis.
And we're only talking $10. And the other place seems like they would
rather take their ball and go home than to engauge in any reasonable
competition with u-haul. Why have the trailers?

There was a nice lady I talked to at another local u-haul rental place.
She recommended her competition when she didn't have the bigger
trailer. I'll start going to her guess. I guess I'm done venting.

brian