If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It! (Lender Perspective)
Fat Llama’s recent major update (around summer) has turned what was once a mediocre app from a technical standpoint into an outright terrible experience, both technically and in terms of user experience. The renting system and process now feel clunky and far less seamless than before.
As a lender if you forget to press the new button to signify that your item has been collected and then returned, you will not get paid. Worse, there is no prompt to remind you that this step is required. Even when you do click the button to confirm your rental has been returned, Fat Llama—who used to pay out 4–5 days after your item was collected—now pays out 2–5 days after the item is returned. This means if your gear is rented for a long-term rental, like 30 days, even though the renter has paid and Fat Llama has the money, you won’t get paid until 35 days later.
To make matters worse, even when payment is due, you can expect further delays, as I’ve experienced with all of my rentals since this major change. What was once a breath of fresh air for freelancers seeking an extra source of income has now become just another platform stacked against creatives. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
As a lender if you forget to press the new button to signify that your item has been collected and then returned, you will not get paid. Worse, there is no prompt to remind you that this step is required. Even when you do click the button to confirm your rental has been returned, Fat Llama—who used to pay out 4–5 days after your item was collected—now pays out 2–5 days after the item is returned. This means if your gear is rented for a long-term rental, like 30 days, even though the renter has paid and Fat Llama has the money, you won’t get paid until 35 days later.
To make matters worse, even when payment is due, you can expect further delays, as I’ve experienced with all of my rentals since this major change. What was once a breath of fresh air for freelancers seeking an extra source of income has now become just another platform stacked against creatives. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
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Don’t rent out your gear (read)
Fat llama WILL find a loophole to make sure you don’t get your money back in case of theft or not returning gear. They don’t have a US or Canadian address thus making it impossible for you to sue them or even file a complaint. It will be considered a civil matter since it’s referred to as ‘voluntary lending’ and there’s nothing the police will do. They are a third party operating between you and the person renting your gear so you can’t touch the person legally either. They are based out of England and have no physical office in North America as of date. BEWARE!
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Response from developer
Thank you for your feedback, and we’re sorry to hear about your experience. We take theft and non-returns seriously and take many measures to protect lenders. While we’re based in the UK, we support users in Canada and the US and work to resolve disputes fairly. Please reach out to our support team, and we’d be happy to review your case. If you feel that your case has not been handled correctly our CEOs contact information can be found through our web page.
So helpful
Literally use this whenever I need something and don’t want to buy it. As long as you send your docs properly and get verified, which can be tricky at first, it’s honestly clutch.
Response from developer
Thank you for the feedback!
The new app design is broken
Search turns up irrelevant results with very poor implementation of categories (google shows rentals that fat llama search doesn’t), hierarchy of information and data nonsensical, more clicks to do basic things, irrelevant information or just wrong information surfaced (like earnings being consistently misrepresented in booking modals) and removal of earnings summary in account screen, needing to re-review all past rentals,… I could go on. I’m sure it’s hard to rebuild an app while keeping a service live, but FatLlama should get their money back from whatever company did this for them. I’m a long time user of this app, on both sides of transactions, so it’s especially disappointing.
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Response from developer
Thank you for your feedback. We've improve the search a lot since you wrote this review so please try it again. We know it's still not perfect but if you email us some examples at info@fatllama.com (mention "product team") we'll happily improve it more. Same goes with irrelevant information, please give us concrete examples and we'll try to adapt. I can assure you that the service and the app will continously become better the next couple of years.
Great …when it works.
I’ve used Fat Llama before and it’s worked well. Got some gear near the location I needed, from a local videographer.
At other times it randomly decides you have to re-go through the verification process before renting something basic like a light. And you have to spend the morning emailing in all sorts of info like call sheets, bank statements, invoices, proposals, blood samples and the soul of your firstborn child to prove you’re a professional creative and not a criminal. (Insurance docs I’d understand but it’s the moon on an absolute stick). And as with lots of faceless apps you get different replies from different people and nothing gets done. It’s a hugely frustrating process.
At other times it randomly decides you have to re-go through the verification process before renting something basic like a light. And you have to spend the morning emailing in all sorts of info like call sheets, bank statements, invoices, proposals, blood samples and the soul of your firstborn child to prove you’re a professional creative and not a criminal. (Insurance docs I’d understand but it’s the moon on an absolute stick). And as with lots of faceless apps you get different replies from different people and nothing gets done. It’s a hugely frustrating process.
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Here’s the thing…
I’ve been using FatLlama for years, been so useful for many jobs and I’ve recommended it to lots of people - it’s often got your back. But for a service that’s so nearly perfect they just need to sort out their app. The website runs smooth, the messages load alright and everything’s good - but the phone app is u reliable, slow and often doesn’t load which leads me to using the safari option.
If you’re looking to rent equipment quick easy and affordably; this is the place. But to the developers PLeAse sort out these bugs because it’s becoming frustrating using this on the fly if the app is often not functioning properly! It’s all love though ;)
If you’re looking to rent equipment quick easy and affordably; this is the place. But to the developers PLeAse sort out these bugs because it’s becoming frustrating using this on the fly if the app is often not functioning properly! It’s all love though ;)
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Terrible app and UX
This is by far the worst app I have ever used from a technical point of view. It’s so incredibly buggy. I’ve been using it since 2018 almost daily and every week have issues of the app refusing to open, message not sending or sending twice, dates being wrong, no real way to cancel or amend rentals, CONSTANT annoying notifications, texts, emails.. holiday mode always being jammed and hard to change… the list goes on.
Considering how much commission the company takes from rentals (50%) and I’d assume with pretty low overheads based on the business model, you'd think they’d do a far better job. As a company that relies so heavily on an app it’s really quite shocking that they haven’t fixed all the bugs, especially after so long in business 🐞🐛🦟🪲🪳🐜🕷️
Considering how much commission the company takes from rentals (50%) and I’d assume with pretty low overheads based on the business model, you'd think they’d do a far better job. As a company that relies so heavily on an app it’s really quite shocking that they haven’t fixed all the bugs, especially after so long in business 🐞🐛🦟🪲🪳🐜🕷️
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Great concept but app needs work
I’ve used Fat Llama for over two years now, and it’s a great platform. All the people I’ve let out gear to have been really friendly and punctual, which also speaks for itself. The transparency around the fees is also helpful and gives you confidence that in the event of an issue you’d be well-supported. However, the app is my main issue. It’s buggy and inconsistent, often stops working (e.g. the message functionality isn’t working for me at the moment) and makes it more difficult than it needs to be to carry out what is usually a simple rental transaction. For now, I’m having to use the website. There are plenty of small things that could be fixed to cumulatively improve the overall experience.
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Major UX Improvement
Thank you fat llama. Using your app in the past have been an awful experience but this new version 9.0.0 has been greatly improved. The push notifications feature was greatly needed along with the other major bug fixes and layout issues. I have noticed a few things and as a developer, it’s nice for me to provide feedback to get your application even better. These are a few things I’ve noticed (p.s. if you’re not a dev, you can stop reading from here :D):
- The tab bar icons at the bottom don’t have sufficient bottom padding. They are too close to the home bar on my iPhone 14 Pro Max
- When dismissing a bottom sheet (e.g. the holiday mode sheet), the dismiss animation (specifically the overlay) is abrupt
- I love how you brought us push notifications but it’s counterintuitive (and expensive on your end) if I still receive text messages. Perhaps an option to disable it?
Other than that, who ever you hired to overhaul your app is killing it!
- The tab bar icons at the bottom don’t have sufficient bottom padding. They are too close to the home bar on my iPhone 14 Pro Max
- When dismissing a bottom sheet (e.g. the holiday mode sheet), the dismiss animation (specifically the overlay) is abrupt
- I love how you brought us push notifications but it’s counterintuitive (and expensive on your end) if I still receive text messages. Perhaps an option to disable it?
Other than that, who ever you hired to overhaul your app is killing it!
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iOS could be improved
I’m happy with the whole Fatllama platform but not with the app. My issue is that I almost never get notifications about messages or requests on my phone, which leads to me responding late and having poor response time rating on my profile. My colleagues have the same issue. I have all notifications turned on, background app refresh on and no focus modes turned on. I really hope they fix this soon since responding quickly is the most important thing on that platform.
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