issues with return of rented gear

Patryk_Rebisz

Patryk_Rebisz

Veteran
On a recent job my company rented out a set of Cine lenses. My experienced AC team (Local 600 guys) checked out the lenses at checkout then made sure they are in tip-top shape for return. 5 days after the return I get message from the rental company about a damage to one of their lenses - damage is clearly visible to naked eye. The AC team confirmed that the damage wasn't there at the wrap.

If you ever were in similar situations how did you handle it? The fact the rental company waited for so long is suspicious to me. Any help would be appreciated!
 
Doesn't the rental company inspect and sign off on gear on return while your standing there? I always get return inspections while I'm there to witness. For something that is "clearly visable to the naked eye" I would question how that was missed and signed off on only to be discovered 5 days later. To me if they sign off on it then your good especially for something that wouldn't need time to reveal.

In the end their might be nothing that can be done or proven and that is what insurance is for but it wouldn't sit well with me and I would avoid renting again from them.
 
A friend of mine was once returning gear to a rental company which is notorious for poor maintenance of equipment but cheap producers insist on using them anyway; he handed a flag which had no visible damage directly to one of their employees. A few days later he got a call saying "it was burned." Maybe the same guys? (hint - they do camera as well as lighting and it's not CSC)
 
Did one of your crew get a clean return receipt from the rental house? Every place I've ever rented from checks equipt. (especially lenses!) on return with myself or a member of my crew present. Although I've never had a damaged item,
in the rare instance that a piece is forgotten and still in my camera case, missing cable, etc.... they note it and I make sure it gets back ASAP. Is this one of your regular rental places?
I'd ask to see the rental records after yours in that time frame.

Ken
 
Is it a reputable rental house? I can't say I've ever had the experience of having equipment checked in front of me when I return it. I certainly check it before it goes out though.

At the end of the day, that's what insurance is for - both the production's, and also the rental house's (that you probably paid for in the cost of rental, especially on lenses).

Given 5 days, it's quite possible that they were returned in perfect shape, but haven't been out and are now being prepped for another job, and that's when the defect was noticed.

That said, if there was something up, I'd imagine the houses I rent from would be in touch within a day or two.
 
I used to work on a series for a network "back in the day" that was shot on the F-900 and the net rented the camera packages and had them shipped all over the country to our shoot locations. After a few incidents/issues with the rental house, I started documenting everything with a digital camera and made a list of the equipment and its condition when it arrived and was packed back up for return.
 
There should be a proper load in and out, without someone working for production checking the gear in and back out along with a rep from the rental house, it's just a he said/she said sort of game that turns ridiculous. If production wants to try and save money by skimping on the extra days, they should be prepared for the L/D.

I don't find it too strange that they waited so long though, things get busy, packages get marked and pushed to the side to get checked in later.

Either way, believe it or not L/D is negotiable sometimes. Production is going to have to pay for it, but if the rental house likes them enough sometimes they'll cut them a break on the repair. The other thing to keep in mind is sometimes things are not as broken as they make it out to be...sometimes you can pay for a new one, get the "damaged" one and sell it on ebay or craigslist to lessen the pain a bit.
 
There is lots of things that simplify don't add up on part of the rental house.
1.) they claim that the lens was dropped - i'm convinced this didn't happen on my set - the team handling the lenses was too experienced plus they swear no such thing happened (i trust them more than some rental house).
2.) the rental house claims they were too busy with orders to check out the lenses in appropriate time - if they are so busy with rentals they would want to check out the gear ASAP so it's ready for next rental.
3.) i rent out my gear on the side to individuals - i check out for L&D ASAP SPECIFICALLY so that the renter doesn't claim it could be someone else's responsibility (as it had to be on with my rental with this company)
4.) i inquired with various producers and they ALL has similar experience with one company or another. More clever producer is adding "L&D must be reported within 24h of the gear return" at the bottom of each rental contract and has the rental house initialize it on pick-up.
 
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