opinions wanted regarding a lens rental "issue"

I put issue in quotations because I need an outside opinion. I rented a 100-400L over the weekend, and it was a great lens in the little that I used it. Unfortunately, the lens hood was broken. I discovered this the day of my shoot, and wasnt prepared to deal with it. (AKA, no duct tape on hand.) The hood didnt click into place. The retention tabs were broken. I am 100% positive this was the case prior to the lens being rented to me(confirmed when I asked when I returned the lens). Now, my issue is that when I returned the lens and told them about it, they kind of were just like, "oh well, it stays on if you dont shake it". While this is true, it popped off numerous times, to the point that it became a burden to shoot with, and I resorted to my Tamron 70-200 for the rest of the day. They offered a discount on my next rental, but didnt offer a refund. I guess I can see things both ways, but I am tempted to say F it and just stop dealing with them. I try to keep it as local as possible, but when keeping it local means sh*tty attitudes and renting broken equipment, I might draw the line. Thoughts? Technically, I should have inspected the hood prior to leaving with the lens, so consider that a lesson learned.

edit* I guess what I am asking is, would you expect a refund or be happy with a discount? Would you do business with them again?

Poor customer service and an obnoxious attitude will be the downfall of any business.

E-mail or call the owner of the business and tell them the whole story. If they don't fix it (discount this rental) then they don't care about the customer as much as they should. Chances are that if you're a repeat customer, the owner will want to take care of you.

Leaving it to a counter clerk to decide is not getting the full response from the company.

If it was a manager or owner, then you know where they stand, and can vote with your wallet next time.

kind of the way I was leaning as well. I dont like to make a big deal out of things, but once the clerk made it clear that my opinion wasnt as relevant as hers, I kind of had a hard time biting my tongue. I will escalate the issue to the next level and kindly remind them that I have other options in terms of renting gear.

I think a discount on the next rental is a fair shake. If it was the lens that was broke I could see a full refund. What kind of discount did they offer? I think 50% would be fair.

I would expect a discount off the rental I just completed, not 50% which I think is pretty high.

I think a small partial refund is in order, now, today, not with the next order. Actually, the refund should have been offered upfront, e.g. "We have a lens with a defective lens hood. If you would like it, we can give you 20% off the usual rental fee".

Gnome, if it was my company (Lensrentals) I will certainly take care of it. And the person you talked to. Not to mention the tech who inspected the equipment. We keep dozens of spare hoods just to make certain a lens never goes out without a working hood.

Roger

Roger Cicala wrote in post #16265752
Gnome, if it was my company (Lensrentals) I will certainly take care of it. And the person you talked to. Not to mention the tech who inspected the equipment. We keep dozens of spare hoods just to make certain a lens never goes out without a working hood.

Roger

^^^^ This is why I rent from Lens Rentals...GREAT knowledgeable staff, ZIP ZERO issues ever with these folks. I will say after renting a 28-300L...I HAD to have one. Purchase was a WHOLE lot more that renting, lol. Thanks guys! I see a 600mm 2.8 in my future ..as a rental, lol.

Are hoods REALLY that necessary? I mean you say you "Resorted to using your 70-200". So you'd rather not shoot at all than go without a hood?

Not that I am condoning the rental house behavior, just seems like you are making a bigger deal about it than I would.

tkbslc wrote in post #16266332
Are hoods REALLY that necessary? I mean you say you "Resorted to using your 70-200". So you'd rather not shoot at all that go without a hood?

Not that I am condoning the rental house behavior, just seems like you are making a bigger deal about it than I would.

I am in agreement with this. Why can't you continue shooting without hood? I think it is fair that they offer you a discount for either future rental / current rental. Also, I think 50% is too much.

well, I also agree with you guys to an extent. But as a renter, I expect things to work, hood included. No, I guess it wasnt 100% necessary, but the glare was def. present and in the few images I got from the lens, there is flare. Go figure. My issue lies in the fact that I was rented a broken item, and when I when to use the lens and had to deal with a hood that kept falling off, I was a bit annoyed. I was a bit more annoyed that when I brought it to their attention they were not only aware of the issue, but made it seem that a hood that fell off was standard operating procedure, and as a renter I should just deal with it. That , in my opinion, is BS.

vilimo wrote in post #16267198
I am in agreement with this. Why can't you continue shooting without hood? I think it is fair that they offer you a discount for either future rental / current rental. Also, I think 50% is too much.

so you think renting out a broken item and not disclosing the defects prior is acceptable?

and for the record, when a situation calls for a hood, its 100% necessary. I shoot without them often, but when they are necessary, they are necessary

tkbslc wrote in post #16266332
Are hoods REALLY that necessary? I mean you say you "Resorted to using your 70-200". So you'd rather not shoot at all than go without a hood?

Not that I am condoning the rental house behavior, just seems like you are making a bigger deal about it than I would.

It wasnt that I needed to resort to using my 70-200 was an awful option. The only reason I rented the 100-400 was because it has a second IS option for panning side to side. Not being able to use the lens with a hodd threw a wrench into my plans to the point that I had to resort to plan B

A discount is more than enough. It was a lens hood that was damaged. It wasn't like the lens came damaged for your important shoot that you couldnt use it or them leaving you a nasty letter inside with the lens covered in peanut butter.

It was probably an honest mistake. So a full refund or even partial refund for something so miniscule would be excessive.

You also informed them the day of or when you returned it to them of the issue. I'm sure if you had informed them prior to your shoot, they would of rectified the situation.

1KIND wrote in post #16267518
A discount is more than enough. It was a lens hood that was damaged. It wasn't like the lens came damaged for your important shoot that you couldnt use it or them leaving you a nasty letter inside with the lens covered in peanut butter.
True. I just received a 40% discount refunded, so I am ok. But the money was never the issue.
It was probably an honest mistake. So a full refund or even partial refund for something so miniscule would be excessive. Not an honest mistake, they knew about it and basically told me to my face that I should just deal with it.

You also informed them the day of or when you returned it to them of the issue. I'm sure if you had informed them prior to your shoot, they would of rectified the situation. Honestly, I doubt it but you never know.

well, I spoke to them again, got a 40% refund. It was never about the money though, I just feel that something as minor as a broken lens hood should never really even be an issue. They were aware of it, they should have fixed it, end of story. Its not ok to question a customer when they ask about it. I could have been hired to take out of focus telephoto shots in a kids inflatable bouncy castle, or I could have been on a safari. Shouldnt matter. But when I say their broken item became a burden to deal with because I kept having to re-secure and pick up a lens hood, its a problem.

I try to keep things local, and this situation seems to be more common these days. If keeping it local means I have to deal with customer service anything less than pleasant and items that are damaged, not functioning, no matter how significant or insignificant, Im done. Once it becomes a pain in my ass, Ill go elsewhere.

So, I guess situation resolved, lesson learned etc.. thanks everyone for your opinions on the subject, it was a weird one