Zipcar

I have been using Zippers regularly for close to four years now. Lucky for me there is a location with Zips a half a block away. Most of issues have beeb with dirty car interiors, gas tanks that were on fumes and cars that reeked of smoke (Two Varieties). And one lowlife who did not return the car and stuck us without one. Thank god it was not a major holiday. Were these the fault of Zipcar? Obviously not but I wonder if the offenders and warned or penalized in anyway? Probably not as I still have to deal with nonsense three quarters of the time I get a car.
Otherwise, they’ve usually been pretty good to me. I blew a tire in Pennsylvania and they had somebody there in ½ hour. It was Christmas Day, snowing, which made it all the more remarkable.
Cars are usually available when I need them. For the holidays I book way in advance. Kinda cool driving different cars. Big downside is the cost. Quite expensive compared to renting a car from Enterprise etcetera. But the trade off is the convenience. Wish I could give two and a half stars but I’ll stay with three for rescuing me that cold night in Pennsylvania.

Just joined zipcar, so my review (for now) is about getting the location and picking up my card.
Thought finding the place would have been harder than it was, (being on the 2^nd floor in a busy area of Manhattan). Big enough green zipcar sign above the entrance and a skinny elevator up to the second floor, there it was. Saw the reps in the back on the phone, lady at the front desk asked for my card and credit card I used signing up. Chose to activate my card later, but there were 2 computers off to the side if I wanted to activate it then.
Lady at the front desk gave me a simple pamphlet with my number on it. Explain the basic, that was it.
Only thing I wished right now, that the membership numbers pressed into the card, (printed on the surface, feel like it will rub off over time).
Hope my experience with zipcar isn’t as bad as the reviews I’m reading, but getting to the location and retrieving my card was simple, easy enough.

Dear Zipcar,
Our relationship is over. After eight years, dozens of rentals and thousands of dollars, you have done me wrong. A wrong that you simply can’t make right.
I received a red light violation notice from Zipcar two weeks ago (in Jan 2016), alerting me that I had presumably run some sort of light in Suffolk county in OCTOBER. This was the first I was hearing of this violation. And, I wasn’t expecting one as I haven’t had even as much as a parking ticket IN OVER 15 YEARS.
Zipcar’s letter stated that they went ahead and paid the ticket (!!) — without my notification or consent — and were now asking me to repay them for what they had paid. I asked to see the actual violation. They emailed me a scanned copy of the form — a scan so blurry and impossible to read it could have been ANYONE driving in the picture that was captured. If I had received this violation directly, I would have fought the charge. Now, because Zipcar has already paid, they have made me ‘guilty as charged’ and I have no legal recourse. AND, have a violation on my license.
Why was I not informed of this violation in October, when I would have had a chance to take legal action and settle the claim myself? Why was it assumed I was guilty of the charge and not told, for over three months, that they paid this and expected me to refund THEIR decision?
I had no idea Zipcar would be allowed to make legal decisions on my behalf. Be warned that if you are a good driver, like myself, and actually care about your driving record, you will have no say in any violation they may receive in your name. Their letter states they paid the violation so that the car wouldn’t be ‘compromised’ and out of service for future rentals. I have canceled my membership because I simply can’t trust that they will make this type of decision again — or one with even bigger consequences — without involving me in the process.

Was trying to make an account and called customer service to ask some questions I was on the phone for 30 min and still being asked what my name was and how I spell it for the 300^th time!

Good luck with any problems you may have. Customer service is non existent. Had to change my payment method since my card expired. This proved to be impossible. Spoke to dozens of non-​english speaking ‘customer service’ people, not one of which could do anything to resolve the issue. The biggest joke is in the end they closed the account due to being unable to process the credit card. Really zipcar? You mean the credit card I told you was canceled, and practically begged you to change for over a month? Good job losing a customer who used your services for years.

This place is a joke. I signed up, never received my membership card in the mail, could not unlock my account after sending several emails and trying to reset online. Customer service is atrocious. Cancelled immediately.
How can a business screw over someone even BEFORE they’ve ever even driven one of their cars?
The EASIEST part of the whole ordeal was just to cancel. Terrible

I have been a Zipcar member for about 6 months now and although it is a great idea, the execution is horrible. I most recently had a car that I drove to work in CT and when it was time to come home, it didn’t start. I have also driven another car for about 3 months and every time I got into the car the oil change light came on. I called ZipCar each time and it took them months before they did any service to the car. Which makes me question how safe these cars are? How often are they doing maintenance? I might have to check out Enterprise’s car sharing service.

Zero stars actually.
I just signed up to Unilocal just so I could write this review. Zipcar is the WORST. I joined years ago when it first started and was an awesome idea. It was great but has gone totally downhill. 50% of the time, there is a problem. The car is not there where its supposed to be. The car won’t start. The car smells like shit. ETC. But the latest has officially made me livid. I tried reserving a car today and the site tells me that my account has been suspended. So I call customer service and they told me they couldn’t find the keys after my last reservation. That was weeks ago! Why didn’t anyone think to pick up the f-​ing phone and ask me where the keys were. Nothing. No communication. I left the keys in the damn car as usual. And now no one can lift the suspension. I have to trek from Brooklyn to Midtown to talk to them in person. Then it will take 7 – 10 days. WTF!!! I’m officially over it. Cancelling membership and joining Car2go or some other competitor.

I have been a Zipster for about a month now. So far I have been impressed by the quality of the cars, the convenience, and how simple & easy it is to reserve a car. I have had no difficulties/​issues so far. Manage your timing for errands and the like to ensure that you don’t incur late fees. I have never returned a car late, but I would understand how inconvenient it would be for the Zipster behind me to show up to get his/​her car and not find it. I think the $ 50 fee is a great motivator to get the car back on time. Kudos Zipcar for offering a great service just when I needed it. My car went belly up recently.

I was member for about half and year and every time when I rent a car, the car smells like someone took a shit inside it. I reported couple of time trough facebook, but nothing happens.
Yesterday I rented again for couple of hours and again the cars was dirty and smelling so bad. I felt disgusting driving a zipcar. Since my last ride I took a decision that definitely will cancel my membership with ZipCar.

Thought I had a good deal, but they ended up «adjusting» my hourly rate after I returned the car. Contacted customer support twice, once they said there were no issues and second time I was ignored. Ended up having to dispute with my credit card company to get the extra charge back.
Not worth it the hassle.

Zipcar Hoboken. NJ. I made a reservation weeks ago for the Xmas weekend. I have a 1 year old so I needed the SUV which I reserved. This last Monday zipcar sent me a notice saying they were sorry but they were moving me to another car which turned out to be a compact and cost the same. I called to let them know that was unacceptable and asked why I was switched. They said they didn’t have a reason I was switched but they would switch me back. When I looked at the reservation the car was much more than the price I originally had. They simply switched me to drive up cost. I called to complain and they said I would hear back in 48 hrs. They never followed up. The people running this operation do not value their customers and are willing to cheat them.

For me to have to walk, take public transportation or a cab to the nearest zipcar garage is risiculous and very inconvenient in itself like say if i were to need to use a car right now? I would have to walk more than a mile in the cold or spend $ 8 on a taxi to get to the CLO. Then I have to come all the way there to find that the car is dirty, damaged, or maybe not even there! And ofcourse customer service has no response or solution for that so what i do i go there and check out all the cars and see which one is in the best condition, then i reserve it.
Next lets talk about that $ 50 late fee for returning the car even just 2 minutes late… Even though there is no reservation on the car for the rest of the day or immediately after. And oh they charge tax on that late fee so its really about 60 odd dollars in total
And please dont get too hype about the prices they advertise because if ur a no commitment driver like me the price per hour really adds up especially since they charge taxes and fees nd then charge another seperate set of taxes and fees for every time u extend ur reservation.
Poor selection of vehicles and maintance is horrible always running into cars that need an oul change, need the tires filled with air, parts of the car missing inside and out.
HONESTLY just save money and by a regular car straight out cash because this car sharing thing does come with some bullshit that no one should deal with.

On ¹²⁄₁₃ i booked a car from 6:30 to 9:30. During the ride we kept hearing the sounds that car door locks make when it is being closed by the lock button. It kept happening and we checked to make sure that no one was inadvertently pressing on the button. We called zipcar and the rep was a bit annoyed that I called about the problem and told me he would comp the trip. I wasn’t pleased at all but we were on the bridge and was not able to turn back.
Well, the next day: my guest in the car told me he had left his car in the zipcar. And thats when shit reallllly went bad. It took from 9:30 to 8 pm to get one zip car unlocked. The reps are horrible. I cancelled me account with zipcar because one rep yelled at me (Shawn), another kept putting me on silent hold (Briasia) and some just kept not coming back on the line, they told me different things than what was put into their notes on the call (Miriam). I told Arcadia I needed the wallet since the person drives for a living and clearly needs the license. In the end I had to pay for a lock smith to come out and the entire days reservation.
Please find another car service. And when you call customer service have a pen ready to write down date and person you spoke with. I am still waiting for the local office to call me back and if they don’t by tomorrow I will be charging back my final fee from zipcar and cancelling my card with my bank. I have zero times to play games with zipcar.

I have been a member of Zipcar since 2010. I’ve never had a problem with them. Once I called them to let them know the car was dirty and there was no windshield washer fluid. I filled up the washer fluid and put air in the tires, they credited my account just for doing basic maintenance. You may not always be able to get a car near you, but that’s because other people reserved before you. I’ve seen a massive increase in the number of cars available due to the demand. The nice thing about Zipcar is they have multiple sizes of cars depending on what you need as compared to Car 2 Go which only has one tiny smart car size.

I wish I could give a review of less than 1 star. I made a reservation two months ago for thanksgiving day, which is confirmed in an email. Today they called to say they don’t have a car available and they won’t make other arrangements.
What’s the point of making a reservation if they can’t guarantee a car. I will use any other company before I ever put my trust in them again. DO NOT USE ZIPCAR IF YOUR TRIP IS IMPORTANT TO YOU.

I’m ending my relationship with zipcar after 5 years. The lack of respect for customers is apparent and ugly. With 5 years of a clean record, I miss one payment as a result of credit card fraud and they close my account. Or suspend it. Or put a hold on it. I’m not sure which one, I’ve been told all three. I paid my balance (of $ 35) and am told they assume I no longer wish to be in business with them because I haven’t told them I’ve paid it. ???
Am I missing something?
I call them up and they tell me they need 7 – 10 business days in order to «review» my account to see if I’m even worthy of being a part of their cult of janky cars. Yeah… I’m done. Bad policy. Bad business. And their prices have gone up.
I hear good things about Car 2 Go. You don’t need to return their cars to the lot of origin. You can just leave them parked on the street! And they’re less expensive. Bye bye Zipcar!

After 2 terrible experiences with Zipcar, I am cancelling my membership and won’t use it again. It’s not a modern or revolutionary company as they claim, they have terrible service, and it’s so much more expensive than a real rental car — even when you factor the extraordinary inconvenience of traveling to an airport to rent from Avis Hertz Enterprise Alamo or anyone else — they’re all better than Zipcar.
The first time, the car wasn’t available, and once they found a different one for me, I wasn’t allowed to get in the car without having the «zipcard» on me, even though my reservation was confirmed at the garage, I had the app open and logged in (with the bogus «option» to unlock the car remotely), and I even had someone on the phone from their laughable customer service acknowledging my reservation. They had to cancel my car, book a new one, cancel my card, find me a new one in a random car in the garage, and so on. It took about an hour just to pick up the car, making me late for my appointment. By the way, as I was pulling out of the garage with my new car, they found the one I originally reserved and asked if I wanted to switch back. Forgetaboutit.
The second time, I needed to travel to another city for the day. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to stay for several more days. Little did I know that the car needed to be returned to its original location (hidden in the FAQ of the website. sorry I didn’t check). I couldn’t return to a different zipcar location, and they gave me 2 options: pay for a tow truck round trip to tow the car back (they couldn’t give me an estimate but probably thousands of dollars) or pay $ 150 late fee and extend the reservation by 4 days (earliest I could bring it back) which for a small compact car they are charging more than $ 150 per day. That’s about 3x what I’d expect to rent at the rental car companies. Anyway, my hands are tied and I’m now eating nearly $ 700 in additional time & fees. Probably would’ve been cheaper just to ride Über or taxi’s around ALL WEEKEND.
Tesla, Über & other actually innovative companies are going to have a field day on this short-​term car rental market. Zipcar doesn’t stand a chance. Don’t use them, just hang in there for a few years and hopefully we’ll have a service available that works. In the meantime, take Über.

ZIPCAR… Horrible company! Great concept run by underlings! Managers? What Managers? They’re lacking in Customer Service… That’s just the beginning!
The cars are FILTHY inside & out and usually smell of cigarette smoke… If you’re very lucky, the car will also have dog hair!
Quick to up charge as well, they have your CC on file.
Do not waste your time or money!
ZIPthis
Enterprise is AAA on every level. They had me at «hello»

Horrible Experience.
I had a horrible experience with Zipcar. The NYC office was horrible in getting back to me and it took me time and time again on following up before they listened to me. They told me they were ‘busy’ and couldn’t get back to me (initial request was over a week before this).
The garage I got the car from had a staff member that took forever. The car I reserved wasn’t even there. The new car they got me into smelled horrible of smoke. The whole experience has left me wondering if I’ll ever use Zipcar again… after all the monthly charge and all the fees that they tack on to the rental, it comes out cheaper to just rent a car.
Zipcar could have easily looked at the long term on this issue and got back to me quickly, reduced the charge and moved on. Instead Zipcar decided to be extremely difficult, unresponsive, and down right critical of the way I explained things and made it seem like what I went through wasn’t bad at all.
Zipcar — if I got the car I reserved and got on my way at the time I was supposed to (when I got to the garage well ahead of the scheduled time of pick up just because I realize there are staff at the garage that take forever) and not have the car smelling of smoke, then yeah maybe my day would have been great.
The staff at the NYC office is horrible to talk to as well. I was on the phone with them (Manager and Supervisor) and they both were combative and didn’t want to hear me out at all. I had to explain the situation numerous times as they didn’t brush up on the notes prior to the call with me (thanks for wasting my time and not preparing).
*This wasn’t the first time I had issues with the cleanliness of a car from Zipcar, just finally made me frustrated enough to report it and post about it.
Get it together Zipcar and realize us customers are the reason you are where you are. Take it for granted and I’m sure the business will come tumbling down.
I’d look at alternatives to Zipcar, there are many out there now.

Their customer service is terrible. Trying to resolve an account issue resulting from there extremely buggy system and website, over the course of two weeks, I encountered customer service reps who were a mixture of rude, unhelpful, and downright incompetent. Their voicemail system makes it hard to reach a human being, and they did not return phone calls.
Some of there mistakes are so bad it’s almost funny– for example, deleting all the email addresses /​accounts except for the one from the company I stopped working at over a year ago, and could no longer access. (the exact opposite of what I asked them to do, and explained very clearly)
I still haven’t resolved the issues, and can’t even log into the site. After trying to blame the problem first on my computer and then an obscure little web browser called ‘Google Chrome’, the rep gave up trying to solve the problem. Maybe I’ll hear back from them in a few days.
In the past, I had found the customer service to be excellent. As a driver, they were always responsive and helpful. I don’t know if the customer service has made a drastic decline, or if they just have a different team that handles account issues as opposed to routine rental matters. Or maybe just the NY office sucks. Either way, there is no excuse for the level of rudeness and incompetence they are showing me just trying to setup my account. Especially since I’ve given them a ton of business in the past, dozens of reservations. And as a large successful tech company, there website and account system should not be as buggy as it is, and they should not make it so hard to reach a human.

It has now been over a month after our Zipcar trip and there have been no extra/​unfair charges. Our reservation was for August 2. On August 23, billing for two tolls came through. I checked the toll prices online with both NYSBA and PANYNJ and they were accurate. We were charged only the cost of the tolls for the bridges we drove across. I find this even more convenient than a traditional rental car company as those would require you to pay the toll yourself or else risk being charged extra.
Previous Review:
My boyfriend and I wanted to take a short trip upstate and seeing as both of us are under 25 and a more traditional car rental would charge exhorbitantly high prices as a result, Zipcar seemed to be a cheaper alternative. For students at affiliated colleges, the application fee is waived and the membership is only $ 15/​year. Because I sent in my application and joined just a week before we were planning to leave the city, we stopped by the Zipcar office to pick up the card. The the man at the front desk was helpful (albeit with a bored/​disinterested tone) and it took mere minutes to pick up the card and get in and out.
After making our reservation, I decided on a whim to check Unilocal reviews and quickly became worried that our car was bound to be covered in filth and that Zipcar would tack on extra charges. As of right now (two days after our trip), I haven’t been notified of any extra charges and our car has been returned on time, but I’ll keep an eye out since we used the toll pass. When we arrived at the garage, the car was perfectly clean and had minimal scratches. We rented a red Prius from the Imperial garage on 116^th St between Malcom X and 5^th Ave. The car worked perfectly our whole trip and we had no problems using the gas card.
I would gladly use Zipcar again, although it’s likely more economical for drivers below 25. The cars offered were slightly more than the advertised ones, as I suspect the lowest priced ones are probably far and few between. The cheapest I could find were $ 149/​day, ending up around $ 175 including all the taxes. For an even better deal, pick up Zipcar gift cards at Costco ($ 100 worth of credit for $ 80)

I have been a ZipCar driver for four years now and there has never been a time where there hasn’t been an incident — moving my reservation to another location waaay into the city, no gas in the car, and today — a flat tyre and no other cars available.
Totally realize this is a car sharing service but the negative review here is for how they customer service agents handle these scenarios. ZipCar never acknowledges or owns the inconvenience they deliver to their drivers. They simply tell you «it’s a car-​sharing service» and offer no compensation. That would suffice, if there wasn’t such an extortionate annual fee. There’s literally no security for drivers on any reservation. Nothing. «Your booking is messed up? Too bad. We have a cargo van in a completely different area. That’s all you’re getting and we make no apologies.»
It’s simply easier to rent a car. No one will mess you around and they’ll actually try and help you if something goes wrong. Don’t waste your money with these people, they just don’t care about their customers.
I tried to find a redeeming quality in this service. You failed. Goodbye ZipCar.

MOST DISHONEST BUSINESS PRACTICES EVER!!! They use bait and switch to provide one set of pricing when you look at the site. Then when you pay the dues and become a member, magically the prices go up!
After realizing I had been duped I immediately asked for a refund. Zipcar REFUSED to refund their BS «application» fee. No one I’ve talked to there has been helpful. Horrible!