Rent the Runway might ruin my wedding.

Would anyone be this casual about their groom or groomsmen's suits or tuxes falling through? Why is this any different?

I'm so sorry you're going through this. My advice to you now is cut your losses and do your best to get your girls in dresses they can wear.

I had a terrible experience with RTR recently. I had rented 3 dresses to have options for my FH's brother's wedding. They very unceremoniously just DID NOT send the dresses on time, for the date I had booked them. Long story short they did not arrive before the wedding at ALL even though I'd ordered them to arrive TWO full days prior so that I'd have wiggle room. They gave me a full refund and I vowed never to use them again. Be warned they are not reliable!!

I really do hope that they can help you resolve this to your satisfaction. I don't even know how to offer a solution. I am just sorry you have to go through this.

I will say that I was a very difficult customer, I was pissed and the sizing options they offered just weren't going to work. I had to explain that I had a baby and my size was not as reliable as normal. I bitched about everything and they did stay on the phone with me and look at dress after dress after dress for 55 minutes.

@Cait but even if you use an actual wedding vendor like Union Station - if another bridal party chooses the same style and color you do the weekend before and a dress comes back ruined you may run into the same thing.

It has nothing to do with specifically being a WEDDING rental vendor and everything to do with being a clothing rental vendor period.

It really really sucks for OP but when you choose to rent instead of purchase this is a chance you take. It doesn't mean that RTR is giving bad customer service or that anyone here feels like OP was wrong or made a bad choice. It's just a hazard of renting something. Anything really.

Well, I mean, good news is that you can still get married even if your BMs aren't in matching dresses, so your wedding isn't "ruined"

OP.. you are VAILD in your point of it SHOULDN'T happen, They should plan for things like a dress being returned with issues, and THEY should plan to have extras, that is there business!! YOU should NOT have to be stressed about it. You can Guarantee that no one would be this casual about the Tux rentals going this bad! it is the same thing, I'm not sure why people say "that's the risk you take with rentals" NO I'm sorry with tux rentals or dress rentals she has a Right to be MAD!! I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.. I hope you and your girls get it taken care of and Have a great wedding day!

Aye.

@Kristen. It's a RENTAL. If a previous renter doesn't return the dress on time or damages it, there's NOTHING RTR can do about it, as has been said by PPs.

What do you expect them to do? Go to the renter's house with a bounty hunter?

Don't want to deal with that risk, then simply do not use the service. I'm an Unlimited customer, and I've had 2-3 occasions where my rental wasn't available for me to receive. I signed up for this. I can't bitch at RTR about it, only the previous renter who didn't send back their shit on time.

When you are renting something, you run this risk.

Wasting time dealing w/ them is not going to get your girls into dresses. Leave RTR a bad review and move on.

ETA: Don't let this "ruin" your wedding, since it's a fairly minor detail. I am sure they can all find something at a department store.

Ahhh!!! Hope you can get this fixed!!! Best wishes!

Omg @Sally. Sure, it SHOULDN'T happen, but it DOES. A week before our wedding, our transportation rental was cancelled because guess what... someone who rented it previously damaged the car and it needed to be repaired before the company could rent it out again. Yeah, it sucked but we found another company. It's a risk you take with renting ANYTHING.

@sally g - I would say the same thing for a tux rental if someone were upset.

But also Men's suits don't vary as just much as women's dresses so the ability for the rental place to be able to provide something almost the same as greater. That is just the way men's fashion vs women's fashion works.

But even if it was a tux rental it's a risk you take that the person who had it before you might damage it, not return it on time or at all!

And of course OP can be upset. No one said she couldn't. But you also can't blame the company for the previous renter! Or circumstances beyond their control.

Everything you do in life has some modicum of risk. This is a risk of renting. It's just a fact

Oh no! I am so sorry you're going through this. They need to own their mistake and make it right. I'm following closely to see what happens. I have one bridesmaid who wants to use rent the runway, but we're doing mismatched dresses...might tell her to use another option.....

A tux rental store like mens wearhouse specializes in rentals for groups so ofcourse they have enough inventory to cover issues that may cause delays. For what it's worth, even with them specializing in it I don't know any wedding party that had a flawless experience with mens wearhouse.

RTR (unlike union station and vowtobechic) didn't start as a bridal/bridesmaids rental service. So I highly doubt they planned for the issues that people like the OP are facing. We used vowtobechic which required us to reserve the dressed 6 months in advance so they had enough inventory. They also sent the dresses 2 weeks before the wedding incase exchanges needed to happen. They also update the bride when the girls reserved dresses and when the dress was shipped so if something is off, they can catch the issue earlier than 4 days before a wedding.

Unless RTR has changed their business in the last few months, they don't allow people to rent till 4 months before the wedding and don't ship till much closer to the wedding. Not something I would consider ideal for a wedding (therefore I went with a different company). They can still call themselves a wedding vendor but as a bride, I wasn't comfortable taking these added risks with a 5 girl bridal party. A smaller bridal party group? Sure.

I am so sorry to hear this happened to you. I loved using rent the runway a few years ago before it became popular. I chose a dress for my event in April which became out of stock, when I selected another dress I could not receive my backup size as it was out of stock. When I received the dress it did not fit. I immediately emailed them as their phone were down. I did not receive a response until it was too late for them to send me a new one overnight. I have not used them since.

I can't even imagine how stressful that would be...my wedding is on Saturday too. Sending positive vibes OP!

I have heard a lot about RTR on this site, mostly positive.

That being said, if i was that particular about what m girls were wearing i would never rely on a rental company. I am sure there is a disclaimer somewhere on the site saying there is a possibility the dress may not be available.

I use rent the runway all the time but I wouldn't rely on them for exact dresses for a bridal party. I like to use them because I hate shopping and if the dress fits when it comes in, I wear it. But I've gotten back up dresses a few times because something has happened to the dress I chose. At least they didn't' send you a torn or stained version of the dress!

Yeah i had the same issue with them. out of my 4 bridesmaids, 2 had issues with their dress and had to scramble to find one that we both found acceptable 2 days before the wedding. It was awful, and they were no help, besides, "sorry let us know which other dress you want to rent." I actually cancelled my pro membership and have not rented from them since.

Maybe your girls can find other dresses in the same color? or mis matched dresses in various colors?

It is not the type of stress needed the week of the wedding. I feel you girl. I know it doesn't feel like it, but it will all work out. You will marry your FH and things will be great.

ETA-clarity