Courtesy of Rent the Runway
- Rent the Runway launched a new tool that makes it easier for customers to cancel or pause their subscriptions on Monday.
- The clothing rental company has faced complaints in recent weeks from customers trying to change their subscriptions.
- Customers said they were forced to wait hours on the phone or days via email for a response when attempting to cancel their subscription, adjust their membership, or lodge a complaint.
- Rent the Runway is doubling the size of its customer experience team and developing new tools to allow customers to cancel, pause, or change their membership on the app and online.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Rent the Runway is solving one of its customers’ biggest complaints, with a new tool that will make it easier to cancel subscriptions.
On Monday, the trendy clothing rental service launched two new emails to allow customers to easily cancel or pause their membership. Now, customers can use cancel@rentherunway.com and pause@renttherunway.com emails to change their subscriptions.
"All subscribers’ pause and cancellation requests will be effective from the time they are requested through this email," Rent the Runway representative Gabby Cohen told Business Insider.
The company is also working to develop new tools that make it easier to manage memberships, allowing them to cancel, pause or change their subscriptions on the app and online.
Previously, the only way to cancel or change subscriptions was by calling or emailing the Membership Concierge.
Read more: We used Rent the Runway Unlimited to rent $4,862 worth of designer clothes in a week
The change comes after a significant uptick in customer complaints regarding difficulties getting in touch with Rent the Runway, citing long wait times and a lack of response from the company.
Rent the Runway tweeted an average of 18 times per day in June, mostly responding to customers’ issues, up from 14 times a day in May, according to Thinknum data. The trendy clothing rental brand tweeted an average of just eight times per day in April, seven per day in March, and six per day in February.
In recent weeks, customers have complained on social media about hours-long wait times on the phone and waiting for days before they received a response from Rent the Runway’s concierge email.
When Business Insider attempted to contact Rent the Runway’s customer service line last week, we were told that the wait would be more than an hour. An email to the concierge line sent on Thursday in an attempt to change a subscription did not receive a response until early Monday morning.
Rent the Runway launched a new Twitter account with the handle @RTRHelp to assist with customer service and social media complaints on Monday. Cohen said the company is also doubling the size of its customer experience team.
Cohen told Business Insider that recent issues are tied to the company’s growth. The company has had 180% year-over-year growth of customers returning directly to stores or drop-off boxes, which results in a shorter turn-around time.
Last week, Rent the Runway opened a new 300,000 square foot warehouse in Arlington, Texas, which will speed up service for West Coast customers. Physical drop boxes in cities including Miami, Washington, DC, Chicago, San Francisco, and New York also speed up the pace of customers’ swaps.
Rent the Runway’s Unlimited services costs $159 a month for unlimited swaps on four clothing items. The Update subscription costs $89 per month, with customers having access to four items of clothing a month.
Rent the Runway reached unicorn status in March, hitting a $1 billion valuation after raising $125 million in funding. Rent the Runway is known for its robust logistics operation, as it works to swiftly ship and return outfits to its ten million members.
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SEE ALSO: You can now drop off Rent the Runway rentals at select Nordstrom stores
Source: Business Insider – ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)