Rent The Runway

I've used Rent the Runway for many years now and have loved it. But I've been on hold for over 3+ hours (first told the wait time would be 1 hour, then 2, and just received notification I'll have to wait 4 more hours...) hoping to speak to someone about a dress rental that doesn't fit. I am a member of their Update service and I need to switch out the sizing on a dress for a wedding I am attending, but I haven't been able to reach anyone for days. In abundance of caution, I decided to also place an order for a dress through their Reserve (4 day rental) service, but I just read on their website that they are cancelling all short-term orders because of some operational snafu... but they haven't reached out to me about whether my order will actually be cancelled or not. So I have no idea if this order will actually be shipped out to me or not, and now I don't know if I will even have a dress to wear. I've tried calling & emailing, and just resorted to tweeting... and I don't know if or when they will even respond regarding my Update & Reserve orders.

Filed complaint with better business bureau:
I signed up for their free trial of unlimited rental service. At the end of the trial period, I went on-line to my account to find information on how to cancel and to see my contract. Under my account information, there was no credit card on file nor any subscription information for which I was registered. I therefore did not believe I was under obligation or signed up for the unlimited services. I never once received an email invoice with charges to my account. Five months later I discovered the charges ($167 for 5 months) for which I never rent or received services. I called several times for reimbursement and they told me they did not have the authority and that a manager would call me back but they never did. They couldn't even transfer me to a manager. Customer service was rude and clearly intent on disbelieving and deceiving customers. The're website says pause or cancel anytime but when you call them it always says "high call volume" and you never get through, making it impossible or difficult to cancel their service. I have paid them $835 for no products or services. This business is a scam.

Went to check out the new RTR boutique at Neiman Marcus in SF. They explained how RTR works in conjunction with the online system. In theory everything about RTR sounds wonderful! Unfortunately stylists don't really know what they're doing -- They're not really "stylists" vs employees who would run to the back and get you sizes. They didn't offer me any styling advice and actually brought many options that looked terrible for my body type.

Not too many choices in store but was told that shipments come in on Wednesdays so if you want more choice come Thurs/Friday or order online.

Ok. So I decided to order 2 dresses online, 2 weeks ahead of my Saturday night event. The day my shipment is supposed to arrive (Thursday), I get an email at 6:30am saying that unfortunately BOTH dresses that I chose were either returned late or damaged so they wouldn't be sent to me! I was told to choose some new dresses (from whatever they have leftover online) and that they will overnight them for Friday night delivery!

So I went ahead and picked from what $#*!ty last min options they had left. Late that afternoon, I get a call saying 1 of those dresses is no longer available and the other won't arrive to me until Sat 4pm -- my event starts at 5pm!

I asked for a full refund. The gentlemen helping me on the phone didn't sound surprised. I think this is run of the mill for them, but not for me. Never again.

Now I have to get a sitter to watch the baby and go "last minute" dress shopping tomorrow.

I attempted to rent a dress from here for a formal event, shortly after I had a baby. I ordered a style with a "forgiving" waistline, two sizes bigger than I was at the time (approximately size 6). Both dresses were delivered in VERY used condition - they reeked of dry cleaning fluid, had rips and snags, one wouldn't zip. AND, despite their "Go-To Girl" advice, neither one even remotely fit around my mid-section. So back they both went.

What followed was a mad dash to try to get another dress before the event. They eventually found one that wouldn't even have been on my radar, that I really wasn't interested in. Ordered a size 10. Size 10 muumuu arrived and it looked like a cheap black garbage bag. Sent back immediately.

Spent 8 hours running around an outlet mall the day of the event, attempting to find a dress. Found one at Nordstrom that was cheaper than the rental, brand-new, fit great, and that I'll wear again! Makes you realize QUICKLY how overpriced their rentals are. The dresses are rented dozens of times. 30 rentals x $150+ each? Holy crap.

Fought with these people for WEEKS to obtain a refund. Finally obtained a full refund.

Never, ever EVER again.

(*Btw, you will see people with the same RTR dresses at big events).

I signed up for the membership and discovered most of what you're interested in, isn't available. I chosen 6 items and used a purse - everything else was just poor quality and looked very used. So I went online to cancel and it wouldn't let me, it would let me pause it, but wouldn't cancel. So I called and they tried to talk me into pausing it and I said no, I wanted to cancel it which is why I was calling - it wouldn't work online. So I was told to return anything I had before the month was over so as to avoid further charges and I said no problem, and sent everything back. I just noticed they've been billing me for 4 months! $900! I called and told them it was their error, I very clearly told the woman to cancel it, i did NOT want to pause it, and she refused to reverse the charges. I asked to speak with customer service and was denied and told they'd say the same thing - they don't reverse charges, it doesn't matter why. I filed a complaint with better business bureau and my credit card for fraud. These guys are shady! AND, again, after calling today, I see they still have not canceled the subscription! Scummy business

I have tried to cancle this subscription and i just found out that it never got cancled. This has been charging my card for $158 per MONTH for two years. Its an old account. I ordered once and its scammed me. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE

Beware, they clearly overbook their rentals. I received an email at 2:30 pm the day before my rental was due to arrive. I was told there was a "quality" issue and I needed to go on the site and choose two replacements and there would be no additional charge BUT I had to choose before 5pm or they'd be choosing a replacement for me so I would "at least have something to wear to my event". Ok, I think, things happen and I'd had a good experience with them on a previous rental. I logon, what is available to me is hideous. Nothing remotely appropriate, nothing classy, everything at bottom of the price range rentals. To top it off, anything I did choose to try and make work was not available in my size, yet these are the only dresses offered as a replacement. I called in. After a 30+ minute wait, the customer service rep was kind but was seeing the same things as I. I asked her to send the backup size in the dress I had ordered, but NO, both sizes apparently had quality issues. Clearly, RTR is getting in inflated business ego and are overbooking their dresses. Then, knowing you will be panicked, they email you a few hours pressuring you to make a selection from the leftovers they've not been able to rent. What a scam! They don't want to refund my money either and keep insisting I have to take the replacement the stylist chooses for me. Mind you, I rented my dress months in advance to ensure there would be no issues.

Never again RTR. I hope another company comes in as your competition because it won't take much customer service on their part to put you out of business.

I have had MAJOR issues with this company my last 2 rentals. First not as bad, but to have it happened a 2nd time is what put me over the edge. I had 2 weddings back to back weekends. The first weekend I had received an email saying shipment was out and guaranteed by 8pm Friday. 8pm roles around and no package. Can't call customer service because they are gone for the day. UPS rescheduled delivery for Monday, obviously well past my event date, and so dress was worthless to me. I chalked it up to normal business issues, it happens, and blew it off as they refunded me my entire amount. However, the following weekend I run into another issue! Received an email on Tuesday saying my package was on it's way, checked the tracking number Wednesday morning and it says it has been delivered. I find this odd that the dress was able to travel from the shipping dept in NJ all the way to Chicago in less than 1 business day, and I check with doorman myself to see if any deliveries to which he tells there has not been. Call RTR immediately to have them inform me they have sent it to an incorrect address. I am not even sure how that happens as both my acct info and shipping address are correct, yet they manage to send to god knows where. They are telling me they will have another dress for me by Thursday@ 8pm, but I highly doubt it. Don't waste your time with this place, they are a joke

I had the middle-tier plan which was for 4 pieces / 2 exchanges. Also, please note I have used RTR twice before and had gotten the hang of their system, which was a little confusing at first. I had rented 4 pieces for the first half of the month and then swapped on March 13th. I returned 3 pieces the next day and selected 3 new pieces to be shipped to me for a special occasion on the 17th. When the 17th rolled around, I realize my order hadn't shipped.

I checked with RTR, and they said it hadn't shipped because I needed to fill one more spot. I was confused, knowing that my plan only included 4 pieces at a time, that was what I selected. They then informed me that there was a brand new feature where they had added an extra spot that month, so now I would have a total of 5, and it doesn't ship until all slots are filled.

Unfortunately, I missed the occasion I needed for and I was leaving the country by the time any shipment could reach me. So now, because of timing, I can't use my swap. I asked for some sort of partial refund since it was THEIR tech add that was outside the normal scope, which caused me to not have my shipment go through. Customer service replied, "I'm afraid that our membership charges are nonrefundable, so I won't be able to refund for part of the plan fee."

To save a few bucks, they've lost a customer for life.

I ordered my prom dress 4 months in advance, and I absolutely loved it. I bought shoes and accessories for it, and then 4 days before the event, I got an email saying the backup size of my dress wasn't available. I was a little frustrated, but I said it's okay and asked them to just send the size that was available and then a backup dress too. A day later, I get an email that even THAT dress isn't available. At this point, it was cutting it real close to my prom. They had sent some alternate dresses, but both looked awful on me and were not the style I wanted. It turned into this huge circus of emailing RTR back and forth until we finally settled on a dress that they actually had in stock. They sent the dress through "priority mail" and it was set to arrive 3 hours before my pre-prom. It didn't. I was waiting in my pajamas until 2, unsure that it would even come at all. The dress itself was nice, but the whole process was not worth it and was unnecessarily anxiety-inducing. They never even gave me a refund! I'd stay away if I were you.

Go Fashionpass if you need to rent clothes. Fashionpass has a slip that comes with the items and their prices if you would like to buy any of the items. Any items you would like to buy you just keep and send back the rest. Once their label is scanned they acknowledge you have returned the items. Unlike Fashionpass, Rent the runway will send you an email with prices if you want to buy the items. You may make a decision on these prices as I did and send back all the items except for the one you want to purchase; however, when you go on their website to cancel the membership the cost of all the items are now substantially increased. I contacted customer service and they said the cost changes based on demand and they cannot make a price adjustment. I explained that I made the choice based on the prices sent in an email to me and this was never explained the prices fluctuate. She also was aware that I had already sent back all the other items so I really had no choice but to pay the ridiculous price for the skirt. I will NEVER ever use fashionpass again and would 10/10 not recommend it to anyone. Use fashion pass, it was a great experience with them in the past and very easy to use.

This company is terrible. Zero customer service, a huge headache, and a waste of time and money. I was a member for 5 months. Most rentals are a crap shoot as far as fitting and quality (they send worn out pieces), had to send most back unworn. In the past month I've had to chat with support every time I want to swap. They gave me a free spot, but wouldn't let me swap out under my normal membership until I used the one spot? Why not just give me 5 things instead of 4? Inefficient. Then, they hound me all day at work about my swap not being available for pick up - asking where it is, when it was on the porch and swapped out as planned? And lastly, they gave me a $20 credit for an extra spot, which I took advantage of, only to find out they sneakily changed my whole membership to a 5 item per month instead of just letting me use the extra spot. Customer service was zero help and told me that's how it works. Bait and switch! Here's a coupon, but if you use it - we'll upgrade you and also start charging you more monthly (none of which was disclosed before using the credit). I told her to cancel my account and I was sending it all back. She told me she couldn't, and I'd still be charged, even though it was before my monthly renewal date. Absolutely insane. So many more options ladies! Avoid this company, you'll regret it.

I'm so surprised by all the negative reviews on this site! I've been using RtR for about 4 years, and have maybe rented 5 times total. One of those times was for all 10 bridesmaids in my wedding! The most recent time was this past weekend for a formal gala I attended with my husband. All easy and great experiences.
The one bad experience I had was a few summers ago, I ordered an amazing dress for a party I was incredibly excited about, and we were traveling there, so no easy shopping options once I realized the zipper was broken on the dress that was the correct size. I had to go buy one last minute. However, RtR was very understanding, credited my cost, and gave me a discount on my next order.
When my bridemaids rented the dresses, it worked perfectly. We chose two Badgley Mischka dresses, one light purple, one dark. Everyone ordered 2 sizes, so we had plenty of options. I think one girl had a "replacement dress" (a different dress altogether) in one of her sizes, but we had so many spares it was fine. Everyone looked AMAZING. And no one had to spend $250-$300 on a bm dress they would never wear again.
Overall, I definitely recommend this site!

The rules are constantly changing. I purchased the PRO package where you get free shipping because when I had RTR update last year, I was able to get free shipping for my replacement which is why I re-purchased PRO for the second time in 2019. I had placed my membership on hold for 2-3 months, received news that items that did not fit well would be subject to the $12.95 shipping fee.

Also, when I finally signed up for update last year it was disappointing to see that many of the 4 and 8 day rentals I was eyeing was not available with the RTR update membership. Emails that show you what's new are not always going to be available for RTR update members so I dislike that discrepancy. The only bromide seems to be 25% discount off those items but when renting those higher end items, it can often cost more than twice the cost of RTR update and unlimited.

To top it off, in RTR update you cannot replace accessories which is a shame because some items are just not what they are like when you finally receive them like the Tory Burch Kira shoulder bag where the strap is very unwieldy and looks like a seat belt.

Oh and very long hold times too. You can choose to have the RTR system call you back but you typically have to wait half a day before you get a call from them. Just way too many gripes and pain points to justify using this membership.

Jenny
Hi, I would like to discuss a recent order that was supposed to have arrived yesterday and has still yet not arrived.
Nick M. joined the chat
Nick M.
Hi Jenny
Thank you for chatting with Rent the Runway!
Please provide me with your order number so that I can look into this further.
Jenny
Order # 104XXXXX
I briefly emailed with someone this morning but I never heard back
and now I am noticing that I have received an email from RTR notifying me that they have received my return
Which.....doesn't make sense since I received that email before I even received my dress
Nick M.
It seems that UPS incorrectly sorted the package and returned it back to us.
Jenny
Is this a common occurence?
I'm actually quite disappointed. I had hoped that RTR would alleviate some stress from attending a formal event
and now I am expected in attendnce in 2 hours with nothing to wear...
Nick M.
Sometimes when NJ orders are shipped, the carrier can mistakenly return the order to us. We do certainly apologize for the inconvenience this may cause but a full refund has been processed for your order.
Jenny
This is more than an inconvenience, this is the essence of your service.
I'm highly disappointed as now I am scrambling to find something appropriate last minute
I hope this sort of "Error" is fixed for the future
Nick M.
Again, our sincerest apologies.
Jenny
I work at a company that uses UPS for over 1000 shipments a day and we have never had an item returned by accident
Nick M.
Is there anything else I can help you with?

WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE AND CHARGED A TOTAL OF $800 FOR A JUMPSUIT THAT NEVER ARRIVED AND LATE FEES - all the same week! I notified RTW via email after returning from a family emergency. I explained my dad had a heart attack and I had to travel. My apologies RTW wasn't an immediate priority however the customer service rep's response was and I quote "It's your responsibility to notify us and you didn't contact us, not even once, sorry can't help you". I did contact them by email - twice. No response. Even requested account deactivation last week and surprise surprise had to request deactivation yet another time.
UNBELIEVABLE. I will dispute these charges and if I have to take this to court.

I learned about this company and service through a segment done on Good Morning America. I figured if GMA was endorsing them they had to be a first class operation. I signed up for the waiting list for the Unlimited service and placed an order for 2 dresses for 2 upcoming weddings. I am tired of having a closet full of dresses I only wore one time. I thought the concept was very interesting. After all men rent tuxes. The one flaw is you can only get the dress a day or two before your affair. If it doesn't fit or there is an issues with the dress, you are stuck rushing to the boutiques to find a dress. Needless to say, the first dress I received had a very noticeable rip in the seam in the back. That wasn't the worst part. The body odor smell from BOTH dresses (right size and backup size) was horrendous. My husband could smell it as soon as I took it out of the plastic. These were never cleaned. Even a bad dry cleaner could do something with that odor. It actually made me gag. I contacted the customer service and asked for a phone call to work out the matter since I needed it in two days. NO phone call, just an email telling me they are sorry and they won't be able to get me a dress by Friday. Cancelled this order, my future order and asked to be taken off the wait list for Unlimited Service. This company has a lot of work to do! Poor quality dresses, extremely poor dry cleaning, poor customer service. Shame on GMA for endorsing them.

Renters beware! This is touted to be a fabulous way to wear designer duds at a fraction of the cost and not having a leftover useless outfit hanging in your closet that you will never wear again. Sounds like a great idea, until you cancel your order. There is a very small window in which to cancel your order and if it does not fall within their dates, they give you a credit. I personally dont like to rent anything, but thought I might for a special occasion. When I called to cancel, a mumbling, unsympathetic and somewhat insulting operator told me in no certain terms I waited too long. The interesting thing is, they had my money, the postage to mail the dress to me and the dress to re-rent. I can only use the funds to rent something else or buy what is listed in clearance. Clearance items are small sizes and most generally ugly $#*! nobody wanted to rent in the first place and now they need to dump the inventory. I was informed in order to buy something not listed in clearance I must join some club to the tune of $139. What a $#*!ing crock of $#*! this site is. The have my money hostage, the dress I didnt need afterall, and with little or no hope of finding something to buy. I wish I would have never considered this site or gotten involved with them. Awful customer service.

Not only do you end up getting items you didn't pay for, their customer service (i. E. NICK "WITHOUT A LAST NAME") is horrible. I originally started as an RTR Update member but eventually canceled that membership due to items being out of stock at the last minute, not receiving shipments on time, and all the while still paying for those rental days without an extension OR a refund. I decided to give them a try once again for an event and I was reminded why I canceled in the first place. They replaced one of my items and contacted me at the very last minute. I did not like the replacement and asked to switch it out. However, the next notification I got was that "my" order was shipped! I called customer service and spoke with Nick (he told me he doesn't have a last name) and he said either a replacement can be sent (it won't arrive on time) OR to call them back IF I don't end up wearing the item that I didn't choose- don't worry, I won't... it's not me. And yet, somehow I'm still paying for this item to be shipped when I didn't select it in the first place.

Do not trust this company if you have an important event. I ordered my dress almost two months ago only to be notified via email the day before it's arrival that it was not available. I had taken time to read reviews, find similar body types, etc. I scrambled to find an alternate in the 5.5 hour deadline that the (again) email provided as many styles were sold out. I was on hold for to hours before I gave up trying to get help from their "style experts". I emailed the company asking why they did not call me pointing out that I could have missed the email window entirely and they responded that they thought email was the most efficient way.

The alternates arrived the next day. The dresses were so disappointing. One alternate dress that I actually loved had a broken zipper, one was visibly worn, stretched out, and not in good condition, and the original alternate size of my original canceled dress was, of course, the wrong size. I tried to order another last minute dress to be overnighted (in my remaining 3 hour window listed on the website) only to find out that there were NO more dresses available. I called and was placed on a one hour call back to which I received a call back almost three hours later. Guess what? They couldn't help me and honestly could not have cared less that I was out a dress. I got a refund and went via email so I had a record.

This troublesome company which claims to have "828k" reviews on their website and claim to have a 4.5 star rating has the worst customer service ever. A dress that I rented had an issue with it, so I called customer service and politely asked them to send another one. They wanted me to send this one back first, but I told them it was for a wedding and their shipment would not arrive in time, and asked if they could override or perhaps send the dress overnight, and that I would gladly pay extra. The cs person sneered at my polite request and put me on hold for a half hour. She came back and said there was no manager in to take care of the request at 2pm on a Thursday. (So what was she doing for 30 minutes?) Realizing this person was another miserable cs agent, and having several other negative experiences not unlike this experience, I asked for her name and proceeded to cancel my membership over the phone.

Avoid. Don't waste your time.

About a week later, and after I still hadn't received an apology, or follow-up call from management that I was promised, we posted a negative review on Yelp. They deleted it about a day later on the grounds that I was never a customer. Shady business tactics. If the company is so bad, and realizes it to the point they delete Yelp reviews instead of fix the systems and processes that result in poor reviews, that tells you everything you need to know about a bad company.

I didn't have a great experience. I rented a wedding dress in May for my August wedding. I was told by customer service that I could come by the store and try it on. I live an hour away from the store, and called to verify if the dress was in store. They said it was, in the size that I ordered. I thought, no problem, I will try it on when I am in the city. Then, I called again and they said they could not verify for me if the dress was in the store, I would have to go in. I ended up visiting the store 5 separate times, to try to get lucky and be able to try on the dress before my wedding. It was never there. Long story short, about a week before the wedding, I still wasn't able to try it on and got nervous and cancelled. I was charged a cancellation fee, and not given a refund. I do have a credit, but only was interested in renting a dress for my wedding, so it's basically useless. Originally, I had thought to save money and rent my wedding dress, but felt like I was mislead on the availability of trying on my dress in store. I would caution people looking to save money on a wedding dress by renting from here to not make my mistake. Buy a pre-owned wedding dress instead and save yourself the headache and stress. I ended up losing over $100.

Do not rent a dress from this company. I was hesitant because I was traveling to South Carolina for my daughters graduation. They said not to worry when I called before I ordered stating that there are many places to drop off the dress. The first post office I went to on school campus on Monday the 8th of May told me I could not drop off because I was not a student. She sent me to another location. When I got there I asked the person at the front desk, who instructed me to leave it on the counter with other packages that were already post marked. However, the package was picked up but not scanned until Thursday according to RTR. I even sent my daughters boyfriend there on Wednesday to confirm that there was no package there. Again, he was told the package was taken by UPS. So, now it is my word against theirs. They will not call you, only send an email. It is a sneaky way of making more money. Also, I had ordered another dress at the time I ordered the first one for the following weekend. Once again it had to be to UPS drop box by noon on Monday the 15th. I went to 2 drop boxes Canton and Mansfield MA, both say pick up is at 6pm, that means the dress would be late. So, I went to work and googled another UPS in Attleboro. I had to take time out of my day without pay and go there. The woman at the counter just took the bag, I said no I want a receipt that you are taking it for proof. The experience is horrible.