Ace Party & Tent Rental

I rented a tent, tables, chairs, linen, and glasses from Ace for my September 2015 wedding. Jackie and Paul were really responsive and easy to deal with. Jackie in particular was fantastic – she called me to confirm everything and went through our entire order very thoroughly. They delivered promptly and did a great job setting up the tent.
However, they did make an error with our order. We had ordered wine glasses, water glasses, and champagne flutes, and they somehow delivered extra champagne flutes instead of water glasses. Not a big deal, and we had tons of champagne so it worked out fine. But it did cause a bit of last minute panic!

I requested a quote for our ceremony which will take place a year from now and received a reply via email from Mary M. Tortora that said, «We are already booked for May 2015 with the annual University Commencement events we commit to. We do refer clients to Garden City Tent & Party Rental in Mineola, NY.» Mineola is another hour away. It is unbelievable that they’re completely booked for an entire month. I’m sure they work on many commencement ceremonies but I find it ludicrous that they are incapable of providing 10 tables and 100 chairs for our ceremony. I should have read the other reviews concerning their poor customer service before bothering with this company.

Living nearby, I decided to utilize the services of Ace Party Rental for my sister’s bridal shower last September, to be held in my backyard.
Complaints:
1. I had ordered a coffee urn, and the morning of the party I went to plug it in. When I plugged it in, it popped and blew a fuse. Not good. Thankfully Ace came over very quickly and replaced it when I told them about the faulty wire, but I wish they had tested the urn before giving it to me, rather than letting me almost electrocute myself in the process of figuring out the wiring was bad.
2. I also ordered close to thirty white resin chairs, and to my disappointment, many of them were dirty when they arrived. I wasn’t expecting glistening spotlessness, but it was kind of gross to see all the dirt that came off on the cloth when I wiped them down. One of the chairs also had a mysterious greenish scratch on it — big enough that it didn’t look like a very nice place to sit.
3. Their showroom doesn’t have all linen swatches available. I asked to see their tablecloths to make sure the color I wanted looked okay in person. They told me the color I wanted (melon, a pinkish-​orangish color) wasn’t on display, so I would have to rely on the picture on their website. The color swatches on their website aren’t literal photographs of the tablecloths, however– they are digital, as if created on Microsoft Paint. I got a bad feeling the colors weren’t going to be exact.
Sure enough, a day before the shower when my friend and I opened up the tablecloths, we saw that they looked nothing like the website’s portrayal of melon — it looked like a plain baby pink instead. Several other people in my house agreed the color was nothing like melon. Although we repeatedly called and emailed, they had closed for the weekend. I simply had to use the wrong colored tablecloths, and the following Monday when they finally answered my emails, all they did was argue that the color was in fact melon. Had I known that their «melon» would be so pink, I would have chosen a different color, which could have been done if they simply had color swatches available at the showroom.
4. The Monday after the shower, the delivery men came by to pick up the stuff, as we agreed. I did not like, however, that they rang my doorbell and ENTERED MY YARD before I could even answer the door. By the time I reached my backyard, half the stuff was already gone. I felt very uneasy that they had begun packing up everything without me being there to supervise. I know they don’t want anybody hogging their stuff and they want to get out of there quickly, but couldn’t they have waited an extra thirty seconds so I could keep an eye out? How is one to know that they didn’t help themselves to other stuff in my yard while they were out of my sight?
5. I think that certain fees should be waived for those of us (like me) who had small parties. A 33% reservation deposit, in my opinion, is pretty steep, and there was also a fuel surcharge and a $ 40 delivery fee, even though I live SO close! I may as well have picked up the stuff myself, but they didn’t allow that.
The good:
1. They were generally good about answering emails and phone calls, but they are completely unavailable on weekends.
2. The guests at the shower all thought the setup looked very nice, so the stuff isn’t ALL crap.
3. They were very rapid with delivery and pickup, and the delivery men are friendly.
In my opinion, their prices are very reasonable, but understand that as one of the cheaper rental places, you’ll get some flaws like the ones I have mentioned. This is meant for people on a budget, and unfortunately, it will kind of show in the materials that will arrive. Try to view EVERYTHING you can in the showroom and make sure everything is perfectly clear before ordering.

Totally unhelpful and downright disorganized, although slightly short of surly. Customer service was abhorrent, which is a shame, since the rental goods are perfectly nice. Would neither use them again, nor recommend them to anyone else.

They have a nice showroom, nice facility, very uncooperative staff. The lady I spoke to was ignorant as to what I needed, and there was no possibility of picking up items that I needed for my party. The weekend was booked. Here’s the best part: when I asked for suggestions as to whereI might find rentals, she directed me to a location that rented machinery. Do you suppose I want to ever deal with them again?