When I moved to Champaign back in 1994, I went to a U-Haul in order to reserve and rent a truck so that I could transport my belongings which, at that point in my life, consisted mainly of books, CDs, tobacco, alcohol and unpaid parking tickets. When the day came to move, I returned to the U-Haul to pick up the vehicle but was told that they did not have the truck that I had reserved. After spewing out a bucket or two of colorful words at the U-Haul manager and threatening to call the States Attorney and the Better Business Bureau (which I did), I somehow managed to find another place that rented trucks and got myself and my things moved to Champaign.
After living here in C-U for a while, I thought it would be nice to take my mother out to eat for Mother’s Day at one of our fine local eating establishments. I really like ribs, but my mother likes healthy things like salad and salmon, so being a thoughtful son, I called Famous Dave’s Barbecue and made a reservation. When we showed up that Sunday to claim our table, we were told we would have to wait an hour and a half. “But we had a reservation!” I protested. “Sorry, we overbooked,” was the answer.
These events in my life and other similar ones have led me to believe that the word reservation has been undergoing a change in the English language. I used to think that when I made a reservation, it guaranteed me a table in a restaurant, or a car at a rental agency, or whatever it might be that I wanted to reserve.
Obviously, this is no longer the case. The word reservation is hollow. It’s as empty as the old Dog-n-Suds out on Town Center Boulevard.
This dwindling in meaning for the word reservation has been happening for at least seventeen years. In 1991, an episode of Seinfeld aired called “The Alternate Side” in which this dialog occurred between Jerry and a rental car agent:
Jerry: I don’t understand, I made a reservation, do you have
my reservation?
Rental Car Agent: Yes, we do. Unfortunately we ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That’s why you have
the reservation.
Rental Car Agent: I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car.
Recently, I drove past the U-Haul at the corner of University and Fourth Streets and I noticed that they had posted on their sign “Guaranteed Reservations — Only At U-Haul.” Guaranteed Reservations? Isn’t that just about as redundant as saying “corrupt Republican” or “good sex?”
U-Haul’s sign sadly illustrates that the word reservation is now worthless and needs to be qualified by the use of other words such as guaranteed.
So thanks, U-Haul, Enterprise, and all you other rental establishments and restaurants for sucking the meaning out of a perfectly good word. And don’t be surprised the next time I use one of your services if you discover that my money isn’t there when it’s supposed to be. I’m going to start making a distinction between payment and guaranteed payment.
Comments (5)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:43 AM
Guaranteed reservations my patootie. We recently reserved a U-Haul trailer for our move - to be picked up in Champaign, at the University Ave location.
The day before we were to pick it up, we received a call from U-Haul's regional office informing us that the nearest trailer available for our use could be picked up in Decatur.
For this inconvenience, we could pick it up a day early at no extra charge.
Not thinking, my father-in-law and I drove to Decatur to pick it up. Waited for over 2 hours at a gas station that happened to do U-Haul rentals, and spent the drive back coming up with colorful ways to exact our revenge.
In the end, we returned the equipment unharmed, at about the same time we were originally scheduled to pick the thing up.
The Champaign U-Haul employee who helped us upon returning was apologetic, but as I looked around the fully-stocked U-Haul parking lot, I couldn't help but feel that U-Haul had just used us to relocate a trailer from Decatur to Champaign.
We will never again rent from them.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 9:48 AM
Nice. Good post.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 10:26 AM
I had the *exact* same experience with the University ave U-Haul in 1990, and have never rented from them again.
On the day that we moved across town (without a truck), we passed by in my friends' cars and pickup a dozen times, and during the entire day, the lot remained full of empty Uhaul trucks. It's a strange business model, that's for sure.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 10:48 AM
The not-so-guaranteed reservation sometimes works out in your favor...
On a trip to Chicago recently, a group of friends and I had reservations to stay at one of the hotels on the strip for a whopping $250 nightly charge. They were overbooked so we were put up at a hotel a block away for free and it was a nicer one to boot.
Then there's always those overbooked airlines. I traveled four round trips in 2 years this way. It's always an annoyance, but hell sometimes it's worth the hassle.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008 11:24 AM
Yeah... that U-Haul gave me a truck once, years ago that overheated. A few years before that they gave me one with a busted gas gauge. The truck died right in the center of downtown champaign.... i was super pissed. ALWAYS get a truck from the Rider people first, if you have the option.