In response to the complaint filed by [redacted]: It seems that this issue has arisen because of [redacted]'s misunderstanding of our rental policies and procedures. There are many resources where our rental policies and procedures could have been found: on our online polices page, in the many...
electronic copies of the reservation that were emailed to [redacted] while altering her order, and pickup date, and on the hard copy reservation contract she was handed when she was here reserving items. We did not penalize [redacted] for changing the pickup date of this order, despite pulling , packing and getting the order ready each time she changed the date- which cost us time, manpower and money. We try to understand that film students (as well as all of our customers) run into obstacles. We must stick to our policies when it comes to cancelling items, as this helps to pay for the cost of re-shelving and also time that the items were not available for other customers to rent. [redacted] states that she was told by the crew member assisting her that she could take items off her reservation contract with no cancellation fee. Our policy is: Reservations are binding. If you decide not to take an item that you have reserved, there is a reservation charge. For each week the item has been out of circulation you are charged 1/8 of the basic rental fee up to ½ of the basic rental fee. Taking other items in place does not negate the reservation fee. [redacted]'s items were on hold for 4 weeks before she cancelled them. This fee in no way covers the cost of manpower, time spent and missed rentals that we forfeit. It minimally supplements that cost. The gentleman that assisted her in picking and reserving her props has been employed with our company for 3 years. He is the main person we use to help customers choose props because he is very helpful and knowledgeable. He is also very patient and careful with young artists and people new to the rental process. He is well aware of our policies and procedures. There is no reason for him to have told her that items can be reserved and then cancelled without fee. [redacted] complained of not being informed of the cancellation fee on the day of pick up. The invoice was presented to the client for review and then paid for by [redacted]. The invoice clearly listed the cancellation fee. [redacted] paid and signed this invoice. She was given a hard copy. If the client did not review the invoice and just paid it without question, this in no way displays bad business practices on our part. She was also reminded of the cancellation fee via e-mail at the time she asked for us to remove the items from her order. [redacted] complained of being rushed by the owner on the day of pick up. She informed our office that she would be arriving a half hour before closing. She was appropriately informed that we close promptly at 5:30 and there would be in overtime charge if we needed to stay open beyond closing. Even after she was informed of this, we still accommodated her, and stayed open late to allow her to add items. The overtime fee was waived. All props reserved were packed and sealed in boxes at the time of [redacted]'s pickup appointment. Per her request, we unsealed a box so she could review a specific item. She picked and reserved the items on her contract here in person, once the items have been selected, we pack them up to be ready for the pickup appointment, this is our normal business practice. In addition, we have clients that specifically ask that we not seal the boxes as they may want to add or remove items on the day of pick up; [redacted] did not make any such request. If she had, we would have rescheduled her appointment to allow enough time during our business hours to accommodate her inspection. Business hours can be found on our website, on all contracts and in the signature of all emails. When an order is returned it is checked in as soon as possible and in the order it is received. Sometimes this can take a day, sometimes it can take multiple weeks depending on our work load. If at that time we find damages or if items are missing we email the client and allow them time to find any missing items or we inform them of the damages done to an item. We work with our clients and even accept donations of similar items to allow some credit for missing or damaged items. When [redacted] returned her props, she came into the office with an antagonizing attitude, trying to start a fight. [redacted] was asked to leave the office after she called the owner a , carried on in front of the entire staff and other clients, and called us ugly crooks. [redacted] was again informed that our procedures and policies are on the back of the contract she signed, and [redacted] openly admitted, "I didn't read that, you know no one reads that stuff." [redacted] then proceeded to harass the staff that was unloading her return order. The gentleman with her proceeded to make threatening motions toward one of our employees while [redacted] held him back.They were asked to leave the entire premises as soon as unloading was complete. [redacted] was never discriminated against for her accent nor was she cursed at. She is upset because she had to pay a fee she should have been well aware of, had she listened to the person helping her, read our e-mail reply or read her contract. We started our business over 20 years ago to help people in the local theater and film industries. We keep our prices low to better serve our customers, many of which are schools and students with little to no budget, and to allow them to raise the quality of their productions without breaking the bank. Most of us have been in the business for years doing the same jobs as the people renting from us so we understand how hard it can be. We take great pride in going above and beyond to serve our customers. Never in 20+ years and thousands of rentals have we had a problem like this.Sent on: 1/6/2015 1:39:50 PM
In response to the complaint filed by [redacted]: It seems that this issue has arisen because of [redacted]'s misunderstanding of our rental policies and procedures. There are many resources where our rental policies and procedures could have been found: on our online polices page, in the many...
electronic copies of the reservation that were emailed to [redacted] while altering her order, and pickup date, and on the hard copy reservation contract she was handed when she was here reserving items. We did not penalize [redacted] for changing the pickup date of this order, despite pulling , packing and getting the order ready each time she changed the date- which cost us time, manpower and money. We try to understand that film students (as well as all of our customers) run into obstacles. We must stick to our policies when it comes to cancelling items, as this helps to pay for the cost of re-shelving and also time that the items were not available for other customers to rent. [redacted] states that she was told by the crew member assisting her that she could take items off her reservation contract with no cancellation fee. Our policy is: Reservations are binding. If you decide not to take an item that you have reserved, there is a reservation charge. For each week the item has been out of circulation you are charged 1/8 of the basic rental fee up to ½ of the basic rental fee. Taking other items in place does not negate the reservation fee. [redacted]'s items were on hold for 4 weeks before she cancelled them. This fee in no way covers the cost of manpower, time spent and missed rentals that we forfeit. It minimally supplements that cost. The gentleman that assisted her in picking and reserving her props has been employed with our company for 3 years. He is the main person we use to help customers choose props because he is very helpful and knowledgeable. He is also very patient and careful with young artists and people new to the rental process. He is well aware of our policies and procedures. There is no reason for him to have told her that items can be reserved and then cancelled without fee. [redacted] complained of not being informed of the cancellation fee on the day of pick up. The invoice was presented to the client for review and then paid for by [redacted]. The invoice clearly listed the cancellation fee. [redacted] paid and signed this invoice. She was given a hard copy. If the client did not review the invoice and just paid it without question, this in no way displays bad business practices on our part. She was also reminded of the cancellation fee via e-mail at the time she asked for us to remove the items from her order. [redacted] complained of being rushed by the owner on the day of pick up. She informed our office that she would be arriving a half hour before closing. She was appropriately informed that we close promptly at 5:30 and there would be in overtime charge if we needed to stay open beyond closing. Even after she was informed of this, we still accommodated her, and stayed open late to allow her to add items. The overtime fee was waived. All props reserved were packed and sealed in boxes at the time of [redacted]'s pickup appointment. Per her request, we unsealed a box so she could review a specific item. She picked and reserved the items on her contract here in person, once the items have been selected, we pack them up to be ready for the pickup appointment, this is our normal business practice. In addition, we have clients that specifically ask that we not seal the boxes as they may want to add or remove items on the day of pick up; [redacted] did not make any such request. If she had, we would have rescheduled her appointment to allow enough time during our business hours to accommodate her inspection. Business hours can be found on our website, on all contracts and in the signature of all emails. When an order is returned it is checked in as soon as possible and in the order it is received. Sometimes this can take a day, sometimes it can take multiple weeks depending on our work load. If at that time we find damages or if items are missing we email the client and allow them time to find any missing items or we inform them of the damages done to an item. We work with our clients and even accept donations of similar items to allow some credit for missing or damaged items. When [redacted] returned her props, she came into the office with an antagonizing attitude, trying to start a fight. [redacted] was asked to leave the office after she called the owner a , carried on in front of the entire staff and other clients, and called us ugly crooks. [redacted] was again informed that our procedures and policies are on the back of the contract she signed, and [redacted] openly admitted, "I didn't read that, you know no one reads that stuff." [redacted] then proceeded to harass the staff that was unloading her return order. The gentleman with her proceeded to make threatening motions toward one of our employees while [redacted] held him back.They were asked to leave the entire premises as soon as unloading was complete. [redacted] was never discriminated against for her accent nor was she cursed at. She is upset because she had to pay a fee she should have been well aware of, had she listened to the person helping her, read our e-mail reply or read her contract. We started our business over 20 years ago to help people in the local theater and film industries. We keep our prices low to better serve our customers, many of which are schools and students with little to no budget, and to allow them to raise the quality of their productions without breaking the bank. Most of us have been in the business for years doing the same jobs as the people renting from us so we understand how hard it can be. We take great pride in going above and beyond to serve our customers. Never in 20+ years and thousands of rentals have we had a problem like this.Sent on: 1/6/2015 1:39:50 PM