http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=240068

WOW!

Zipcar was commenting about themselves on your board. That is just bad....but it does explain what they are up to instead of fixing this problem

-saul

This insurance thing is a big deal and the fact that they are writing rouge comments is a big deal but I think the bigger deal is the fact that Zipcar is a membership based operation and even if they were never going to do anything about your request they still should have called you back and not ignored you.

If this is how they treat their members it makes me glad that I am a member of Autoshare (the other car sharing service in Toronto)

Bobbi

Sad that you can't use City Car Share, which has decent insurance and runs as a non-profit:
http://www.citycarshare.org/insurance.do

I'm completely devoted to it.

Since I have a choice in my city (Washington DC), your posts have made my choice clear - I will be using Flexcar, not Zipcar. Flexcar's insurance coverage probably isn't much better, but Zipcar's dishonesty and lack of good faith have convinced me they're not getting my money.

Don't I know it! I got into an accident in a zipcar and I had to pay a $500 deductable even though it was not my fault. If boston had another carshare option, I'd take it.

So, where's part I and II? Sorry i am not so very good at finding the chronological orders of blog posts and i am not good at looking for them also.

Does this potentially make Zipcar a company for people with
a) no assets because if they're sued they don't have anything to take.
b.) have an expensive umbrella type policy that may cover them in a worst case scenario where the zipcar driver is at fault. Aka hitting a pedestrian.

I just got an email from Zipcar today:

"During our investigation, it was discovered that there was minor damage to the Zipcar that occurred during your reservation. To allow you to view and understand the scope of this damage, we have included links in this e-mail.

These links provide you with photos of the damage as well as an estimate detailing the costs associated with these necessary repairs. Please review these documents carefully, as they serve as the basis for charging you the deductible - $500.00, to reimburse Zipcar for the cost of the repairs for this vehicle.

This deductible is described in the Membership Agreement that you acknowledged awareness and understanding of at the time you applied for a Zipcar membership."

That dent was on the car before I picked it up. They already charged my credit card. I emailed saying it wasn't me. Any Idea how to fight this ?? I will stop using zipcar if the don't change their stance on this. It's $500!!

Steve

Steve - the same thing happened to me.

I got the same e-mail, and after my very first reservation, no less. For my Rabbit 2-door Rochester at 25th street in NYC. I argued for weeks that this damage wasn't mine, and was still charged $500.

I figured, cynically, that it might be a bit of corporate policy to try to tack-on damage charges to a novice, who might not know better how to fight back. Or, that the garage damaged the car, and tried to blame the damage on me.

In any case, after suffering weeks of begging for a call from a decision-maker (talking to these poor, kind client service people who couldn't understand why no one was returning my calls), and then calling Zipcar corporate myself and not getting a response, I found myself with a $500 charge already applied to my credit card AND an account still suspended (since their system still had me "disputing" the charge - despite the fact they already had my $500!).

I spoke with one of the VP's, and got all investment banker-style restrained huffy with him, and did get part of the $500 refunded.

The moral of this story is their customer service and responsiveness to customer issues involving damage is appalling. I've worked in finance for years, and advised start-up derivative companies, and I can only assume this is a deliberate strategy, and not a disorganized group of people floundering with how to handle customer issues. Why? I always found their customer service for OTHER issues to be warm and conscientious - helping with a rental, answering other questions, being helpful when I couldn't figure out how to use the gas card. And the organization around parking, gas cards, NY/NJ ezpass, their website, etc. is very well run. I can only think (and imagine equity investors are very happy about) the extra damage-related claims and mis-information about insurance is strategy, and deliberate.

Steve, good luck with this. I also hope the insurance liability issue is resolved soon. Like many Manhattanites, I've got significant assets, and the thought of max $25/$50k coverage for damage and liability makes my heart sink.

We recently launched a new company called Sunday that is very beneficial to Zipcar users. You can store your login details in the Sunday Portal and our team of agents can help you reserve a car real time. You can interact with them via email or phone. Use the promo code "zipcar" for a free month trial.

www.asksunday.com

We recently launched a new company called Sunday that is very beneficial to Zipcar users. You can store your login details in the Sunday Portal and our team of agents can help you reserve a car real time. You can interact with them via email or phone. Use the promo code "zipcar" for a free month trial.

www.asksunday.com

offer you brand sport shoes with low price and high quality,pls see the web: www.cntradecity.com

felix, thanks for documenting all of this. invaluable information. i just signed up for a zipcar membership but will definitely cancel and forfeit my $25 application fee. it's much better to do that than take the insane risk of driving around new york city without proper liability insurance. and the uninsured motorist insurance part is what scares me the most. how many uninsured motorists are driving in the new york area? i don't want to find out the hard way.

btw, i can't believe that someone at zipcar posted that stupid comment. aren't there ways to hide one's IP address? if not, don't post or at least wait until you're at a public library. what an idiot.

I emailed Flexcar about their liability insurance. I asked them:
______________

I am comparing joining Zipcar versus Flexcar, and I have two questions regarding Flexcar's insurance.

1. Flexcar's website says "Our coverage exceeds state minimums at $300,000 for accident, plus an additional $5,000 per person limit per accident for medical payments (after the $300,000 is used up)." Can you provide a more specific breakdown of Flexcar's liability insurance coverage and how that $300,000 per accident is distributed? Specifically, per accident, what are the dollar amount limits on liability coverage to the non-Flexcar motorist, broken down by the maximum dollar amounts for bodily injury per individual and for property damage?

2. Flexcar's website says "If a member is involved in an accident that is the fault of someone who doesn’t have insurance then our member and occupants of the Flexcar are covered at state minimums." In California the minimun liability insurance requirements are

* $15,000 for injury/death to one person.
* $30,000 for injury/death to more than one person.
* $5,000 for damage to property.

So does that mean if I am driving a Flexcar and I am hit by an uninsured motorist, then my Flexcar insurance will only cover $5000 damage to the Flexcar I'm driving?
___________

Flexcar sent me the reply below. I still don't exactly understand how much they pay for property damage to another vehicle, but if an uninsured motorist totals your Flexcar in California, it looks like you're on the hook for damage above $5000.
_____________

Below is the breakdown of Flexcar's liability insurance coverage.

AUTOMOBILE LIABILITY

Combined Single Limit (Flexcar)
Sub-limit: Lessee/Renter
$1,000,000

Medical Payments per person/accident
$300,000/$5,000

Bodily Injury and Property Damage Deductible (Flexcar)
$10,000

Uninsured Motorists Protection
As per State Mandated Min.

Also, corporate has confirmed that you are correct about your 2nd question.

This insurance discussion I have found to be really helpful (! thank you) when I rented a Zipcar pickup truck to move some items and was almost charged for $500 damage not caused by me, and I started to research this automatic $500 you could be fined.

In the end, they waived it after much discussion. Lesson learned: absolutely absolutely walk around every Zipcar you use and note damage and call it in. Also, for pickup trucks, go to the traditional sources, as many amateurs drive the Zipcar truck fleet and damage them and don't call it in (because there's no incentive for them to do so).

It used to be that if you started your reservation late (say you collected the car an hour or so after you reserved it if you sleep in), your damage report would not be accepted; at least now Zipcar will accept a damage report at whatever point you start your reservation. Agreed?

As someone who runs a rental fleet operation (granted, of bicycles, not cars), I find that my overall experience of Zipcar is not consistently meeting my expectations (or theirs). In the beginning, before the injection of capital from General Electric, the fleet seemed better - maintained as it was smaller.

Now, it seems as if every third rental I have, something goes wrong. Prior inconveniences include: a flat tire on a Zipcar, the Zipcar not there, duct tape holding up a glove compartment, the Zipcar's EZpass account empty (thus generating a fine for me), the attendant out for a joyride in my reserved Zipcar (!@@##), and a drained engine coolant reservoir, thus spoiling a planned outing on Long Island as the car had to be returned to its garage to protect the motor from damage.

Love the concept, love the rental fleet diversity (who else rents Minis, after all?), and love the simplicity and fairness (Zipcar won't put a surcharge on you if you live in Brooklyn like Hertz, e.g.). But the randomness is beginning to worry me. Is this off-topic?

NYC Zipper.

I haven't owned a car in many years, so when Zipcar said that insurance was included, I took them at their word. However, a recent Zipcar email said there's a $500 deductible if you have an accident, the same as if you had private insurance. I'm so thick that when they said they took care of insurance, I thought they took care of insurance. Now that I know about the $500 deductible, I have second thoughts about using Zipcar. In my experience, their cars aren't particularly well maintained, raising the possibility of an accident. The big auto rental companies go over their cars; at the very least they vacuum them. Since I have a family, I think I would rather rent from one of the biggies, pay the collision damage waiver and have a little more peace of mind. Does anyone have any thoughts?

According to their website, they now offer $300k in liability (apparently this is since they bought out Flexcar):

http://www.zipcar.com/how/faqs/faq-28

Thanks for getting to the bottom of it all, though.

On Saturday, July 21, I drove a Mazda 3 from the garage on 144 Street and 8 Avenue to pick up my mother and 2 more people from Newark Airport. On Friday, July 27, I got this e-mail:

We are contacting you regarding a damage report we received following your reservation on 6/22/08 in your Zipcar. As you know, we depend on our members to be our extra set of eyes and since the damage was reported following your reservation, we hope that you can work with us to resolve this issue.
We are not assigning blame, nor have we confirmed the damages to the car. We are simply following up on the report that we received. We will thoroughly investigate the damages reported and will update you regarding the status of this incident.
Per our Member Agreement (section 9.6), damages incurred during a member's reservation are the responsibility of that member. That responsibility can include payment of the damage fee for repairs. It is also essential that you do your pre-reservation walk around and report existing damage to 866-4ZIPCAR. This helps us determine when damage to a Zipcar occurred, and lets us know that it didn't occur during your reservation. We trust our members and do our best to weigh all of the various possibilities and scenarios when investigating a damage report. While we look into this, we would appreciate it if you could reply to this email to let us know if you have any information about the damages. For more information on our minor damages policy, please refer to your member agreement.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call Member Services at 866.494.7227

I did not cause the damage (some scrapes on the sides of the car, plus chipped paint on the rear), which means that the damage was caused by someone else-- maybe one of the garage attendants, nor did I do an inspection of the car. I responded to the e-mail by saying that I did not cause the damage. On Tuesday, July 1 I got this e-mail:

As you know, we have been investigating damages to Mineral that were reported after your reservation. We have completed our investigation of the damages and based on the information available to us have determined that the damages were incurred during your reservation.
To allow you to view and understand the scope of the damages, we have included links to photos of the damage, as well as a detailed estimate of the cost of the necessary repairs. We will allow you to respond within 72 hours before charging your account. Please review these documents carefully as they outline the basis for charging you the damage fee for repairs (up to $500.00).
The minor damages policy, as well as the practices for resolving damage issues can be found in your Membership Agreement, which you agreed to and signed upon application to Zipcar. We appreciate your patience and understanding, as we continue our mission to provide the best service possible for all our members.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the local Zipcar office.

The same Zipcar rep called me the next morning, and I told him that I did not cause the damage, nor I did not do an inspection of the car. The rep told me that they would investigate prior reservations to mine to see if the damage was caused then. I thought I was off the hook until I got this e-mail today (Monday, July 14):

We were not able to confirm that the damage to Mineral existed prior to your reservation. Because this damage was reported directly after your reservation, and was not reported by you on your pre-reservation walk around, you are responsible for the damage fee. We have charged the damage fee amount of $500 to your account.
At this point we consider the matter closed. If you would like to appeal this charge, you may do so by filling out the following form and sending it to Zipcar's corporate office for review.

Attatched to the e-mail were an appeal form and the bill for repairs ($1,043.05). On the appeal form, I just have to fill in my member info, and a member statement stating the account of the incident. The $500 was shown on the "Reservation and other activity" part of the bill, but not the "credit card activity" part of the bill. It was not shown on my credit card statement neither.

I know the best thing to do is to appeal at this point, but what should I put down when I don't have any proof of the damage? HELP!!!