U-Haul, U Suck

I want everyone to know that U-Haul is evil.

They encourage you to buy more of their boxes than you think you may need for your move, and promise that you can return all unused boxes for a full refund. They call this their "100% Buyback Guarantee." It sounds nice. I bought $90 worth of extra boxes.

They do not tell you that the boxes must be returned to designated U-Haul centers. So if you are, say, moving to rural Massachusetts, you cannot return the boxes along with the truck, and the nearest designated center is an hour away.

Boxes are big. They fit nicely in the U-Haul truck, but do not fit in our little Corolla. After the company failed twice to contact me about the situation, as they had promised, I spoke to a representative who gave me the option of FedEx-ing my boxes to U-Haul headquarters...for $250. She refused to provide me with a mailing address where I could send a letter requesting that they change their website to list the specific box-buyback store locations.

John and I borrowed a car to return the boxes at a U-Haul center in Northampton, MA. Others could easily be stuck with hundreds of dollars worth of boxes.

We decided that we weren't going to let U-Haul ruin our day and, actually, the man that assisted us in Northampton was very helpful. (I might have told him in advance that I was going to freak out on him if he didn't process the return...) We celebrated with delicious lunch at Spoletto Express and German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream (my absolute favorite) from the Williamsburg General Store on the way home.