FAQ - Pro Photo Rental
FAQ
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Well, it's actually pretty simple! Browse the selection of gear until you find what you want. Click on that item to pull up all of the juicy details. Each product page has a reservation calendar for you to select your dates.
First, select if you want to pick up locally or if you want your equipment shipped to you. Now, if you want to have it shipped, you get to choose your shipping speed depending on how soon you need the gear and what your budget will allow. Move along the page to select the quantity of that item you need. Then you select the date you want to receive your gear and the date you want to return it. Our system will do some math and number things and determine what the price total will be. Ta-da!
Once you've selected the item and the dates for your rental, you can repeat that process for anything else your heart desires, or just continue to checkout from there. The checkout process should be pretty self explanatory and feel familiar to you if you’ve ever used other online shopping sites. Easy peasy, but we’re also here for you if you need any assistance.
There are a few things to keep in mind:
a) We do not charge your card until we ship your order (or you pick it up)
b) There is no penalty for canceling an order at any time before it is shipped or picked up
c) All items in a single order must use the same shipping/pick up method
d) All items in a single order must have the same start/end dates. -
In the interest of making things as easy as possible, there is nothing special you’ll need to place an order. We’ll need the standard stuff for ordering just about anything online: your name, phone number, billing address, and credit card info.
If we need anything else after you've placed an order, we will make sure to contact you as soon as we can to let you know. On a select handful of items, we do require a COI (certificate of insurance). Those items will have that requirement clearly marked in the product description and we’ll follow up with you to get that paperwork taken care of.
All of our orders go through a fraud prevention system, and they tell us if we need to get any other information from you. Occasionally, we do need to get a copy of your driver’s license and a picture of the front of your credit card for verification purposes. But that’s generally pretty rare. -
Although we love you Alaska and Hawaii, we cannot offer free ground shipping to you. Maybe if you just weren't so far away... we know it's not your fault, so let's split the difference. We will take care of the return shipping, but you won't be given the option for free delivery when going through checkout. At least it means you're only paying for one way though!
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Unfortunately, we do not. There are just so many customs rules, taxes, fees, and delays it just doesn't make sense for us to do that. Sorry!
Just to be clear: while we don't ship internationally, you are absolutely welcome to travel with our gear anywhere on the planet that you want to. Well, the Marianas Trench might not be advisable, but you get what we mean. -
This is because UPS isn’t open for shipping. We aren't open either, so this rule also applies to local rentals. Though we love you and your face, we need our weekends too!
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We like being creative and efficient when it comes to customer service, so we put our thinking caps on and came up with a new way to work the traditional camera rental pricing structure. First thing’s first, don’t think about the typical “day rate” structure for equipment. We are “anti-day rate”. Whoever came up with that complicated the whole thing by changing "day" to mean something other than 24 hours. We don’t do that. We believe we can do better than that. Trying to explain a new system may sound complicated, but in the end - it really isn’t. Just take a deep breath with me, and let's talk about what WE do instead.
We don’t charge a set price per day and then multiply by the number of days. Instead, our prices increase by a incrementally smaller amount for each additional day.
“But what does that mean???”
Alright, say you’re renting a lens for a single day and it costs $10.00. Now say you need to rent that same lens for 3 days, you might assume that rental is going to be $30.00, right? Wrong! Gotcha, trick question. It’s actually going to be closer to $14.50. Pretty sweet, huh? So how do you know what the price is going to be for your rental? Our handy dandy calendar system will tell you the total price when you select the dates for each item. So feel free to play around with different rental periods to see how the pricing changes.
The beauty of this system is that you don’t have to work out if you should rent longer term in order to reach a new discount level. It also guarantees that you never pay for more time than you need. Finally, it uncomplicates the question of “How many days is that?”. We’re not about counting days. We're about actually saving you money. Our pricing structure does exactly that.
We know that our new pricing structure might be confusing at first if you're used to it! If you’re asking yourself “how many days is my rental?” in order to work out the price, you’ve got to toss that thought to the side. When there’s not a daily rate on the gear, it doesn’t matter! Luckily we do all the math for you (because math can be hard) and the price will instantly appear above the “add to cart” button. Now you don’t have to wonder how much it will cost you, you’ve got the answer right there. It’s like actual wizardry. -
We do! Our Ground shipping option is free for orders over $75. Just enter your zip code on the calendar, choose ground shipping, and the magic of the interwebs will do some processing and work out the soonest you can get your equipment without paying shipping. The only reasons why your order wouldn’t qualify for free shipping would be if the rental total is under $75 or if you're wanting delivery to Hawaii or Alaska.
If you need equipment sooner than Ground Service can get it to you, you always have the option to upgrade to either 2-day or Overnight shipping. Both Overnight and 2-day require shipping fees. Don't worry though, we still include a free return shipping label at the end of your rental, so you're only paying for one way. -
Best wishes for a successful shoot are definitely included with every order.
The rest of the inclusions are typically listed on each item's page.
Generally, here's what some of the standard rental items come with:
Camera Bodies: battery, charger, neck strap, memory card
Lenses: front cap, rear cap, hood, tripod adapter (when applicable)
Speedlights: rechargeable batteries -
Look, I'll let you in on a little tip. It's going to be much cheaper for you to purchase an item on a credit card and pay it off that way. Rent-To-Own is just a very expensive way of financing. We don't want to cheat you that way, we'd rather stay friends.
Don't believe me? Our equivalent APR would end up being in the 30% - 50% range, and most people don't want to pay that much (like me). Even the worst credit cards out there are generally no higher than 22%.
As you can see, we're getting into all sorts of rates and percentages. That's a bank's job... not a camera rental company's. We'll stick to what we know best. -
While we'd love to have a conversation with you on the phone, we aren't actually able to process orders that way. The reason is that we need you to "sign" the Rental Agreement via our online system. It's a legally binding document, so it's important that you read it and fully understand what you're agreeing to. Just like renting a car or skis or a tool from your local hardware store, there's always an agreement that has to be taken care of. Sorry for being so mean.
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Of course! We would love to see your face.
You'll just want to place an order as per usual. Select “Local Pick Up” for your delivery method. There are actually quite a few perks to being a local, like single day rentals and access to our full catalog (we don't ship a lot of things due to their size). You will also be greeted with adorable dogs, Oreos, and our amazing staff personally handing you your camera gear. Okay, maybe not Oreos. I’m just really craving them right now. -
Yes you can...with one restriction. That is, we cannot always guarantee an extension. I know that doesn't seem right, but if someone reserves the gear you have out and we're counting on your return, we wouldn’t be able to extend it. That would just be unfair to the next person, and we’re all about being fair to everyone.
So the earlier you let us know you need to extend, the better chance you have of extensions. Just contact us and we'll get you all set up. Even if we need the equipment back, we will do our very best to help you out and make sure everyone is happy.
You’re probably wondering how much an extension will cost, especially since we don’t follow the typical “day rate” pricing structure. There are two different ways we price extensions.
If you let us know BEFORE the last day of your current rental
Yes! You win! Since you planned ahead and gave us notice, we pass along the savings to you. In this case, we charge the difference between what you already paid and how much it would have cost to rent the equipment for the total amount of time. For example, let’s say Jared paid $30 to pick up an item on Tuesday and return Thursday. On Wednesday, he realizes he needs to keep it over the weekend, so he calls and asks to return on Monday. The Tuesday-Monday rental would have cost $62, so we will only charge $32 for the extension. Jared is happy! Be like Jared.
If you let us know on the last day of your rental or later
This situation is going to be more expensive. In essence, we treat this like a new rental. So keeping with the example above, let’s say Jared did that same Tues-Thurs rental for $30. But this time he waits until Thursday to let us know he wants to extend over the weekend (return Monday). In this case, we would charge this as a new Friday-Monday rental, which is an additional $51.25. Jared’s total for the two rentals is now $81.25. Jared is sad. He paid almost $20 more because he waited too long to extend. Don’t be like this Jared! -
Try not to think of it that way. Rentals are based off of when you need it to arrive, not how long it takes to ship to you. You don't have to worry about the shipping transit time, since you're not charged for it. Hooray for one less thing to worry about!
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Not quite yet. You are absolutely allowed to use the equipment, and we're psyched you want to be a visual artist. However, we need someone over 18 to agree to the terms and conditions and be legally liable for the gear.
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We understand. Accidents happen. The bottom line is that ultimately, you are responsible for everything you receive from us. Our equipment does not like to break, they've told us it's quite painful. So we ask that you please do your best to protect and take care of the gear you've rented. Repairs or replacements are going to be your responsibility.
If an item does get damaged or lost, we will work with you and our repair centers to find the most cost efficient solution. We don’t make any money off repairs because we believe in being good and reasonable humans.
We offer a damage waiver on some items. When available, that option can be found on each product's page. You can add that to your rental if you feel like the responsibility is beyond your comfort level. Please see our Rental Agreement or the damage waiver section in this FAQ for more details. -
We most certainly can! Just a few things to keep in mind:
Make sure that you have the correct delivery address for the hotel. Enter that information in the shipping fields during checkout. Double check you have the correct delivery address. No, seriously, double check. You don't want to go chasing down a package that got delivered to the wrong address.
Always contact the hotel and let them know you will have a package delivered.
Never ever leave the package at the hotel or with hotel staff for them to ship out. We have had numerous messed up and late returns that way. Always drop it off at a UPS center yourself, and ask for a drop-off receipt. Hotels will rarely ever assume responsibility if anything is shipped out late or arrives damaged even if (somehow) it was their fault, and you'll get stuck with the bill for the late return. -
If you're local we process your card once you come into the office to pick up.
If you're having it shipped, we process your card once we ship out the equipment (between 1-5 business days before your gear is scheduled to arrive, depending on if you're just down the road or on the other side of the country). -
We have to be careful since we can’t officially use the word “insurance”. That’s a term that you can’t use unless you’re a licensed agent, so we call it a damage waiver. “Damage waiver” are words we are allowed to use without fear of being hunted down by the powers that be. In any event, here’s how it works.
You purchase our damage waiver as a one-time charge that covers your whole rental period. We don't charge you per day for it, or make it cost more for longer rentals. That would be mean.
The damage waiver works as a liability limiter. It covers all non-abuse related damage except complete immersion in water. It also does not cover loss/theft, so if your camera bag gets run over by a train, please bring us an identifiable piece of our gear in order to be able to apply the waiver.
The way our system works is like a premium and deductible system, similar to the way car insurance works. You don't have to stress about paying for the full replacement value of the item. We only charge what it takes to repair it or 12% of the item's value (whichever is LESS). Let’s look at an example to help explain it.
Jared rents a lens that costs $1000 and dropss it (bad Jared!). It's going to cost $250 to repair the lens. Jared is sad. Don't be sad, Jared, because you paid $15 for the damage waiver! 12% of the cost of the lens is $120. Since he already paid the cost for the damage waiver coverage, that means he only owes an additional $105. Jared is no longer sad. He just saved $130! If Jared dropped the lens and got lucky, the repair cost might be less than $120. In that case, he would only pay the repair cost instead. To sum up, Jared's total out-of-pocket liability maximum is $120.
By the way, you don't have to use our damage waiver. There are a number of other companies that offer professional photographer and productions insurance and will cover the things we do not. Since we strive to be awesome, we’ve put together a short list of insurance companies below. We aren’t affiliated with any of them, and we have not used them ourselves - but we have clients who have and we thought this might shave off some Google time.
As a matter of fact, sometimes your homeowner's or renter’s insurance can cover the equipment up to a certain amount. So you should read your insurance policy to see if this applies. Just be sure that it calls out *rented* equipment in your policy. -
We ship in hard-sided Pelican cases that should withstand just about any shipping damage UPS could hammer into it. However, if you notice something that's not functioning correctly with your order, let us know the MOMENT you get the package. We can't stress the timing enough.
There is nothing we can do if we don't know about the damage until after you have returned. Even if it's a weekend and we are closed, email us, text our main line, or leave a voice message. It is critical for us to know as soon as possible to correct the situation. Despite our armor-like cases, some things can get knocked loose internally during shipping, and there are some odd scenarios we just can't test for.
We'll take care of you, but it's very important for you to do your part and let us know ASAP if you get something that's not working as expected. Otherwise there isn't much we can do to help, which isn't good for anyone. -
Not usually. About 99% of our orders go through without requiring a deposit. So you don’t have to worry about it. If for some reason we do need a deposit, we will never ever EVER put a hold on your account without making sure we’ve spoken to you, that you know all the details, and you have authorized us to do so. There are some high-dollar items and/or total orders for which we do require a COI (Certificate of Insurance). If it is needed for a particular item, we will list that on the product’s page. If we need one because of a large order size, we'll be sure to get in touch as soon as possible once your order comes in.
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Please try not to be late. We count on the equipment to be back on time because we schedule upcoming rentals. If we can't make that rental, it's not a pretty scenario. For you, them, or us. Everyone is sad. No one wants to be sad. So pretty please let us know ASAP if you need to extend your rental.
That being said, if you're late and we have not discussed an extension, the late fee is three times the 1-day rate (not the discounted rate, even if your rental was long enough to fall under a discount category).
That means an item that is $10 for a 1 day rental is now $30 for every day it's late. So don't be late, because it’s going to get expensive in a hurry.
Equipment is considered stolen after 7 days from the end of your rental period with no contact. In that case we will charge the full retail price of the item in addition to late fees. We are not like an ex after a bad breakup, so please don't avoid us. Open communication is the key to all of this. We won't berate you or make you feel bad. We just want to know what's going on. If you return the equipment up to 30 days after the end of your rental period, we will refund the retail price but NOT the late fees. After 30 days, you're just out of luck.
We don't want to charge late fees. Please always keep in touch with us if your plans change. We believe in all forms of communication. Call, text, or email. Even if we're closed, you can still leave a message, text or email. Write us a postcard, just do something. Call or text us at (303) 588-6799. Email us at service@prophotorental.com. Send all carrier pigeons to Pro Photo Rental, Inc. 1644 Conestoga St, Suite 5, Boulder, CO 80301. -
This is an easy one. The day you selected for your order to arrive? Bam, that’s when it arrives. The only reason why it wouldn't arrive on time is if something goes wrong in shipping. Roughly 97% of our orders arrive exactly when they’re supposed to, but sometimes a package can be delayed due to bad weather, a late train, or UPS just not being awesome that day. So make sure to plan accordingly. If a piece of gear is absolutely critical to your big international trip, it is probably smart to add an extra day on the front end of the rental. We guarantee that all orders will leave our warehouse at the proper time, but once it’s out of our hands, it’s out of our hands. We have to trust in the UPS system.
Regarding time of day for the delivery, UPS doesn’t specify that. So whenever you normally get your UPS delivery is when you can expect your order to arrive. Naturally, this varies with time of year and UPS shipping volume. Around the holidays, you should definitely expect deliveries to arrive later in the day.
When you return, you must bring back the equipment to UPS on the return day you specified when you placed the order, before their last pick up that day. If you’re in a rural location or using a 3rd-party shipper (like Staples or something), then daily pickups can be as early as 11 AM. If you’re in a more urban locale, then usually the last pick up is around 5 PM. It is your responsibility to know that, but we are here to help find the information if you’re not sure. Just give us a call and we’ll help you get it figured out. -
We do not accept checks, cash, or prepaid cards. Even if you walk in locally. Sorry. Like car rental companies and hotels, we believe in the power of credit and debit cards. No “if’s”, “and’s”, or “but’s” (or butts, please). We need to have a card on file, and it cannot be a prepaid or "reloadable" version. Sorry to be mean about it.
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We can guarantee that we will absolutely ship it out on time. Unfortunately, once the package is out of our hands here at Pro Photo Rental and is in the hands of UPS, we are not in charge of the delivery anymore. UPS is almost always on time, but they can be delayed (especially if the weather is bad).
If timing is absolutely critical, we strongly recommend adding an extra buffer day before you need the gear just in case UPS screws up or Mother Nature throws her wrath at the delivery route. -
We thoroughly test the gear when it comes back from a rental, clean everything completely, and then leave it on our shelves for the pit bull to keep careful watch over. When it’s time for that gear to go out again, we double check to ensure it’s clean and that everything works like it should before we ship it back out. It’s a pretty intensive process (twice).
It is very rare for something to go wrong, but our crystal ball isn’t quite good enough yet to prevent against everything. Even though we ship in Pelican cases, sometimes things can get jostled loose in shipping. There could be a tiny internal piece that gives out without our knowledge. And we are human, so very rarely, there’s something we miss. For all these reasons, we always encourage you to test the gear immediately after you open the package. That way if something did happen somewhere between our facility and yours, we can do everything possible to fix it for you ASAP.
The bottom line is that we never knowingly give out gear that isn’t 100% functional. If for any reason you receive equipment that doesn’t work correctly when you take it out of the box, then you don’t pay for it. That’s a promise. -
If you're local to us, you are winning. That's because you can rent for as little as 1 day. Plus, our entire catalog is available to you with no restrictions.
But don't feel bad if you're not a local. We still love you. It's just that there a few more rules. For example, we don't ship everything that we carry due to size/weight restrictions, so if shipping methods aren't shown for a particular product, that means it's only available to pick up at our location.
Another restriction is that we have a 4-day minimum for shipped orders. I know that seems unfair, but there is a really good reason why. Some places can take up to 5 business days to ship to from our location. So if you count five days there, plus a one day rental, plus five days back, you have 11 days that the item would be out of our inventory (actually more, since UPS doesn't keep things in transit over weekends). We can't rent out that item while it's gone (obviously), and clearly we didn't make any money on that rental. So we'd probably be out of business pretty quickly.
We would like to stay in business, just for the record. -
Friday makes us think of Rebecca Black, and then we can’t get that song out of our heads (Now you can’t either. You’re welcome). Other than that, we don’t like Friday deliveries because sometimes UPS is delayed which means they don’t deliver until the following Monday… and that can screw up a lot of weekend rentals.
We promise to ship out your equipment on time, but once the package is in the hands of UPS, there’s not really anything we can do to make changes. If something prevents them from delivering on time, we have no control over that. So if you absolutely have to start your rental on a Friday, we suggest having a plan B just in case. UPS is only late with about 3% of our shipments, but no one likes to deal with that situation when it does happen. -
No worries. We understand that sometimes plans change. Just email, call, text, or otherwise get in touch with us. As long as the order hasn't left the building, we can cancel it with no charge to you.
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In the end, it is up to the UPS driver. If they’re dropping off a case outside of an apartment, they usually will require a signature because it’s not a safe location to leave it. If no one is home, they will leave a note with instructions on what to do from there.
If you're not sure you'll be home when UPS comes a knockin' and it is imperative that it arrives on the day you chose, then please arrange to have it shipped to your place of work or some other location where someone will be available to sign for it. -
Short answer: Sometimes.
We struggled with this one for a long time. When we first opened, we were strongly against the use of UV filters as protection for the front of the lens. After all, that's what lens caps and hoods are for, and it just wasn't worth reducing image quality. Alas, over the following 10 years, we had to change our tune. We discovered that many of our clients just weren't using the caps and hoods and we were getting a LOT of front element marks & scratches. So we are in the process of putting filters on all of our lenses that take them. The fast telephoto and super wide angle lenses usually can't use thread-on filters, so those will not come with them. That's ironic, considering those lenses are the ones with the most expensive (and most exposed) front elements. But I digress.
You will find that most of our lenses will come with a filter, which will be much less expensive than a new front element if something scratches it. If you don't like filters interfering with your lens, then please feel free to carefully remove it. We simply ask that you be careful with the filter and the newly exposed front element. -
We cannot. The only way to deliver to a PO Box is through USPS, and we don’t use their services. We use UPS exclusively for shipping.
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>>LOCAL RETURN<<
If you rented for 1 or 2 days, then your rental is due back at the same time that you picked it up, with a 1-hour grace period. Example: You pick up at 3:15 PM on a Tuesday and ended your rental on Thursday. As long as you return before 4:15 PM on Thursday afternoon, you'll be all set. Alternatively, if you picked up at 9:30 AM Tuesday morning, then it would be due back no later than 10:30 AM on Thursday.
If you rented for 3 or more days, then life is good....you just have to get it back to us before we close (5:30 PM) on the last day of your rental. Winning!
>>SHIP RETURN<<
The package is due back to UPS *before their last pick up* on the last day of your rental. In general, their last pick up is ~5 PM, but this can vary by a huge margin, especially if you're in a rural location. The best bet is to give us a call and we'll help you figure out the final pick up time for your location. You can also get that information from UPS.com.