Rent the Runway offers customers $200 in compensation after extensive backlash

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 30, 2019

Fashion rental service Rent the Runway has promised to pay $200 to unhappy customers as an operational shift at the company continues to result in significant shipping delays and canceled orders, leading some to vent their anger on social media.

 
Rent the Runway CEO Jennifer Hyman told Bloomberg that the company will not only be reimbursing customers who have had their orders canceled due to the supply chain issues, but will also be giving them $200.
 
“We know we have broken complete customer trust by not delivering their orders on time,” she explained in an interview published by Bloomberg on Friday. “To repair that trust, we didn’t feel it was right to offer credit to Rent the Runway.”

According to Hyman, the company’s problems began when it installed a new system in its New Jersey warehouse. The changes should ultimately make fulfilment faster through a new inventory racking system, but the integration process has been causing issues for the rental service, severely reducing the number of orders it can ship per day.
 
The company’s CEO said that the problems had affected around 14% of Rent the Runway’s subscribers and a small number of its event retailers.

With complaints flooding in and a Twitter storm brewing, Hyman also sent out an email to Rent the Runway’s customers on Friday, apologizing while also warning that the problems aren’t over yet.
 
“Upgrading systems while still running the business at full speed is complex,” reads the message. “We know that we will make some mistakes, so for the next month, if you have time sensitive events, please order a few days earlier than you normally would.”
 
As it struggles to straighten out its supply chain issues, Rent the Runway has announced that it has canceled all event orders scheduled to be received in the first week of October and will not be accepting any new event rental orders or subscribers until October 15.
 
Bloomberg also reported that following the problems, Rent the Runway’s head of supply chain, Marv Cunningham, will be stepping down from his role after about a year in the position.
 
Rent the Runway did not respond to a request for comment from FashionNetwork.com.