Zipcar

I was interested in Zipcar after seeing cars were advertised for $10/hour. I signed up, paid the $25 application fee, and was ready to book. Then I realized there was not a single car that was actually $10/hour. At this point I did what I should have done before and looked through Zipcar's reviews, and to my disappointment, realized the company is flooded with negative reviews, reports on the Better Business Bureau, and even has one star on the Better Business Bureau's website. I contacted them to cancel my membership and refund my application fee.

I rented a car from the San Diego airport. Despite leaving several photo and text notices via the app both that night and the following morning that the car had issues I received no response. The car was rented with an UNSAFE temporary tire installed and I returned it early due to the extent of the danger. Temporary tires are only good for 50 miles and even with notice the company did not reach out. The car also had damage to the trunk and bumper, and a dirty interior. I had to contact CS via phone on my third attempt to connect with the company.

Zipcar is pricey compared to a rental, but I was still willing to give it a chance due to the convenience of the service. However, convenience is not worth it if you keep getting surprised by bills that you have no control over. Here is what happened: we have booked a car that wasn’t park in its location on the app. We found it on a different location and used. When it was time to return it, we noticed that there were roadworks on the original location in the app, so we left it in the same place where we found it.

While Zipcar can be a very convenient (though pricey) option for car share/rental, they unfortunately apparently have a policy of not reimbursing flat tires on their own cars, at the same time that their standards of maintenance of tires are poor. I had to spend my own time and money getting two tires replaced (one went flat on the freeway, and the other was "blooming", meaning it was at the verge of exploding, and dangerous to drive with). When I called Zipcar later for a reimbursement, they flatly refused, saying that their policy was not to reimburse repairs. So be forewarned, if something happens to the car while you're using it that's not your fault, you'll be responsible for the costs and labor associated with that.

Zipcar failed to notify me about a penalty ticket which was then passed to DEBT COLLECTORS. Which I found out 12 months (!!!) after the incident. I ended up paying c.£300 for the offense I was not even aware of. August 2021: I had a rental with Zipcar. Apparently, had a traffic offense which I was not notified about back then. August 2022: I'm getting a paper letter from a debt collector agency saying I have an outstanding debt of c.£300.

Recently, Zipcar ended its service in Blacksburg (less than 3 months after my yearly membership was renewed). When I requested a prorated refund, they said it was not in their policy to refund the membership fee. The customer service representative said that, "We understand you should get a refund because Zipcar has stopped providing service, however, as per our policy, we can not issue a refund." In the end, they registered my complaint but it has been over 2 weeks and I have not received any response from them. Be careful doing business with fraud companies with a ** policy.

I have deactivated my account as of Aug 2021. They have charged me again $38.20 for July 2022. Seems like it is big scam for subscribers. Please be mindful of any charges after deactivating the account.

I use(d) Zipcar because I don't have a car for an extended period and my work is primarily event-based, art/street markets/etc. I booked my latest event and booked a car a month plus in advance, and they cancelled my car about an hour and a half before I was scheduled to pick it up due to "unforeseen circumstances" and "We apologize for any inconvenience or frustration, this situation could have caused," as if I was just planning an outing to the beach or wanted to go ~*~shopping~*~ or something, and the agent I reached when I called customer service treated me like I was stupid and just didn't check if the payment had gone through (a month ago).

I made an account specifically for this review, I'm that upset with them. I applied to join, got rejected after 4 days of review. At no point in the review did they contact me requesting clarification or documents. They then rejected my application citing (erroneously) that my license expired. When I called customer support to point out this mistake and tell them my license hadn't expired and I could drive from another 2 years, they admitted it was a mistake and still said their decision was still 'final and irreversible'. You can't reapply, you can't appeal, and they don't care. This company is committed to being wrong, even in the face of their own objective legal errors.

I reopened my account then requested a new card. Needless to say no cards was sent and Somehow I was not able to sign in to my account few days after of requesting. Then I saw on my bank account Zipcar charging me. Worst part is talking to the responsibles on the phone. Every time I call they put me on hold and takes an hour then the person would say He will let the other department know about my cancellation request then they do nothing! Last person I spoke even told me he cannot do anything about cancellation and no for paying my money back for a service I never used. At this point this become very fishy and wanted to first share here to see if any reaction.

REAL AND ONGOING STORY 07/13/2022 - reserved a 7-seat passenger van - went there found the vehicle damaged - customer service asked me to Uber to this very far location where they only have a 5-seat SUV available - went there but cannot find the vehicle - customer service told me it's parked elsewhere and I had to go there - They charged me $696 for this 3-day trip and I asked for fair compensation for this defective product/service - After multiple phone calls over long time they offered me only $25 of credit and still had not reimbursed me for the gas and Uber which they are supposed to be responsible to begin with. OUTRAGEOUS, NOT ACCEPTABLE, AND INSULTING.

The car that I reserved had no fuel in the car - in fact, the gas light went on after I drove it for 2 avenue blocks. I submitted a photo of the low fuel and had to re-route my trip to get to a gas station. In the meantime, I called customer service to make sure that I reported the severity of the issue - I waited 20 minutes before a customer service rep got on the phone. He didn't speak clearly and his connection was delayed and extremely lagged. After spending the first 45-minutes of my car reservation getting to a gas station instead of getting right on the highway, I asked for a reasonable credit for the time that I spent to fuel the car that should have had at least 1/4 tank. And there was no gas card in the car either.

This company accepted my membership promptly. They have charged me my membership, monthly fees yet never sent me my membership card. No email responses at all. Three calls to cancel and been transferred to a supervisor that goes nowhere. They have stolen money by charging me without receiving my membership. I was told I should call them, they receive many emails. In calling tonight, I just get continuous runaround.

This occurred 7/5/22, Placed an order. Car location was moved, from 2 miles to where I live to 10 miles. - Okay I understand. Pick up the car. it has dents all over. Smells like Marijuana, and the AC doesn't work. During my trip. I call to extend as I'm running late (forgot the person's name). Person I spoke to advise, sure we can extend, to charge $10 more. End the trip. I still get slapped with a $50 late fee. I call customer service, spoke to Antonio. Advises he'll work on waiving the the fee. Sees notes, says person I spoke to advised me of the late fee still. Will not waive it at all. I mentioned all of the issues with the car... Offer's 5 free minutes of drive time. Antonio Advises he contacted supervisors, they agree with the fee. Clearly, they lack integrity of service.

DO NOT USE THIS APP OR SERVICE! They rejected my application because I renewed my license recently and it only shows 6 months of driving. I am 61 years old and have been driving for 40+ years. But how do I prove it? They refuse to refund my application fee. I wonder how much money they make from taking fees and rejecting the application? DO NOT USE!

On June 28th, 2022, I was looking for a rental car and thought Zipcar could help me. I had to sign up for membership because it was the only way I could see if I could get a car. It cost me $28.25CDN and found out within 2 hours that I could not get one so I tried to cancel my membership to save the money/charge. It would not allow me to cancel the membership so I called Customer Service and they were useless. She told me that they cannot refund me my money because they have to pay a third party company to process the membership. I said that I was not able to rent a car so why would they charge me. She kept telling me she understood, but never provided a solution.

Do not book with this company, their service is unacceptable and their protocols are mindless and not consumer-friendly. Rented a car for a whole day for important plans but upon pick-up it had a flat tire and no spare, customer service said that due to it being during my reservation time it is my responsibility to stay with the car until the roadside assistance arrives instead of simply offering me another car. The ETA of 45-minutes became 5 hours, still no calls or updates, and they threatened that if I leave the car in its parking spot to go home they'll charge me the full amount of the towing and service. They have offered no other alternatives and have not given me a refund for my booking or compensated me for the day I wasted. Do not use this company as they will not offer help and intimidate you for asking for basic services.

The car I rented on Memorial Day weekend had a bulge in the front tire and I was not going to take it on the highway to the bbq party I was attending! I waited on hold for customer service for half an hour and they asked me to use the app to find an alternate vehicle (obviously there were none given the holiday weekend) but they refused to refund me the $200 charge for the undrivable car!!!! To make matters worse, the customer service rep told me to take alternate transport and they would reimburse me, so I took an Uber for $140, thinking they would pay for it. Well now they are refusing to reimburse that as well!!! They are CHEATERS!!! Stay AWAY!!

I have been a Zipcar member for 15 years and the customer service and the condition of the cars are getting worse. On 5 separate occasions in the past 4 months, the car is not the designated location or it is filthy and smells of cigarette smoke. The wait to reach a customer service rep is getting longer and I know more about their process than the rep. I DO NOT RECOMMEND Zipcar unless you have no other mode of transportation.

Would have given zero stars if I could. They asked me to fill in my credit card details and were supposed to charge me only a monthly fee of $7.91 but I saw unfamiliar charges on my credit card without renting a vehicle. When I called, was told it was the application fee and they refused to reimburse me despite my telling them I wasn't informed about of these charges. A second time I called, the lady at customer service first promised to offer me a credit then said she had made a mistake and couldn't do that. Have never heard of something like this where a company would lie to a customer or go back on their word. I'm now afraid they'll sell my information because all they seem to care about is making a quick buck.

I rejoined Zipcar because I needed a car right away to attend a function. I decided to book the Zipcar for one day. I pick the Zipcar up and drove to and from the function, which a long of a drive. After the returning home from the function, I went to a local grocery store just minutes from my home and after that, I went straight home and didn't drive the Zipcar until the next day...the day I was scheduled to return the vehicle. That next day, I drove the Zipcar to a local gas station only minutes from my home. Even though the gas tank was between the 1/4 and 1/2 tank mark, I wanted to be courteous for the next driver scheduled to use the Zipcar after I turn it. After putting gas in the tank, I drove straight to the Zipcar location returning the Zipcar on time. I used my app to end the trip, which showed...what I thought was my final billing.

When I first started using Zipcar, it was easy to overlook the occasional dirty car that smelled like weed or didn't drive properly. Beware – the more you use this service, the more you learn that cleanliness and professionalism are not the standard, but the exception. My last few rentals have been completely filthy, and customer service is not useful because you can expect to wait 30 minutes to an hour even if you are currently on a rental. If you have places to be and value your time, this way of doing business is unacceptable.

ZipCar is unreasonable and awful. Be warned. I applied to the cost of £10 (about $12.50). Checked all the requirements. No tickets, no fines, safe driver, UK license since 2004. I was confident I'd get approved. After a few days I was told my application was turned down, they keep the money and - no - they do not have to tell me why my application was turned down. I asked them to reconsider, re-look at my application and I was confident a human would see I should be approved. A week later I was told via email my application would not be approved by the appropriate department and they were keeping the non-refundable application fee. They take the money, and give no reason. Because they say they can. Totally not right.

I am so frustrated and dissatisfied with Zipcar’s service and reliability. Since March 2022, I have used their service to get to school from Seattle to Bellevue once a week. Of the 6 times I needed mobility, only two worked without problems. Here is my experience: The cars were not in the assigned parking lot two times, even though I booked them one week in advance. Once, I was assigned to a different vehicle than the one I had booked previously without further information on the reasons. Additionally, it was almost out of gas.

Be careful with ZIP CAR that they take your $28.25 every time you apply. And it is NOT REFUNDABLE. AND THE FEE IS JUST FOR REVIEWING THE APPLICATION. (1) They only advertise their service when you become a member; there is not enough information or notices about reviewing your status if you will be qualified or not. (2) It is sole their decision whether you will be qualified to use the service or not. When you call and ask them about disqualification, they will keep saying your application review is just "rejected." (3) And it is NOT REFUNDABLE funds. Moreover, you will have to pay another $28.25 if you want to submit another application later.

ZIPCAR IS THE WORST. I remember when it was a great company... But now, service is HORRIFIC, the software DOESN'T WORK, tech support is by email only (no more help by phone), and if you have a technical support issue, nobody gets back to you for WEEKS. The latest example: We had an incident in a car (scraped some paint). Zipcar SUSPENDED our membership and said we had to file an incident report. But the incident report system is BROKEN. After a week, a tech replied to my call for help by saying 'we're aware of the issue'. Meanwhile, I'm told the incident can take 2 months to resolve -- but only after I submit the report, which I can't submit because the website is broken. Meanwhile, all my family members have been removed from my account. We're kind of desperate now, and there's no help in sight...

Zipcar is the worst company ever. It’s always an issue and they never take responsibility and the customer service people is just as worst. It’s always the same people with the same attitude. Horrible!!

I have been a Zipcar member in Toronto since 2014. This company has been going down the drain for the last three to four years. Customer Service waits are horrible - waiting for 45 minutes to speak to a person about a problem with a one hour rental - on a recent occasion. Rates increasing without notice; problems with the app.; cars that are booked that do not start when you arrive to pick them up. This last problem happens at least one out of every four rentals now. I can no longer rely on the cars to be in good working condition. When I report it, nothing changes. I am on hold right now to cancel my membership and am now 52:34 minutes in on hold. They have bilked me for long enough. Enterprise Carshare here I come.

I arrived at the garage to pick up the ZipCar, the staff at the garage kept saying the car was't working and insisted that I called ZipCar to change the car. I asked him what's wrong with the car but he refused to tell me, just kept saying that the car didn't work. He started helping other customers and ignored me. I called ZipCar and put on hold for 10min before I could talk to a representative. While I was waiting, I asked the staff if he could just switch the location instead of having me called because I had an appointment to go to. He said no and I had to talk to ZipCar. After he finished helping all other customers, he said he's going to check on the car. When I finally got on the line with a ZipCar representative, he brought the car out and said the car was actually working. Because I was in a hurry, I just hung up the phone. It was 20min late from my original pickup time.

What a pathetic company. The customer service is horrible, they'll suspend your account without warning and they don't seem to care about quick resolutions. The cars are normally dirty and smell like weed. The cars are usually returned without gas so you'll have to spend time filling the tank. Other drivers are always late returning cars so you'll be waiting forever for your reservation.