I started this thread to see where people are renting gear, and if they had any good or bad experiences. Maybe there is a great company that I have not used, or one to avoid at all costs. These are lessons often hard learned with the show not going as planned (poorly maintained or damaged rental equipment, outrageous or unexpected costs, lack of knowledge and no customer support,
etc...)
I found out recently that having an account with these rental houses can be a very good thing. I was in Las Vegas for a trade show. I had shipped two trucks with lighting, trussing, motors,
etc... for three booths. Only one of the booths had
truss flying, and when it got there and I had the union guys putting everything up (you are not allowed to work yourself, as it is a strictly union
venue), the motor controller for the chain motors became "misplaced". It was found 2 days later in the back of someone else's tractor trailer.
Long story short, I called 4Wall in Las Vegas (a great company, lots of good people and I would recommend them) after business hours on a weekend. I told the tech
on call that I really needed a controller for these standard 1 ton hoists. The problem, I did not have a rental account with them, as I had not rented them before. They could not help me until Monday morning because I did not have an account. I was thousands of miles from home and was in trouble, as union labor was sitting around and running up the bill. Fortunately, and with a nice bribe, I was able to "borrow" a controller from another booth on the trade show floor. When I asked the guy who let me "rent" it from him who he worked for, he told me he was from 4Wall.
I learned my lesson and have accounts with all of the major companies, and make sure that I have the number of them in my phone before I go on the
road.