by Troy Cunningham

I love this part. It really shows what a stand-up corporation I was dealing with. In response to the Summons and Complaint UHaul sent a letter stating that UHaul International, Inc. is in no way affiliated with the company where I tried to rent the truck in Chicago. Something to the effect that they handled some accounting functions for the many different entities that make up the "UHaul family of companies," but were not involved in any part of the rental business.

The court wanted to hear more about this and so did I, because all the research I did said they were one big company. A hearing was scheduled to determine whether or not the corporate office in Phoenix was the correct party. They forgot to show up and state their case. Just another ploy to stall a little longer.

So, with whether I could sue them out of the way, all that was left was to wait for another hearing to argue the case. Guess what? They didn't show up for that one either. I didn't even have to argue my case. They ruled in my favor at the second hearing.

A word of caution at this point. The law that made this case sue-able states that they are responsible to pay the difference between what I would have paid them and what I had to pay because they didn't live up to the reservation, not the entire cost of the move. I would suggest taking one of their ads about how you can rent a truck for $89 one-way with you to court. You'd never get a truck for that once you read the fine print, but the court might use it as is and only take $89 off the total amount you're suing for.