The below is posted by a very good friend of mine on our local board
Let me tell you a story…
Two weeks ago I bought an Auto-Transport. The guy that I bought it from had it registered here in Georgia and had done so for the past three years. He bought it from a guy that also lived here in Georgia who also had it registered here in Georgia; this guy was selling a car that was on the Transport and would sell the Transport for and additional fee, and was doing so on eBay. The guy that I bought it from, bought the car along with the Transport, he got both the car and the Transport registered, three years later he is selling the car and the Transport. I buy the Transport so that I would have my own trailer for my trip cross country to California. I am retiring from the Military (after 26+ years of service) and moving to the West Coast.
I get my Auto-Transport registered, buy new lights and cable, re-wire the whole trailer so that all of the Lights are working reliably, new Safety Chains, Bearing, and Seals, rebuilt the Calipers and Master Cylinder and order New Brake Pads (the transporter has 4-wheel disk brakes with a surge type brake system). In my quest to find where to buy brake pads, I called U-Haul and asked them where I would go for replacement parts? (Since there is no reference for an Auto-Transport in any of the parts store that I went to.) U-Haul tells me that NAPA will match up the parts and would be able to get me what I need. So I do and NAPA orders me some Brake Pads. In the mean time, I caught up with one of the U-Haul Service Managers and ask him if he can tell me what year my trailer is, sure he says, I just need to see if first. I take him to my place; he looks the trailer over then tells me that this is a “STOLEN PIECE OF EQUIPMENT”.
I get with the local Police Department and they send an Officer over to look the trailer over, the Officer along with the U-Haul Service Manager go over all of the numbers and deem that the Transporter has NOT been reported stolen. Two days later the U-Haul Service Manager contacts me and informs me that the Transporter was in fact stolen 19 December 1998 from Macon, GA. It seems that after two years, if a stolen piece of equipment isn’t recovered that it is purged from the Police Data Base and goes into a Cold Case File System and therefore doesn’t come up as stolen if a Police Officer was to look it up.
Here is the kicker of this whole story; The Transporter is going to be Recovered for Destruction! So I call the U-Haul headquarters in Arizona and ask if I can buy this “UNSERVICABLE” piece of equipment? Nope, I can’t have the Transporter because U-Haul doesn’t sell and has never sold one of their Auto-Transporters; this is how the U-Haul Service Manager knew that it was stolen. I tell U-Haul that I bought this trailer in good faith and intensions from a registered owner so that I would have my own Auto-Transport for my trek to the West Coast, I in-turn register and start to rebuild this piece of equipment, is there anything that you can do for me so that I don’t loose out completely on the monies spent on this piece of equipment?
My theory was: U-Haul rents a Transporter, from Georgia to California for $425.00, $100.00 more for insurance (“Safe Tow”) plus tax for a total of $561.75ish. I bought the Transport for $500.00 plus $350.00ish for parts for a total of $850.00ish. If in my willingness to do the right thing and turn the Transport back over to U-Haul, (mainly because I do have a paper trail for the past 6 years to prove that I did nothing wrong except receive Stolen Property.) maybe U-Haul would let me keep the Transport for my trip to California and turn it in there, or at least let me use one of their Auto-Transports for my trip because of my good deeds and willingness to do the right thing. At least this way I wouldn’t feel completely at a loss for the monies spent.
NOPE, the U-Haul Service Manager picked up My Auto-Transport, informed me that it was in fact going to be scraped and didn’t even say thanks.
HOW IS THAT FOR TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING?
Damn U-Haul anyways… If I wasn’t so honest…
Let me tell you a story…
Two weeks ago I bought an Auto-Transport. The guy that I bought it from had it registered here in Georgia and had done so for the past three years. He bought it from a guy that also lived here in Georgia who also had it registered here in Georgia; this guy was selling a car that was on the Transport and would sell the Transport for and additional fee, and was doing so on eBay. The guy that I bought it from, bought the car along with the Transport, he got both the car and the Transport registered, three years later he is selling the car and the Transport. I buy the Transport so that I would have my own trailer for my trip cross country to California. I am retiring from the Military (after 26+ years of service) and moving to the West Coast.
I get my Auto-Transport registered, buy new lights and cable, re-wire the whole trailer so that all of the Lights are working reliably, new Safety Chains, Bearing, and Seals, rebuilt the Calipers and Master Cylinder and order New Brake Pads (the transporter has 4-wheel disk brakes with a surge type brake system). In my quest to find where to buy brake pads, I called U-Haul and asked them where I would go for replacement parts? (Since there is no reference for an Auto-Transport in any of the parts store that I went to.) U-Haul tells me that NAPA will match up the parts and would be able to get me what I need. So I do and NAPA orders me some Brake Pads. In the mean time, I caught up with one of the U-Haul Service Managers and ask him if he can tell me what year my trailer is, sure he says, I just need to see if first. I take him to my place; he looks the trailer over then tells me that this is a “STOLEN PIECE OF EQUIPMENT”.
I get with the local Police Department and they send an Officer over to look the trailer over, the Officer along with the U-Haul Service Manager go over all of the numbers and deem that the Transporter has NOT been reported stolen. Two days later the U-Haul Service Manager contacts me and informs me that the Transporter was in fact stolen 19 December 1998 from Macon, GA. It seems that after two years, if a stolen piece of equipment isn’t recovered that it is purged from the Police Data Base and goes into a Cold Case File System and therefore doesn’t come up as stolen if a Police Officer was to look it up.
Here is the kicker of this whole story; The Transporter is going to be Recovered for Destruction! So I call the U-Haul headquarters in Arizona and ask if I can buy this “UNSERVICABLE” piece of equipment? Nope, I can’t have the Transporter because U-Haul doesn’t sell and has never sold one of their Auto-Transporters; this is how the U-Haul Service Manager knew that it was stolen. I tell U-Haul that I bought this trailer in good faith and intensions from a registered owner so that I would have my own Auto-Transport for my trek to the West Coast, I in-turn register and start to rebuild this piece of equipment, is there anything that you can do for me so that I don’t loose out completely on the monies spent on this piece of equipment?
My theory was: U-Haul rents a Transporter, from Georgia to California for $425.00, $100.00 more for insurance (“Safe Tow”) plus tax for a total of $561.75ish. I bought the Transport for $500.00 plus $350.00ish for parts for a total of $850.00ish. If in my willingness to do the right thing and turn the Transport back over to U-Haul, (mainly because I do have a paper trail for the past 6 years to prove that I did nothing wrong except receive Stolen Property.) maybe U-Haul would let me keep the Transport for my trip to California and turn it in there, or at least let me use one of their Auto-Transports for my trip because of my good deeds and willingness to do the right thing. At least this way I wouldn’t feel completely at a loss for the monies spent.
NOPE, the U-Haul Service Manager picked up My Auto-Transport, informed me that it was in fact going to be scraped and didn’t even say thanks.
HOW IS THAT FOR TRYING TO DO THE RIGHT THING?
Damn U-Haul anyways… If I wasn’t so honest…
