Rent-A-Green Box

[Long story short: I’m particularly disappointed because I’ve had such excellent service with RentAGreenBox twice before and got such terrible, off-​handed, confusing, and ultimately *no available* service from them this time. As a long-​term Rent-​A-​Green Box user, I strongly recommend Leafy Moving Boxes instead (you can see my review on their page).]
I’m sorely disappointed in this company. Once upon a time they were terrific: We used them in our 2010 and 2014 moves and it made packing/​unpacking a dream, the movers were impressed with the ease and speed of moving with these boxes, and up until this week I would have recommended them wholeheartedly and without reservations.
However, trying to plan ahead for our May move I filled out the order form at the beginning of April with estimates (which turned out to be spot on) for what I’d need and when. Got a quick response (if a little heavy on marketing their new mattress bags and such on Amazon that I have no need for).
Checked again the beginning of this week to and set a final drop off date, preferably this week, and got just «sure! let’s see what we can do for you» as a email response back. After three days of hearing nothing, I checked in again to set my drop-​off date and got a response telling me that whoops! there weren’t any boxes available and he (the founder) didn’t know what to do, but did we need a moving company? Because he has several that do studio sets.
(Now mind you this is all in one threaded email conversation from the start, with my name and email, and I reminded him who I am and that I had contacted him earlier in the month, so it’s not like he could even think this is out of the blue.)
I say we have a mover already booked, and he responds that there are «only boxes on the studio side» (huh?), they’ve recently moved sets for Spielberg and a few other dropped names, and that they’ve gotten very large, thanks to all their products on Amazon [insert same long, auto-​text sales schpiel and link to a promotional «use us!» video that was auto-​sent to me when I first wrote them] – WTF? I’m already convinced, I’m *trying* to book you! I don’t need mattress bags, I need boxes! And why would I care whose set you just finished moving?!?
Fortunately he was responsive on email, and after basically a RT conversation back and forth over an hour I was finally able to boil it down to the following: All boxes for rent were taken (for the foreseeable future). If I used the moving company that moved sets, I could use the boxes they have, but I’d need to figure square footage and itemize everything for a quote (as in the comparison rate calculator they have on their site – which gave me a charge 2x what our usual movers charge, complete with extra charges for only partial fill of a truck and other whatever).
No thanks, we’ll use our own movers who quote hourly, have been with us for 4 moves now, and know how long our stuff takes. I scrambled to check for other box providers (at what I know is a busy time of year); Leafy Moving Boxes responded to me right away and were able to drop boxes off to me within a day or two – no muss, no fuss, no confusion. (I recommend them highly!)
Maybe RaGB lost my order. Maybe they’re so «large» they’re only interested in doing studio sets now. But if you plan to use them to rent boxes and move your apartment, I can only say get a specific date and confirmation locked in early on, keep checking in to make sure it holds, and have a backup plan if they fall through unexpectedly! :-(

Well, lets just start with the reviews. Sorted by date all the recent reviews are very low. I was not planning on using the service but couldn’t justify paying $ 100 for all the boxes I needed to the very fast and last minute move I needed to do. I was already paying for movers and I’m not rolling in money. Yes, communication with Spencer was difficult over email and text. But, to be fair I was using my iPhone and so he had 3 of my email addresses and I wanted boxes as fast as possible.
I finally filled out the questionnaire. Guys, it’s not that big of a deal yes no questions. Whatever. Fill the thing out. He has a lot going on so he was slightly distracted but was immensely flexible with his time when I had to pick up and drop off the boxes. I have a might Mini Cooper and 10 boxes fit fine and the rolling dolly he gave me was a great help for so many things. He gave me some labels as well. The boxes were clean and incredibly sturdy. I didn’t need them for the week that I rented them and while he doesn’t offer a break for returning them early the price was right. There was a deposit that is returned when the boxes are returned. I own several rubbermaid type tubs but my new place has no storage for them. So these type of boxes, which are much bigger than an average storage tub, is ideal for moving since you don’t keep them.
Spencer was a nice guy and a great designer. He has a whole line of eco moving products which are also sold on Amazon. I don’t want to move for a while. But life happens. And when life does decide to throw something at me and move me again I will use these boxes once again.

I’ve used this company once before just over a year ago. Once upon a time they both delivered and then picked up the boxes after you unpacked them. It was a great business model. I called to have some boxes delivered for a new move and was informed that now they won’t deliver unless you need 75 boxes or more, which is equivalent to 3 or 4 bedroom move.
I said I was fine with that and would be willing to pick up the quantity that I wanted which was 15 – 20. After speaking to the owner personally and telling him of my request, he sent me an email with a questionnaire that seemed completely unnecessary as I had already given him all the info he needed. The questionnaire was pointless because the organization of the company is terrible. The owner would just keep me on the phone and tell me about how awesome the business is going to be and all the big plans they have. They sound like pipe reams to me. In the end they proved very unreliable and so disorganized that I ended up getting cardboard boxes for my move. Great idea to save materials and paper waste, awful execution and logistics. I am done recommending them to friends.

I read the 1 stars reviews but didn’t really believe all the comments so I gave them a try. I contacted them 2 ways by filling it their online form and directly emailing them. I did get a very quick reply from Spencer Brown (Founder and Chief Tree Hugger) asking me to complete another set of 15 questions. I replied immediately as I wanted to know their availability.
Surely enough… I never heard back from them very again. One day later I sent them a follow up email but never got a response, again. It’s so disappointing but at the same time not because I’ve been warned!!!
I have since booked my boxes with EcoFastPacks and their confirmation was quick and easy. Brad the owner even offered me extra days to accommodate my desired delivery schedule!!!
Please, Spencer Brown, get your act together before you lose out on more business!

I’ve had the same experience as everyone else here. I gave them my dates then had to fill out a huge form only to be told that they didn’t have any availability and I could come pickup boxes instead from a storage facility that was miles away. Felt a little shady to me. Do yourself a huge favor and use Eco Fast Pack instead — save yourself time and don’t bother filling out the paperwork — just call Brad at Eco Fast Pack.

Do yourselves a favor and go to Eco Fast Pack if you wish to rent boxes for your upcoming move. I contacted Rent-​A-​Green box, completed the 20 questions, only to be told the date didn’t work to which I responded that I could do another date if that helped and was told they were booked for the entire month of June, really? Spence suggested that I could pick up the boxes in their OC location — even if I could pick them up, I’d have to make 6 trips to fit them all in my car — a complete waste of time when you’re trying to schedule a move. Why not just update your webpage to say ‘you don’t deliver’, it would be more honest.
Don’t waste your time, call Eco Fast Pack, ask for Brad and like me, he’ll have your boxes to you in no time!

If I could leave zero stars I would. Spencer Brown, the owner of Rent A Green Box is a crook and a thief. He is being investigated by the FBI and Better Business Bureau for scanning people’s money and selling franchises that don’t exist. Beware of giving him your credit card! He keeps it on file, will charge you and not deliver your boxes. That’s if he ever calls you back.
If some of the other Unilocal reviews on this page isn’t enough. It’s so bad I came across a a website that are complied stories of his acts of thievery.
DO NOT EVER USE HIS SERVICES, HE WILL SCAM YOU AND TAKE YOUR MONEY! You can thank me later for warning you!

Utterly shocked with how this company handles business requests. I spoke with Spencer on the phone about an upcoming move (side note: I used Rent A Green Box in 2011 and had an amazing experience) but this time was completely different.
Spencer was unprofessional, almost making it seem as though I had to beg him to rent the boxes. It sounds as though the company might be going under, it was an odd and completely strange interaction.
After everything was said and done (I had to make it clear several times that I was only interested in renting the boxes — nothing else) he sent me a quote.
2 bedroom move with ridiculous add-​ons I did not ask for (packing paper, elevator charge (!), undercarts (??!) totaling $ 506.
Bummer that my experience with this company went from glowing reviews to completely sour.
I am going with (and would highly recommend) Piggyboxes — amazing to deal with — cost: roughly $ 250.

I checked this Unilocal posting *after* having a fairly strange experience. To be honest, my gut reaction from the website and my email correspondence is that it wasn’t even a legit business. These 5s and 1s ratings don’t help…
After poking around the website, I attempted to setup a delivery by submitting a on order/​inquiry form of sorts. Got a fast email response but it asked me all the same questions that I had just answered plus about 10 – 15 more. And that email and each following was chock full of marketing/​PR copy that was mostly just annoying noise. They only support local moves, so I could’t use them.
I will say Spencer was incredibly quick to respond to my emails and sounded super personable. And *conceptually* the service is awesome. But yeah… I just got a strange enough vibe that I felt compelled to post a review and I haven’t written a Unilocal review in years. Maybe they just need to hire a decent UX service designer and they’ll be golden.
For what it’s worth…

I’ll make a short and not so sweet!!!
Placed an order for some boxes 2.5 weeks before my move. After repeated attempts, they asked to confirm my order. 4 days prior to my move I got an email that my order was cancelled due to the company running out of boxes.
Called another company and before I could finish explaining what happened they asked «let us guess? You were told they ran out of boxes.»
Enough said.

The boxes were great! Such a clever and eco-​friendly idea. Saved me from buying and wasting 40 small cardboard boxes. Definitely recommend!

I had to deal with a lot of companies and set up many appointments during the entire process of buying/​selling/​moving. I quickly lost patience with companies that complicated my life, and Rent-​A-​Green-​Box was one of them.
Long story short — I filled out the order form on a Monday, and even after numerous emails and a phone call with the owner, I still didn’t have a confirmed appointment by Friday morning. Also, when I did speak with him on the phone to set up the appointment, it was a very weird, unnecessary game of 20 questions — talking with him was very awkward. All in all, I had to ask for the invoice at least three times, and I believe my boyfriend asked at least once. Each time we were told «later» or they were «working on it» or they were «moving slow» that day.
I don’t have time for excuses. and I don’t have a week to waste on things like this. It’s too bad, because we really wanted to use this company, but we lost faith after the week of requesting an invoice/​confirmation. When my boyfriend told them to forget it because we didn’t feel confident they would be able to deliver the product on time, we immediately received a response saying that in 10 years they have never missed an appointment. We didn’t want to take the chance to find out. Shortly after that we received the invoice.
My advice to this company is to move quickly when people place orders and be transparent about what is going on. I love the idea of what the company stands for, but when dealing with stressed out people who want to make sure their move happens smoothly, it’s best to work fast, be honest, and pay attention to detail.
Luckily, we ended up finding another company that does the same thing, for a cheaper price. We were able to set the appointment online, pay online, and only had to talk to them once on the phone, just so they could confirm our order. No need for twenty questions, no excuses, no BS!

I called last minute. Like 2 days before I wanted my boxes. They delivered and the boxes were great. They also picked them up from my new place 50 miles away. I would recommend and use again. These boxes are a great idea and they gave me flower seeds. Random but cool.

People ask me why I don’t just get cheap or free paper boxes and I can now answer with a legitimate answer beyond the whole fact of saving trees — these green bins simply work better! They hold everything you need to box up without the worry that the bottom will fall out. Spencer was incredible to work with! We had our move delayed for a month and he was incredibly flexible! Extremely responsive staff and wonderful product here. I would definitely recommend it. And it forces you to pack and unpack everything so that you don’t have a box of stuff that’s just sitting in the garage from a year ago. Even my movers loved these!

I am in the process of moving and was recommended this company from a neighbor. I have never tried so diligently to give a company my business with so many unanswered calls and emails. Needless to say, I went with a competitor after never hearing back from them. I work in public relations and if I treated my customers like that, I would be out of business.

They were great to work with, they dropped off the containers and picked them up, sure beats the heck out of using cardboard boxes. I will definitely use them again

I LOVE this company! My kinda service! Drop off/​pick up with a week for move time!?!
It was by chance that I found them– (I was actually looking for cardboard boxes to purchase). I will never purchase another bin or box again when I need to move something. The delivery was timely and efficient. I especially loved the mattress bags which I am so happy they suggested them to me. If I wouldn’t have purchased them my beautiful mattresses would be trashed! Thank you Spencer and Rent-​A-​Green Box! You have made me one very happy girl!

I really would have had a hard time moving without this company. The boxes eliminate all of the taping, wrapping, box searching, etc. that make moving a pain. They stack easily and kept my stuff safe during the move. We are a family of 4 with 2 small kids and a ton of stuff. I put my dishes in these boxes, the kid’s toys, etc. I highly recommend this company! Thank you for making my move easier…

I actually don’t know if they are still in operation. I tried emailing and calling to get a quote and have some questions answered but no one ever tried to contact me. Went with another company instead. Either they’re not in business anymore or they don’t want customers. I’m not sure.

Disclaimer: I have not used their services. My complaint is I can’t get a hold of them! After reading the Unilocal review about hidden delivery/​pickup fees I simply wanted clarification about the final total before I placed my order online. Weeks ago I used their online contact form to ask my question about delivery and pickup fees. I had no response. I used my iPad to submit the form and thought maybe it hadn’t gone through. So weeks later I called them leaving a voicemail. That was over a week ago and I’ve still had no response. I’ve called several times in-​between but get sent to the voicemail every time.
It really is a shame they didn’t contact me. I was really looking forward to using their services. I’m now going to have to find another «green» solution.
One Star For BAD Communication!