Zipcar

Most Recent Comments

• February 2023 by Michael R.
  Cars, what cars?I wanted to know what cars were available before signing up for the service. Where are they? Are they convenient to me and my location?Good luck infinding out.
• November 2022 by Sierra H.
  Absolutely ZERO stars. The absolute worst experience with a rental agency. Ever. Background: I used to use Zipcar under a company account ages ago and remember having a decent experience (this was like a decade ago). So when I knew I was going to be traveling soon and in need of a car for the day I decided I'd re-subscribe. The approval process went smoothly and everything seemed fine until it was actually time to book. On the day I needed a car I saw a ton available and for fine rates - the only issue was that I literally couldn't book one. Every time I attempted to book I received an error message asking me to update my payment info. I went through 7 different credit and debit cards, and each one received the same error. This is when I got concerned - maybe something happened - have I been hacked and my accounts drained? I logged in to find plenty of funds available (as I thought). Ok - it must be some kind of fraud alter then. I called the banks. Nope they said that the charges weren't being declined by the bank. In fact they couldn't even see the transactions being attempted to be processed. Meaning the Zipcar system was failing before even attempting the transaction. I called zipcar and explained what was going on. At first they seemed like they were being helpful, but I found that I had to repeat exactly what happened a good 10 times and I was just getting what seemed like a script repeated to me. Eventually they tried to book the same car from their end and also got the same message. No one could explain what was going on. I went through a new questionnaire answering the exact same questions I already had answered. "Is your card valid" - YES "Have you received any back payments" - NO "Did you use a credit or debit card" BOTH "how many times did you attempt the transaction "At least 10 with 7 different cards" "Does you bank have a block on your card" - NO. I then got transferred to another person who I then had to explain the same story to AGAIN, and they said they were going to submit a ticket to the technician because now I was locked out of my account from too many attempts and I'd probably hear from them within an hour, but could be 3-5 business days. So much for my day plans. I went on about my afternoon and guess what - my cards worked perfectly everywhere else. Today (4 days later) I opened my email and got a message that the ticket was "solved". They claimed that my bank declined the card due to insufficient funds and now my account was to be suspended until the fees I owed are paid. No comments about the fact that I tried 7 cards from 3 different banks. AND the exact opposite information I received from my banks and from the previous representatives I spoke to. So, next I login to my account to see what I supposedly owed. Guess what - all transactions were marked as paid and there were no outstanding fees WHATSOEVER. But, because they marked the ticket as solved, I literally couldn't reply to anyone about it or let them know that I'd already discussed with my bank etc. I called the Zipcar line again, and was then on the phone for a solid hour going through the EXACT same steps as I already did days prior and was told "we'll need to start a ticket". There was absolutely no sense that anyone was TRULY listening at all because they just kept asking the same questions and couldn't even understand that I was following up on a previous ticket not having NEW booking issues today. Eventually, their advice was to "just ignore the email" about my account being suspended and try again next time. I asked them what I'm supposed to do because I'm paying a monthly subscription for something I can't even use because the bookings are declined no matter what I do. No one had absolutely ANY idea how to fix the account, they just kept telling me to call my bank and try a new booking. They didn't care that I already had spoken with the bank. They didn't care that I had well
• October 2022 by Amanda W.
  ZERO STARS This was the worst car rental experience and any service experience of my life. TLDR: we were locked out of the car for hours with our stuff inside. We almost missed our train home. They had to sent a lock pick and a tow to move the car. The car was disgusting inside too. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM. I'd planned a day trip to Seattle with my dad (74) for some time. We've had our share of hardships and I wanted to take him on a day trip to Seattle. Something to get him out of the house and help take his mind off things. Anyway... we took the train in and reserved a car in the city for when we arrived. The moment we get to the car, it was pretty gross inside. It was vacuumed sure, but the chairs were stained and there was gunk caked up in almost every compartment and crevice. First there were issues even getting out of the garage. There were no parking passes or any instructions on how to leave a paid parking garage. Once we figured it out, we were relieved to just get our trip started. Next, we drove to a standard, underground parking garage. Didn't think anything of it. I used the door lock to lock the car instinctively (normal thing to do) then realized I needed something out of the car. The app wouldn't unlock the car. I don't have a card because as it's advertised on their site, "You can start right away! Unlock the car with your phone! NBD! You don't need the card!". We we're immediately locked out of the car with all our belongings trapped inside. There wasn't service in the garage so the Bluetooth connection didn't work to unlock the car. I had to take the elevator outside to call for help. I was between phone support and their chat services. We spent hours going back and fourth with customer service, elevators up and down from the car, to get help. Finally, (again, after hours) they decided to send both a lock pick and a tow truck to the car. They said the lock pick would get there in 45 and the tow truck would take an hour and a half. We would miss our train home which was the last train home if we waited for the tow. The lock pick guy showed up in 10 mins because he was in the area and broke into the car so we could get our belongings out. We ended up having to abandon the car in the garage because there wasn't a way to start it without service. Zipcar even said to abandon the car. My dad (74) and myself had to walk through the city back to the train station to go back home. Our trip was supposed to be full of food, museums, and just hanging out with my dad, not thinking about awful things. Instead we took a train to get locked out of a car for 5 hours, then went back home. The issues we had are not one-off issues. They've experienced this before. Read the other reviews (I was foolish and didn't). THIS IS NORMAL FOR THEM. MASSIVE OVERSIGHT. Our entire trip was spent dealing with Zipcar. Do not rent from them. It's a terrible service. I regret every second. I can't believe how bad of a company this is. Do. Not. Rent from them. Even the lock pick guy said to not rent from them. Terrible terrible time. Truly. Also, my dad tried to sign up first. They immediately rejected him, didn't tell him why, and didn't issue a refund for the application fee. He has a clean driving record, excellent driver, doesn't have any conditions, is a TOTAL SWEETIE, has drivers insurance, a normal drivers license... insane. We're convinced it was age discrimination. He asked for a reason, they didn't give him any. They only refunded the fee when he suggested age discrimination. Looking forward to watching this company go out of business. Hope their employees can find some other place to work.
• April 2022 by Michelle A.
  I wanted a car for a day so it was pretty easy get one. I took a taxi to the location to get the car and that's when it when to hell. They don't tell you that their Bluetooth system doesnt support international phone numbers (Australian anyway) so I wasn't able to get into the car . I ended stranded at a dodgy car park on my phone for an hour, their customer service was surprisingly fast and responsive. He tried telling me I was out of cellular data but I could see other devices and networks around me so it wasn't that. Anyway he refunded my credit card then and there, hence 3 stars.
• February 2022 by Ovid B.
  Do not use this rental company They advertise immediate account approval. So, I signed up to rent a car for a trip. I was charged an application fee, an annual membership fee and an annual insurance fee. However, my account was not approved immediately. It took many days for approval, thus leaving me unable to rent a car from them for my trip. They went ahead and charged me $155 anyways for a service they failed to provide. Rent from someone else
• December 2021 by Daniel J.
  Complete joke. It started with an app that wouldn't work on data, and that took about a year for them to fix. The cars often don't work and support always takes at least 20-30 minutes to get your reservation changed (then are super stingy about giving you that time back). Then there is the gas situation--they often don't fill up the cars, so you have a one-hour reservation for a quick errand, and you have to spend 25% of that time getting gas so you avoid the penalty. The cars are often dirty, and it's clear Zipcar doesn't inspect them regularly. More recently, they randomly started charging me for a tax I'm exempt from (and other carsharing apps don't charge); support has been worthless in even reading my emails, let alone fixing the problem. Now that another carsharing service is available in Portland, I'm giving Zipcar one month to clean up their game, then I'm canceling my membership. 2 years of membership=2 years of hell.
• October 2021 by Libby B.
  Zipcar works well as long as you never run into any trouble that requires them to answer promptly. You can call customer service number a thousand times, they will give you the run around and tell you to wait a few more weeks but you will never hear back regarding your concerns. Highly DO NOT RECOMMEND this service. Definitely DO NOT rely on this service as your mode of transportation to work.
• September 2021 by Don P.
  Contacted zip car to get adress to return the rental to tried to rent it for an additional 24 hrs 14 phone calls my credit card info 7 emails 12 text messages and no adress to return car to wife rented vehicle got put in nospital and I can't get an address to return vehicle so I get locked out of it and they spend $$ to come tow it oh and keep all our personal property that was in it aswell makes sense good way to do business.customer service lyers thieves.W T F.see you in small claims.shoulda just rented one of my two getarounds.
• July 2021 by Jay P.
  Honestly, I have been using zipcar for years. I had it as a student and I loved it. However, over the past few years it's gone downhill. The sole reason for this is that there are never any cars to rent, especially on the weekends. There are new car sharing services that are not only available whenever you want, but allow you up to 400 miles per trip (not 250). They are cheaper for the day rate as well. The old day rate for Zipcar's used be be way more affordable. They were around $60 sometimes. Now, they're over 95+. The new car sharing services are $81 for a whole day for 400 miles and even cheaper for multi day. Now this isn't a "who does it best", but it really shows that Zipcar has begun to lose its hold on the market. They won't let you do one-way rides as Car2go used to do. Honestly I do want to still use Zipcar because the hourly rates are cheaper but there aren't any cars- at all. Downtown is always booked. Also, having to use your rental time to wait at a gas station? I loved ya Zipcar but can only rent from you when I'm in dire need, probably not even then because they'll be booked. Hope to see more cars in the future and hopefully revise my review in the future.
• June 2021 by Denise H.
  Luckily, we drove the car under 5 miles from our hotel in downtown Portland. We were about to drive to the mountains, after breakfast, but the car wouldn't start. Apparently, I misread the hours I requested the car for, the hour past that it was reserved for, so the car shut down and couldn't be restarted. They tried remotely. It's been over an hour since we tried to start the car to return it. We are held hostage with the car until zip car manager callls back. They have to get the car towed we were last told. Asked if we could leave the car to allow us to rent from another company to save our day trip.....they will call back and let us know.....so disappointing. Just signed up today and will be canceling as soon as this fiasco is over.
• April 2021 by Cherie V.
  trash. i was 4 minutes late returning the car because i was sick from the covid vaccine and even then the app wouldn't let me return the car so i was charged $50. customer service said none of these are valid reasons for not returning the car right on time.
• December 2020 by Paulie M.
  Zipcar cancelled my 2:00 pm reservation at 1:58. Not only that but they rebooked me to a vehicle that was more than 3 miles away for the same time without confirming if that vehicle would work for me!
• July 2020 by Maggie S.
  I have been on hold with zip car for 30 minutes for like the fifth time I have called. They are impossible to get ahold of. They charged me a bunch of "misc fees" and I called months ago to get them removed which they said they would do and they never did. I cannot use my zip car account until the fees are removed. I have also been trying to get my account changed from a regular account to a student account and they also said they would take care of that and it's been months and nothing... do they even have customer service reps??? So frustrating.
• November 2019 by Roger M.
  I live on Mississippi which is a pretty densely populated neighborhood. there is only one Zipcar in the entire neighborhood and that is used most of the time. The nearest car for me after that is over a mile away. Sometimes the app doesn't work and won't unlock your car. Unlike Cars 2 Go, do you have to bring the car back in the exact same spot you picked it up in so I have to walk a fair amount to even get a car. They really need to get more cars.
• November 2019 by Carlos G.
  This is a review for the CS team of Zipcar. I have been a member since 2015 and in recent years any Issue that I can't resolve via the app and have to call it in has been pretty bad. This one today has to do with my replacement card that I order on 10/16/19, it is now 11/15/19 and no card. I called and ask for a tracking number or if I can pay to expedite the card, but neither services is offered. When I talked to the manager he did apologize for the inconvenience and tried to mitigate as much as possible. At the end I still didn't get the support I wanted and needed. I now have to wait from 3-7 business days and with the holidays in two weeks and the fact that it's shipping from the East cost I'm sure I won't get it as promptly.