November 2019 by Erica M C.
Bottom line: Zipcar saves me from having to own a car in a city where owning a car is expensive and inconvenient. It's funny. One of the reviewers, Bobby N. did an extremely nice--and accurate--job of listing what he considers the pros and cons. Yet the price that he considers super expensive, I consider super reasonable. Compared to all the costs and hassle associated with owning a car, from any payments, to gas, to registering, to parking (!!), to washing, to maintaining, Zipcar is a steal. I'm guessing Bobby N.'s needs (frequency, duration) are different than mine. I only need a car for a few hours a couple times a month. I also love the convenience of going to a spot very near my house, which happens to be very near a university campus.That said, I've taken Zipcar on trips out of town lasting several days and been very happy with the price I've paid compared to regular rentals. For me, the threshold is one week. At one week, a regular rental is the better deal. You have to keep in mind all the hidden fees with the regular rental, whereas Zipcar shines in TRANSPARENCY. You know exactly what your Zipcar rental costs, and you can cancel until just a few hours ahead. I love that FLEXIBILITY also.If you don't like being held accountable for rigid policies and rules, Zipcar is not* for you. Some people would rather lose a limb than commit to returning a car exactly on time or early. My solution--I'll just be honest--is to always book the car 30 minutes longer than I think I'll need it. That way I never have to sweat the $50 late fee. Has the experience been perfect? No. Cars are not always perfectly clean. I've had some trouble using the gas card at times. Of course, if the person before me is late or parks the car some weird place, as has happened once or twice, then, well, the car won't be where it's supposed to when it's supposed to. Customer service is fine, but they aren't magicians who can fix cars at a distance or move cars from one location to another out of thin air. Maybe don't use Zipcar for an important job interview.Obviously, Zipcar also isn't well suited when you don't know when you'll be finished doing whatever you are doing. You might be able to extend your reservation, but not if someone else reserves for right after you, and you have no way of controlling that. For casual tasks that aren't super time-sensitive, Zipcar is perfect. So much stress avoided!To me, Zipcar is a godsend. I use it for things like grocery shopping, medical appointments, going back and forth to storage. Great service!**Special little technical section regarding insurance. Even though I don't own a car, because I rent Zipcar, I maintain Medical Payments coverage on my auto insurance. That additional coverage provides me a certain dollar amount per person per accident for me and/or my passengers to get medical care if we need it due to an accident. It covers me no matter what car I'm driving or driven in by friends or family, whereas I would NOT be covered in rideshare. Unless you have really stunning medical insurance, I recommend this option with your auto insurance, and I recommend staying away from rideshare. Medical Payments coverage is not expensive, and it is also NOT available as an option through Zipcar itself.Then personally, I spring to pay the extra $75 or whatever per year with Zipcar for the damage waiver so I don't have to worry about covering costs associated with damaging the car in an accident. And of course I drive carefully.
August 2019 by C Z.
tl;dr zipcar lost lawsuit for double charging customer. Neglects customer, defies court. Thinks it's above the law.Story: Feb 2019 I had a truck kicking up gravel that cracked the windshield of my zipcar on freeway. Upon reporting, Zipcar's insurance company, Sedgwick Claims sent me a bill for $445, which is under the deductible. I paid. Shortly after, zipcar also deducted the same amount from my credit card. Therefore I paid twice for the same accident.I have called Zipcar 9 times over the course of 5 months to report this double-charge. Every time was promised their customer support would reach out to me to resolve. Never happened.I have since filed a lawsuit against zipcar, Boston municipal court rules in my favor given all evidence, and orders zipcar to pay full amount plus my legal fees. Yet after 2 more months and 2 court visits- Not only zipcar as defendant never showed up, but they also failed to pay me back in full. The suit continues and we expect to send the sheriff over to their office at some point.This should give everyone considering doing business a fair warning about them. Not only they don't give two hoots about their customers. They do not give a damn about court ruling, or the law.