Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
Crossfit: Week 1
The last week of May was jam-packed with highs and lows--and busy! Started an "until something better comes along" job (with an unruly commute), unpacked more, planted our veggie garden, ran a little, and committed to month of crossfit.
After my exhausting crossfit intro class, I took a few days to think it over and recover. I looked at training plans and thought about to balance running, biking, maybe swimming, the occasional yoga class AND crossfit. And rest days, don't forget the rest days. It seemed like a daunting task, and June will be put to the test, but I've been told it can be done. And I'm going to try. So I took the plunge and registered for the beginner month at Tangletown Crossfit. I decided I really needed to commit 100% to the month to really know if crossfit was a good fit for me. So for 4-weeks I will be doing ridiculous things I never thought I was capable of doing 3-times a week. I'm also assuming I'll be sore for most of the month of June...
Crossfit: Week 1
Tuesday started off with me standing awkwardly aside at the box, while everyone around me seemed to know what to do be doing. It's a 4-week cycle, but not everyone is starting new at the same time. So there I was, the new girl. Tuesday's instructor, Dori, is a little ginger firecracker! Super friendly, pint-sized with a punch. After an exhausting warm up (400m run, 30sec L-sit, 10 sit ups, 10 wall squats, 10 pull ups, 10 broad jumps), we learned the ins and outs of the strict press and a basic kettle bell swing.
And then the WOD began.
WOD
12min AMRAP
5 Press
10 Kettle Bell Swings
I was sharing a station with another girl, and we agreed on a 33lb bar and a 10lb kettle bell. When the giant, intimidating, stop watch on the wall hit zero we had completed 10 rounds. I got busted for not using a heavier kettle bell, but was definitely feeling it by my last set of presses, so I think it worked out.
The weight I used for the WOD must not have been heavy enough, because my upper body wasn't sore at all after that. My quads and hams, however, were angry for several days. Too many squats.
Thursday I came into the box with a little better idea of what to do and where to go. Jill, another pint-sized, super-powered instructor, was really friendly and encouraging. I worked my way through another exhausting warm up (400m run, 10 GHD sit ups, 10 pull ups, 10 extensions, 10 broad jumps) and then worked on dead lifts, followed by 5 sets of 5 DL working towards a 5RM. I never found my 5RM because I was really unsure on how much weight to add at a time.
WOD
21-15-9
Pull Ups
Sit Ups
Kettle Bell SDLHP (Sumo Dead Lift High Pull)
I honestly wanted to throw up when I saw the work out. I can't do one pull up, let alone 21, 15 or 9. And certainly not 45. There aren't enough giant rubber bands at the box to propel me over the bar for a pull up. I had no idea what I was going to do. Jill was nice enough before the WOD began to talk me through pull ups and how to engage my lats to make it "easier." Mind you this entire conversation took place while she was effortlessly doing pull ups, occasionally hanging by one arm so she could gesture with the other, and never missing a beat. Or being out of breath. I'm not sure if I want to hate her, or be her.
My first set of 21 I started out pulling myself up maybe 3/4 of the way, with the help if a red and green band, but even that lasted only 14 or 15 reps. Eventually it was determined I would do jump-ups, and work on controlling the down motion of the pull up, with the help of a giant rubber band. Sit ups and SDLHPs challenging but doable, but those f'ing pull ups made me want to cry
I was definitely the last to finish this WOD. By like a minute or so. I don't even know what my final time was. Slow? I left the box exhausted and defeated, really wondering what I had gotten myself in to.
Saturday's class is led by Darcy, the box owner, who was the one who convinced me to give it a try in the first place. She claims to be 40 with two kids, but her six-pack showing through her fitted tank, would tell you otherwise. It started out with a similar warm up (400m run, 10 GHD sit ups, 10 pull ups, 10 extensions, 3 GHD extensions, 10 wall sits) followed by a demo on strict press, push press and push jerk.
Strict press, I can handle. Push press requires some thinking, but doable. Push jerk, however, requires way more coordination than I have. Luckily we focused on determining our strict press 5RM, and put the other two on the back burner...until the WOD
WOD
5 Rounds
3 Press
3 Push Press
3 Push Jerk
10 Sit Ups
15 Air Squats
We used 65% of our 5RM (mine was a measly 45lb) from our drills for the workout or, in my case, just the 33lb barbell. Once the timer started all I could think about was not wanting to be last, again. Anything but last. I found that I concentrate so hard on getting the lift just right that I tend to slow myself way down, but I suppose speed will come with practice and time.
There is also the fact that my quads still felt like they were going to explode from Tuesday's WOD. So that didn't help either.
I finished the WOD in 11:35, just 3 seconds before the last person.
And then, rubbery arms and all, we went outside to learn how to properly swing a sledge hammer into a giant tractor tire. I can't even make this stuff up. I would, however, recommend giving me plenty of room when I'm swinging a sledge hammer.
Week 1 is in the books and I am honestly excited to go back for week 2. I'm hoping that it will start to get easier with some time and practice, and that I will start to be more comfortable in my skin eventually. What this first week has taught me is that crossfit will never get boring, and that while some things may get easier, there will always be something challenging. And if someone as uncoordinated and weak as I am can do it, anyone can.
After my exhausting crossfit intro class, I took a few days to think it over and recover. I looked at training plans and thought about to balance running, biking, maybe swimming, the occasional yoga class AND crossfit. And rest days, don't forget the rest days. It seemed like a daunting task, and June will be put to the test, but I've been told it can be done. And I'm going to try. So I took the plunge and registered for the beginner month at Tangletown Crossfit. I decided I really needed to commit 100% to the month to really know if crossfit was a good fit for me. So for 4-weeks I will be doing ridiculous things I never thought I was capable of doing 3-times a week. I'm also assuming I'll be sore for most of the month of June...
Crossfit: Week 1
Tuesday started off with me standing awkwardly aside at the box, while everyone around me seemed to know what to do be doing. It's a 4-week cycle, but not everyone is starting new at the same time. So there I was, the new girl. Tuesday's instructor, Dori, is a little ginger firecracker! Super friendly, pint-sized with a punch. After an exhausting warm up (400m run, 30sec L-sit, 10 sit ups, 10 wall squats, 10 pull ups, 10 broad jumps), we learned the ins and outs of the strict press and a basic kettle bell swing.
And then the WOD began.
WOD
12min AMRAP
5 Press
10 Kettle Bell Swings
I was sharing a station with another girl, and we agreed on a 33lb bar and a 10lb kettle bell. When the giant, intimidating, stop watch on the wall hit zero we had completed 10 rounds. I got busted for not using a heavier kettle bell, but was definitely feeling it by my last set of presses, so I think it worked out.
The weight I used for the WOD must not have been heavy enough, because my upper body wasn't sore at all after that. My quads and hams, however, were angry for several days. Too many squats.
Thursday I came into the box with a little better idea of what to do and where to go. Jill, another pint-sized, super-powered instructor, was really friendly and encouraging. I worked my way through another exhausting warm up (400m run, 10 GHD sit ups, 10 pull ups, 10 extensions, 10 broad jumps) and then worked on dead lifts, followed by 5 sets of 5 DL working towards a 5RM. I never found my 5RM because I was really unsure on how much weight to add at a time.
WOD
21-15-9
Pull Ups
Sit Ups
Kettle Bell SDLHP (Sumo Dead Lift High Pull)
I honestly wanted to throw up when I saw the work out. I can't do one pull up, let alone 21, 15 or 9. And certainly not 45. There aren't enough giant rubber bands at the box to propel me over the bar for a pull up. I had no idea what I was going to do. Jill was nice enough before the WOD began to talk me through pull ups and how to engage my lats to make it "easier." Mind you this entire conversation took place while she was effortlessly doing pull ups, occasionally hanging by one arm so she could gesture with the other, and never missing a beat. Or being out of breath. I'm not sure if I want to hate her, or be her.
My first set of 21 I started out pulling myself up maybe 3/4 of the way, with the help if a red and green band, but even that lasted only 14 or 15 reps. Eventually it was determined I would do jump-ups, and work on controlling the down motion of the pull up, with the help of a giant rubber band. Sit ups and SDLHPs challenging but doable, but those f'ing pull ups made me want to cry
I was definitely the last to finish this WOD. By like a minute or so. I don't even know what my final time was. Slow? I left the box exhausted and defeated, really wondering what I had gotten myself in to.
Saturday's class is led by Darcy, the box owner, who was the one who convinced me to give it a try in the first place. She claims to be 40 with two kids, but her six-pack showing through her fitted tank, would tell you otherwise. It started out with a similar warm up (400m run, 10 GHD sit ups, 10 pull ups, 10 extensions, 3 GHD extensions, 10 wall sits) followed by a demo on strict press, push press and push jerk.
Strict press, I can handle. Push press requires some thinking, but doable. Push jerk, however, requires way more coordination than I have. Luckily we focused on determining our strict press 5RM, and put the other two on the back burner...until the WOD
WOD
5 Rounds
3 Press
3 Push Press
3 Push Jerk
10 Sit Ups
15 Air Squats
We used 65% of our 5RM (mine was a measly 45lb) from our drills for the workout or, in my case, just the 33lb barbell. Once the timer started all I could think about was not wanting to be last, again. Anything but last. I found that I concentrate so hard on getting the lift just right that I tend to slow myself way down, but I suppose speed will come with practice and time.
There is also the fact that my quads still felt like they were going to explode from Tuesday's WOD. So that didn't help either.
I finished the WOD in 11:35, just 3 seconds before the last person.
And then, rubbery arms and all, we went outside to learn how to properly swing a sledge hammer into a giant tractor tire. I can't even make this stuff up. I would, however, recommend giving me plenty of room when I'm swinging a sledge hammer.
Week 1 is in the books and I am honestly excited to go back for week 2. I'm hoping that it will start to get easier with some time and practice, and that I will start to be more comfortable in my skin eventually. What this first week has taught me is that crossfit will never get boring, and that while some things may get easier, there will always be something challenging. And if someone as uncoordinated and weak as I am can do it, anyone can.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
You want me to pull what up?
Pull me up? Like, by my own strength? That's not going to happen.
And so began my foray into crossfit.
Truth be told, I've been curious about this cult-like fitness explosion for some time. The people I know who partake, swear by it. The people I know who oppose it, swear against it. Where does this leave the people like me, no strong opinion, but a desire for a high and tight(ish) bod?
Back my good old days in Madison I had reached out to a few of the local crossfit boxes. Generally run out of oversized storage unit-like spaces, the rates seemed astronomical (still do) and the trainers intimidated the shit out of me. So I never took the proverbial plunge and tried it. Also, I should mention, I love me some carbs and sugar, which seems to be against crossfit's very being, so there's that.
In moving to Minneapolis I was talking with a my (only Minneapolis) friend's boyfriend who had just recently started crossfit at Tangletown Crossfit. I was shocked when I saw him because his pants were literally falling off him. After his intro month of 3x a week beginner crossfit classes, and "eating healthy," he had noticeably trimmed down. I was further convinced to test the waters when he told me about the all female trainers at his box. Ok, fine, I'll go to a free intro class.
On Monday I went to my intro class with the owner, Darcy, who according to her online bio is a runner and former competitive triathlete. I can dig that. She was super friendly via email and made it not entirely scary to come in. After a quick tour around thestorage unit box, I was put to work.
Warm Up.
400m jog. Got this. BAM.
Pulls Ups. Here, use the fatty band to launch yourself up there. Nope. Ok, jump just enough to get yourself up, and control the down. I suppose if you ignore my flailing limbs, I accomplished the later. But it wasn't pretty. And that set of 10reps, made me want to die.
Ring Dips. Er, maybe we'll start with ring holds. Ahhh, maybe if we create a bouncy sling with the fatty band you'll be able to hold yourself up. Yep, that did. I found this one frustrating though, because given stationary surfaces, I can do tricep holds and dips. Rings? Not so much.
These first two exercises took me so long I missed the double-unders and push ups of the day's warm up. Oops.
WOD (workout of the day). Grace: 30 Clean & Jerks. Have you Olympic Lifted before? Nope, but I took weight training in high school. 13 years ago. Heh. In that case, here's a completely weightless piece of PVC pipe for you to practice with. And so with my PVC pipe in hand, I learned just how uncoordinated I really was. Good god, it was entertaining. After 15 or so minutes working on my form and the general movement, I was upgraded to the baby bar, 11lb mini-weight bar, to start to get serious. After another 5 or so minutes, I even got to put weight on the baby bar. 10 whole pounds.
Then she programed a giant stop watch on the wall (not intimidating at all), circled us all up (also not intimidating), and told us to get ready for the WOD (wait, the last 20mins wasn't a part of it?!). Shit.
And the clock started. Apparently the goal is to complete the WOD as quickly as possible, 12mins being the max. This is where my inability to multitask was truly tested because not only did I have to attempt to remember all of the steps and proper form of the clean & jerk, but I had to count. And move quickly. Heh. Right. I finished the WOD...as the clock hit 12 minutes. That's right. My 21lb baby bar and I took the full 12mins to do 30reps. Granted, I was focused so hard on doing them correctly, I didn't count the ones that weren't correct. So in all fairness, I probably did more like 45-50. But who's counting (not me, obviously)?
The real humiliation was when Darcy, who's a TOTAL MILF btw, walked over to the giant dry erase board and added my name, time and weight to the list. Really? Was that necessary? I'm not even a paying member.
And that concluded my first ever crossfit attempt. As I type this, four days later, it still hurts to lift my arms over my head. And my triceps damn near explode anytime I push off them. But whatever.
Would I go back? Absolutely. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging. And despite my complete lack of coordination and strength, I had a good time. I left feeling thoroughly worked over (still do).
Can I afford to go back? Nope, not so much. Turns out there's a serious downside to funemployment. Womp womp womp.
And so began my foray into crossfit.
Truth be told, I've been curious about this cult-like fitness explosion for some time. The people I know who partake, swear by it. The people I know who oppose it, swear against it. Where does this leave the people like me, no strong opinion, but a desire for a high and tight(ish) bod?
Back my good old days in Madison I had reached out to a few of the local crossfit boxes. Generally run out of oversized storage unit-like spaces, the rates seemed astronomical (still do) and the trainers intimidated the shit out of me. So I never took the proverbial plunge and tried it. Also, I should mention, I love me some carbs and sugar, which seems to be against crossfit's very being, so there's that.
In moving to Minneapolis I was talking with a my (only Minneapolis) friend's boyfriend who had just recently started crossfit at Tangletown Crossfit. I was shocked when I saw him because his pants were literally falling off him. After his intro month of 3x a week beginner crossfit classes, and "eating healthy," he had noticeably trimmed down. I was further convinced to test the waters when he told me about the all female trainers at his box. Ok, fine, I'll go to a free intro class.
On Monday I went to my intro class with the owner, Darcy, who according to her online bio is a runner and former competitive triathlete. I can dig that. She was super friendly via email and made it not entirely scary to come in. After a quick tour around the
Warm Up.
400m jog. Got this. BAM.
Pulls Ups. Here, use the fatty band to launch yourself up there. Nope. Ok, jump just enough to get yourself up, and control the down. I suppose if you ignore my flailing limbs, I accomplished the later. But it wasn't pretty. And that set of 10reps, made me want to die.
Ring Dips. Er, maybe we'll start with ring holds. Ahhh, maybe if we create a bouncy sling with the fatty band you'll be able to hold yourself up. Yep, that did. I found this one frustrating though, because given stationary surfaces, I can do tricep holds and dips. Rings? Not so much.
These first two exercises took me so long I missed the double-unders and push ups of the day's warm up. Oops.
WOD (workout of the day). Grace: 30 Clean & Jerks. Have you Olympic Lifted before? Nope, but I took weight training in high school. 13 years ago. Heh. In that case, here's a completely weightless piece of PVC pipe for you to practice with. And so with my PVC pipe in hand, I learned just how uncoordinated I really was. Good god, it was entertaining. After 15 or so minutes working on my form and the general movement, I was upgraded to the baby bar, 11lb mini-weight bar, to start to get serious. After another 5 or so minutes, I even got to put weight on the baby bar. 10 whole pounds.
Then she programed a giant stop watch on the wall (not intimidating at all), circled us all up (also not intimidating), and told us to get ready for the WOD (wait, the last 20mins wasn't a part of it?!). Shit.
And the clock started. Apparently the goal is to complete the WOD as quickly as possible, 12mins being the max. This is where my inability to multitask was truly tested because not only did I have to attempt to remember all of the steps and proper form of the clean & jerk, but I had to count. And move quickly. Heh. Right. I finished the WOD...as the clock hit 12 minutes. That's right. My 21lb baby bar and I took the full 12mins to do 30reps. Granted, I was focused so hard on doing them correctly, I didn't count the ones that weren't correct. So in all fairness, I probably did more like 45-50. But who's counting (not me, obviously)?
The real humiliation was when Darcy, who's a TOTAL MILF btw, walked over to the giant dry erase board and added my name, time and weight to the list. Really? Was that necessary? I'm not even a paying member.
And that concluded my first ever crossfit attempt. As I type this, four days later, it still hurts to lift my arms over my head. And my triceps damn near explode anytime I push off them. But whatever.
Would I go back? Absolutely. Everyone was really friendly and encouraging. And despite my complete lack of coordination and strength, I had a good time. I left feeling thoroughly worked over (still do).
Can I afford to go back? Nope, not so much. Turns out there's a serious downside to funemployment. Womp womp womp.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Great @UHaul Debacle of 2013
I wish I would say that our move to Minneapolis was uneventful and easy. I wish I could say that we were able to throw some money at the move and have someone doe it for us. I wish I could say that is was stress-free.
But I'd be a liar.
As much as I begged and pleaded to hire movers for this move, the fact of the matter is that with an unplanned move like this, we just couldn't afford to. So as so many people do, we decided to rent a a truck and do it ourselves. Exhausting, dirty work, but by no means a mistake in and of itself.
The mistake we made was renting a truck from UHaul (the Atlas Ct. location in Madison, if you are looking for specifics).
So bright and early on Saturday April 27th, we drove over to our local UHaul and picked up our 26' truck and motorcycle trailer. We headed home and spent the next day and a half loading that truck to the brim. And let me tell you, schlepping boxes and furniture and all of your odds and ends turns out to be back-breaking work.
Mid-Sunday afternoon, after the last of the items had been wedged in the truck, our friend Ryan happened to notice a rather sizable puddle under the front of the truck. With his boy-knowledge he was able to identify the puddle as antifreeze. We popped the enormous hood of the truck to find, sure enough, a completely empty radiator (again deduced by his boy-kowledge). While this didn't initially mean that much to me, I was informed that without antifreeze the engine the engine would overheat and and go boom. Or something like that. Technicalities aside, this was not a good sign.
Roadside assistance was there within an hour to confirm our diagnosis of a broken radiator. They however had more bad news. This wasn't going to be an easy repair, but a pull and replace as the radiator was completely shot, and unfortunately this was not something they were able to do for us at that time. Well, that's going to be a problem. And that, my friends, is where any and all customer service from UHaul ends.
For the next 6hrs we got the run around from UHaul. We would call explain the situation and our timeline, and would be told someone would call us back in 15mins. Wash, rinse, repeat. Not once did someone call us back. Finally, at nearly 11pm we were presented with two options: they could give us a different truck in the morning (for us to unload/reload) or they could send someone out who would be able to replace the radiator. Seeing as there is NO WAY we were going to unload and reload a 26' truck, we went with the later option. We were assured we would have a fully functionally truck by 9am.
Riddle me this. What if we hadn't noticed the puddle under the truck in our driveway? What if this had happened on the side of the road? Would they have left us sitting on the side of the highway for 6+ hours? Overnight? Where would our belongings have ended up? Would we have been better off if that had been the outcome?
At 7am we get a call from the repair shop saying they'll be there to do the work in 30 or so minutes and that we should have the repaired truck back in 3-4hrs. Even elementary skool children can see that those numbers do not add up to 9am.
We finally got the truck back at nearly 12:30pm.
Given this several hour delay we had no choice but to reschedule our walk-through, and consequently our close, and book hotel rooms for the night. Thank you very much, UHaul.
At that point, there was nothing we could do but get on the road and hope this fine piece of well maintained machinery would get us to Minneapolis.
Drive, sleep, walk-through, close, unload, etc.
Fast forward to Wednesday. When we went to return the truck, the UHaul place up here had not been told the truck would be returned a day last, as they were supposed to be, and the guy was a major asshole to us. After some negotiations we were able to convince him not to charge us for an additional day. Nice of him, right?
Despite Wyatt's many calls to UHaul at this point, and many promises of return phone calls, we still had not heard from them. It wasn't until I took to Twitter that we got our first response...
These tweets went round and around, as did the phone calls, with no resolution offered.
Finally, someone at UHaul tells us we need to speak with the manager of the location we rented from. In case you are wondering, the manager of the Atlas Ct. Madison UHaul location is Kerry Moes, and he is a deceitful, unprofessional, rude human being.
Despite the fact they his UHaul location RENTED US A BROKEN TRUCK he decided there was no refund necessary. That is of course after he lied about having any knowledge of our situation, which was not the case as he had made notes in the UHaul computer system on our case before speaking to us.
At some point in this process, Paul Cotton, a member of their very active social media team, authorized a refund of our unexpected hotel expenses, but I'm not actually sure we ever received this refund to our credit card.
So here were are now, nearly a month after this incident began, still with no resolution, refund or response from UHaul.
I cannot begin to tell you how appalled I am by UHaul's lack of customer service and professionalism. I'm also concerned by the fact that they rented us a BROKEN truck. Do they not look over their trucks before renting them out? Especially trucks that they know are going out of city, not to mention out of state.
If you can relate to what we went through with UHaul, or have a similar UHaul story to share, I encourage you to do so! Share it in the comments, tweet about, get the word out! I'd also love it if you would help me spread our UHaul experience by sharing this post far and wide. This sort of behavior is unacceptable and we as consumers shouldn't be victims of it.
@UHaul
@UHaul_Cares
But I'd be a liar.
As much as I begged and pleaded to hire movers for this move, the fact of the matter is that with an unplanned move like this, we just couldn't afford to. So as so many people do, we decided to rent a a truck and do it ourselves. Exhausting, dirty work, but by no means a mistake in and of itself.
The mistake we made was renting a truck from UHaul (the Atlas Ct. location in Madison, if you are looking for specifics).
So bright and early on Saturday April 27th, we drove over to our local UHaul and picked up our 26' truck and motorcycle trailer. We headed home and spent the next day and a half loading that truck to the brim. And let me tell you, schlepping boxes and furniture and all of your odds and ends turns out to be back-breaking work.
Mid-Sunday afternoon, after the last of the items had been wedged in the truck, our friend Ryan happened to notice a rather sizable puddle under the front of the truck. With his boy-knowledge he was able to identify the puddle as antifreeze. We popped the enormous hood of the truck to find, sure enough, a completely empty radiator (again deduced by his boy-kowledge). While this didn't initially mean that much to me, I was informed that without antifreeze the engine the engine would overheat and and go boom. Or something like that. Technicalities aside, this was not a good sign.
At approximately 2:45pm we called UHaul, who despite the truck being in our driveway less than a mile from the rental location, directed us to their roadside assistance. Before transferring us to roadside assistance, UHaul assured us that even if it meant towing the truck to MN for us, they would have of us there in time for our Monday afternoon final walk-through and close.
Roadside assistance was there within an hour to confirm our diagnosis of a broken radiator. They however had more bad news. This wasn't going to be an easy repair, but a pull and replace as the radiator was completely shot, and unfortunately this was not something they were able to do for us at that time. Well, that's going to be a problem. And that, my friends, is where any and all customer service from UHaul ends.
For the next 6hrs we got the run around from UHaul. We would call explain the situation and our timeline, and would be told someone would call us back in 15mins. Wash, rinse, repeat. Not once did someone call us back. Finally, at nearly 11pm we were presented with two options: they could give us a different truck in the morning (for us to unload/reload) or they could send someone out who would be able to replace the radiator. Seeing as there is NO WAY we were going to unload and reload a 26' truck, we went with the later option. We were assured we would have a fully functionally truck by 9am.
Riddle me this. What if we hadn't noticed the puddle under the truck in our driveway? What if this had happened on the side of the road? Would they have left us sitting on the side of the highway for 6+ hours? Overnight? Where would our belongings have ended up? Would we have been better off if that had been the outcome?
At 7am we get a call from the repair shop saying they'll be there to do the work in 30 or so minutes and that we should have the repaired truck back in 3-4hrs. Even elementary skool children can see that those numbers do not add up to 9am.
We finally got the truck back at nearly 12:30pm.
Given this several hour delay we had no choice but to reschedule our walk-through, and consequently our close, and book hotel rooms for the night. Thank you very much, UHaul.
At that point, there was nothing we could do but get on the road and hope this fine piece of well maintained machinery would get us to Minneapolis.
Drive, sleep, walk-through, close, unload, etc.
Fast forward to Wednesday. When we went to return the truck, the UHaul place up here had not been told the truck would be returned a day last, as they were supposed to be, and the guy was a major asshole to us. After some negotiations we were able to convince him not to charge us for an additional day. Nice of him, right?
Despite Wyatt's many calls to UHaul at this point, and many promises of return phone calls, we still had not heard from them. It wasn't until I took to Twitter that we got our first response...
@katietris Let me see what I can do for you, please email me the details to uhaul_cares@uhaul.com ^PC
— U-Haul Cust Serv (@UHaul_Cares) May 1, 2013
These tweets went round and around, as did the phone calls, with no resolution offered.
Finally, someone at UHaul tells us we need to speak with the manager of the location we rented from. In case you are wondering, the manager of the Atlas Ct. Madison UHaul location is Kerry Moes, and he is a deceitful, unprofessional, rude human being.
Despite the fact they his UHaul location RENTED US A BROKEN TRUCK he decided there was no refund necessary. That is of course after he lied about having any knowledge of our situation, which was not the case as he had made notes in the UHaul computer system on our case before speaking to us.
At some point in this process, Paul Cotton, a member of their very active social media team, authorized a refund of our unexpected hotel expenses, but I'm not actually sure we ever received this refund to our credit card.
So here were are now, nearly a month after this incident began, still with no resolution, refund or response from UHaul.
I cannot begin to tell you how appalled I am by UHaul's lack of customer service and professionalism. I'm also concerned by the fact that they rented us a BROKEN truck. Do they not look over their trucks before renting them out? Especially trucks that they know are going out of city, not to mention out of state.
If you can relate to what we went through with UHaul, or have a similar UHaul story to share, I encourage you to do so! Share it in the comments, tweet about, get the word out! I'd also love it if you would help me spread our UHaul experience by sharing this post far and wide. This sort of behavior is unacceptable and we as consumers shouldn't be victims of it.
@UHaul
@UHaul_Cares
Dear Internet,Please consider our move w @uhaul a cautionary tale. Save your $ and sanity and AVOID UHAUL.Sincerely,An SOL UHaul Customer
— Katie (@katietris) May 2, 2013
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