Zipcar

Hi,
I have been Zipcar member for about half an year. I rented couple times and every time I had bad experience. Of course I connected customer support to report that issues, but from today’s ride, I decided that I’ll not extend my zipcar membership. So basically the cars smell on shit and are very dirty, the seat have leak spots like somebody was … I was so disgusting to drive this car.

I am switching out of the membership for employer benefits from another service agency, but my experience with zipcar has been absolutely amazing. The customer service is fantastic, and agents are extremely flexible and kind about the changes and emergency accommodations customers need to make. I especially liked the zipcar app and the automated telephone system that’s set up for customers to connect to an agent 24 – 7 and get necessary help immediately as needed. I took my road test with a zip car, and the service agent gave me a great care and personalized help in preparing the necessary documents for taking the test with a rental vehicle. Zipcar really gave me the best idea of how much openness a company could have towards its customers’ needs. It’s really convenient and perfect for those who have occasional need for driving and road trip. Thanks especially to the Zipcar Minneapolis Team for their fantastic support and great heart!

Rented a car at the MSP AIRPORT on December 15, 2015 for 5.5 hours. Could not get the first car unlocked. Second car I could not get started. Called Zipcar and they told me not to take the third car which I had put my luggage in since it was reserved. (it was still there when I returned 5.5 hrs later). The customer service rep told me to take the Ford escape SUV. So once again I moved my luggage to the third vehicle. Unfortunately they charged me the extra rental chg for taking the SUV and did not charge me for the car at the lower rate that I had made the reservation for. After that it went well. Leaving airport and returning the car at Avis was super easy.
Bought this membership as a Groupon with $ 30 credit. Paid $ 59 for a year. Membership started in July. This was the first time I used rental though I have tried to place a reservation a couple other times. Could not find a car at location or my plans changed.
This was recommended to me by a friend. He had positive things to say but not a great experience for me. Previously was being billed monthly till I got that cleared up with a manager from Chicago.
I will give it another shot in the future when I’m in MSP and see if I can’t hv a better experience. To date spent about 90+dollars for a 5.5 car rental. So best to use again to take advantage of year membership.

I have mixed reviews for Zipcar. It’s been an interesting experience my first two months of membership. At times it’s great, others it sucks. Damn you Zipcar. I had so much hope since driving a stupid HourCar Prius or a Car2Go SmartCar was a considerably worse alternative to a 2015 BMW or Audi.
The Pros: It’s convenient. I’m fortunate enough to have two Zipcar locations within blocks of my house. One is in a parking garage and has a full-​time parking pass. The 3 cars I’ve used have all been nice, brand new cars with great features. Fortunately they are not too often already being used as well. The customer service is prompt and friendly, and the website and apps are easy-​to-​use. Also, gas is free.
The cons: It’s not cheap. On weekends, the rate goes up from $ 8.50/$ 8.75 to $ 10/11.25 an hour. Not sure why the rates of different cars goes from $ 0.25 during the week to $ 1.25 on the weekend. Price-​gouging, for sure. A typical 2-​hour rental during the week is $ 20.74, compared to $ 27.45 on the weekends. There are 6 different taxes & fees tacked onto every rental. Also, not enough cars. Unless you live close to Calhoun Square, Dinkytown, or select locations in downtown… you are out of luck. The main reason I even use Zipcar is because there is one near home. If I had to drop it off and take a 10-​minute bus ride home, I probably would not use it. They also tend to change things from time to time without telling you. The available cars and car types, their locations, and even policies have all switched around in the few short months I have been using this service. The number of cars in my neighborhood recently went down (middle of Uptown), and they swapped out 2 cars, a VW and Audi, for 1… a Subaru. Their policy for early scanning in (up to 20 minutes early) also changed without notice, and has resulted in about $ 30 in early check-​in charges I wasn’t aware of until I contacted them about it. The customer service e-​mail responses are quick and professional. But they essentially told me in a scripted response that I was wrong.
In Conclusion: It’s not a bad service for the occasional grocery store run for non-​car owners. Or even once-​a-​month all-​day usage (they have an all-​day flat rate that it defaults to after a certain dollar amount). But I wouldn’t recommend using it frequently, especially if you don’t live near a convenient location. Use a regular car rental service for that… it’s much cheaper.

I had ZipCar in Washington DC. It was a fabulous option when I did not have a car. I moved to MN about 9 month ago… not every thinking about zipcar… and not knowing or remembering that it was an annual auto renew plan. I noticed that it auto renewed about 3 months after the fact. Finally got them called another 6 months later (totally slipped my mind). At this point I was only expecting to cancel and make sure I was not charged another year. THEY REFUNDED MY PRIOR RENEWAL FEE! You don’t see that anymore. It seems that you have to fight tooth and nail to get a refund even if you call right away. And it is easy to loose track or not know about all of these plans that are auto-​renew! It really brightened my day!

Thought this was a great idea to get to work a few days before I could buy my own car. It was not. I didn’t get the zipkey until 3 weeks after they mailed it.
First time I reserved the zipcar, it wasn’t in the spot it should have been. Had to call zipcar and go looking around for it (running late for work). Also the previous driver left the music BLASTING on, which was really distracting and annoying while driving on an unfamiliar highway when I have to pay close attention to signs/​traffic. When I came back to park it in the spot, there wasn’t enough space for both zipcars. I pulled up as close as I could, driving to get out of the driveway of an apartment complex. Wasn’t good enough since the zipcar got a parking violation, and then a fee to take it out of the impound lot. Total cost me $ 230 extra.
2^nd time I reserved the zipcar, it wasn’t in the spot where it should have been again. Neither zipcar was there. And when I called customer service, they didn’t know where the cars were, they were only able to tell me that «the previous driver should have parked it there. it should be there.» At least they gave me a refund for that reservation!
Way more trouble than it was worth. Don’t bother with it if you intend to be on time for your work or scheduled appointments. I’m cancelling membership today.

I was a member about 8 years ago. I remember it took quite a while for my membership to get approved. I used the cars for quite awhile and had few problems, but disliked the customer service (I think calls were handled by someone on the East Coast) the few times I had an issue.

Signing up for Zipcar was a mistake. Don’t do it.
I paid $ 100 in fees to get setup with Zipcar, and it took seriously over a month for them to approve my driving record (which is spotless). My first Zipcar in San Francisco was filthy and damaged, but it got me to where I needed to be. My second trip I had to fill up on gas and the gas card they provided didn’t work at the pump. I paid $ 30 in gas, and never received an account credit from Zipcar despite sending in my receipt. My third trip I had to knock on this door in this sketchy building and a security guard led me down to the basement and I had to hunt around for the car. There was already another Zipcar member in the garage on the phone with Zipcar because the car he reserved wasn’t there. After finding my car, one of the headlights was out — which was perfect, given that it was at night. FAIL.
The next time I needed a Zipcar was in Minneapolis. There was supposed to be a parking pass in the visor and there wasn’t — the ramp the Zipcar was housed in made me pay a lost ticket fee to get out of the ramp. Think I ever got reimbursed for that? Nope.
And to top it all off, Zipcar charged my card for my last car use and the money came out of my account. Then about two months later I came home to find a notice from a collection agency. What the hell?! Zipcar was attempting to collect the amount they already took out of my account, and they added on about $ 20 in toll charges from two months back. And no, they didn’t subtract the gas, the parking situation, etc.
I was downright pissed. I e-​mailed and called and got corporate diversion every step of the way. And now I’d like to use a car while traveling but I can’t because they closed my account for «non-​payment.» So, uh, what did I pay that $ 25 application fee and $ 75 annual fee for? But as we know, Zipcar doesn’t reimburse for anything, ever.
DO NOT SIGN UP WITH ZIPCAR!

Hey ass-​hole. You see that no smoking sign??!
I’ve rented cars, plenty. But this was a huge let down. I quit smoking and really love the fact that most rental cars do not allow for smoking in them.
Well the person who had it before me not only LEFT his cigs in the ashtray, but I could smell the aroma of weed (there was also a roach in the ashtray for those of you that know what that is).
It’s one thing to disrespect a company and «stick-​it-​to the man»
It’s a whole other thing to do it when you know that there is a person that will be sharing the space you just exited momentarily.

Two years ago, I finally got fed-​up with having to figure out a way to do all of my errands on the bus or through the occasional sympathetic friend/​parent. Lugging home a week’s worth of groceries on a 45-​minute bus ride is no way to live. At the time, I had no safe place to park a car, much less the desire to sink any spare money into a car, and decided to investigate ZipCar.
Turns out it has been the optimal solution! They did a brief background check, as well as driving history check, before sending me my card. The prices are very fair — $ 8/​hour, or $ 66/​day (up to 24 hours) — considering that you have not paid to own the car, do not pay for insurance, gas, or the parking contract on the U of MN campus. I usually get a ZipCar once every three or four weeks, depending on what I need to get. They’re a godsend for big grocery trips or the errant Ikea trip.
The biggest qualm I have with ZipCar is that they have been reticent in expanding their operation further than campus. This is usually fine as I can certainly swing down there when I have class, but it’s an awfully far walk coming from Northeast. They recently went from five cars to seven to nine, so they know there’s a market.
If you’re not in the market for a car, yet still want one occasionally, consider ZipCar. Their customer service has always been exceptionally helpful and friendly; you also get to drive really cool cars, most of which are hybrids.