Stuart Event Rentals

This review is based on using Stuart rental services this last June for my best friends wedding. I was maid of honor so of course I helped my bestie plan the wedding. She wanted to use Stuart rentals for her tent, tables, chairs and more. She came over to my house and we both called together to set up the reservations months ahead of the wedding date. The lady on the phone was not helpful, you must go to the website and get the exact item number because she wasn’t aware of anything I was mentioning from there own website. After about 30 minutes of making sure everything was exactly right we got the order handled and now all we had to do was wait for the day. On the day before the wedding which is an hour away from there office the truck came to drop off everything and it was ALL WRONG, I’m not even kidding wrong chairs a tacky tent with NO LIGHTS OR CURTAINS that We asked for. It was a mess!!! Can you imagine how mad my best friend was, she is literally talking about it to this day and it’s 6 months later! So after the mistake of them bringing the wrong things we thought, hey maybe we can just call and get everything over here before the wedding the next day. So we called Stuart rentals and they said they would call us back. About 30 minutes before they were going to close we just called them back instead. No answer. Called again no answer, called again no answer. By this time they closed. The next day still no answer!!! They didn’t want to drive an hour out of there way to give me what I ordered for my friend. It’s just crazy these people really know how to ruin a wedding. Yes, the wedding still went on but we as women have that one special day and we have a vision as to how we want it and for some of us it doesn’t matter the cost because that one day is YOUR DAY and all of that can be taken away by a company like this who simply doesn’t care. Think twice before picking these guys. If I could give 0 stars I would.

Went to the castro valley location and what a pleasure it was to work with mark marini. I walked in quite uncertain of what i was wanting, but after few minutes of talking with him my whole attitude just changed. He is such a blessing to work with. I will gladly go to this location because of mark for future orders.

I think your experience with Stuart Rentals will depend on who you get on the phone. Some of the staff are really nice and friendly, others are matter of fact and no-​fuss, a couple are kind of rude and don’t seem to care much about customer service. I encountered a mix of them over the months when planning my wedding, but overall they delivered and we were really happy to have gone with them. Cindy Foster was our main contact and Mark also helped out, both were great. Mark was SUPER friendly. Every time I made changes to an order, they updated my invoice and sent a copy to my email.
We looked at a lot of different rental companies and decided to go with them because their website was really straight forward, included prices for everything, and there were no hidden or additional fees when we received the initial quote. Our venue required us to bring everything in, so we rented chairs, tables, linens, glasses, etc — everything from them. We also had them set up/​take down tables/​chairs and place/​remove linens.
TIP: If you want to go w/​them and you get someone who does not seem to be the sharpest cat around — call back later in the day or the next day, you will likely talk to someone who is better. Or ask for Mark or Cindy if they are around. Then have them be your contact person. If your order is less than 10k, put down a deposit to lock it in. You can get a refund if you cancel more than 30 days out (after that there are restocking fees).
TIP: You can also talk to anyone who answers the phone in the future — I initially thought you have to speak only to your main contact person when you want to change something or look up availability, which means you may be waiting for a call back or reply email, which can be stressful. Actually, you can speak to whoever answers the phone and ask them to make updates for you as long as you have your invoice number (so you don’t potentially miss out on an item while you’re waiting for them to call you back!)
TIP: I would not get lighting here, it’s way more expensive than most other places I was quoted. Everything else was really well-​priced and straight forward.
On the day of, everything was set-​up and brought in as planned. The table number holders came in a different size and we didn’t end up using them (my coordinator found another clever way to place the table number cards). I spoke with Cindy about this the next day and she apologized and credited the amount back to me. Easy.
–1 star because of variable customer service, although it didn’t end up bothering me a ton. They also initially had a difficult time explaining what went into the timed delivery charge and same day pick up charge. After some discussion and changing the order (taking out lighting), the quote was really reasonable.
+ 4 stars because they were pretty much exactly what we wanted. Overall, I would recommend Stuart Rental to others who are are looking for a rental company that is no-​fuss, straight-​forward, and generally well-​priced.

As a frequent party planner, I’ve used these guys for years! They really are the best, and have every product under the sun to meet your rental needs, your style, AND your budget! Mark was particularly helpful. He walked me through when I was trying some new products, and even stayed late to help me place a last-​minute order. THE BEST!

Stuart Rental is awesome! They totally hooked us up for Castro Valley Pride and they were incredibly helpful and fun. Jojo, Lindsay, Mark and especially Cindy make a great team, you should talk to them for your event too! Thanks guys!

Absolutely AMAZING customer service from Mark at the Castro Valley location. I highly recommend you ask for him by name to take care of your party needs. I’m sure the rest of their staff is great as well but I was really impressed by my recent experience renting tables and chairs from them for our upcoming party.
Our original vendor informed us they ran out of tables and chairs… right before our party. Ugh! My wife found Stuart Rental and they came to the rescue. Their prices are very reasonable and the items we rented are of good quality. I learned they have a huge inventory in their Milpitas location/​warehouse and keep extra stock on hand for short notice orders at their CV location.
Our order was not huge but Mark treated us as a priority and went above and beyond to help us out.
My wife and I are extremely happy and will recommend Stuart Rental to our family and friends.

Thank you so much for all the help in organizing my boss’s party! Gwen was absolutely amazing from start to finish! I changed my mind many times & it was never a problem. I had a lot of questions and it was never a problem! I would HIGHLY recommend Stuart Rental & would like to acknowledge Gwen specifically for exceptional customer service.

I have actually rented from this company for years from their headquarter location so I was really happy to find they had a location in Castro Valley.
Stuart is not traditionally known for amazing service (sorry, being honest), but this location and specifically Cindy Foster has restored my faith! She is amazing and her level of service, follow through and willingness to please her customers matches that of many of the worlds finest hotels. She is clearly a tremendous asset to them and I will continue to rent from them as long as she is there!
Great experience! If you are in the market for rental equipment for an event, definitely reach out to Cindy!

Letter I sent them about a ribbon cutting that I organized–
I am writing to let you know what a good job Cindy and your set up crew did for us. I called on Tuesday to find out if you could set up a 40X40 tent on Thursday for a 12noon event. Cindy helped me and she promptly got me a price and scheduled the set-​up for 7am. She was also very thorough in making sure she understood the site conditions, asking about water access, vehicle access etc.
Well, I had gotten it wrong and the event actually started at 10am! Cindy made the changes easily, even though this meant that your crew had to start before first light. We provided lights and a generator, your crew was on time, and the tent, which I had worried the most about getting on such short notice, turned out to be the least of my worries. The event went very smoothly, our guests were comfortable, the tent was clean and professional in appearance.
Thank you for your professionalism and hard work.

We’ve been renting from Stuart Rentals now for quite a few years, running a large Festival for our church, we have many varied needs for equipment that changes frequently and often on short notice. Cindy has been AMAZING to deal with and I look forward to working with her every year. She is friendly, thorough and cares about our event and always makes sure we got everything we need. The prices and great and the selection of merchandise to rent is tremendous, and Cindy is always helpful in working with us to find solutions to our ever changing needs. Thank you Cindy for helping make our events a success!!! See you next year!!!

Let me start by saying that Stuart Party Rental was the third company I reached out to looking for linens for my party and I’m glad I found them. I had experienced such horrible service at the first two places that I was starting to believe that these party supply shops were all subpar outfits. But with Stuart, I perused their inventory online and completed an inquiry form late evening. I received a call back from their EVP of Sales the very next day. He confirmed what they had in and out stock and welcomed me to stop by one of their showrooms to take a look at linen options up close. I took him up on the offer and went to the Castro Valley location. The service reps were Friendly, Knowledgeable and Helpful… imagine that! They had been provided with the inquiry form I completed online and were ready to assist me. Their items were showcased well and they had a cute little Halloween display out. I was able to select my linens and confirm my order within 30 min all while exchanging rubs for purrs by the resident kitty. When it was time to pick up the order, I was in and out in less than 10 min. And drop off was even quicker. It was all incredibly easy and efficient. I will be a return customer, for sure!

I used Stuart Rental for my Oct wedding day. Let me start by saying what items they do have are beautiful. I rented gold/​clear crackled glass chargers and tall goblet candle holders for my guest tables. However their candelabra selection is very limited and mostly silver. I had to go all the way to SF to get tall gold candelabra’s for my center piece arrangements.
Took forever to get a hold of someone and get a quote, I had to call numerous times and keep asking for help.
My biggest issue is their customer service, or lack thereof.
My biggest problem with this company is the way they handled my business the day’s leading up to my wedding. 2 days before my wedding I got a call advising that the bride who had rented my candle holders prior to me had broken 3 set’s of 7 that I ordered so they did not have enough to fill my order. They had purchased new ones but they would not arrive in time for my scheduled Friday pickup (My wedding was Saturday). My bridesmaid’s went to pickup the available candle holders Friday morning before our rehearsal. I got another call Friday afternoon saying the new ones ordered had arrived and I needed to pick them up in the next hour before Stuart Rental’s closed! I’m the bride, it’s the night before my wedding and you want me to stop the other 1001 things I’m doing to make a second trip to pickup items?
I asked if they could have their delivery team drop them off since we had already made one trip there today. The girl on the phone unsympathetically stated «nope, our delivery drivers are booked»
RULE 101 OF DOING BUSINESS: When you inconvenience a customer by not having the items they ordered months in advance because of an internal issue it’s your job to fix the problem. You don’t put the problem on your customer. If your delivery team is booked you juggle things around to make up for the first inconvenience, or someone else from the store delivers them. I had to send out of town guests to pickup since I was busy. This was handled so unprofessionally, very disappointed with customer service and lack of common sense. Train your employees to know how to make things up to customers when YOU mess up!
******11/14*******To update my earlier review I rec’d a call from management following my original review. They felt bad about the service I rec’d and refunded what I paid for the candelabra’s to make up for it. I appreciate them reaching out and trying to make it up to me so I would be willing to give them another try for my future rental needs.

I rented the white cushioned folding chairs for a special event. I paid extra to have them delivered at my venue within a certain time frame, and they did so as scheduled.
The white chairs were very dirty. My event planner had her staff clean them, but the black marks would not come off. I paid $ 549 for 120 chairs. For that price I would expect them to be clean. J.Y.

We rented white chairs from Stuart Rental last summer for our wedding, and they were great. Their prices were better than other places we had checked out. I worked with someone named Mark P., and his courtesy and competence was so outstanding that it made an impression on us. We transacted everything over the phone, and delivery was prompt. We had a mishap on delivery day because the person who was supposed to receive the chairs was not available, but the delivery guys were courteous enough to do other deliveries first and come back later. We would use them again.

Terrible experience and I never walked in the door. I called on a Friday afternoon at 4 43 I asked about the availability of tables, they informed me that yes we have plenty of tables. I was having a graduation party the next day. I told them I didn’t know if I could make it there before they close. She said no problem we are open tomorrow (Saturday) I said great then I will wait till tomorrow. Well I arrived at 9 am no one there so I figured there running late, nope when I looked through the gate at the door it said CLOSED SATURDAYS why would she tell me that, I would of tried to make it there Yesterday the only thing I can think of is stupidity. I will tell all of my standing and eating guests that they are standing and eating because of Stuart Rentals in Castro Valley. You know what they say about a unhappy customer, yes I will tell everyone I know!!!

Highly disappointed with Stuart Rentals. I am not one to usually write a lot of negative reviews, but I just had to share my experience to spare someone else from going through the disappointment. I first called about a month ago to get a tent quote for my son’s 1^st Birthday Party. They took my name and number and said someone would call me back. Never did.
As it was nearing my son’s party, I tried again and they said their tent experts were not there so they took my information down again and said someone would call me back. Although hesitant, I figured I’d give them another chance.
Trish (Patricia) Johnson, the Senior event manager called me the following business day. Yay, right? Things were looking great; she was actually very nice. She asked for some photos and measurements of our backyard so we sent those in. She worked well with me explaining their services and options in a professional and kind manner. She was patient with many of my detailed questions that I would ask. She even said she would give me a 10% discount for being a first time customer to «help» me stay within budget, being that my husband is the only one working and I am a student.
Seems all good, right?! Wrong! To help with our decision, I emailed her 3 different scenarios we may go with for quotes (20×25 tent with floors, 15×20 tent with floors or just floors for a 15×15). She emailed me back with quotes that were slightly higher than the ones we discussed over the phone. (Some were optional like the heater.), which was already a bit disappointing. And not once did she say over the phone or emails that I could not order just floors. In fact, I even asked her if I could order just the floors if need be, and she said yes. She said yes over the phone, and she quoted me for scenario 3 of just floors.
So I go to email her telling her that we were able to get the tent elsewhere and if I could get just floors for a 20×20 area, instead of a 15×15. You would think that this would be somewhat good news since they’d be getting more than originally with scenario 3. She responds and tells me that they don’t rent out just the floors if we are renting the tent from another company, and to perhaps, «rent the flooring from them.» Wait, what?!? I think I would’ve done that if I could, but unfortunately, the company we rented the tent from does not have the flooring we need for our backyard. Surprised at her response, I email back saying that she never mentioned that, and in fact said I could rent just the floors when I asked over the phone AND she quoted me for just the floors in my email with 3 different scenarios. Asking if we can still work things out even though I was already upset, she responds with the following:
«We have a 52,000 sq ft warehouse full of rental equipment. Approximately half of it is used to store tents and their components. Therefore, it does not make sense for us to rent to someone who is renting a tent from one of our competitors.»
Wow. HIGHLY disappointed. That would’ve been nice to know from the beginning. So she really WASN’T in the business of helping me stay in my budget or with making the event successful. She went from making me feel appreciated, to so small. And she even asked where we are getting our tent from after. So although Celebration Party Equipment Rentals in Hayward does not have the flooring we need, they definitely have great customer service, unlike what Trish and Stuart Rental provided. Their price for tenting was much more affordable for our budget, and when I told them what Trish said to me, Susan at Celebration gave me various companies in the area that may have the flooring we need, and even offered for one of her people to come out to my house to see what options we can do for the flooring they do have at no cost to me.
So I would recommend Celebration Party Equipment Rentals over Stuart Rental. And if you do go with them, I just hope you have better luck than I did. Maybe after seeing this, they’ll change their minds on how to deal with their customers and you will have a better experience.

550 $ for 100 chair covers?! Get real, theyre not even special in anyway shape or form! No thank u, on to the next one.
Later on, I found another place for 150 $ for 100 chairs. Which they also added 10 more chaircovers just incase of overage AND free of charge!!!
Stuart rental company, get real.

After relocating to Castro Valley I decided to visit Stuart again purely based off of convenience and laziness on my part. Since my last Unilocal I’ve been there a few times and had zero problems. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. Happy to say I’m a satisfied customer once again and do believe in giving second chances specifically for this reason.

Walked in and there were two employees, younger male and older woman who didn’t even bother to welcome us in?
After 5 minutes we finally asked for help. The younger guy said «Ah yea there are some books in the corner look through them and if you have any questions let us know.» So we did.
After we looked through the books we had questions. And the guy said «I don’t know about that, you need to talk to her» So we waited 10 minutes to talk to her and she still didn’t want to help us.
Finally my Mother went up to her and said «Look, we’ve been here for like 15 minutes now and none of you can help us. I have two engagement parties and two weddings I need help with» she replied with «Well, I’m extremely busy!» My mother said «How are you busy? You are just sitting there» she then replied with «I have a wedding that’s today. And your events are???» with very sarcastic attitude.
So we decided just to leave.
Everything looked pretty from the table linens, to the chairs, to the candle holders etc… but horrible customer service. Why would I want to plan my wedding with people who don’t even care?

Unfortunately, I will have to update my review, and it’s not for the best. I’ve rented from Stuart a few times now, and overall, they have cheap prices and have accommodated all of my orders. However, this past experience has made me ready to search for a new rental company for my next event.
I communicate mainly through email with my clients and my outside vendors, and most vendors I deal with, such as florists, caterers, etc., are very timely with their email responses. However, with the Stuart employees, it takes days to hear back via email. When I’m working with clients who need quick responses, I need quick responses as well. So this obviously is not going to work for me.
Also, at this past event, I was shorted two table cloths. I emailed them immediately as we were setting up for the event and did not get a response until I went in to the store to return them. That was weeks ago, and I haven’t heard from them since even though I followed up to make sure we were not responsible for them.
Sorry Stuart, you’ve lost my business and my recommendation!