Ruddy's Rental & U-Haul

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2015/06/20) */
We are very sorry for these issues. Before we respond it needs to be noted that the complaint was sent to the wrong store. The store should be our Forest Lake location: [redacted], Forest Lake, MN 55025.
The photos show new...

clean items. You have to remember we are a rental shop so everything is new at one time. The items we delivered were clean and ready for our customers. As for the chill table, yes customers have the option of putting a skirt on it but it does not come with the skirting.
We have never in 33 years delivered on Saturdays. Sorry, I do not know what to say. All staff are aware of this! We put stakes in asphalt all the time it is nothing new as for Gopher State call it is the law.
Our delivery person dropped off and got everything set up and Ms. [redacted] came out screaming. Our driver listened and offered to take it away with no fees and Ms. [redacted] said no, that she would call the rental shop and "lay into that bh". In addition, Ms. [redacted] did call and talk to our manager and so she again offered to pick up everything again with no fees and she said "if you do I'll sue your as." The manager felt that nothing we were trying to do would satisfy Ms. [redacted].
There was no laughing at Ms. [redacted]. We did try to resolve this situation. As for the tables and table cloths most people get tablecloths to put on the tables, some do not. She was so angry at the fact that they were wood and not plastic we offered her 15% off the tablecloths we sell, which would have been cheaper and closer to her home to get than going to Party City, but she did not accept this offer. She also stated that our website showed plastic tables and we checked that out immediately and our website shows wood tables.
As for the 15 x 15 canopy we do not know what happened here but this is why we gave Ms. [redacted] two 10 x 10 canopies at the 15 x 15 price. We are very sorry for the misunderstanding but we do feel like we fixed this issue.
The contract states June 6, 2015 because that's the way the computer shows if they wanted it for the weekend.
The fees on the contract say 20 x 20 which is the fee for the set up for canopies that range from 10 x 10 size through 20 x 20. (the set up is a different fee from the actual rental. )
We are sorry this was a negative experience but feel we tried several things to please this customer and it wasn't helping.
[redacted] Ruddy
Ruddy's Rental, Inc.
[redacted]
Forest Lake, MN 55025
[redacted]
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 7, 2015/06/22) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
In Mr. Ruddys response is the first apology I've received. The company owns a few stores, and that's correct, my issues were with the Forest Lake store. All stores owned/operated by the same family.
The initial reservation was made with a female in March 2015. She said the items we requested would be delivered on 6/6/15 ( as shown in the attached contract). She asked if the tent was to be set up on grass or asphalt. I said "asphalt". She said, "ok, then we don't need it marked". I paid my half of the cost and left it at that. My ex husband called in June to pay the 2nd half of the rental fee.
We planned the party to be on the driveway and in the garage. We hosted 200 people (our daughters graduation party). We needed to items delivered 6/6/15 as because once the delivery people set the items up, we would not be able to move our vehicles or park in the garages. We were charged $100 "set up/take down" fee. That is relevant because they did not set up or take down any tables or chairs.
I received a call June 4th from a male at Ruddys asking me if the driveway had been marked, he also wanted to confirm the June 5th delivery date. I told him the delivery date was June 6th and didn't understand what he meant by "marked the driveway". He said that to deliver the 15x15 tent we paid for, they would need to drill stakes into the driveway.
I told him when I made the reservation in March, I was told the items would be delivered June 6th (Saturday) and that no staking was necessary as it was being placed on asphalt.
He said "she doesn't work here anymore". I said, well, those were the agreed upon terms. He said "I don't know what to tell you, we don't deliver on Saturdays and if you want this tent we're drilling holes." He then told me at 2:00 in the afternoon Thursday June 4th that if the driveway wasn't marked by the next morning they refused to deliver the tent because he said it was the customers responsibility to contact gopher state 1.
I was beside myself as this was 3 days before a large graduation party.
I told them I would call back. I started to panic (I have PTSD from an injury sustained while working as a police office, and suffer from panic attacks). I called Gopher state 1 and was told it is absolutely the vendors responsibility if anything is to be marked. The woman at a Gopher state was very kind as I was in a great deal of distress, crying, and panicking.
I called the store and spoke to an old woman who identified herself as "the manager". I told her by state statute it was their responsibility to have utilities, etc marked. She said she didn't care, that their policy was that the customer do it.
I tried to explain to her that the woman I'd made the reservation with said no staking was required and the delivery date was set for Saturday June 6, not Friday June 5th. I asked her if Ruddys was going to make any concessions as this was causing a hardship and a great deal of stress. Right after I said that she laughed at me (the 1st time) and said "absolutely not".
I was unable to handle the stress, so I handed the phone to my husband. He spoke with her and she agreed to deliver 2 10X10 tents instead of the 15X15 we paid for. The next morning two men delivered two old, dirty, weathered, yellow tinged (supposed to be white) tents and left it in our yard. Nothing was set up for the party (we were still charged the $100 set up fee)
I came outside and saw the condition of the tables, which was terrible (as shown in the attached photos). I was not screaming. I did raise my voice. The delivery man looked surprised, I asked if he owned the business, he said "no". I apologized for complaining to him and told him I'd call the store.
I called the store and the same old woman, who never identified herself, answered the phone. I told her I was shocked and appalled at the poor quality of the items that were delivered. I told her that for $547.00, I expected clean, undamaged items. I told her the tables had so many gouges, holes, bent edging that I had to cover them, which was not in our budget. I asked if she would provide free table covers, thus is the 2nd time she laughed at me saying she would "absolutely not give me anything for free but would give 15% off on table covers".
I was just disgusted. I don't remember the conversation word for word, but the gist of it was, how could they sleep at night charging these ridiculous prices for products that were absolute garbage.
She threatened to send her men back to pick everything up. We'd already spent $547.00 on their rental items, and I was hosting 200 people fir a graduation party in less than 48 hours. She was absolutely unapologetic, was very snotty, sarcastic, and belittling. I explained to her I was having a hard time dealing with thus due to my anxiety disorder, this was the 3rd time she laughed at me, she said some more things and hung up on me.
Other than giving me 15% off table covers, the company did absolutely nothing, nor did they offer any ways to rectify the numerous issues. So, we had to buy another tent ($100), 12 table covers, and a skirt for the chill table ($75). I was absolutely not going to give Ruddy's one more dime.
The pictures attached show the contract stating a June 6 delivery date, and close up pictures of the worst of the damage. There were huge gouges, exposed wood (that was very sharp) that could've injured someone, along with bent, uneven metal edging that had to be dealt with so the sharp edges didn't injure anyone.
I have more than 40 photos, but am only able to upload a handful. In two of the photos, you can see the contrast between the dirty, yellowed tents vs. the new tent we bought. There is a picture of several tables so you can see they do not match, and close ups of just some of the damage.
Ruddys advertising is misleading. If you look on their website, ruddyspartrental.com, they advertise clean tables, clean tents, and a chill table with a skirt. No where on the site does it indicate the tables are old, mismatched and damaged.
In summary, the excuse they use that the contract shows a June 6 delivery because we "had it on the weekend" is absurd. The woman, who a man told me no longer works there, agreed upon the June 6 delivery. The gopher state one notification is the law, like he said, but per the statute it's the vendors responsibility.
The company claims to have tried "several ways" to "make me happy". The one and only thing this incredibly rude woman offered was 15% off table covers to hide their damaged, mismatched tables. I have never made a Revdex.com complaint in my life, I have never had an experience this bad with a company. They are misleading, they are in breach of contract, they advertise falsely, and they treat their customers like garbage.
I have names and telephone numbers of other people who had similar experiences with this company. I'd be happy to provide them if you'd like them.
I would still like a full refund due to the costs incurred to hide their damaged property, the cost to buy another tent to accommodate our guests, the $100 set up fee they charged but did not set up or take down any tables or chairs, for the insurmountable stress they caused, and their incredibly unprofessional, horrid customer service. I have never had anyone laugh at me, multiple times, and hang up on me. This entire experience is just bizarre. I have no idea how these people are in business.
Thank you.
Final Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2015/07/03) */
Again we do apologize for your experience with Ruddy's Rental.
Yes, whenever putting up a canopy with stakes Gopher State needs to be called. This applies to everything at Ruddy's Rental that goes into the soil. This is stated on the contract.
As for setting up tables and chairs, the customers usually do this. We can do it but we do charge more for this service. The $100 is to set up the canopies that Mr. [redacted] told us where to put them.
Putting up the canopy on Friday was not refused, we could not. If we put stakes in the ground Gopher state needs to be notified in advance.
As far as the statement made about the manager not caring. We do care and I did get a different explanation/story from our manager. We also do not laugh at a distressed customer. We are sorry if the customer got that impression. Ms. [redacted] was very angry as we've stated in previous correspondence, yelling at several different employees and repeating "you gotta be [redacted] me!" At that point the driver did offer to taka away the items at no cost but again the customer said absolutely not.
There was no threat. We do not threaten people. This is incorrect information. It was obvious Ms. [redacted] was very upset and we were trying to resolve the situation by voiding the whole thing at no cost to her. This was an honest offer of 100% of her money because it was obvious she was unhappy. This customer refused that.
At this point we are willing to refund $45.00 to Ms. [redacted] in an attempt to compromise.
Thank you.
[redacted] Ruddy
Ruddy's Rental
[redacted]
Forest Lake, MN 55025
Final Consumer Response /* (3000, 11, 2015/07/07) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
You put me in a position where I had 200 people coming in 24 hours. I had to take the junk your employees delivered. If you go back to the complaint, that was part of the problem (having to cover the ugly, damaged, unmatching tables. Did you see the pictures? Do you find those acceptable?
Your manager most certainly laughed at me, several times. She was an older woman who sounded like she was enjoying the fact that she was causing so much anxiety. I asked for the manager as I did not want to talk to her, she said she was the manager, there was no one else to talk to. When I asked for table covers to cover the damaged tables, she laughed and said "NO WAY". She offered a 15% discount on table covers. A $45 refund is insulting.
I agreed to pay the $100 set up fee as the items were supposed to be delivered on June 6th (like the contract says). If the items had been delivered on the correct day, the 2 men could have set everything up. Tables, chairs, etc.
I still would have taken issue with the terrible quality of the items. I am just shocked that you are comfortable charging almost $550 dollars for this (lack of) customer service and such shoddy products. It's just unbelievable.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.Being short staffed is not a reason to treat your customers rudely, which they were. We will not be using this company again and will advise any of our friends or family to do the same. thank you for your time in this unpleasant matter,[redacted]

Mr. [redacted],  The customer states several times  that employees were rude.  We were not rude, but instead incredibly busy that morning, as Monday mornings usually are.  In addition, we had staff that did not come to work that day, so it was a situation that was not ideal for us or...

our customers.  We are sorry the customer felt that way.  The customer did not wait 25, then an additional 45 minutes.  Based on the other customers and their wait time it was approximately 30 minutes total.  We do help customers in order and there were many customers there at opening on Monday, September 18.  This particular customer was fourth in line.  Mr. [redacted] decided to drop our equipment anywhere in our lot while we were helping these other customers.      We must check in our equipment to verify its there and in good condition, as the customer is responsible for the items, and for loss or damage to them, until we have a person actually check it in.    In this case since he put them in the lot we needed to move them out of the way so they do not get damaged or other such things as damage occurring. (this has happened before).    This is where the $30.00 fee is assessed for customers who do this.  We did call to work with them and let them know we would give them the benefit of the doubt and left a message saying we refunded half the charge, $15.00.  We did not hear back from this customer but the $15.00 was refunded.     Again, we apologize for making the customer wait.  It was an unusual morning at our store, being very busy and short handed at the same time.     Sincerely,   Ruddy's Rental, Inc.

Case ID: [redacted]   We are sorry for what happened.  The lights worked when the customer left.  What happened afterward I am sorry but I cannot say.  The only way for the dolly to shift is if the vehicle in tow was put on incorrectly.  WE have never in 34 years experienced...

this.  Our mechanic took the time to go through and check, test, and found no problems.    According to our notes on our conversation, the customer was bothered by the swivel pin.  This is a manufacturing design.   As for "blowing me off" this is not true, we replied to the customer email.  We are sorry again for what happened but we are glad you got your job done.    Sincerely,   Ruddy's Rental, Inc. [redacted] Forest Lake, MN 55025