A to Z Rental Center

Came here with questions, were told a huge price so I looked around some more and decided on some children tables and chairs from them, I called them in Salinas area and they said they’d call me back because their computers were down but I never got a call back nd I moved on and found out from other people I shouldn’t go threw them anyways …

A to Z is the BEST! Chris Bassett and his team delivered everything and more for my daughter’s wedding reception for 500 people at our ranch last weekend. We had a HUGE tent (120×40′ with a 40×40′ addition, as well as a 20×20′ catering tent). They put port-​a-​floor throughout, a lovely chiffon-​like underceiling, and beautiful strings of Edison lights. The linens, dishes, silverware, chairs, coffeepots, warming cabinet, simply EVERYTHING was delivered as ordered! Chris was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and extremely easy to work with! Set up and break down went exactly as we were told. The on site crew was capable, friendly, and professional. We could not be happier; I highly recommend them for ANY event you might be planning!

I had a very pleasant experience with the gentlemen who work here. I walked in and felt that they were sincerely concerned about their customers. I believe the first gentleman I spoke to name was Norm he was very patient and explained the different options I had with linens and ultimately ensuring I was going to be happy with the rentals for my wedding. Later that very day I spoke with my wedding coordinator who I had a miscommunication with; She informed she had already taken care of the chairs and table runners for our event. I then called the rental store the following day worried that I was not going to be able to get my large deposit back that I had placed the previous day with Norm all because of a silly miscommunication. Matthew was extremely friendly and reassured me that they would honorably refund me my deposit. He was quick, efficient and friendly. I could hear the background noise and could tell that the store was busy at the time I called but he was ever so polite and also took the time review my order. I still ended up ordering items from the store, and will do so in the future. I would recommend them to anyone looking for rental items

I tried to set up a contract with A-​Z for my wedding rentals. Correspondence was brief and not very friendly. When I tried to confirm my final contract details, I called and then followed up with an email the same day. Two days later, after receiving no response, I emailed again.
I finally got a response eleven days later.
By then I had found another vendor who was enthusiastic, helpful, and returned my calls and emails in less than an hour. Best decision ever!

I’ve been working with A-​Z since I started my business 22 years ago! I merged with another company 2 years ago and we STILL use them. Matt at the front desk is enormously patient with me as I change my orders leading up to an event… and Chris, the owner will come after hours to bring me what I need. Even the poor guys who have to come out at 11pm to load up heaters and tables… are amiable and nice! I’m still a fan after 22 years.

AIM for Mental Health held it’s first Walk in November 2014 and A To Z Rental supplied us with tents, tables, chairs and linens. They arrived on time and had everything in place as scheduled. Not only did they provide competitive prices but their service was professional and friendly. Any changes we made to the initial order, was handled efficiently, without any errors. Absolutely satisfied with our decision to use A To Z and would highly recommend their service. We will definitely be calling them for our Walk in 2015!

Thank you So much A to Z you made my cousins wedding a beautiful success… the gold chairs and the beautiful roman arch way gave the wedding the pop it needed. We were extremely impressed with the service we received. Your staff was very helpful and being that we needed certain items in two different locations you were able to meet our needs without hesitation. The prices were even unbeatable for the amount we needed. Im just happy to know that we have a rental service in our area that will give 100% customer service the entire way through. I will definitely recommend you to other people looking to rent for events! and look forward to renting from you in the near future! thanks again you guys rock!

I side with AJ C. My experience with A to Z Rental Center was outstanding. When I first called, I was looking into different prices for a wedding ceremony. The employee on the phone was patient and quoted me an exact price for delivery, setup, tear down, and pickup. After finding that nobody could compare to their prices and availability in the Monterey area, we decided to go with A to Z. On the morning of the wedding, the supplies arrived right on time and the employee was friendly, making sure he knew exactly where I wanted the chairs and decorations to be set up. Not only did we get everything we wanted, it turns out that A to Z had actually given us nicer chairs than the ones we had paid for because they had more of a supply of the nicer ones. I can see where some might be bothered by not getting exactly what they wanted, but we were delighted with the complimentary upgrade. For a quick, smaller event of 12 hours or less, I definitely recommend A to Z Rental Center.

I had a great experience with A to Z. They supplied the rental eqipment for my wedding a couple weeks ago, and i feel that they did a great job. Chris was great on teh phone when i set up the rental request and they were on time the day of for both drop off and clean up. Great all around.

These guys are terrible … I drove in their back lot looking to get a tank of propane filled … three different employees saw me. two said they would be out in a moment … but NOBODY helped me and I waited 15 minutes or so …
Spent the time to find a different place to buy propane and simply left. The place was a mess … not organized … and glad there is a forum like Unilocal to let other folks know.

I have had the pleasure of working with Chris and his crew for over 15 years. As an event planner I have been able to call on them for most all of my rental needs and have always been happy with the price and service.
On a recent occasion I was able to call him for a large tent to be installed the next day. It’s not that we didn’t know it could rain but we cautiously waited it out until we got closer to the event. I called Chris on Friday and he said he’d let us decide on Saturday morning. No nonrefundable deposit or credit card needed to reserve it. THIS IS WHAT I CALL GOOD OLD– FASHIONED CUSTOMER SERVICE! We ended up getting the tent and they delivered and set it up when we needed it and within the tight time frame. They only charged what it normally would have cost and produced a beautiful tent that my clients were thrilled with.
I wish they had the humongous inventory that the big boys in the Bay Area have but they are great for what I need them for.
I look forward to working with them for many years to come.
PS

They have always been super nice to us and to our company. They get the job done and have allowed us some leeway with the timing of return the items that we rent. They do not huge showroom with spotlights etc… but you can see what they have and we have not had any issues.

I made three trips (from the SF bay area) and a couple of phone calls to make all my rental arrangements with A-​Z and dealt with Chris. I had no reason to think that there would be any problems, he seemed to be helpful and attentive to our needs. That being said he had told me he would make arrangements to take measurements for a dance floor at my venue and then call me in a couple of days and after not hearing from him for over a week I had to call and find out what was going on only to get a «oh I haven’t done that yet…»
I paid extra for a Sunday delivery/​Monday pick-​up. I was very specific with needing the equipment (tables, chairs, bar, dance floor), to be picked by 5pm Monday the 5^th of Sept. at the latest and this is what was on my contract.
Two weeks before the wedding my husband and I stopped in to confirm #‘s on everything and the pick-​up time on Monday as we had noticed that the contract indicated pick-​up between 8am-​10am. Chris told us that pick-​up would be between 12pm-​2pm.
The day after our wedding, we were all ready for them to pick-​up and waited all day for no one to arrive. As Monday was a holiday, there was no one to answer the phone, nor any way to leave a message or for emergency contact.
My husband and I had to put money out to stay another night in Monterey, and to top it off, we were now in breach of our contract with the owner of the venue since the equipment had not been picked up. A completely beautiful wedding ended on this sour note because we had spent the entire day waiting for the pick-​up instead of being with friends who had flown in from Europe. Furthermore, the positive relationship we had experienced with the owners of the venue was now sullied.
On Tuesday morning we went to A-​Z at 8am when they opened. Chris asked what was wrong and when I indicated they had not picked up their equipment he said «it was a holiday we don’t pick-​up on holidays we’re supposed to pick up today.» When I told him the contract specified they were to pickup on Monday he argued with me that that wasn’t true until I produced the contract and then he said «it’s a mistake the computer doesn’t know that it was a holiday and puts the date in automatically.» When I told him I had specifically told him that I needed Monday Sept 5^th pick up and asked if this was a problem he had told me no problem. Then I pointed out that I had paid extra for this. He said I paid extra for a Sunday delivery. When I pointed out I paid the exact same delivery charge for a Sunday delivery/​Monday pickup for a rental company out of Santa Cruz (for all our dish and glass wear) and why would I expect to pay him more considering that he’s right down the street from the venue, he told us he felt sick about the mistake.
My husband told him he wanted the delivery charges refunded and Chris said he would «do something.» Considering we had to put out over $ 100 to stay another night we should have received more than just a refund of the delivery charges. It’s been almost 2 months and I am disgusted to say we still have not received any refund or ANYTHING except for the grief and argumentative behavior.
A-​Z seems to think because they’re one of the few rental companies in the area they can get away with such behavior. Anyone reading this, you’ll get great service and follow-​through from Alexis Rentals in Santa Cruz and they don’t cost more.
Furthermore the chairs (white wood) were chipped and banged up and the tables have lots of markings on them that show through the white tablecloths. A-​Z should provide additional cloths at no extra cost to cover this up.
Our advice in the end, look elsewhere. The owner of the venue we used indicated that they have had problems with A-​Z in the past as well and will not allow them to be used at their facility in the future.
BTW-​the reason I hadn’t made all rental arrangements with Alexis was because the person answering the phone at Alexis hadn’t known I could pay an extra charge for the delivery/​pickup dates I needed, and we figured we could pickup and return the dishes and glasses ourselves. Once I went to Alexis’s and learned delivery was no problem, I had already made arrangements with A-​Z for the tables and chairs and Alexis’s recommended I leave it with them so as not be charged a cancellation.

I’ve been a customer of A to Z’s for years, and upon a Google search of their business, I was surprised to find this poor Unilocal rating. I’d like to offer a few words in defense of A to Z.
First, one negative review mentioned a rude and uncouth manager. I believe this lady has been fired. In my experience with A to Z, I did have some unpleasant experiences with this manager, however, my experience with other managers, the owner, and their crew has been a hassle free experience.
Second, the prices at A to Z are on par with other rental businesses in the area. I have learned this through experience. It is worthwhile to mention that there are not a large number of party rental businesses in the Monterey Bay, and therefore there isn’t a lot of price competition. Your other option may be to hire a caterer, however, many caterers in the Monterey Bay do business with A to Z, so you will inevitably pay the A to Z rate with an added fee from the caterer.
Third, A to Z is a local business that has operated in the Monterey Bay for as long as I can remember. A business wouldn’t survive through multiple recessions and hard economic times if they weren’t doing something right. In other words, A to Z delivers a satisfactory service and is intimately familiar with the local community and its needs.
The last thing I want to mention is that Unilocal is a polarizing forum for business reviews, especially a place like A to Z where your typical customer wouldn’t write a review. Only customers who feel strongly, one way or the other, about a business will write reviews about it. With that said, take the earlier reviews with a grain of salt.
–AC

Ok, so I didn’t rent from them. After a couple emails, I was less then enthused with the lack of customer service.
My advice:
1. Be specific in what you want
2. ask for an itemized quote
3. ask about delivery charges: ($ 200) and extra fees (+$ 50 Sun).

I would give them zero stars if I could.
We got married in September and I reserved rentals from them almost a year in advance. It was nothing but problems the whole time. We got married labor day weekend on Sunday and planned to drop the stuff off the next day. I specifically asked whoever I spoke with on the phone if we could drop it off that day. They said no problem.
I called to change some things about 9 months prior and asked that they charge whatever we owed to a new credit card (they had already charged a 50% deposit months earlier). So they charge the FULL amount to the new card after calling and getting snappy with me that the credit card wouldn’t process. I called my cc company and they said it was their issue, the card worked just fine.
Ok, so that’s a minor problem, easily fixed.
THEN, about a week and a half before the wedding, I emailed them to change some quantities of dishes based on RSVPs. I don’t hear back, so after 3 days I call them. I told the guy that I sent an email. He said the guy that reads the emails isn’t in until the next day so he can change my order. So I read him the email and he says they don’t have the quantities I want, so we change the numbers around and he refunds my card accordingly. Then 2 days later my card is charged a larger amount and then refunded half of that. They didn’t call to ask if it was ok that they charge my card and didn’t explain. I never found out, but I’m guessing the guy that reads the emails came in and changed my order based on the email because the guy I talked to never told him we already spoke.
So based on this phone conversation, the guy knows we’re getting married that weekend. I send my fiancé to pick the stuff up and some jerk tells my fiancé that our stuff is reserved for the following month! What the hell?! So then they make him feel like it’s his fault they have to rush around and find everything and tell him to come back in an hour.
Ok, so we finally got everything and I’m hoping that’s the end of it…
So I call them to ask about the charges and why they had us down for October, and the bitchy lady (Helga?) yells at me and passes the phone to the owner. I clarify with him that we are dropping off on Monday and he tells me they aren’t open. We argue about that for a while because that’s what I was told originally and we were going out of town. So he asks me if I even looked at the contract (which says SEPTEMBER NOT OCTOBER) on it. Anyway, he ends up saying they’ll work it out if we can be there at 8am.
So wedding happens, we collect all the stuff, my mom counts it all and we’re missing 2 wine glasses that had broken. My mom drops the stuff off at 8am and Helga is a complete bitch to my mom. My mom is exhausted and asks for her help and she says it’s her day off and she shouldn’t even be there.
Ok, so finally it’s over. Until I see they charged my card about $ 50. No explanation. So I email them again and they tell me we were missing like 16 glasses. BULLSHIT! We counted them. So I disputed it with my credit card company who called and spoke with Helga. Thankfully she yelled at them too, so they refunded me. haha oh karma.
So moral of the story is DON’T GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY OR BUSINESS. It’s worth it to pay a tiny bit more and go somewhere else.

we came planning to drop about $ 4000 to rent out some stuff for our wedding. well we already knew it was going to be a little bit of a problem when we called to get the address was a little more than rude to us on the phone.
when we got there we got the finalized print out of what we wanted to rent. it was 1155am. we wanted to put down our credit card and Helga informs us that its lunch time and they are closing.
uuuhhhh CLOSING? «for an hour, come back at one» she says, actually demands. WTF? are you SERIOUS?! im trying to GIVE YOU MY CREDIT CARD and your telling us to LEAVE? !?
so we sat outside the store calling around whatever showed up on our GPS (who i call heidi). and we did exactly what helga told us to do and we left.
the prices arent bad at A to Z. however once micah (my loving kind hearted husband) tells my dad that he refuses to give them our money cause he wants to punch her in her face if he could… thats the que to move on. if you can deal with service like then maybe its worth it to you. as for us, we would much rather spend our money where its wanted**
**M&M party rentals