BOYCOT ZIPCAR!!!!

i used zipcar for the first time this weekend and it was a FUCKING NIGHTMARE people.........i'd rent a bike before renting from them again......

here's my bitchy letter about why they suck ballz:

"this past weekend i had my first reservation with zipcar and was extremely disappointed. i had made my initial reservation to take out the minicooper mcfall from the W3 st. garage in Manhattan about 3 weeks prior. I carried my luggage from my office after work to the garage where i waited until exactly 6:30 (when my reservation began) to take out the car, at which point the garage attendant laughed at me when i told them what car i was taking out. They told me the car had had a flat tire for OVER A WEEK and that despite the fact that zipcar had been notified of the problem numerous times, NO ONE had come out to fix the vehicle. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was rather furious that not only had the car been broken for over a week and zipcar failed to take responsibility for the vehicle, I can't BELIEVE I wasn't notified in ADVANCE that the car wasn't going to be available. i was taking the car out to drive 4 hours to massachusetts, and after a full day of work and finding out that the car was not available, I was feeling as though renting from zipcar was a serious mistake. The last thing I needed was to delay my long drive any further.

I immediately called the zipcar customer service, and after waiting on hold for about 10-15 minutes, was finally was able to speak with a customer service representative. While the woman was pleasant and was able to get me an alternative vehicle, the vehicle was NOT in the same garage as the mini cooper, but in a garage TWO MILES SOUTH of where I was. Finding the new car in lower manhattan was an ordeal in and of itself. the directions to the garage (2 gold street, on pearl street, between platt st. and maiden lane.....??????? it actually turned out to be on West 13th st...) were damn near impossible to figure out, and after dragging my luggage in the 80 degree heat to FOUR DIFFERENT GARAGES, i finally found some decent directions and found the garage around 7:30. I had paid for a reservation beginning at 6:30 and after speaking with the zipcar rep it was nearly 7pm, and about 7:30-7:45 when i was FINALLY on the road. I asked the zipcar rep if the company would compensate me at all for the time i lost waiting to talk to the representative, and also for the 45 minutes it took me to get the the location of the alternate vehicle. I was offered only to have my reservation moved to 7pm for that friday night and was given an additional 30 MINUTES on the end of my reservation. Frankly, I think zipcar should be embarrassed that all they could offer me after such incredible inconvenience was a "free" hour of service, which works out to $13...

when dropping off the car today at Imperial Garage, the attendant was incredibly rude and i pretty much left the car in the middle of the garage because i wanted to be done with this experience so badly, and because the attendant was too busy talking on the phone to his friend to do his job. While I realize that zipcar does not employ the garage attendants where the cars are parked, I think zipcar should take into consideration that these are the people who the public is dealing with. They have the ability to start off the customers relationship with zipcar very positively, or very negatively.

personally, i expected to be offered a refund, or at the very least my bill to be seriously comped after dealing with such disorganized, irresponsible behavior by zipcar. i would like to think that my experience was an isolated incident and that zipcar is a reliable company, but I am EXTREMELY hesitant to use this service again after my experience. I've recounted my story to friends and family this past weekend, and also through my Twitter page and blog, because I would hate for anyone I know to have that same experience. Luckily the delay I had didn't effect my plans TOO much, however, had the circumstances under which i was renting the car been different, it could have been much worse.

I hope to hear back soon from someone at zipcar, because I would like to be able to have another experience with zipcar that is more positive, but at this point, i can't see myself or my friends and family making a future reservation. I hope that in the future, zipcar is more punctual about their car maintenance, and is more considerate of their customers time. Thank you."