Rent the Runway announces comeback after operations flub halts business

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Oct 10, 2019

After a nearly month-long spell of business-halting operations issues, Rent The Runway has announced it is back in working order and will be accepting new orders and new subscribers.

The trouble began in mid-September, when the company announced that it would temporarily not allow new subscribers to sign up to its monthly rental service as it dealt with issues caused by “unforeseen issues associated with a significant transformation that we are executing in our fulfillment operation.” 

The operations flub caused the company to be inundated with complaints, as customers experienced delayed and missed orders. As dissatisfaction mounted, the company further announced it would cancel event orders scheduled to arrive between September 30 and October 6, in anticipation of a late delivery.

“Our technical team is working to fix these issues as quickly as possible,” the company said on its blog, The Shift, in late September. “We expect this upgrade to be completed by Oct. 15 or sooner, which will improve the Rent the Runway experience.” 

In order to make up for the fiasco, Rent the Runway issued full refunds and gave $200 to those whose orders were missed or canceled. 

Although Rent the Runway initially said it would not be accepting any new subscribers or new event rental orders for delivery dates before October 15, the company announced on October 8 that it had completed its system upgrades ahead of schedule, and would be welcoming new orders and new subscribers.

“We are happy to share the news that we completed our system upgrades ahead of schedule, and are back to business as usual!” the company said in its latest update.

“We built this business for our community, and we are so thankful for the support over these past few weeks. As we continue transforming the traditional model of clothing consumption, we may not always be perfect, but please know that we will never stop investing in making your renting experience the best it can be.”