Please change this
I would love to give this app 5 stars i enjoy my ride whenever i use. However, this parking garage just makes it a headache. Its a garage thats blocks off reception so now ur mobile key is as useful as a brick. Meaning if ur not using it to break the windows ur not getting in. This is the second time ive had to sit on hold outside the car for 30 minutes or more to get someone. This last time i waited 40 minutes on hold just for them to drop my call or hang up 5 seconds into him answering. He asked for my name and that was it. Now im on hold again sitting outside the car currently waiting to get in
***Update***
Do not get this app. ii never hot that firat problem resolved so ii ended up canceling my account. About a month ago ii saw a random charge for tolls of about 50 bucks despite the fact that it had been months sense my last rental. I figured it was a delayed charge and let it go. Same thing happened this month. Then im getting emails about owing a balance even tho my last ride was paid in full in the beginning of august. It will keep ripping from whatever account it’s connected to. Im trying to get rid of this app for good and cant
***Update***
Do not get this app. ii never hot that firat problem resolved so ii ended up canceling my account. About a month ago ii saw a random charge for tolls of about 50 bucks despite the fact that it had been months sense my last rental. I figured it was a delayed charge and let it go. Same thing happened this month. Then im getting emails about owing a balance even tho my last ride was paid in full in the beginning of august. It will keep ripping from whatever account it’s connected to. Im trying to get rid of this app for good and cant
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Response from developer
I'm so sorry to hear this! We are currently in the process of rolling out bluetooth to all of the cars so that they can be unlocked even when there is no reception. I can understand how that's no consolation for your bad experiences to date though! If you'd like us to take another look at this erroneous charges, please reach out to app-support@zipcar.com using your Zipcar account email so that we can get in touch.
Avoid
Today marks the third time that I’ve needed to use Zipcar for a specific purpose (in this case an appointment) and the app locked me out of the vehicle in the middle of my allotted time. I called, I was on hold for 20-some-odd minutes, I missed my appointment. The customer service representative told me that I could only receive one hour of the amount I paid back but that she would make it two. The app is still not recognizing that I had a scheduled rental. I couldn’t even use the app FOR HOURS to lock and unlock the vehicle. I had to drop it off without closing out my time on the app. Again, if this were the first time I’d likely be more lenient, but I’ve had this experience time and time again with the app. To their credit, the customer service reps are friendly, but I don’t want to spend 20 minutes waiting to have someone in Southeast Asia unlock the vehicle I’ve rented during the time I’m supposed to be able to be driving the vehicle. The app glitches have been sold to me every single time as a fluke, but clearly there’s something wrong here. I’m living careless with my partner. This seemed like a good resource for us. Now we’re feeling cheated of our time and money. Find another car share option in your area.
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Used to be great, now it’s a disaster
Here is a typical rental with zipcar these days (this happened today and it’s not the first time):
They switched the car on me 3 times before my reservation even started. Each time the car they provided was farther away from my home. The app gave me the third car location and provided the wrong address. I spent 30 minutes trying to find it only to be told it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. The zipcar system said it was in a garage, the garage said it was there. Then I spent 30 minutes having one of your representatives find me a new car. She found me one, I got in an Uber to get to it and and then called me and told me it actually wasn’t available. She found me another one that was a 25 minute ride away. I had to take my third uber of the day. Then I arrived at that location only to find my zip card would not unlock the car. She couldn’t unlock it from her end. That’s when I called one last time only to be told there was nothing they could do about it and there were no other options. I had to take an Uber to my original destination, it ended up being a $185 round trip. Zipcar says they’ll reimburse me but only for the cost of the difference of the original trip. Unbelievable.
They switched the car on me 3 times before my reservation even started. Each time the car they provided was farther away from my home. The app gave me the third car location and provided the wrong address. I spent 30 minutes trying to find it only to be told it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. The zipcar system said it was in a garage, the garage said it was there. Then I spent 30 minutes having one of your representatives find me a new car. She found me one, I got in an Uber to get to it and and then called me and told me it actually wasn’t available. She found me another one that was a 25 minute ride away. I had to take my third uber of the day. Then I arrived at that location only to find my zip card would not unlock the car. She couldn’t unlock it from her end. That’s when I called one last time only to be told there was nothing they could do about it and there were no other options. I had to take an Uber to my original destination, it ended up being a $185 round trip. Zipcar says they’ll reimburse me but only for the cost of the difference of the original trip. Unbelievable.
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Customer service is criminal
We discovered that the car we reserved had a flat tire so we returned it to the curb. My boyfriend called customer service. They asked to speak to me but I wasn’t there. My boyfriend explained that it was more than 100F in Portland and I’m a breast cancer patient. We really needed to get this resolved. Customer service rep said it was no problem, they’d refund after they talked to me and that he’d put a note on the file. Meanwhile, we went to look at another nearby car that was showing on the app. We didn’t want to reserve it until we saw and I’m glad we didn’t. It was filthy, inside and out. We got an Uber instead. When we returned from Portland, I called customer service and they said they’d have to investigate before giving me my $111 refund! They said it would be at least 5 days before they could get back to me. This was an issue with their car and they should refund immediately. That’s what any company with customer care and common sense would do. Nope. Haven’t heard back. Going to tell my credit card company to dispute the charge. This was our very first time reserving a Zipcar and it will definitely be our last.
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THEY WILL LEAVE YOU STRANDED WITH NO HELP
My daughter used this service for a trip to a national park and the car lost connection and stopped working in the mountains in the middle of nowhere. She called ZipCar looking for assistance, and they told her they could not find roadside assistance and that she was on her own. They left her and her friend stranded in the mountains at night by themselves. They lied about not being able to find roadside assistance because the park ranger that found my daughter was able to call a tow that she paid for out of pocket and is still waiting on reimbursement. after the tow, they left her stranded again until 3am in a random parking lot in a strange town locked out of the car. They started ignoring my daughter’s calls. My wife and I were calling from midnight to 7am across the country begging for them to help her. Customer service kept promising us they would call my daughter and they never did. This was a parents worst nightmare and we were deathly afraid for my daughters safety. I don’t recommend using this service that does not care about its customers safety and would willingly leave its customers stranded and alone at night
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2/3 Successful trips so far
First two trips were seamless. Cars were easy to find, clean, full of gas, etc.
The third trip I booked was cancelled without prompt, so I rebooked a new car at the same location. then about 1-2 hours before the start, the car info disappeared and the app stated ‘new car info coming soon.’ This didn’t change until the start of my booking. At which point I called customer service, was on hold 20 minutes waiting to speak to a representative, then they confirmed the car was no longer available and there were no nearby cars of the same size available for use. My need for the car was time sensitive, so I could have been privy to this information sooner to plan accordingly. 30 minutes into a reservation and no in app update regarding my car’s status was inconvenient and stressful. The customer service agent was helpful the best they could and understood my frustration. I was given a refund and an 1 hr driving credit for my trouble.
The third trip I booked was cancelled without prompt, so I rebooked a new car at the same location. then about 1-2 hours before the start, the car info disappeared and the app stated ‘new car info coming soon.’ This didn’t change until the start of my booking. At which point I called customer service, was on hold 20 minutes waiting to speak to a representative, then they confirmed the car was no longer available and there were no nearby cars of the same size available for use. My need for the car was time sensitive, so I could have been privy to this information sooner to plan accordingly. 30 minutes into a reservation and no in app update regarding my car’s status was inconvenient and stressful. The customer service agent was helpful the best they could and understood my frustration. I was given a refund and an 1 hr driving credit for my trouble.
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Many Disappointing Experiences
Where to begin…
My most recent trip was in a vehicle with a front slashed tire and two rear bald tires. Last year in May, a car with a damaged battery died in my parents driveway and had to be towed away (Happy Mother’s Day Mom). The person who responded deemed the battery to have been tampered with. In the intervening months, I have driven cars that reeked of marajuana smoke, cigarette smoke and littered with trash. I rented a nice SUV to go to a friends wedding a year prior and it smelled like pot and the back seat was coated with a Vaseline or jelly-like substance. Gross. Many times vehicles have been low on fuel (given the other huge problems I have started to overlook this). The worst part is that when there is a problem, you are put on hold for a ridiculously long time and eventually connected with a person with an accent so thick, he or she is often unintelligible. I am often told that I will receive “credits” for these inconveniences but they never appear on my account. Purchasing a car is out of my budget, but my experience has been so bad with Zipcar that I am considering it. I would rather spend more money and know that I am driving a safe vehicle and not be (greatly) inconvenienced. Zipcar has become an awful experience.
My most recent trip was in a vehicle with a front slashed tire and two rear bald tires. Last year in May, a car with a damaged battery died in my parents driveway and had to be towed away (Happy Mother’s Day Mom). The person who responded deemed the battery to have been tampered with. In the intervening months, I have driven cars that reeked of marajuana smoke, cigarette smoke and littered with trash. I rented a nice SUV to go to a friends wedding a year prior and it smelled like pot and the back seat was coated with a Vaseline or jelly-like substance. Gross. Many times vehicles have been low on fuel (given the other huge problems I have started to overlook this). The worst part is that when there is a problem, you are put on hold for a ridiculously long time and eventually connected with a person with an accent so thick, he or she is often unintelligible. I am often told that I will receive “credits” for these inconveniences but they never appear on my account. Purchasing a car is out of my budget, but my experience has been so bad with Zipcar that I am considering it. I would rather spend more money and know that I am driving a safe vehicle and not be (greatly) inconvenienced. Zipcar has become an awful experience.
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Zipcard Will not activate
Albeit I can log into the main site, verify my account info AND receive follow up emails from my registered email address and oh yes they did accept payment but I am still unable to activate my Zipcard ( which by the way when I received same an activation notice was not noted in the correspondence; I was checking the site as to a pickup question for an upcoming rental when I saw FAQ in re activating your Zipcard. But alas, the activation system stated I was not a registered account holder - As a result Ihad to cancel my proposed rental albeit customer service said it should be ok just to use the app but when pressed agreed not having the card could be an issue especially if my location had no cell service (ie: underground parking garage )
Despite multiple phone calls 6 email exchanges w/ promises we reworking on it I am still unable to activate my Zipcard: note calling customer support for assistance is futile - It’s either I am escalating this to a supervisor and / or “Oh, it usually takes 3-5 days to resolve the issue - I received emails stating issue was resolved ( it wasn’t) which unfortunately presumably has started a new 3-5 day resolution cycle -
On a positive note Customer service gave me a $25 credit but it doesn’t do any good if I can’t rent a car
Despite multiple phone calls 6 email exchanges w/ promises we reworking on it I am still unable to activate my Zipcard: note calling customer support for assistance is futile - It’s either I am escalating this to a supervisor and / or “Oh, it usually takes 3-5 days to resolve the issue - I received emails stating issue was resolved ( it wasn’t) which unfortunately presumably has started a new 3-5 day resolution cycle -
On a positive note Customer service gave me a $25 credit but it doesn’t do any good if I can’t rent a car
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So wrong!!!!
The car was locked on me while in the gas station, it was 1230 at night when it locked it had my purse and all my belongings in it luckily had my phone but that didn’t matter it said I was not in a open trip and could not find the car I had just been locked out of. I tried calling, texting, emailing everything that I could think of doing I tried to no avail so I had to pay a tow truck to come unlock the car after getting in it would not start being because I was locked out, now I was locked out with nothing not even a jacket or my pepper spray or anything so I called Uber and went home what else should I have done right? Wrong when I returned in the morning the car was no longer there and I am now account suspended because I didn’t return the car to the correct drop off location and I have got not one person that understands what that was like to all of a sudden be locked out and then punished for it, for someone who spends a good deal of money with this car service I am extremely disappointed that this is how I’m being looked at. U got this one so so wrong!!
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Decent rates terrible service
I use their cars frequently because unfortunately there really aren’t many similar services in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the cars are usually dirty and damaged outside; bumps, parts missing, rarely maintained and usually dirty because the previous driver was an animal. They switch or downgrade the car on you often (for maintenance) and “forget “ to lower the price if it’s a downgrade. They also change locations on you very often (again for possible car maintenance)so you r original booking might be two minutes pick up away but then it changes to a location 20 minutes away. And if the gas card is missing from the car don’t expect a credit for money spent out of pocket for 10-15 business days. ALWAYS do a 360 check in and out before you drive the car out of the parking lot! ...I got a car once with a full flat tire , hubcap literally touching the floor!
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