Day from U-Hell
So, about a month ago Phi Theta Kappa, my honor society, was taking half a giggle and laugh of books to Ames, IA for Pages of Promise. (Ok, 36,000 books.) They had been packed, stacked, saran wrapped and counted.
We rented a truck from U-Haul. The baddest truck they have.
We get it to the loading site.
The tire falls off the rim.
(okaaaaaaaaay. This should have been The Sign, but we weren't paying attention.)
The guy gets there about 2 hours later and, as the boys had already pushed the tire back on the rim, kicks the tire and says, "How far are you going with it?"
?!
Are you Freaking Kidding me?
"We are going to Ames and coming back tomorrow, so we need a good tire."
"Oh. Well, I have to go get one, I'll be back soon."
What?! Okay, ...(skipping part)... half an hour after lunch he comes back and puts a new tire on.
Okay! Great. Good to go.
NEXT DAY
Driving to Ames (different link) from Council Bluffs. (< check out that link!)
I am behind the truck because we all couldn't fit in the cab. Suddenly this plume of smoke and debris (okay, it wasn't like CHUNKS, but...?) come out of the trucks exhaust.
We pull over and check the oil.
Chunky!
Sigh. Call them back.
"We are adding oil."
"It doesn't need oil."
"We are going to Ames and it's spewing forth smoke. The oil is chunky."
"Well, okay. 10W-40."
I am in the gas station purchasing 10W-40 and a FedEx man in a similiar truck says,
"Aren't you with the U-Haul?"
"Yes."
"And that oil is for the U-Haul?"
"Yes."
"Isn't the U-Haul a diesel?"
"Yes."
"Um... I drive a diesel, too, and that isn't what you put in it."
"Well. Um. It's what they guy told me to put in it."
"Oh. Okay. Good luck."
*sigh* This should have been Sign II, but, again, too Headstrong to notice.
The next time we pull over (And HOW far away is Ames?? NOT far enough to need a Rest Stop unless you can't pass 35-45 mph!) the girls say, "It sounded like Mardi Gras beads going through the engine so we had to turn off the air."
It's 900 frickin' degrees! You're going to die!
( "Well, yes, " they reason, "but at least it won't be the truck exploding!" )
So we finally get up to Ames and met some of the Greatest Guys around and unloaded the truck.
ALL of us, realizing that the truck would NOT make it back to CB decide to drop it off at U-Haul in Ames and squish in the other car to head home.
We get to the U-Haul in Ames.
BRIAN! You are the BEST manager I have ever met that had to deal with a Crazy Complaint.
(Such as ours.)
They, concurring with our estimation of the problem, agree that the truck would not be safe to drive back to Council Bluffs.
"If I knew that one of my customers were going to be going out of town I would never let them take one of these trucks."
(A direct paraphrase.)
SOOOOOOOOOOO. We figure, okay. We'll pay for the mileage to Ames. Not for the rental or for the drop off because, really? Who rents out poor vehicles?
Today I find out that they charged MY checking account for the cost of the truck because the schools credit card would only allow them so much to charge.
Really? Because I had $400 in my checking account? I wish I would have known I would have bought some pants that fit me! Or groceries. Or paid my car payment!
I call them back. "Well, we can't help you. You need to talk to you local U-Haul in Lake Manawa. They are the ones that this situation has been given back to."
Does anyone have a dollar I can have?
posted by meg @ 11:15 PM
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