Leave a Review Kyte
Anything but smooth
CONS
1.) Getting to where the car was to be dropped off was unclear. We were unfamiliar with the city, best practices to get to location, and the location itself was incredibly vague.
2.) When our car arrived, it had a “maintenance needed - contact dealer” notification AND a low tire notification. We then had to wait an extra 20 minutes for the then to bring us a different car. This car had so many dings and scratches on it, we had to spend another 10 minutes documenting all of them.
3.) When trying to confirm when our drop off driver would be arriving, the chat just froze. It didn’t notify us of when our surfer would be arriving until 30 minutes after we’d already exchanged the car.
4.) The deposit was taken out of my account prior to us even picking up the car and we weren’t asked from which card to take the money. We would have given a different one at time of pickup. It overdrew my account.
PROS
1.) Easy to make changes to trip and update in the app.
4.) Trip details were easy to change and updateShow lessKetryn
Do not recommend
The car is in good condition, the there are several problems.
They don’t take responsibility of anything else except the car. You need to pay for everything, such as toll fees, fuel up gas fees, etc.
The insurance’s price is also expensive. At the meantime you need to take a 500$ deposit fee which can only release back to you in 7 days after you finish the trip.
Don’t book their car if you need to start your trip in 2days. They only refund you ‘Kyte credit’ if you wanna cancel your trip in 48 hours.
Also they said that the surfer will only wait for 5 minutes when they deliver the car to you, or you will be charge a 25$ fee to change the schedule. But I wait for the surfer for 30 minutes when I try to return the car, how to count with that? Really unfairly service and makes me feel really uncomfortable when I check out their policies.
After all, I wouldn’t recommend you to use their service. There are several other better options.Show lessDavzjm
Great idea, awful execution
My delivery service was impeccable, my car was precisely what I ordered and the driver arrived on time and was nice enough. The car was not clean, the bumper was damaged, and there were lots of scratches. In addition the vehicle smelled like someone had smoked in it. The car drove well and the gas mileage was good. Unfortunately my pick up service is now 90 minutes late because the Kyte App did not allow me to enter the correct address. I know now this address should have been a New York, New York address but the app forced it to be a Brooklyn address. There was no way to edit this. When I tried to update them via chat (the only option since there is no phone number listed anywhere) they told me I would be charged $25 for changing my pick up location. Their estimated time for a chat reply is approximately 25 minutes which is insane. I have now provided them the correct address several times in the last two hours and they apparently cannot find me at a Hilton property at the intersection of Water and Broad Streets in lower Manhattan while my kids wait in the hotel room. This is an amazing business model but Kyte is really going to have to figure out the operational side of things for this to be this success it could be.Show lessPsInAPod
Developer Response
Hi there, Thank you so much for your feedback. I've shared it with the team, and they are already working on this case. This has also been reported to the Operations Team. We strive incredibly hard here at Kyte to make every customer experience enjoyable and we’re really sorry we’ve not been able to meet your expectations this time. We'll work harder to make your next time a 5-star experience.If you have slight pickup & dropoff flexibility, amazing
I was super nervous scheduling this rental because I live in Manhattan with nowhere to easily park and was scheduling around flights that I couldn’t miss, but my pickup and dropoff contacts both arrived ~30 min early and waited for me to meet them. They definitely can’t guarantee an exact time to meet but if you have some time padding on each side this service is great, and on weekdays way cheaper than a standard rental. Zero complaints, my first trip was so smooth! As a note: they’re only supposed to wait up to five minutes *after* your scheduled time so pad early rather than late. They’ll wait if they’re early but not if you’re lateShow lessmarisamichelle
Cheaper and convenient WHEN they finally arrive.
Dig the concept, not the execution. Driver was late… but there is minimal direct contact, so we sat in a hotel lobby waiting… and waiting between texts. Finally, a new “surfer” was sent and arrived 2 hours late along with a reminder that we’d have only a 5 minute window to meet them or lose the car. Ummm… some irony there.
Was told we’d get a $20 credit but not until our NEXT booking. Meh. Next booking? Would have preferred an on-time car so we wouldn’t have missed our reservations in the first place.
Sometimes, you need faster, more direct communication when there’s a problem with a service.
Dropped from 3 to 2 stars because surfer was late picking up the car too and said “good thing I noticed this just now, nobody else was scheduled to pick it up.”
You’ll probably pay less and dig the convenience… just be aware of other possible/probable hassles.
We’ll see if we ever use that credit we allegedly got…Show lessMacky wack
Incompetent
I traveled 3,000 miles for a work conference and by the time I got to my destination they informed me they were canceling my rental because of their idiotic facial recognition ID verification. My ID is 100% valid and the pictures I took look exactly like my ID picture. I called their customer service and they basically told me they don’t care. They don’t have the ability to manually override their ID verification software. This is why we can’t rely on technology, we always need the ability for a human to manually override its decisions. Now I will most likely miss the conference, which will likely cost me dearly in my career. Thanks a lot Kyte, what a joke.Show lesspistol chris
Better deal than normal rental
Wasn’t sure what to expect but the booking process was easy, ended up being cheaper than going to a rental lot, and a lot more flexible with drop off/pick up hours. Got a car in good condition (didn’t know the exact make in advance) and didn’t have any auto problems for the 14 hours I drove it over the weekend. Was able to add an additional driver easily. Lose half a star because getting in touch to edit agenda was a little iffy — super easy the first time I needed to and I was able to successfully use the chat in the app, but the second time I tried to use the app, then texted, then called twice before someone was able to help me extend the trip in time for the deadline to make sure I wasn’t charged and a courier didn’t come too early. Got a text five hours later but I had already handled it over the phone. But customer service still better than expected in my experience. If you need to get in touch to edit a trip, definitely give some buffer time and call if the chat isn’t responsive.Show lessJ2747
Developer Response
Hi there! Thank you for taking out the time out of your day to give us feedback. Not only do we appreciate it, but we’d also like to assure you that we really take it into consideration as well. We are always striving to provide a seamless, clean, and comfortable experience at Kyte. And you play a vital role in that. 🤝Cancelled my Car 30 Minutes Before Road Trip
BF and I were all set to head out to Palm Springs for a week. That morning, I received two messages asking if I could accommodate my car at a different time than originally scheduled. The exact wording was “If not, just let us know”. So I declined both requests. I figured it was no big deal. Then, moments before our rental was supposed to arrive, they wrote again saying they were experiencing “major issues” at their lot and would have to cancel our car. No phone call from a human or anything! They offered a refund but now I had to book another car and I didn’t get my charge back for two more days. So irritating. They offered a $50 store credit but no thanks! Never using again.Show lessnic8387
Good idea, poorly executed
I’ve used Kyte several times now. The service is very unreliable. Occasionally they are on time. Usually they are not. Occasionally they keep you updated on your pickup or drop-off logistics. Usually they do not. When they miss their schedule, it’s inevitably because of an ‘emergency’ with a Surfer. ‘My Surfer had an emergency’ is now a running joke for me and my friends. I would never use Kyte on a business trip, but they are fine for a weekend rental to run some errands, e.g., if you are someone who doesn’t own a car. Despite these problems, Kyte is a good idea and a new service that is currently in its inexpensive ‘honeymoon’ phase. As such I’m sure their investors will pour a ton of money into Kyte over the next few years to try to make a go of it. In the long run, unless Surfers are paid absolute peanuts, I cannot see how it can possibly be cheaper to have a car dropped off and picked up at your doorstep vs you providing the labor associated with going to a rental counter. But perhaps in wealthier cities where people will pay a premium to avoid the rental counter, Kyte can carve out a niche. For the average person, at least Kyte provides an inexpensive alternative while they are in their growth phase and discounting to build a customer base.Show lessFrancodC
Developer Response
Hi there, we really appreciate the thorough feedback. We try to make every Kyte trip seamless and enjoyable and we’re sorry we’ve not been able to meet your expectations this time. If you ever have any more points of improvement for us, please feel free to message us directly via support@drivekyte.com. We’d love to talk more and learn about your previous experience 🙂Great experience
Thank you for such an easy and convenient car rental.❤️ Loved the whole experience. Great car. Arrived clean and ready for an adventure. Service was great. Staff friendly. App is easy to operate. Very user friendly.
Regarding the app, it would be nice to send our surfers direct messages so that things can be smoother. Our hotel valet wanted to hand over the keys since you are a newer company and he wanted to gain some experience for future interactions. My surfer called me and I was able to tell him the valets name. If I could have sent that name and image earlier he could have walked straight to the valet without pause.
That is my only suggestion.
Hope you use your company again someday ❤️ I highly recommend!Show lessMelFrom209
