Hand Held Films

Love this people, such a good team of people to work with! Favorite equipment house in NYC!

Came here as a PA to pick up equipment for a shoot. I told them I was here to pick up some equipment and they said «how can we help you?» I said, «I’d like to pick up the equipment now.» They said «oh are you wanting someone to bring everything down? Is that what you’re pushing for?» And I said I’m not pushing, but kindly asking. They said «oh we’ll see if we can send somebody down». I stood outside their door for fifteen minutes and no one came down. I called again try said they sent someone out but they couldn’t find me. I’m literally standing right at 129 W 27^th St. Unless you sent out an invisible blind person we should have seen each other. Also do you normally only have people with super human strength picking up equipment? Clearly I would need someone to at least help me get the equipment. And there is no reason to be rude or keep a customer waiting this long.

I love this place. I have been coming here since 06 when i was a film student and they were stationed in Midtown. As an ammature going to a large rental house could be very intimidating. Fortunately, my DP knew Alex, the rental manager and he hooked me up like crazy. He didn’t know me from a can of paint but it was all because of the relationship they had with my DP. I even rarely spoke to Alex that day except when I paid my bill, I was nervous and slightly intimidated. After that shoot I never worked with that DP again. However when I came back to them a few years later I was surprised that they remembered me, then still they took really good care of me. Then i met more of the Staff, like John who is the other salesman. He’s so cool that he will frequently go above and beyond the call of duty to help you out, Lord knows I have needed it. My experience with Hand Held is so great I would almost refuse to get my gear from anywhere else. Say for instance someone offered me a similar package for a few hundred dollars less… I would honestly rather deal with the people I know to possibly avoid potential problems. For instance if I have to cancel an order last minute. Yeah it’s frustrating but at least I know I’m not going to get cursed out or have my name smeared about it.
The thing about Hand Held and any other rental house for that matter is you HAVE to build a relationship some how. You can’t just roll up in there and talk about what you want, the discount you want and what you’re expecting. Let people become familiar with you, then you can expect more. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.

If you’re a student, this is not a welcoming place. I was not renting a substantial G & E package, and just needed expendables. John, the salesman upstairs, was curt, rude, aggressive, and condescending. I was there for almost two hours, largely because Johnw was so utterly uncommunicative. He also hung up on my DP, who I put on the phone with him. My DP was trying to explain that he was part of a big account which was renting an Alexa from them for a month, and so wanted to know if we could we take some rolls of gels, and pay for what we used when we brought them back. John hung up on him, turned to me and said: «We only do that for customers with accounts here, who we have a RELATIONSHIP with. Otherwise we’re just losing money.» He then looked down and kept typing. Well, one thing’s for sure. I’m gonna be renting equipment for the next five years at school, and it’s NOT gonna be from THAT D-​bag. I’m going elsewhere.