Breaking the Silence... Part 3

Grrrrr.

As part of getting our stuff moved out of the apartment two weeks ago, we rented a U-haul truck. We kept it a little longer than we had anticipated and by the time we dropped it off, the rental place was closed. We checked with the U-haul customer service line and they advised us to look for a drop box for the contract and key, place said items there-in and leave the truck locked on the lot.

We still hadn't seen a charge to our card almost two weeks later. Then on 13 Oct, twelve days after returning the truck, we got two phone calls stating that charges would be filed against us for stealing said vehicle. Mind you, this is the first that we have heard from either U-haul or the station.

Today, Daddy-O and I went over there, and found the truck on their lot. I then went into the station (the facility in question is also a gas station) and stated that I had a problem with a rental I had made about two weeks prior. That's the point at which the polymorphic story telling began. It turns out they can't "check the truck in" without the key and contract. And "The key and contract were never placed in the drop box." (The person I was speaking with was one of two who checks the drop box.) After going round and round about things, finally when I asked how I could get the vehicle (which at this point was parked behind other vehicles at the back of their lot) checked in or turned in, since they needed the key and contract I no longer had, I was told that they "found the key yesterday" and they had back dated the contract. I was even offered a copy of said contract. (This was the first thing they did that wasn't totally out of line customer service wise.) When I examined the contract it was for more than I had originally expected. However, the itemization was correct and accurate and it did add up to the amount on the contract.

All of which leaves me with a number of questions. (You may consider these semi-rhetorical; I wouldn't mind answers, but I'm not going to lose sleep over them or waste any effort looking for them.) How did they manage in the space of a couple of hours (the time from the phone calls to when they corrected the contract) to find a key that had been eluding them for two weeks? How did they manage to lose the key in first place? Why did they lie on their documentation and indicate they texted (we didn't give they a number they could text) and phoned us on the sixth? Why did they let it go so long that the regional office was going to report the truck stolen before doing anything to correct the problem? Why did I have to ask how I could get the truck turned in, before I was told anything about things having been straightened out? Has this station manager's lack of responsibility besmirched my credit? I am also left with a very strong desire to NEVER do business with Steve's Crest (~900 W on Center St in Provo) again; even if I were to receive an apology. Depending on how our calls to U-haul regional and national offices go, U-haul may also never see my business.