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What an epic experience. Holy crap--Saturday was difficult, to say the least.
I stayed up rather late trying to pack absolutely everything I could, to minimize delays during the actual move. I was super-stressed because of the mess that exploded the day before--U-Haul had abruptly changed my truck reservation--instead of picking up in Chelsea, I now had to pick up the truck in the Bronx. When I called the location directly to confirm the times (pick up at 9:00 am, drop off at 4 pm--I had requested these times, of course, thinking I was driving soley within Manhattan) the manager, "Maddie," said she would charge me for an extra day if I got the truck back after 2 pm. (She also wouldn't guarantee that the truck would even be there). When I protested, saying I was coming from Manhattan and had an email confirming I could return the truck at 4 pm, she threatened not to rent to me. After our conversation, I called U-Haul again on Friday and spoke to Tania, who said I had until 3 to drop off the truck. So fucked up and unprofessional--I have an email that confirms a pickup location in Chelsea and a drop off time of 4 pm, a U-Haul representative on the phone who tells me a drop off time of 3:00, and a rude woman at the location who says 2:00.
( STRESS )
So to sum up--I reserved a truck in Chelsea for 8 hours use, and 36 hours before I was to pick it up, U-Haul abruptly changed all the terms of the reservation, making it impossible for me to avoid being charged additional fees, and it is now up to ME to try to get my money back.
U-Haul's motto (I saved several of their brochures from the location) is "We Make Moving Easier."
I finally signed the papers, circling the charges and writing "disputed charges" above them. I told Duncan I would type up an affidavit and have him sign it, then get it notarized (we have several notary publics here at work). Duncan said somewhat fervently "I will sign anything you put down. That woman is awful." I mean--can you believe it? Can you fucking believe that shit? Why do people act that way? Why did she have to act like that? Why? I don't understand why people are so awful. I just don't get it. 20 damn minutes--was it worth it? She ruined my day, she pissed off other customers as well, U-Haul is going to get a very angry letter and if I don't get a refund, I will call up one of those news stations to enlist their help so she may well lose the U-Haul commission--and that must be every day of her life if she's that unreasonable. Is she happy? Is it worth it? Why?
Naturally after all that, Duncan and I got on the train going in the wrong direction. Eventually we took the D to 145th Street so we had to trek through St. Nicholas Park to get to my building, where we met Tesse who'd had to leave (Michael had already left so I owe both of them dinner). Jason and Chris were still waiting at my place, though, and I took the three of them out to Dinosaur BBQ which is a few blocks from my new place (in fact I can see it from my window). Dinosaur rocks! Damn, good drinks, good meat--what's not to love?
The good part, the very good part, is that I love my new apartment. It is actually bigger than I remembered from first seeing it--the kitchen is ENORMOUS, with tons and tons of cabinet space. It's a studio but is bigger than my old apartment (which was technically a 1-bedroom), especially with the bigger kitchen. I also have a long hallway entrance and lots of closet/storage space. But the best part is the VIEW. I have a fantastic view of downtown and the Hudson River, and I can see the Columbia campus, the Chrysler building, the Empire State building, and GE building (that is, 30 Rock where I work). It's a great view at any time but at dusk, when the lights downtown start to turn on--it's so, so pretty. The cats are fascinated by it--it's like kitty panoramic TV! Last night I spotted no fewer than 5 different fireworks displays--three along the East River, one coming from Columbia, and the Hoboken fireworks.
I will post pictures of my gorgeous new apartment as soon as I get it cleaned up.
I stayed up rather late trying to pack absolutely everything I could, to minimize delays during the actual move. I was super-stressed because of the mess that exploded the day before--U-Haul had abruptly changed my truck reservation--instead of picking up in Chelsea, I now had to pick up the truck in the Bronx. When I called the location directly to confirm the times (pick up at 9:00 am, drop off at 4 pm--I had requested these times, of course, thinking I was driving soley within Manhattan) the manager, "Maddie," said she would charge me for an extra day if I got the truck back after 2 pm. (She also wouldn't guarantee that the truck would even be there). When I protested, saying I was coming from Manhattan and had an email confirming I could return the truck at 4 pm, she threatened not to rent to me. After our conversation, I called U-Haul again on Friday and spoke to Tania, who said I had until 3 to drop off the truck. So fucked up and unprofessional--I have an email that confirms a pickup location in Chelsea and a drop off time of 4 pm, a U-Haul representative on the phone who tells me a drop off time of 3:00, and a rude woman at the location who says 2:00.
( STRESS )
So to sum up--I reserved a truck in Chelsea for 8 hours use, and 36 hours before I was to pick it up, U-Haul abruptly changed all the terms of the reservation, making it impossible for me to avoid being charged additional fees, and it is now up to ME to try to get my money back.
U-Haul's motto (I saved several of their brochures from the location) is "We Make Moving Easier."
I finally signed the papers, circling the charges and writing "disputed charges" above them. I told Duncan I would type up an affidavit and have him sign it, then get it notarized (we have several notary publics here at work). Duncan said somewhat fervently "I will sign anything you put down. That woman is awful." I mean--can you believe it? Can you fucking believe that shit? Why do people act that way? Why did she have to act like that? Why? I don't understand why people are so awful. I just don't get it. 20 damn minutes--was it worth it? She ruined my day, she pissed off other customers as well, U-Haul is going to get a very angry letter and if I don't get a refund, I will call up one of those news stations to enlist their help so she may well lose the U-Haul commission--and that must be every day of her life if she's that unreasonable. Is she happy? Is it worth it? Why?
Naturally after all that, Duncan and I got on the train going in the wrong direction. Eventually we took the D to 145th Street so we had to trek through St. Nicholas Park to get to my building, where we met Tesse who'd had to leave (Michael had already left so I owe both of them dinner). Jason and Chris were still waiting at my place, though, and I took the three of them out to Dinosaur BBQ which is a few blocks from my new place (in fact I can see it from my window). Dinosaur rocks! Damn, good drinks, good meat--what's not to love?
The good part, the very good part, is that I love my new apartment. It is actually bigger than I remembered from first seeing it--the kitchen is ENORMOUS, with tons and tons of cabinet space. It's a studio but is bigger than my old apartment (which was technically a 1-bedroom), especially with the bigger kitchen. I also have a long hallway entrance and lots of closet/storage space. But the best part is the VIEW. I have a fantastic view of downtown and the Hudson River, and I can see the Columbia campus, the Chrysler building, the Empire State building, and GE building (that is, 30 Rock where I work). It's a great view at any time but at dusk, when the lights downtown start to turn on--it's so, so pretty. The cats are fascinated by it--it's like kitty panoramic TV! Last night I spotted no fewer than 5 different fireworks displays--three along the East River, one coming from Columbia, and the Hoboken fireworks.
I will post pictures of my gorgeous new apartment as soon as I get it cleaned up.
