Zipcar
Is This Your Business?2.0
2.8
Overall Score
Author: Kaitlyn Short
LAST UPDATED: April 10th, 2022
Zipcar began providing rental cars with hourly and daily rates in Boston, Massachusetts in 2000. Zipcars are now available at hundreds of US locations in 43 states and Washington DC. As an alternative to owning a car, a sharing program is a step up for those who want more autonomy than provided by ride-shares like Uber and Lyft, and the ability to keep to their own schedule and avoid the crowds on public transit.
To join, each Zipcar member must pay a one-time application fee and choose between the option of a per month or per year membership fee. Drivers must be 21 or older unless joining a university-affiliated program at one of 570+ US campuses where college students age 18-20 will also be accepted. A valid driver's license and approved driving record are also needed.
Once you receive your Zipcard in the mail (in 3-7 days), you can start reserving and renting vehicles. Hourly and daily vehicle rates are available and vary per vehicle. Occasional trip and commuter options, as well as one-way rentals, are offered.
Keep reading for pros and cons, plus Zipcar reviews from real customers.
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The Good
- Availability
- Reservations
- Insurance
- Features and Fees
Availability
Zipcar is one of the largest car-sharing companies in the world. Zipcar currently operates in ten countries and 43 U.S. states. Within the United States, they have vehicles available in 350+ cities and on 570+ college campuses, making it easy to rent a car for an appointment, trip, or errands. You just pick it up and drop it off in a specially marked Zipcar parking spot at an appointed lot location. This service is convenient for college students and those who are looking to avoid the costs of car ownership, whether for financial or environmental reasons.
For example, in Los Angeles alone, there are approximately 18 Zipcar rental locations. In each of these locations, there are 1-25 cars in the lot available for use.
View Car Sharing Providers By Location
Reservations
Drivers can reserve Zipcars for a minimum of 1 hour and a maximum of 14 days. Customers can drive Zipcars for a max of 180 miles for every 24-hour period you have the car. For any miles traveled over the 180-mile cap, there is a $.45 per mile charge.
With this sharing service, it's easy to reserve a car when you need it in advance or at the last minute. Book online through your account or via the free iPhone or Android apps. Once you go to find your rental car in one of the designated parking spots, you simply use your Zipcard to unlock the vehicle by holding it to the card reader on the car's windshield.
Insurance
Members receive insurance coverage as a part of their membership and fees. The coverage is a little different, depending on your age and when you joined.
All members under age 21 are covered by the minimum financial responsibility limits for the jurisdiction where an accident occurs.
For members age 21 and up:
- Members who joined August 1, 2018, or later will receive liability coverage up to the minimum financial limits in the state where an accident occurs.
- For members who joined March 1, 2015, through July 31, 2018, a 100/300/25 plan is in place. Members will pay $1,000 deductible fee in damages per incident. The main insurance coverage Zipcar provides is (100/300/25) third-party auto liability coverage:
- $100,000 in bodily injury per person
- $300,000 bodily injury maximum coverage
- $25,000 for property damage
- Members who joined prior to March 1, 2015, receive $300,000 combined single limit coverage per accident.
Features & Fees
Zipcar is part of the new "sharing economy" that is becoming widely popular and looked at by the media. Zipcar's fleet is available for use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users, if located in a service area, will be able to receive help and make reservations at any point in time. When you become a Zipcar member, the fees cover gas (via a gas card), insurance, and 24/7 roadside assistance at 1-866-4ZIPCAR for customer service if you have a problem.
Zipcar also offers a 30-day trial for new customers. If you decide the service is not for you, they refund the membership fee (but not the application fee).
The approximate price for service in participating locations breaks down as follows:
- A one-time application fee of $25
- A membership fee of
- $7+ monthly fee for the aptly named Monthly Plan, or
- $70 annual fee for the Occasional Driving Plan, or
- A special pre-paid Extra Value Plan is available in certain cities, offering a prepaid amount each month towards your membership and vehicle rental fees.
- Vehicles cost about $9+ per hour or $73+ per day to rent. (You can reserve for as little as 1 hour or up to 14 days.)
- Late fees start at $50, plus another $50 for every hour you are late.
- If you drive more than 180 miles during a 24 hour period, you will be charged $0.45 each for additional vehicle miles traveled.
The Zipcar mobile app was named one of the 50 best iPhone apps for 2011 by Time Magazine. Today, many people find the app easy-to-use, but a little plain.
The Bad
- Additional Fees
- Limitations
Additional Fees
As a non-traditional car rental service, if members need to use a Zipcar frequently for entire days, the price can get expensive. Additionally, if you go over 180 miles in one day, they start to add on charges by the mile. The overall costs have kept some from using Zipcar.
If you are planning on renting a car for a full day or an extended trip, the rates may exceed standard car rental rates available from a daily rate rent-a-car company like Avis Budget, Enterprise or Hertz.
A Zipcar membership allows you an easy rental process and way to unlock the car that traditional rental companies don't have. So, you will have to decide whether the ease and familiarity with your Zipcar carshare are more important than the full-day prices available at other companies specializing in full-day rather than hourly rate plans. You may just want to double-check before leaving on a week-long trip.
Limitations
When you use Zipcar, the only features available include:
- Gas
- Roadside Assistance
Zipcar offers a variety of brands and models to drive, but that doesn't mean a customer will be able to rent them. The styles they offer include convertibles, cargo vans, hatchbacks, compact, minivans, suburbans, hybrids, luxury cars, and other premium vehicles. For instance, in L.A. there are 34 models that you can choose from whereas other cities have fewer options. If you want to drive a specific make or model, you can use the site or the Android or iPhone app to browse by model or style.
The Bottom Line
With Zipcar's wide reach in the US and easy vehicle accessibility with the Zipcard membership card, allowing you to skip the rental counter, purchasing a membership is a good investment if it is available in your area.
As well, if you are able to commit to an annual membership payment plan, you save about 15 percent by paying up front.
Locals who occasionally need to drive for errands or a commute will definitely benefit from using the Zipcar app. If you are interested in car sharing, we definitely recommend Zipcar.
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Elana Blum Brooklyn, NY
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...
4 years ago
Kamilla Y New York, NY
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.
I ended up extended my trip for 30min on the App to 4:30pm. I returned to the garage, there's a line. I waited in line until a lady came over. She kept yelling and asked me to open the trunk. I didn't know how to. She walked around the car a few times then left. I waited in the car until a guy gestured that I could leave the car. I left the car and forgot the end the trip on the ZipCar app until 5 min later.
ZipCar charged me for the extra time and a $50 late fee. I called to explain the situation, the lady said I should've called ZipCar right away when situations happened, so they would refund me the time I lost while waiting to pick up the car. Well, it's my first time using the service. They refused to refund the $50 late fee. I didn't even bother to ask for the refund of the wasted time at pickup! Terrible customer service, unreliable pickup, a lot of fees and surcharges. cars are super dirty!
4 years ago
Mark Frazier Baltimore, MD
I started using Zipcar as a temporary solution to my personal car breaking down. With me being a single parent and working full time, i needed transportation; for my childs daycare and for me to get to work and back, so i usually have a full day rental, if not extended longer. On 3 occasions zipcar has charged me for tolls that i was nowhere near at the time. When i call to dispute, all they have done is take a claim and tell me to wait 3-5 business days for a resolution. Today 11/01/2021 is business day number 6, I called, and they told me to wait 3-5 additional days. There is nobody i can speak to about the matter and its frustrating because Im in a bind where using their service is the best and cheapest option I have.
4 years ago
Tori Hidalgo New York, NY
Zipcar moved my reservation from a location I chose because it's 6 blocks away from me to a location over 30 blocks away. I didn't see the email notification (that was sent at 1AM) until I was walking out the door to pick up my car. I was over 30 minutes late to the race I rented the car to run. Had to pay $50 to change my race time.
And to top it off, the new car was absolutely filthy with trash, cigarette ash, and CLOTHES left behind. The INSIDE of the windshield was so dirty, it was blurry to look out of. There was also no washer fluid. I've been a Zipcar member for many years now and have noticed a significant decline in vehicle quality. I just cancelled my membership after an equally disappointing customer service experience.
Don't waste your money. The monthly fee is clearly not going to vehicle maintenance. Ever notice how there's no reviews on their website? There's a reason for that! If you ask to leave a review, they tell you to reply with a pdf of your review - which I'm sure goes straight into the garbage.
5 years ago
Elizabeth Bishop Cambridge, MA
I have moved houses with zipcar successfully one time in the past, so I tried to book with them again. Unfortunately, this time around, they reassigned my vehicle (I originally booked a 3 row minivan and they re-assigned me to a 2 row crossover) and did not inform me. 6 days before my move, I checked my account and found out about this. I called the company, and they were not able to find me a comparable 3 row car and told me they would refund me so I could book somewhere else. However, they are now refusing to refund my application fee (after two calls and over 1 hour of my time on the phone with customer service), even though I never would have applied to use their services if I knew they did not have a suitable car available! I would not recommend this company to anyone.
5 years ago
MC315 Brooklyn, NY
This service is mediocre, but convenient if you need a car with any frequency. That's the best I can say about it. My first issue is with the 'Download and Drive' marketing that makes it seem like you just need a license and boom, you can rent a car the same day you need one. False. You need to wait 3-5 business days before your account is approved. My second issue is the first time I rented a Zipcar, it was not at all clean and when I was late (my bad) THEY TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE. I was a 10 minute drive from the return site, on my way to return the car, and the vehicle would not start because they had remotely disabled it. I had to call AND be charged an extra half hour on top of the late fee just to drive it a mile to its lot. My third issue I have with it is that the second time I rented a Zipcar, there was no gas card. So either I couldn't use it for the full time I needed it or trust them (no way) to reimburse my gas I put into it. Customer service is a joke; the people are friendly enough but you can tell they are forced to regurgitate the same BS without actually helping you. Don't trust it, just get a rental elsewhere.
5 years ago
Quentin Alexandre New York, NY
This is a dishonest company. Stay away.
I hold a Driver License from both New York State and my home country in France. Accordingly I meet the requirements for membership with Zipcar. (I've rented car with regular car rental company and never encountered an issue). Yet, Zipcar denied my application for membership and told me I could not reapply - even though they said I meet the requirement with my non-us driver license. I asked to cure the problem by resubmitting my non-us driver license and they refuse. More, they refused to issue a refund for the membership fees. This is nothing else than a consumer fraud and their customer service just awful. Stay away from this company, very dishonest company.
5 years ago
Review Source
vicky Chantivong Wichita, KS
if I can give this place no stars I would. I do not write bad reviews but this one really needed it. I'm from Kansas and my destination is Oregon. I have two dogs in the car with me. I stop at a rest area and as I'm about to leave my car does not turn back on, come to find out my battery is dead. I had to wait over night to call this place to get a jump or a tow from them. once it hit morning they said they would send someone out, I waited 6 HOURS in 90+ degree heat with my pets in my car. window would not roll down and car would not start. I had to ask someone else to help out instead because I just couldn't wait on them anymore. DO NOT GET SERVICE FROM THIS PLACE. Zipcar you are a disappointment.
5 years ago
Nico Notting Hill Gate, KEC
I have been a Zipcar user for over 6 years now. Their website is constantly broken and their customer service is more than pathetic. They have recently notified me of a penalty charge notice, except they provided the council parking service with my previous address on their system. Despite the council confirming that Zipcar can indeed update them with the correct address, no, Zipcar customer support either does not reply or says it cant do anything. How am I suppose to pay a ticket that I have not received? They dont care. Zipcar is a tech disaster and they have lost a customer.
NEVER RENT from this company
5 years ago
Geoffrey Paterson Denver, CO
One of the worst customer service experiences of my life. NEVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. I booked a rental at Denver airport two months ahead of time. Two days before I was to leave I checked their app and my reservation was gone. I called them to ask about it and was told the car was no longer there, and they had no car available. I asked them when were they going to tell me, and that this really ruined my schedule, and was unacceptable, to which I was given a $12 credit for my troubles. So then I booked a ZipCar out of downtown Denver and caught a ride from the airport to pick it up there. The car was filthy. Trash all over the floor, seats horribly stained. Nonetheless I drove it for 3 hours and returned it, getting all but one item out of the car. When I looked inside and saw that I had left a dash clip for my cell phone in it I called them up asking them if they could open the door (they can do this remotely) just for a second to retrieve the item. As I waited 15 minutes in pouring rain I was told they couldn't open it as someone else had booked it for this time. As they were 20 minutes late I asked why they couldn't just open it for all of ten seconds to allow me to retrieve the item and I was again told they could not.
I never, ever plan to use this awful company again and I strongly urge others to do likewise.
5 years ago
scott poticha New York, NY
I was deeply disappointed after I reinstated my membership following 2 years of a hiatus. After renting a car that was filthy (cigarette ash everywhere inside the car) and smelled like marijuana, I reported the incident. The customer service rep on the phone was very sympathetic and given there was not another car available he offered to credit me the vehicle. Also worth noting the car was only filled half way with fuel and there was no gas card in the vehicle. After spending 25 minutes detailing the car myself I had to drive my family 2 hours in this vehicle. The following days afterwards I found out I was charged for the vehicle 3 times. There clearly was a mistake. When I inquired I was told that I was given credit and had to pay one of the charges, over two hundred dollars. Despite explaining the promise I received that the car would be credited and pointing out the mistake the company made in over charging me they would not budge. They happily charged me and also did hesitate to cancel my membership when I shared my disappointment and intention to cancel my membership. It was so very unprofessional and saddened me to think that this company would not do the right thing but instead seemed okay losing a customer, and worse, over a mistake they made.
5 years ago
M. M. De Los Olivos Salinas, CA
Used zipcar freshman year of college, as I did not have a car at the time. I am writing this as a senior and college and have have problems with the past few months due to billing. I haven't used zipcar for three years yet all of a sudden they hit me with a past due on a membership fee?? I tried to close my account (like I thought I had) and pay the balance, but just to get into my account they wanted me to renew and pay at minimum $75. I called and asked for the charge, that was seemingly out of no where, to be nulled. The person who helped said that he would get rid of the charge. I asked for a email conformation that stated that the past due notice had been waived, but he said that he couldn't do that because they didn't have my email (bs, and I even gave em mine and they refused to send me a email). The next morning after calling about the charge they send me a email (ironic, huh) saying that I still owe them money. Terribly shady company that seeks to milk every dime out of their customers. Seek out other alternatives. This has been a headache and at this point I'm afraid that due to this stupid charge, they will hurt my credit score.
5 years ago
tyler matts Boulder, CO
0 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WORST SERVICE EVER. I had a reservation at 2pm and when I arrived at the location, the car was nowhere to be found. I then received an email right before my pick up time, notifying me that my reservation was cancelled at the last minute for an unspecified reason. I called them and there was no other cars available. This incompetent company had no solution to a problem they created and now the customer is the only one to suffer. They then offered a refund and a pathetic amount of credit after voicing my frustrations. Thanks to Zipcar I missed an important event. Simply walking to your destination is better than having to go through zip car. Zip car is as reliable as the boy who cried wolf.
5 years ago
ND Croydon, CRY
Disgraceful company - beware of fraudulent charging!
First experience and truly woeful.
Parking bays not marked as zipcar use only so eventually found the vehicle a long way away - wasted time.
Returned and just managed to park in bay app suggested by convincing a kind person to move their car (again - only because unmarked).
Despite leaving the vehicle 5 mins before session end, was given a late penalty charge!! Now arguing (luckily have proof in form of uber receipt showing I left scene before session end - imagine if I didn't) but customer services are refusing to compensate.
Unethical and simply fraudulent. Would give zero stars if I could...
5 years ago
Markhv Alexandria, VA
Every experience with this company has either been frustrating, costly, or insulting.
Despite repeated calls to customer service to get the app functioning (i.e., being able to login), it was unusable. My membership card never arrived. When I asked to cancel and receive a refund, I was denied said refund. Their argument was that I did not contact them in sufficient time in order for them to address this properly. Well, I had to deal with my mother's death and father's ailing health. Do not make your technical, logistical, and customer service failures your customers' responsibility. They missed an opportunity to cultivate and keep a loyal customer. I will Zip on over to one
5 years ago
Hannah Sag Harbor, NY
I've been a member for 13 years and the customer service and condition of the cars has definitely deteriorated! When I picked up the car on Saturday at 1:30pm, it was filthy and smelled strongly of marijuana smoke. The left backseat appeared to be covered in mud that was hastily wiped up and had dried. The windshield was so filthy that I could not see properly. There was no windshield fluid to clean it. Despite the dirty condition, I kept my rental and drove 2 hours outside of NYC. One day later at 10:30am I went outside to drive the car. The car would not start. I immediately called zipcar and was put in touch with roadside assistance. They told me that she would send a technician to jumpstart the car after accusing me of doing something to the car which must have caused the problem. I requested that a new car be sent to me and was told that this was not possible. I finally got a call back from roadside assistance after being put on hold for an hour. They are supposed to arrive in an hour but I am not holding my breath. I am appalled by the customer service and lack of help while I am on the road! No refund - no back-up plan if the car does the same thing again - no sympathy or apologies! Zipcar has definitely gone down hill and I will be looking around for other options so I can cancel my membership!
5 years ago
Rob Brooklyn, NY
I've been a member for years and have seen a tremendous degradation in service. My last five rentals: 2 were changed by Zipcar the day before to locations that were very far from where I live so I had to cancel and couldn't go to the places I needed to go those two days. One the car wasn't returned by the previous renters and there was no other car in the neighborhood so I couldn't pick up my wife at the airport. 2 were fine - but with the same car - a dirty shirt on the back seat both times (one week apart) and no window washer fluid, which created dangerous driving in NY in the snow. Also - one of those times the car was buried under the snow and there's not even a brush or anything in the car that can be used to push off the snow, which I had to do by hand. I've finished with Zipcar. After years - I will not renew my membership.
5 years ago
Teddy Wong Columbus, OH
Poorly Maintained. No reimbursement of out of pocket expenses. Hidden fees.
Never use this service. There are better car share options, such as gigcar. If not, a commercial car rental is a better deal, and less hassle. I used this service once, but never again. On top of a monthly "membership fee" Zip car charges about $.50/minute, so overall a two hour trip cost me almost $100. It was difficult to find the car. Once I found the car, it was difficult to find the keys within the car (Finally I found them buried in a pocket of the middle console). Zipcar cuts corners by having the "members" do all of the maintenance on the cars, while they are paying for rental time, and will charge you a fee if the gas tank is under a certain amount.. So, I had to fill the tank while I was paying a by-the-minute rental fee. There is supposed to be a gas card in the visor. It was missing, so I paid out of pocket. Zipcar never reimbursed me for the gas I filled the tank with before returning the car. The inside of the car was gross. Someone left combs in the glovebox and garbage in the middle console. I called customer service to complain and close my account, and was told I would be reimbursed for gas and extra time used to fill the tank, clean the car, and find the keys. However I was ever reimbursed. Even worse, my account was never closed, and I have been billed $16 monthly ever since. This is a horrible service. Do not be fooled.
5 years ago
Chelsea Ziobro Astoria, NY
I was hoping to use zipcar to pick-up food on Christmas Eve. Everything I had read on the website said that I would be approved either immediately or in a few days. So I applied on December 14 without any worry that it would all work out.
When I hadn't heard back by December 18 I started to get concerned and called zipcar. The customer service representative told me that my application was pending but she didn't have any further information. I asked what the longest amount of time it could take was, and she said a few days or several weeks. I confused and not pleased by this answer. I also wanted to make sure that should I be approved I wouldn't have to wait for a physical zipcard to come but would be able to make a reservation through the app immediately. She said that I wasn't approved yet. I said that I understood that, but assuming that I were approved, could she answer my question. She said that she could not let me know that until I was approved. This was the end of the first call.
Having not received an email I called back on December 21. The woman on the other side of the phone told me that my status was still pending. I explained my situation and she said she would expedite my application.
Having still not received an email on December 23 I called again. The woman who assisted me said that I should be receiving an approval email with further instructions that evening and that I could reserve immediately through the app upon approval. I did not receive an email on December 23. I had to make last minute, expensive, stressful alternative arrangements for picking up my Christmas meal.
On December 28 I called again to request that my application be cancelled and my application fee be refunded to me. The man I spoke to said that my application needed additional information, namely a photo of my drivers license. Since I submitted a photo of the front and back of my license during the application process and NONE of the other three representatives I spoke to had mentioned that anything additional was need, I was incensed. He then proceeded to tell me that my application fee could not be refunded, but that he could send me an email that would help me continue the application process, which was a ridiculous thing to say considering that I went through my entire history with zipcar with him and expressed my extreme frustration and mistrust. I said again that I did not want to continue my application process and I would like my application fee refunded. He said that he put in the request for my refund and cancelled my application. But could not tell me when I would be hear from zipcar about the refund or how much they had charged me thus far (I wanted to make sure that the yearly fee had not yet been charged).
Three days after this call (December 31) I received an email apologizing that my application had taken so long. So CLEARLY the representative I had spoken to had not cancelled my application and had also not submitted for my refund. When I again asked for my application to be cancelled and for the refund of my application fee through email, my request was seen to and I received my refund. But the misinformation and lies I was fed were ridiculous.
5 years ago
Ryan Weiss Seattle, WA
Absolutely awful do not use this service at all. You need to unlock the car via an app but the car, not the app needs connection to the internet. Rented the car, picked it up no problem went about my trip and sure enough couldn't unlock the car via the app. Then when I called customer service they sent a truck out unlock the car so I could get my things but the car wouldn't start since it had no connection. Had to wait another 3 hours for a different tow truck to pick up the car only to be dropped off at a zip car depot 20 miles from my pickup location. Long story short a few hour car rental turned into an all night ordeal. Oh and to cap it all off they charged me for the entire time I was with the vehicle and will not refund me. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE!!
5 years ago
Shanelle N Ottawa, ON
Great marketing to pull people right in - If there was a rating in the negatives, I would give zipcar that rating. They had a "commuter/dedicated" membership option which for a monthly charge zipcar booked the cars automatically Monday through Friday for you, advertised well, I was on the plan for 2 years (they have now cancelled this plan). From the very start, I was over charged the first month and conveniently could not get a hold of the agent that set me up and made the mistake. They don't equip the cars for colder climates, no snow brush, no anti freeze windshield washer fluid (which freezes right on the windshield while driving) and tell you to buy the items and they'll reimburse you...and then reject the reimbursement request. They told me their cars have snow tires - They don't. On multiple occasions, they forgot to book a car for me altogether leaving me without a car for work even though I had already paid my monthly fee or I'd go to pick up my reservation that the app/email confirmed to find that there was no car parked at the pick up spot and no other cars available. They should just scrap advertising "gas is on us" because most times there is no gas card at all and gas is ON YOU. Submitting a reimbursement request with them is not fun and their app/website constantly has glitches.
Customer service - the worst I've ever experienced. No one at their call centres ever knows what's going on and their agents have no interest in listening to full sentences before beginning to speak over you. Zipcar decided to tack charges on me ( I guess I was the luck winner randomly selected ) for provincial parking permit tickets issued to THEM for their designated zipcar parking spot. When I called to tell them it's not my car or my parking spot, they said they are "looking into it"...it has taken the entire month of November 2020 to "review" the tickets for a parking spot that belongs to them and I still have not received not even a response for getting my refund of over $300 CAD. I spoke to about 5 agents over the month and 3 of them told me my refund was processed and later on, 2 of them said it's still under review - So they literally just lie to get you off the phone. You can't speak to supervisors, there's no follow up when they make a mistake. They are not customer focussed at all with zero active listening skills and offer no customer incentives for being a long time member. DO not give them any of your business. Hope this helps someone!
5 years ago
Lindsey L Bend, OR
There is a balance remaining on my account from a toll, which hadn't processed when I canceled my account. I had to cancel the card on my account several months later, and THEN they got around to charging the balance, which obviously didn't go through since the card had been canceled.
The only way to change the card on file is to reactivate my account, for which I have to pay. So they require me to pay them $10 so I can pay them $1.50. Or maybe $2.10, though they can't explain why it's $2.10 when the email said $1.50.
When I said I wasn't going to do that, they threatened me with a collection agency. A COLLECTION AGENCY. For $2.10.
5 years ago
Ken Bergmann Seattle, WA
I tried to rent the vehicle TipToe on Friday 23 Oct. I received a notice that it was ready to be picked up so I took an rideshare to the vehicle location. It was not present. I immediately called help and was on hold for 19 minutes. During this time I walked the entire parking lot to ensure it wasn't improperly parked. When my call was finally answered, the agent left me on hold for another 7 minutes. When they returned they said the car was at another location and there was nothing they could do. I asked that this trip be refunded and they said they couldn't do that. I informed them I had movers waiting and an elevator reservation, that this trip had already cost me and now I would have to rideshare further and I expected to be compensated for my costs since the vehicle wasn't available as agreed. I was told there was nothing that could be done. I asked to speak to a supervisor and the agent hung up on me. I called back and was on hold a further 12 minutes before being disconnected again. As a further indignity, I received an email the next day saying that I was being charged for the missed trip. Since I was unable to use the movers during the time scheduled I was charge the cancellation fee $120 and had to rebook everything. All together this cost me $25 in rideshares and $120 in mover cancellation fees, plus the $43 I was charged for the trip. The emails from support simply stated that they were sorry the situation wasn't better but there was nothing they could do. Be wary when using this service.
5 years ago
ELaw Briarcliff Manor, NY
Single worst customer experience I have ever had.
If you are going to sign up for ZipCar you need to be aware of the following:
1) false advertising that is practiced (particularly in relation to the ability to start booking “instantly”). We signed up because we were told we would be able to sign up and begin booking quickly. This is NOT the case. You have to wait for them to mail you a Zipcard which for us took multiple weeks. We never even received the first one and they had to resend it.
2) egregiously long wait times for customer service (never less than 50 minutes)
3) technological issues experienced with their app. This resulted in us traveling to pick up the car, the technology failing and not letting us in, and then us having to cancel our whole day's plans and instead spend over an hour on customer service hold.
4) Lack of honesty in regards to customer service (informing me they will overnight my Zipcard which then arrived over 5 days later). This really happened.
6 years ago
Alla Mesh Speonk, NY
Original review: July 18, 2020
I reserved a car for hot summer weekend in advance. I got to the place where car was supposed to be parked, it was not there. 40 minutes later (was on hold for all this time and disconnected several times), find out that my car was parked 2 miles away. Had to take an Uber. I could not find the car, one hour later after multiple phone calls to Zipcar (representatives just hung up on you and then need to dial back and wait on a line for at least 15 min for the next representative) I find out that place where car parked locked till next morning.
Zipcar representative was trying to help and booked the other car, after we hung up, it turned out that my zip car was booked only for a night (from 10 pm Friday till 9 am Saturday), my original reservation was till Sunday night. I had to call back to zip car, after another half an hour I learned that no zip car available for weekend (it was already late Friday night). All my plans are ruined and zip car staff can’t help. This is a nightmare. Zip car customer service is terrible and I would not wish anyone to be in this situation.
6 years ago
Lowell Baltimore, MD
I have been a Zipcar member since Oct 2009. During the first almost ten years that I used it it was dependable and a reasonable value. Sometime in 2019 they changed their website, their billing and their policies. I assumed they were being incorporated into the operations of Avis, their parent company but that is only speculation on my part. It immediately went downhill. Customer service was horrible, the number of available cars decreased, car selection decreased, reserved and paid for cars were not available, billing was inaccurate, etc.
Today, Tracey Zehn, Zipcar president, sent out an email to users which essentially blamed their poor service on COVID-19. Zipcar performance went downhill long before COVID-19 was a problem. If the company's leadership cannot acknowledge the source of their problems they will have a very hard time correcting them. I have lost patience with Zipcar and will no longer be using them. Zipcar does not deserve my business.
6 years ago
Jasmin Serrano New York, NY
Zipcar do not deserve a star!!!
Do not become members of this car share rental. Zipcar should be completely shut down. I've been a member for a few years. Twice they screwed me on the 4th of July weekend. 1st time they inform me the day before of my rental not being available. They manage to get me a car only because I was highly pissed off and was literally screaming and cursing through the phone. Today June 28 2020 six day before my family gathering I was forced to cancel my car rental and on top of all that I have rented a house for over $2000 which I may not be able to go if I don't find a car in time. If I don't go to my family gathering I will not get my house rental funds back. NO REFUNDS ALL BECAUSE OF ZIPCAR! Zicar did not notify me about my car not being available. No email, phone not even a text. When asked why was I not notified I was told a bogus excuse which really pissed me off. Zipcar literally forced me to cancel my rental. I terminated my membership with them right there and then never will used them ever again.
6 years ago
Richardinthecitu Owings Mills, MD
Zip car will rip you off
#1 I’ve been paying for over a year and never received my zip card.
When I called them on Monday to get it fixed I was told my card would be mailed to me by Wednesday. And that they would give me a credit $50 credit. I’ve been paying $9 a month for over year to keep the service in case of an emergency. I was like “that sounds great, thank you so much.”
Wednesday come by and now care... so I wait till Friday to call back and see what’s up.
On the Friday calm I was told that it would be 5-7 business days before I got the card. 7 business days later would have been May 29.
Now it’s June 4th and I still haven’t received my card, and now when I call no one answers even after I spend 2-3 hours on hold. And nobody calls back after I request a callback.
#2 In the month of May I was charged twice.... really!?! Yes... really...
The same month that I’ve been asking them to resolve a separate issue!
And going back to one of my issues from #1, no one answers when I call!?!?
#3 I can’t even get a hold of anyone to request a refund for my year of wasted money, for a service that I couldn’t even use!
#4 you can rent a car on Turo for far cheaper and less hassle
#5 their rates aren’t competitive with other services.
I will be reporting them to the better business bureau as I have literally tried everything else to get this resolved.
If you have zip car and have an issue with them, I suggest you do the same because they will not
6 years ago
Chiz Oki Bryn Mawr, PA
If I could give zip car a zero I would. its an unreliable service that aims to make money even in situations that are their fault. On the night of March 6th, I rented a car for a couple of hours. I had no trouble driving it to the store where id did a little shopping. After I came out the car wouldn't start, I tried for about 20 minutes to start the car but still, it wouldn't work. I looked on the website and call the customer service line many times before I just had to call my school to dispatch campus safety to pick me and my friend up. Since the car was the problem and not me I assumed Zipcar would be understanding about the issue. I called the next day to report to them what happened and was told that if any damage happened to the car that I'd be charged for the damage. While I thought that was ridiculous I didn't pay attention, because I was not at fault for a vehicle that was broken. Unfortunately, that was not the case, and they proceeded to charge me a $150 fee. Fortunately, my card had already been canceled so they couldn't charge me anyways. Over the past month, I've been calling and emailing them to figure out what was wrong, however, they've just been telling me the same story and giving me the same run-around. I've just decided to cancel the whole account and not deal with them again. Not only would I not recommend this service, but I would also generally advise everybody not to use it. It may be useful for a little while but overall its a scam and not customer-friendly. I have to say I'm disappointed.
6 years ago
john smith New York, NY
Using zipcar over the course of the last month has been a nightmarish, kafkaesque farce.
I used zipcar prior to the acquisition in 2013 and found it use easy to use and convenient. Remembering that experience, I recently re-activated and thought I'd give it another try. My mistake. I have rented two cars from zipcar since then, or rather tried to rent two cars. Zipcar saw to it that I didn't actually get either of them.
For the first rental, I had somewhere to be early Saturday morning. As I was heading out the door at 7:30 a.m., I got a call from zipcar informing me that my car that I had reserved weeks in advance was, in fact, not available. There were no cars available in Manhattan, but I was free to pick up an alternative car in Staten Island, two hours away. Thankfully, a professional car rental service (i.e., not zipcar) had plenty of cars available, and I was able to complete my trip. Thanks, Dollar Car Rental.
At this point, I foolishly decided to give zipcar one last try. I think you know where this is going. I went to my scheduled pickup location at 6 p.m. last Friday, which took an hour to get to. My zipcar was not in the assigned spot. In fact, it was not anywhere in the parking lot. Weird! I called zipcar, who seemed slightly confused why I was calling. Their attitude seemed to suggest that it was my problem, not theirs, if the car that I had paid hundreds of dollars to rent was not (technically speaking) available to drive. They offered to call the current renter of the car to figure out where it was and get back to me within 15 minutes. I don't think I need to tell you that I never got a call back or heard anything further about where this car was despite multiple follow-up calls. I hope they've located it, and the drivers did not use it for some sort of "Thelma and Louise" type scenario.
Although several hours late at this point, I finally agreed to backtrack an hour into Manhattan to pick up an alternate zipcar. When I arrived in Manhattan, my card did not unlock my replacement car. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with various representatives who -- if this is possible -- were even sassier and less helpful than the representatives I spoke to before. Finally, we were able to get this car unlocked. I was repeatedly promised that this car would be billed to me at the price of the original car, not the replacement. I think you will be unsurprised to learn that when I looked at the bill this morning, it was at the (much higher) price for the replacement car. It took two weeks of calls threatening to file fraud charges to get this overcharge reversed. As soon as it did, I immediately canceled. I have never been happier about never having to use such a worthless, fraudulent service again.
6 years ago
Christopher Brooklyn, NY
When Zipcar works it is fine. But when it does not, it's extremely frustrating. And once or twice a year, it won't work. For example... For my last zip rental, the latch system to get into the garage where my zip car was located did not work. I was on hold with Zipcar for 20 minutes, trying to get help, until my phone died. Eventually someone that lived in the building attached to the garage let me in through the basement, but the zip car was not in its place! At this point, I’m late for a family gathering, and I do not have a car to get there!
And Zipcar's customer service is horrible, once they lied to me about a refund; they have not replied to my emails; and if you call them for help, you will be on hold for 20 or more minutes. (I am calling them now about my experience and am still on hold at over 35 minutes.)
I was an early Zipcar member. And I used to love it. But once they got bought by Avis, the service went down hill. Dirty car interiors and finding your car with less than a 1/4 tank of gas are the norm. And, as I wrote, once or twice a year, your reservation will not be there.
I can no longer recommend Zipcar. Plus, depending on your trip, an Uber/Lyft is about the same price, so why bother with unreliability and horrible customer service.
6 years ago
Dave
For the 4th time this year, my reservation has been canceled. Since I only use the service about 2 times a month this means the odds of failure are very high! What is going on with quality control?
It took 45 minutes to get someone on the phone. The person was clueless and had a very thick accent. They wanted to give me a car on the east side in NYC (I live on the west side). Now had booked this car a month ago for Thanksgiving day and had it around the corner from me. The only car available is some 22 blocks away, which I would have to walk. This is the same story over and over, since Avis took over. What am I paying for? They need to get their act together.
7 years ago
Joan Sheets St Louis, MO
Only giving a 1 because I can't give a 0. Still trying to create an account. After entering basic information, which includes my birthday, I get a message saying I cannot create an account not affiliated with a university if I am under 21 - but the website never asked me if I was affiliated with a university. So I click the link and selected my university and it takes me back to the same basic information and tells me I have to be affiliated with a university, which it already connected me with on the previous page. Just a big loop. When I called the rep was rude from "hello" and told me I would have to delete two weeks worth of browser history to get the username out of the system. There was nothing they could do there. I had already been on hold for one hour before someone answered and this process (they didn't know what they were doing) took another 45 min. I then asked to be elevated and the supervisor told me they could not help me create the account and hung up. How much longer will a company like this be in business?
7 years ago
K O'Brian Seattle, WA
Horrible company. I sold my car when I moved to Seattle. I had hoped I could easily sign up for ZipCar for times I need a car to shop, go to Dr appts, or get home safely late at night. Trying to sign up for ZipCar has been a nightmare and frustrating. Can't get a hold of a human to talk about my application process. Hold times on their so -called 24/7 customer service line are horrible. When I do, they literally have hung up on me a couple times. Then no one could give me information that was helpful. In the end they rejected my application because I wouldn't send them a color copy of my passport (why do they need my passport?). Their website is not good and their app is even worse. Do yourself a favor and use another service.
7 years ago
Adinaq Brooklyn, NY
Horrible cars, not cleaned, not maintained. I've rented cars where I spent over $100 for the day only to discover VOMIT all over the passenger side of the car. The other day I rented a car to go upstate and the interior lights would NOT shut off (I was driving at night on the Taconic so this of course was a huge problem) and the car doors and trunk would not lock!! How do you rent a malfunctioning car to a member ??? I called Zipcar's 1800 line and waited on hold for 30 minutes to report the fact that the doors would not lock and I felt unsafe parking and leaving the car. When you call them to tell them about the cars having puke all over them or the fact the cars are malfunctioning they offer a two hour credit which will expire in 1 week. I am about to hire a lawyer, this company is a complete scam.
7 years ago
CpXtina Portland, OR
Zipcar made it impossible for me to cancel my account. They wouldn’t verify my correct information and practically hung up on me. I called back, this time waited over thirty minutes on hold, and the same info I was trying to verify previously, they were still refusing. I repeated the info over and over and it’s like the guy was refusing to hear me just to make it difficult or deter me from canceling. I had to boldly insist the same information several times before he was like oh, ok. Yeah that’s correct. As if it was the first time he was hearing it! Then, he wasn’t going to cancel my account until three months into the future! But he said it quickly and mumbled it like he was hoping I wouldn’t hear, and cunningly trying to get away with it. I told him again, I wanted to cancel my account, TODAY. Now. Finally he did but it was like pulling teeth and took over an hour to do it. And I’m on a business account, not even personally mine. What a dodgy company. I wouldn’t trust them with any personal information ever. I’m surprised someone hasn’t sued them yet and that they’re still even in business.
7 years ago
Liz Brooklyn, NY
They're incompetent and can't even provide a car. I reserved a car for a full day but it wasn't there when I picked it up. I called Zipcar for another car and they hung up on me. When I called back I was sent to a second location and no car was there. I called Zipcar again and was placed on hold for 20 minutes and then was disconnected. I called back and was sent to a third location and again no car was there! And for some reason the third car was only reserved for 1 hour instead of a full day.
This was Easter Sunday and it completely ruined my kid's holiday. I was never able to get a car and my 6 year old son missed his Easter egg hunt.
7 years ago
Metalligal New York, NY
I’ve used Zipcar for 6 years in NYC. Don’t bother unless you like to drive in cars that are not mechanically maintained, inconvenient and enjoy a frustrating & unsatisfactory customer service experience.
I started using Zipcar because it was a convenient & effortless car sharing service. It used to be a great company until AVIS acquired them in 2013. The servicing of the vehicles has declined rapidly since that acquisition.
I’ve called into Zipcar to report services problem when I've picked up a car and then when reserving that car a week or two later had the same issue. Not small issues, major, like the passenger seat is unmovable and up close to the dash board which made it impossible to use since we were 5 travelers. There has been animal hair allover the seats that covered our clothing on the way to a wedding ( animals are required to be in carriers). We’ve experienced seat belts that were not working, service lights on dashboard that were still there a month later.
There are lots of Zipcars and lots of Zipcar drivers in NYC so to get another Zipcar at the last minute is impossible if there’s something wrong with it. I understand that there will be issues occasionally …but this has become a REGULARLY occurrence. I now call in to ask if the car I’ll be using has any service reports before I use it. I thought this would help but it turns out that the majority of Zipsters can’t be bothered to call in service issues or is it that Customer Service has a policy to not let drivers know that there was an issue reported? Regardless or which it is, this has not work since I have very often this past year gotten to a car that cannot be started, has a broken something or other, service lights on or is filthy, really filthy…food scraps, stained seats and on occasion cigarette ashes ( smoking is prohibited).
I have this past month ( Feb 2019) called them 5 times to get answer to a question and was told that they would respond within 48 hours…the first response came as a form email after 10 days and 2 additional calls to them. The second response has not come but it is now 12 days & 2 calls since I called. Is it time to buy a car? I think so.
The idea of car sharing is convenience, Zipcar is an inconvenient & frustrating service.
7 years ago
Paulo Soares State College, PA
I reserved a car through the Zipcar app this morning, and the process was just OK. But when I arrived at the pick up location THE CAR WAS NOT THERE! Then I called Zipcar and they informed me the car had been towed and they were still trying to recover it. BUT IF YOU KNOW THE CAR IS NOT AT THE PICK UP LOCATION WHY DO YOU SHOW THE CAR AS AVAILABLE? All that I could get was a refund. NO courtesy hours for the hassle of wasting my time to go somewhere for nothing. And this is the second time something like this happens. In the first time, the car was there but the battery was dead. They knew about it but they didn't make the car unavailable. Very bad. They don't care about their customers. Unreliable. Just don't use it if you plan to do something important.
7 years ago
Jorge Vargas New York, NY
Zipcar is total garbage. They never notified me that there was an upcoming annual renewal or that they had raised rates. Have already filed a report with the BBB.
Their customer service is a total joke -- no human interaction.
Just cancelled my subscription with them and couldn't be more thrilled. DO NOT USE THEM.
Use a traditional rental car company. They're not a scam. Zipcar is.
4 years ago
Cosmo Atlanta, GA
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 retuned 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.
4 years ago
O. Boyd Portland, OR
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
4 years ago
Sourabh Khot San Mateo, CA
Poor customer service! After submitting my driving license and selfie, the system momentarily shows "Verification submitted", but then the page becomes blank permanently. When I refresh, it shows again that I need to submit my application and takes me to license upload page, meaning my license and photo were never captured. And I have already tried these more than 10 times from PC and mobile browser, and raised complaint with them 4 times but they don't respond. Avoid Zipcar! Request #7139273
4 years ago
Angie Mclemore
Zipcar is the worst rental car company I have ever worked with or ride sharing company whichever they are tricky they have hidden fees and they will cancel your trip in the middle of it and you will be unable to get in your car and we will be left in a dark parking lot their customer service is horrible you cannot speak with anyone that will actually be able to give you a decision on the money that they took from you without your permission
4 years ago
Caleb Stanford
Car did not turn on and could not be moved after being parked, after repeated calls to customer service they could not find a way to get the car to turn on, and they finally refunded the trip. But they did not send someone to move the car or stop assigning the car to others... so the car got a parking violation. Two months later, they proceeded to charge us for the parking violation which is not our fault since we literally could not move the car.
4 years ago
Muthu Vinayak Thyagarajan Golden, CO
Do not get into them. They are not what they used to be. Their customer service is terrible and ineffective. They just apologize and don't act. I had to give up after 2months of haggling to get my refund for their cancellations and lack of service. they just cancel your trips at will. Sham business with cheater as employees.
Avoid them and be safe.
5 years ago
Aiakoko Kallo Achukma Eil Shawano Chahta Nation Wichita Falls, TX
Zipcar has lost its quality, I had used zip car for 4 years. I recently requested a new card, activated it and then book a car a week in advance. When it came time to pick the car up the card would not work. The customer service agent did her best to assist me but to know avail the card or the app did not work and here I was stranded standing outside without a vehicle. I realize that the was a wonderful idea but when it was sold to Enterprise a big corporation that is when the quality decline. I am done with Zipcar.
5 years ago
Kp San Jose, CA
Charged me for the service and then suspended my account, so I was not able to use the service and when I called them they kept giving me replies like it will be unsuspended in couple hours, second reply was it will take 24-48 hours and last one was 3-5 business days. This is scam service they just kept doing this until the renewal date comes near so you renew this scam service again
5 years ago
TD Portland, OR
The concept of car sharing is right on. ZipCar no longer provides adequate customer service to meet anything that requires real time customer interaction. Their mobile app has a software bug that prevents new device authorization. I'm on my fourth phone call within the past several days of dogged effort on my part; I got cut off at one hour plus when haplessly attempting to use Zipcar's single customer service phone line. No online chat to deal with customers? Wow. This company doesn't value it's customers.
5 years ago
Jeanine Springfield, VA
I’ve had multiple issues with Zipcar. Most recently, rented Zipcar to vote on Saturday (10/24). Paid extra for the BMW to avoid any issues. Picked-up the car, which was parked in a lot, the car has a card to get out of the lot. The card didn’t work. We couldn’t get out of the lot so we couldn’t vote this weekend. Zipcar immediately put that same car back online for someone else to have the same experience. Very disappointing!
5 years ago
