In an effort to mitigate the consequences of a recent period of shipping fiascoes, Rent the Runway has promised to refund costs and hand out extra cash to customers — but warned that disruptions would likely continue to affect service.
The fashion rental platform announced in a blog post that it would issue a $200 credit to shoppers who have missed their orders, in addition to receiving their money back. It comes after weeks of customer complaints about unfulfilled or delayed shipments, leading the company to disclose that an operational failure due to scheduled upgrades had impacted its business.
“The delays, which began Sept. 13, are due to unforeseen issues associated with a significant transformation that we are executing in our fulfillment operation. Our technical team is working to fix these issues as quickly as possible,” the company wrote on its blog, The Shift. “While we know no amount of money can make this right, it is our responsibility to rebuild trust with you over time.”
Rent the Runway added that it would not be accepting new subscribers or rental orders for delivery before Oct. 15 — the date by which it expects the tech upgrade to be completed.
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In the same post, the company wrote that customers may experience delays of an additional one to two days for the next couple weeks. Subscribers with items scheduled to arrive between Sept. 27 and 29 have already been contacted about their order status, while deliveries scheduled from Sept. 30 through Oct. 6 will be canceled. Orders for Oct. 7 or later are expected to arrive as scheduled.
Amid customer backlash, Rent the Runway’s chief supply officer has left the company. Marv Cunningham — an exec hailing from retail giants Amazon and Target — is exiting his role at the end of the month after less than a year at the company. Rent the Runway has faced a number of supply chain challenges since its $125 million fundraising round in March and a subsequent $1 billion valuation.
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Rent the Runway Supply Chain Head Exits Amid Customer Shipping Issues
