Experienced while phoning a major DIY truck rental’s 1-800 number:
Jill: Hi. I’m planning a move from Toronto to Montreal. Do you rent trucks for one-way moves?
American Agent (AA): Oh yeah, we sure do.
Jill: How can I found out about your rates?
AA: Ooh ah, well… You’ll have to call your local office. It’s pretty complicated renting trucks up there in Canada.
Jill: Oh really? Why is that?
AA: Well, you see, up North there, it’s a lot of off-road driving.
Jill: Actually, Toronto and Montreal are big cities like Chicago or Philadelphia. Highway 401 between Toronto and Montreal is straighter, flatter, wider, more clearly marked and more smoothly paved than most highways in the American North West.
AA: Really?
Jill: Yeah. You should come check it out some time. It’d make a great road trip.
AA: Well, uh, let me see if I can look that up for you. What was the name of the town again?
Jill: Toronto. It’s roughly the 4th largest city in North America.
[Long Pause]
AA: Behind what?
Jill: LA, New York… Chicago… possibly Houston… depending how you count.
AA: Houston?
Jill: Yeah. Houston is also surprisingly large. Lots of sprawl.
AA: To-ron-to?
Jill: How about I just look up my nearest location online?
AA: Thanks now. You have a good evening.
Comments
Comment from Karen
Time: May 9, 2007, 8:01 pm
Oh, sweet Jesus.
Comment from The Single Girl
Time: May 10, 2007, 2:13 pm
It is almost too ridiculous to believe … and yet …
Comment from Jill
Time: May 10, 2007, 2:37 pm
I know… lots of customer service exchanges get me riled up, but very few make me pull out the creative notebook.
In case anyone is in a similar situation, please know that we called every single rental company (National, Budget, Thrifty etc, etc, etc…) and U-Haul is the only one that handles one-way moves. And they know what Canada is actually like, so you can reserve online! So save yourself some dialing and get yourself a good cushion; it’s going to be a long drive without shock absorbers or brakes. I joke, I joke, but TSG, do you remember the last time I moved, and that truck wouldn’t go faster than 30 clicks with the pedal to the floor?
Comment from Bev
Time: May 10, 2007, 8:58 pm
Un. Believable.
Comment from The Single Girl
Time: May 11, 2007, 10:29 pm
Yeah … those were good times! Bring on the tetris music. I effing rocked that pack!
Sorry I can’t help this time. Oh wait, no I’m not
Comment from lauralyn
Time: May 14, 2007, 3:31 pm
You might want to consider not taking Frances with you. (right then) When we rented a U-haul to get to the cottage, i took Quin and possibly she still has not forgiven me. Or something else makes her hack up hairballs at 6 am… regardless, not a happy U-haul cat. I think she actually bit me through the cage…
Comment from Jill
Time: May 14, 2007, 3:35 pm
Chances are strong I’ll be bringing frances in a rental car (with a doggie seatbelt borrowed from my mom, no less!) and something distracting to chew on (for her, not me) a couple of weeks before the move.
Comment from andrew
Time: May 28, 2007, 4:41 pm
Are you packed? Are you ready? Despite my ineptitude at organizing the rest of my life, I am good at organizing moves.
Perhaps you phoned a call centre in India?
Comment from Jill
Time: May 28, 2007, 5:25 pm
Sounded more like Alabama to me.
I am pretty packed and very organized, despite the fact that there is still a month before the apartment has to be moved, and all I really need to take with me next week is one small suitcase of Business Clothes (TM). In fact, I’m running out of things to pack, so now THAT is making me antsy. Today I’m filing things and cleaning out my old computer.
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