Highest Standards
Our business really has only three parts: the equipment you want, how we get it to you, and the website you use to interact with us.
Item Quality
We want to get you the nicest stuff you’ve ever rented.
To that end, all our gear is inspected when it comes in and when it goes back out. For lenses, we check the condition of the optics for function and sharpness, the focus system, the aperture, the stabilization mechanism (if any), and so on. If something fails our quality checks, we send it out for repair, and that’s that.
One thing people seem to assume is that rental equipment is invariably beat up. We know a lot of rental houses buy older, used equipment to keep their costs down, and some even rent other people’s unwanted personal equipment as their own. We find that completely unacceptable— we want to shoot with nice equipment, and we know you do too. So, we go to great lengths to make that happen:
- We regularly send lenses in for cleaning and recalibration from the manufacturers. It costs us to do this — but it reduces the number of customers that open a box to find a lens that doesn’t work proplerly.
- We buy all of our equipment new. We don’t buy already beat up equipment to rent.
- We sell equipment when it has been rented for 2 years, or less in the case of camera bodies and certain specialty lenses. The receipt you get with your order includes the date your gear entered service with us, as well as the date of manufacture when available. We’re proud of how fresh our inventory is.
- Unlike some other rental companies, we have no consignment program. We own all of the equipment we rent, meaning we’re free to pull a copy out of circulation, sell it, and replace it when needed.
Shipping Quality
Some other companies ship FedEx Ground, or the US Postal Service. We ship by second day air only (with the exception of UPS guaranteed ground in certain nearby locations and for large packages). Why? Simply put, the other shipping methods aren’t up to LensRentals.com standards.
Ground and Postal are cheaper than air, but costs too much in other ways. Irregular delivery schedules, lack of guaranteed delivery time (SHOULD get there in two days is very different than WILL get there in two days) make it unacceptable for us. Except to Puerto Rico or Hawaii, where USPS is better than the alternatives air shipping is simply better service.
Website Quality
As part of our general policy of getting things right, we’ve worked hard to build the best web presence we can. We have a few specific goals:
- Ease of ordering. We wanted to make it as convenient as possible. As a start, we show you only what’s relevant—Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, or video, we’ll give you listings specific to your camera system. From there, we thought the least we can do is to show you what’s out of stock and when you can order it next at a glance, and to make it obvious how much everything is going to cost, including accurate shipping quotes, instead of surprising you in checkout.
- Follow-through. Placing an order is only the beginning. Plans change, and your order can too; you can cancel reservations yourself right from the website without penalty. Otherwise, we’ve got the most comprehensive order tracking system you can imagine: tracking numbers, signatures, serial numbers, return dates, it’s all in there.
- Speed. Function is foremost, but it’s the little things that make the difference, speed being one of them. We wanted to make LensRentals.com the fastest site you’ve ever been to, and think we’ve gotten pretty close.
Staff Quality
We have the best equipment and we also have the best staff. We’re justifiably proud of them. Our employees allow us to offer things that many other rental houses can’t:
- At least three in-house customer service representatives are available every weekday to take your calls and answer your emails. At least three technical support staff are available too.
- We constantly train all our staff in all of the equipment we sell, so that you can always find someone who has actually shot with the gear you’re trying to use when you need help.
- Our staff rotates checking emails after-hours and on weekends so you can get your questions answered even when we’re not open. In most cases, weekend and evening emails are answered within an hour.
- We consult with and sponsor some of the top online camera and lens reviewers. If we can’t answer your question, we can usually get an answer for you within a day.
