Short version: Pros - quick/easy to get started as a first-time member, flat hourly charge (up to 180 miles included), no monthly fee (occasional driving plan), plenty of cars and locations to choose from Cons - insurance, lack of reservations in 15 min. increments, insurance, damage reporting, chance of gas card working is 50/50, for profit company, insurance -------------------- Long version: As a loyal member of City CarShare before Zipcar even came to fruition in SF, I'm highly critical of how Zipcar compares. Both have evolved over the years, offering a wide selection of cars and a lot more pick up/drop off locations. Back when I could only reserve the ubiquitous VW Bug with CCS, I can now reserve a BMW through Zipcar. I left CCS a few years ago when I was unemployed. For one, I wanted my $300 deposit back, and I didn't enjoy paying a monthly fee, even when I wasn't using the service. When you're broke, $10/month is $10 too much. I signed up with Zipcar recently, mainly for travel to races and to be able to hit the trails more often--something I can't rely on public transit for (see Marin Headlands review). And it's just nice to know you have a car available at your disposal at all hours of the day. While I had no complaints, my hesitation to sign up with CCS again are their fees. I knew I had to fork over $300 up front, and their hourly charge and mileage charge seemed like too much compared to Zipcar's flat rates. Zipcar's fees are simple. There's an hourly charge (price is dependent on the type of car), which includes 180 miles, more than reasonable for a short jaunt. (You can also reserve cars for a 24 hour period, but at that point, it's cheaper to hit a car rental service.) During the day, I could rent for as little as $7/hr. with a hybrid. With CCS, you have to add up the hours you've reserved for, on top of the amount of miles you've driven. Imagine how many miles are wasted, driving around the block looking for a spot in this city. And with Zipcar's Occassional Driving Plan, there is no monthly fee; I pay as I go. If I didn't make a reservation for that month, there is no charge. (On the flip side, there's a $50 annual fee.) Within 24 hours, I was able to sign up and pick up my card needed for car rentals at their downtown office. This, in contrast to CCS, where you're required to attend an hour long orientation at their office before being handed the needed key fob to access rentals. I'm not sure about CCS, but Zipcar has a ton of promotional driving credits available if you're willing to search for it. As a first-time member, you can get up to $100 free. What's most damning is their insurance policy. The amount of coverage they offer is a lot less than CCS (up to $300K compared to $1 mil). But I think it's a big enough concern to where CCS would be worth it for that peace of mind, even if it means paying a bit more over time. In the meantime, I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope it's something I'll never have to deal with. There are a few other things that irk me about Zipcar. Unlike their rival, reservations can't be made in 15 min. increments. Having to navigate through the city to get the car back before your reservation ends can be tricky. So far, I've returned a car over 30 min. early, and have gotten back with just minutes to spare before getting that $50 late fee tacked on. Having those extra 15 min. could make a big difference. Another thing I don't like is the damage reporting. Unless they've changed their ways, with CCS, they had a list located in the glove compartment that you could check before driving off. Any damage that was confirmed by the office was printed, with space available for drivers to write in any additional comments. With Zipcar, you have to call in and leave a message on their machine. But with so many different occupants, you could call on just about anything (stains, minor scratches). It'd be nice to know if another member had reported it beforehand to save you the time and trouble of logging it in. Getting the gas card to work is hit-or-miss. I wasted a good 10 minutes trying to get the card to register at two pumps before driving to the gas station across the street where the card was accepted. I was fully ready to pay and have Zipcar reimburse me, but that's an extra hassle I'd rather not deal with in the first place. When it comes down to it, I have minor gripes with the way Zipcar operates. City CarShare, to me, is more a pricing issue. They suit drivers for quick grocery trips, while Zipcar allows you some time to dawdle due to their mileage allotment. Zipcar caters to my needs at the moment (and their cars are EVERYWHERE!). City CarShare is a non-profit, compared to Zipcar as a for-profit company, though, so take that as you will. read more

This review is for the YELP HOLIDAY PARTY SERVICE I am so impressed! Staff and members of Zipcar gave us free "designated driver" limo service last night. After we celebrated Yelp's second year of burning up VC funds (don't worry, Nish says the San Francisco market is operating at a profit), this wonderful company gave us a free ride home! Our driver was a Zipcar member, who told us all about the rate structure and the car she was driving. And other stuff. read more

Although, it has been a few months now, I am still trying to understand my Zipcar experience. Ultimately, I believe that it is the results of the for-profit nature of the company and they have very little interest in customer satisfaction. I have since switched to City Car Share (CCS) and have had a fantastic experience, that CCS is a non-profit and I was able to interact with real people has made the difference for me. Here is my story in a nutshell: twice in about a week I left important books (a sketch book and my daily planner) in the Zipcar that I had rented and I discovered that their lost and found system was inadequate and their response to be indifferent. The daily planner was the first one to go, I left it in the Zipcar, went back to it, but could not get into it because it was under someone else's reservation. I called Zipcar's people, they said they couldn't help me out. What I could do was post a message on their lost and forum and if somebody found something, they would respond to my message. Let me be clear, I was right next to the car and they would not let me retrieve by daily planner. I was certainly bummed about the planner, but things happen, and at this time I was still waiting for my guardian angel to bring back my planner. I used Zipcar again, and this time left a sketchbook I had been using for awhile. Again, forgetful me leaves the sketchbook in the car, and I come back later to try to get in. This time I can actually see the thing sitting in the car. Again, nobody at Zipcar can help, the best I can do is hope that the next folks are kind and respectful people. They are not, neither were the folks who found my daily planner. Moral of the story, it was my bad for being forgetful. But, I expected Zipcar to help me out with this situation, they did not, they showed me they do not care. I know that I am not the only person to have this situation, and it is a little surprising that Zipcar would have such an ineffective solution to a common problem. In any case, they have lost a customer, I now use City Car Share and I have been happy ever since. If I ever lose something in one of their cars, I know that there are people I can call who can help me out in a jam. read more

I've been a zipcar member for a year and a half now (the majority of which was in SF, now Oakland) - maybe more. At first I was really excited, and prices were somewhat reasonable, around $6.75 an hour, I think. I now rarely use it, and when I do, I'm frustrated and stressed out by the expense & the availability. It's cheaper to rent a car for the weekend from a car rental place. The cost of a weekend rental == about 4 hours of zipcar use. Also, a "day rental" will have extra mileage tacked on if you actually GO SOMEWHERE, plus taxes, which knocks a day up to $140. WHAT? How often do I need a car for just an hour? Basically, never. Trust me, every errand will take HOURS more than you think. Fact! Even getting groceries tends to take more than an hour. So tack a sweet $20 fee onto your grocery bill! The cars are FILTHY, falling apart, cigarette burns inside. The locations are never actually that convenient. The gas cards for awhile never actually worked, making me have to get gas on my CC and send receipts. The last one I had had a broken CD player. Maddening. The late fees are insane, and sometimes when one in stuck in traffic and cannot extend a reservation, heads explode. There is no flexibility as reservations are back to back, which makes no sense. You basically need to book an extra hour or 2 in case of traffic. Cha-ching! I'm going to look at used cars to buy this week. read more

HORRIBLE COMPANY. The initial process of getting registered was quick and fairly painless. This office did a wonderful job getting me set up. But the actual company is a nightmare. Today while booking a car to drive to my mother's wedding in santa cruz, the mobile app was unresponsive and expensive. All the cars were $13+ dollars per hour and charged me over a $130 dollars for an 8 hour trip that is more expensive than renting the car for a day. When I finally was able to reserve a zip car it was 15 blocks away and I couldn't get into the parking garage. There was no station agent so I spent 15 minutes outside waiting for someone who parked their car to let me in through the car entrance while I was on foot. I got into my car and turned the ignition on. The car immediately sputtered and would not turn on. There is no a button on the mobile app to report a mechanical failure. So I spent 5 minutes searching for a customer service number. The first few numbers I googled lead me to a dead end phone call. When I got ahold of a customer service representative, they treated me like an idiot for 10 minutes straight making me turn the key back and forth and the wheel left and right. At this point I was 45 minutes late to my mother's wedding. The car during this process had the thief alarm going off, blaring extremely loud. Finally the customer service associate concluded that the car has mechanical failure, so he offered me a new car another 10 blocks away. I asked if my new ride could be comped because of the trouble I was going through. He resisted and said he couldn't do that. Then also told me that my refund wouldn't even be returned for another 5 days. That left me with a $250 charge on my card for 8 hours of driving and a missed wedding ceremony. Completely disorganized. I will never use zipcar again. read more

This service is touted as an excellent alternative to having a car, but if you think that dealing with jerks every time you have a problem (which is every time) can get tiring, then this is not the service for you. 1) Customer service is terrible--if you call the zipcar line while using a vehicle, then they will tell you there is nothing they can do to help you, that you have to call the main office. If you call the main office, they will tell you that they have to "investigate" the problem and that they will get back to you and never do. 2) They overcharge. If your have a reservation that costs, say..$30.00--you'll think, great, but then other mysterious charges will later show up on your credit card. Multiple ones. 3) Cars often smell like cigarette smoke, and sometimes have dog hair all over them. 4) I've had experiences where I've gotten to my reservation on time but my vehicle was not there--and after all the hassle of them trying to put me in another car, I lost about 20 minutes of my reservation (and was late to my appointment) but was never reimbursed for that, nor did they extend the time of my reservation to allow for that. 5) However, if you are one minute late returning your car (no joke, one minute--this is from experience), they will charge you $50.00. Having a car of your own may cost a little more, but having experienced zipcar, it is well worth it. Don't give up your car and use this service--it is too expensive and a poorly run business. read more

Man, the ratings for ZipCar are almost schizophrenic, bouncing between 1s and 5s. We really just go to the top shelf with our love and hate, don't we? Anyway, I haven't really had a wildly positive or negative experience with ZipCar. My friend, despite moving down south where we don't have many ZipCars, has maintained his membership and continues to use the service when we're in town. It's been quite handy having access to vehicles all around San Francisco. We come up on BART and when we're ready for some wandering that would take hours waiting for MUNI buses, especially when they don't quite go everywhere, we reserve a ZipCar. They're convenient, provide you with a credit card for gas, and I have yet to get a dirty or broken-down one. Probably the worst experience was when we were in the area for Bring Your Own Big Wheel (on Easter Sunday) and every ZipCar in the area was reserved. When one finally became available, it was a mini-van parked at a gas station a couple miles away. It's out of ZipCar's control that all of the cars were already out, so yeah, nothing to really complain about regarding the company itself. If you're running late with a car, it's better to try to extend your reservation than turning it over late ($50 fine). read more

I LOVE free stuff...and I love comapnies that give free stuff in an effort to show their appreciation for their customers. Enter - Zipcar So I hopped in to my rental last night on Van Ness & Washington and was surprised to find a giant wicker cornucopia sitting on the pasenger seat full of Thanksgiving goodies!! "Happy Thanksgiving from Zipcar" it said. Totally made my night. Thanks Zipcar & Whole Foods! Customer service is HUGE in my book and Zipcar has always lived up to my standards and have gone out of their way to help me and make sure I'm a happy customer. Late Fees: I was running late last night coming back from the North Bay and when I called to inform them I was running behind the guy told me that since I'd never been late before to call in, a couple days after the $50 late fee is inevitably applied to my account and they'll reverse the charge. Sweet! All that plus FREE gas and bridge toll?!!? word up read more

Zipcar always fools me because it advertises that its cars start at $7 so I end up getting a Zipcar more often than I probably can afford because it's kinda expensive and also I am terrible at math. Most of the time the cars are more than $7 because those are always taken (and those are usually Priuses (Prii?) and who wants to drive one of those tool cars anyway). And when I get one I suddenly have extremely poor time management skills and always end up extending the reservation for a half hour or more. But it's really worth it, because it lets me get the hell out of San Francisco when I want to, which is every so often because have you met some of you people? and I don't have to worry about paying for parking in the city at all times. The gas is free, too, which is pretty cool. I don't know if this is sharing too much, but as soon as I get in the car and start driving I crank up the music as loud as I can and just start screaming because this if I did that in my apartment, it would not be cool with my neighbors (except for the one guy who lives above me who constantly is screaming because God know's why, which would worry me if I cared about other people--he'd probably understand). No, really, it's a lot of fun to do that every once in awhile. Whatever, YOU'RE crazy. read more

I logged into ZipCar.com to find out when my plan renewed on July 26th, and closed my account. I am trying to cut costs in this bad economy and haven't rented a car since I signed up last year. Zip Car will not refund my $50 bucks credit because my membership expired on July 24th and they are holding it for my 2009 annual membership fee. They will not refund me because of 2 Days! Come on - they clearly don't have any business ethics, and have poor customer service. read more

I hate leaving bad reviews but I can't seem to avoid it this time. I'm sad to say this company is going down fast. I've been a member since they started in SF and was a very very happy customer in the beginning. Now that they have become bigger their customer service has gone from excellent to average to bad to flat out awful. To be fair, they have a lot of locations all over the city now. If you show up to your reservation and the car is actually there and not damaged or dirty, the reservation usually goes fine. That's a big if.... The honor system of reporting vehicles dirty and/or damaged has become a joke. Many members will deliberately report vehicles low on gas, dirty, or damaged to avoid any responsibility for their own reservations. You then get slapped with a $50 fee w/little to no room to dispute if you wish to keep your account active. Even worse, when you dispute a problem, you are met with reps who care more about quoting policy and putting you in your place than actually listening to your concerns. I've reached out to the local and corporate offices on several occasions to try to correct repeated problems. They are quick to apologize and even offer a refund at times but the problems continue to get worse. Five out my last 10 reservations were problematic at best. I'm so incredibly disappointed to see a company I used to love go so horribly bad. I signed up for City Car Share today and will walk the extra block to use their vehicles from now on. read more

Ok. I've been using Zipcar for 6 years (as they reminded me tonight when I called in because my car wasn't there) and I've probably dropped at least 7k with them. I'd much rather have bought a used car but alas, I live month to month. The good: The system basically works well enough. At least 9/10 times the car is there, and it's relatively clean, and of course reserving on the web is a very simple process. I see other users have had less than stellar reliability, but I can only speak for myself. I'm in Oakland, btw, maybe it's less solid in SF because of more users. Not the bad, but you should be warned that: Hourly car-sharing can be a serious pain in the ass. If you use Zipcar once a month for a day trip you're not going to notice, but if you're using Zipcar for all kinds of errands several times a month, you'll understand what I'm saying. I'm constantly cutting short conversations because I have to get the car back. Or I'm super stressed because there was an unexpected delay in whatever I was doing and I can't extend my reservation because someone else reserved it after. And then you end up driving maybe a little too fast, which sucks. Or maybe I am able to extend the reservation, but then at that point I'm spending $60 for 6 hours, when I could've rented a car all day from Hertz for that price. I just end up frustrated a lot. Not Zipcar's fault, per se, but if you have other options you might wish to consider them. The bad: They're just a lame ass company, and it didn't really used to be like that. For instance, if you're 5 minutes late, you'll get hit with a $50 penalty, which is fine, except for the fact that if you show up and a car isn't there, they give you like $4.25 in driving credit. I'm now late to a hugely important meeting and you're giving me $4.00??? Just keep it you a$$holes. If it's such a big deal that you need to charge $50, then act like it's a big deal on both sides of the equation. Don't just line your pockets and act as though the penalties are there in the interest of the customer (which is their official justification for charging 5 hours worth of driving for 5 minutes worth of lateness). Another example. A couple years ago I was going to be late with a car and I couldn't extend the reservation. I called customer service and said, "Listen I'm really sorry but I'm stuck in ridiculous traffic and I'll be late. Can you let the person after me know? Maybe there's another car available for them?" And you know what? They took care of it. They set the other person up in another car, and extended the reservation for my own car, called me back to let me know, and everyone was happy. The same thing happened a couple months ago, and they completely refused to resolve the situation in a similar fashion. "It's not our policy. No I can't call you back." It's not your policy to solve simple issues in a manner that works for everyone? Finally, it's $100/day per car. That's a lot to pay for convenience. Unfortunately I need that convenience sometimes, but I'm really looking forward to the day when peer-to-peer car sharing kicks their ass. I'm already able to use Zipcar less. read more

I rented a Zipcar today and accidentally left a shopping bag with over $200 worth of clothing inside. I called as soon as I found out and talked with a hostile customer service rep who said that I'd have to schedule another hour reservation to get it, but wouldn't be able to do so until 3 hours later because it was about to be used by someone else. I asked if they could email or call that person to let them know, but they declined saying they 'couldn't' do that. I then asked to speak with the manager. At the same time, my girlfriend heads over to the Zipcar that was 5 minutes away hoping to catch the next person renting the car so that we could grab the bag. She arrives and the car is still there and tries to call someone to unlock the door, which she's told that they can't open the car for her and would have to speak to me. 15 minutes later I'm finally taken off hold and was told due to high surge in calls, there's still a wait for a manager (not likely) and asked if I'd continue to keep waiting. I said that my girlfriend is there and that the door simply needs to be unlocked to get the bag since the new renter hasn't arrived, and the customer rep responds that she can't do that. I then reply with that I would like to continue waiting. At this time, I decide to do a three call to the same customer service line to try and talk to someone else and have them open the door but didn't want to loose my 'place in line' for a manager. The manager comes online right when the phone prompt occurs and then the manager hangs up on me. At the garage, the girlfriend is still waiting (30m past the rental time) and no one has shown up and they still won't open the door for her. I decided to call Zipcar customer service again and finally reached someone named Jacob. I explained the situation and he informed me they are unable to unlock the door because they're 'locked out' while someone is renting it. Drastic change of story, slightly more believable, but I then asked if he could at least contact her via phone or email to let the next person know my items were there. He said sure, put me on hold, and 30 seconds later, said the person knows and will set it to the side. This was by far the best move any of the Zipcar customer service made so far, kudos to Jacob. Fortunately, as my girlfriend was about to leave, the next renter showed up and we were able to get the bag. Thank goodness for good customers, serious shame for poor customer service. p.s. I wrote this while waiting on hold for a manager :) read more

I have been on hold for over half an hour with customer service; this is the fourth time I've called this week and in total have spent nearly 2 hours of my life on hold hearing "we're sorry to keep you waiting - a member of our team will be with you as soon as we can." I have been simply reaching out as I ordered a new Zipcard and it hasn't arrived after several weeks. There are no ways to contact on the app, over email, or anything except this phone number that won't pick up. In 2019 - for a company that markets itself to millennials - this kind of customer service is appalling. There are so many other competitors in the Bay Area, I highly urge others to consider the competitors who have figured out customer service. And I will heavily consider switching myself if this matter is not resolved. read more

( Preface: The ONE time I don't use yelp to research before hand it comes to bite me in the ass. BIG time. ) I've been dying to try out this service . For one, I really wanted a Mini Cooper and wanted to test drive for a few hours/ to pretend I actually can afford to have one. And secondly, when I first heard of this company I was downright impressed with the overall concept of car sharing. Haling from LA, I was all for anything of the alternative to owning a car. And I really believed there just has to be another way. And I thought , Zipcar ....thats it. Just joined ZipCar yesterday. Went to pick up my membership card and the front desk guy really wasn't that helpful. He didn't offer a introduction spill or anything above or beyond. He might as well be working for the DMV here. But I thought whatever, I guess thats why they rely on the website or emails to do the "customer interaction" part. This morning went to pick up my car at 7:30am. NO CAR. Called the 866 number and the customer service was already in a bad mood ( really?? at 7:30 ? ALREADY? ) and was questioning me!? And guess what Customer Service lady, judging from the other comments on here....*car not being returned on time= not a rare occasion*. So don't pretend to be surprise or blame me. I am just appalled. I was actually really excited about joining. I think I even tweeted about it. I'm going to call them and ask for a refund. I doubt they will even bother to do that, but I guess it's worth a shot. At this point, if I tell at least 5 people NOT to join Zipcar. The $50 would be worth it to me. Good luck guys. Please share your experiences as well. And ZipCar, if you are reading this: if you were anything notable as a company or took a Business 101 class , you should take all the reviews and comments on yelp ( hello??? focus groups don't get any easier than this???) and REASSESS. I just want to sit with the owner or whoever is responsible for the shit customer service and ask them: SERIOUSLY?? Seriously. Good day. Update*******They refund my annual fee but not my application fee******I'm happy with that. $25= lesson learned. Good bye ZipCar. And to think, I had such a huge crush on you. read more

I have used ZipCar SF since 2011 with an average of $100s of dollars on rentals each month. There is rarely a good experience with ZipCar---be it the car isn't in the lot, the car is dirty/has trash in it, or the car simply won't start. My first bad experience was when I rented a car downtown only to find out the car wasn't there. I called them and they told me I could wait or go to a new lot. So, I went to a new lot that was all the way in SoMa about 10 blocks away via cab. When I arrived, that car was gone too! Calling them again, they said it wouldn't be back for hours so I ended up entirely missing my appointment that day. ZipCar did reimburse me for the cab ride there, but that was it. Moreover, the late fees with ZipCar are expensive. Whether you are late for one minute or one hour you pay $50. Driving back from the North Bay after having rented the car for the day, from 10AM to 10PM, I returned it late by 17 minutes with a nearly full tank of gas. My phone died so there was virtually no way to extend the reservation and ZipCar does not provide USB chargers. Thirdly, don't be surprised if you get cars with less than a 1/4 tank left with gas. I never reported these people, but there are plenty of others who will report you. I would recommend getaround or City Carshare (a local non profit) over ZipCar. Getaround has no annual fees and you can rent from as little as $3 an hour to as much as $50 an hour for a Tesla. By comparison, ZipCar is the most expensive of any car sharing program for weekend trips and hourly rates. 3 day weekend: Getaround: $102 + gas City CarShare: $170, gas included up to 200 miles / day (inc. 3 EFTs) ZipCar: $283, gas included with no limit One hour: Getaround: $5.50 + 13c / mile (based on 36mpg and $4.5 / gallon) City CarShare: $5.50 + 35c / mile RelayRides: $7.00, gas included (comes out of owner earnings) ZipCar: $7.75, gas included The only advantage to ZipCar is their locations. If you live an area where there aren't a lot of options, you are kind of stuck with them. Otherwise, save yourself the bad experience. read more

Zipcar is yet another one of these 21st century companies that puts on a friendly face yet when it gets down to it as nasty as any phone company or utility. After a rentaI tried to return the car where I picked it up and there were no spaces left. I thought the sensible thing to do was to drive to another lot and leave it there. I received a scathing and rude rebuke from some snot-nosed 20-something informing me that it was "never ok to leave the car anywhere but where you got it" - Next time of course I will leave it in the middle of the street. Hire some more diplomatic types - I'm sure others will not tolerate this kind of abuse. read more

This is my first zipcar experience. The reservation process and pickup was very convenient, but the car is FILTHY, and I found a condom wrapper in the backseat while cleaning it. I have an infant and 5 year old with me. Needless to say I'm very disgusted by this. I left a message with zipcar letting them know...will see what happens next. read more

Zipcar - First zipcar experience and found this condom wrapper in the backseat! Disgusting! - Car Rental Near Me

My experience with Zipcar started off great. Easy reservations, no problems. That was the first year or so. Then....prices started rising, dramatically. OK, I understand price increases. But the service has gotten worse and the issues are WAAAY more frequent. For example, I just got charged a late fee of $258. I was completely confused as I had returned my car at least 15 min BEFORE the reservation ended. So I emailed and in response, I get: It looks like the next member's scans got applied to your reservation. I do apologize for the inconvenience. I've refunded the amount of $258.48 ... Please allow 3-5 business days for this refund to show up. No biggie, just $258. But, it's cool, right? Cause we're buddies!!! No, Zipcar. No. read more

Ok, I was 100% behind Zipcar until about four months ago, when the zipcard just stopped working.... three different times. Before they had spares in the trunk so it wasn't a huge deal, but now you have to go into their office to get a new one. Once we (my boyfriend and I) had to pay for our own gas because the mileage code didn't work. On thanksgiving we were freezing stuck outside of our zipcar 50 miles from home waiting for them to unlock it for us. Finally we decided to write a formal complaint explaining that if they couldn't find a better solution than constantly having to go into the office to replace the card that they would loose us as customers. Their reply? "Sorry to see you go" That's it, no apology, no attempt to ameliorate the situation, just goodbye. Fine! F U in the A Zipcar, City Car share here we come! read more

Why would anyone living in central SF ever own a car? Parking is scarce, thieves abound, gas is pricey. Gas prices alone are the best reason to ZIPCAR (not to mention that you're too embarrassed to carry the 100 pack of toilet paper you just bought from Costco on Muni with you). When looking at the other car shares, I found ZIPCAR to be the most economical. Compare this to the other carshares' $10 monthly fee, $300/deposit, $50 annual fee, etc. and ZIPCAR is the best around. As with other carshares, you don't pay for gas nor do you pay for insurance. However, when you prepay your time with ZIPCAR, you don't pay a monthly/annual fee, you get 10% off your rental rates (starting at about $7.50/hour and $58/day), and you get to rollover your unused minutes for at least one month. And you also get to use ZIPCARS in other locations, even as far as Toronto, Canada. They also have the best fleet of cars in various locations. I've seen Minis, Volvos, BMWs, and my favorite the Toyota Prius. They're one block from my home, two blocks from my home, three blocks from my home. They're one block from my work... you get it. They're everywhere! Plus, when I signed up, I got $50 driving credit. Another thing Zipsters get is discounts at various vendors around the Bay Area: 30% off at chroniclebooks.com, 20% off at McEvoy Ranch, 10% at Sports Basement, even $200 off at Vespa on Franklin St., SF. If you're thinking of a carshare, definitely get into a ZIPCAR! read more

After 2 years I have to cancel my membership. The excellent customer service of this company BEFORE it was acquired is all gone now. Cars are simpler but fees are more expensive, and car maintenance is very bad by now. Most importantly, I chose Zipcar because they advertised their all inclusive bundle: millage + insurance + gas bundled in one rate. The last 2 reservations I had problems with the gas card, this is the card customers are supposed to use to refill the tank in order to return the car with no less than 1/4 tank of gas. Last week I picked up a car with less that 1/4 tank and I thought I had to report the previous driver after arriving at my destination. When I tried to use the card to refill (this was in June 2014) the card in the car was expired since April 2014. No gas station was taking this card, and I was told by a zip car representative when I called that i should have fill up the car using my personal CC and they will reimburse me in 5 days. I had similar incident a few months ago. This is not the service I had for the last 2 years: pay for the car and Zipcar takes care of everything. Now they expect customers to fill in for their lack of maintenance and cost cutting. I think this kind of car sharing is a great idea but it appears that Avis is running Zipcar into the ground. They used to have cars you would buy for yourself, with the level of options that makes life comfortable. Now you are getting a rental car. The service used to be near perfect, with great maintenance and friendly staff. Now they are a drag and want the customers to cover for their poor maintenance. Time to move on to the competition. read more

I started using ZipCar since moving here about 50 days ago. Everything was fine. Cost a little more than expected but is reasonably under control. However, last weekend I had to deal with some lousy incident that I started wondering if I deserve being treated this way. It is about Zipcars' designated park spots occupied upon return, which cost me time and money due to unprofessional customer service. I've sent email to their customer service but got no response for 48 hours. Gonna share here... ======= start of the email ====== To whom it may concern, I'm writing in regards to an unpleasant incident when returning your car to SFO designated area and found all the zipcar spots were occupied. Here's what happened: I had a reservation Nov. 10th (Sunday) afternoon at SFO. I drove away and returned around 730pm; at that moment all the ZipCar lots were occupied: 2 out of 5 were not ZipCars. I found one free space nearby, parked there and then called ZipCar to make sure that it's ok doing so. Your customer service was friendly; however she could not help me out on this circumstance. I believe she tried her best as we talked long. Still, from a customer's point, I cannot buy this. At the end of the talk, she told me to inform AVIS since they own the rest of the parking space. I then proceeded to AVIS Preferred desk to ask for help. The progress was just ok. The frontend desk was very nice and helpful, making several calls, trying to figure out a solution. It took a while. After then, she explained that it might be their staffs using Zipcars' space and asked me to left the car by the wall. She said their staffs would drive it back to where it should be. This process is unacceptable to me. Not only that I lost time and money (*) on this, I strongly feel that contacting AVIS should be your responsibility, instead of customers'. I do understand that it's impossible for you to have representatives at every single Zipcar location. Nevertheless, you should have this in plan already, especially for locations like the SFO airport. People may miss their flights dealing with such issue. As a loyal Zipcar member, I strongly suggest you take this serious and improve the service to make us proud of driving a Zipcar and make us willing to introduce Zipcar to our friends, families or anyone else. (*) Since I returned very much earlier than my reservation, I should get refunded even counting in the "reservation-exchange fee" Sincerely, ======= end of the email ====== read more

Really disappointed in their product and their customer service. 1) Sign-up was easy and fast 2) Reserving car was easy and fast 3) Car was not in good shape and had a very bad smell 4) They claimed I was late, which I was not, then proceeded to charge me an exorbitant $120 rental extension fee even though the car had already been dropped off. 5) When I called customer service to explain, they refused to do anything about it and were completely unwilling to reason with me. When I asked for a manager I was refused that option because I was already talking to the highest person I could talk to(this was the first and only agent I spoke with). 6) I disputed their charge with my credit card company, when they received the dispute, they simply recharged my account and sent me to collections without notifying due to the "past-due balance". I would highly recommend against zipcar. I have had much better experiences with companies Getaround.com, Turo.com, CityCarShare and even with traditional rental car companies, you can get pretty good deals on Hotwire.com. read more

I have been a Zipcar user for more than 3 years now and have always seemed to come across an issue. Their customer service is one of the worst I have ever experienced and it seems to get worse every time I call them. 1) They blatantly hung up on me 2) They told me to call back at a later time, while I was in the middle of resolving an issue 3) I was unable to reach the manager This is the first and hopefully the last time I ever call customer service where I am unable to reach the manager. I would never recommend Zipcar for anyone no matter if you live in a city or in a suburban neighborhood. It is ridiculous that such a simple idea can be turned into something that is so difficult and so expensive to use. I will gladly call an uber and tell anyone else to do so. There are many other companies, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area that are more user friendly and cost effective. Avoid Zipcar at all costs because all you will receive is an extreme disappointment. To top it all off, as I was trying to reach the manager to explain the issues I have been having and eventually cancel my account, he was unable to be reached. I am appalled at the lack of customer service and happy to no longer be affiliated with the company. read more

Thanks to Zipcar for contacting me. I spoke to them yesterday about my review and the August price increase and we went through the elements that are contributing to their current pricing structure. Parking costs remain high. That's always well known in SF. They have to pay up to $400 a month for a single parking spot, but that existed before the spike in gas prices last summer. Leasing costs for the cars were locked in months ago and cannot take advantage of lower financing costs in the current market environment. Again understandable, but unfortunate. The biggest factor that I hadn't counted on is the cost of insurance for Zipcar. In a previous review update for Zipcar I had noted that break-ins and theft of the gas cards was a problem at some lots. This is apparently a more widespread problem than I had originally figured. They are seeing break-ins even at managed parking garages where the attendants cannot directly keep their eyes on the cars most of the time. Insurance costs are becoming ever higher as Zipcars become an ever more well-known target as time goes by. My guess, but this is just speculation, is that they are researching other solutions instead of having gas cards so readily available in Zipcars. My own idea would be to have a second unlockable box in Zipcars that can be opened with your ZipCard that contains the gas card. read more

Customer service has gone significantly downhill (you can just tell no one wants to be working there and they could give less of a sh$! about helping with problems). Overall just a complete lack of common sense within the organization. Last year they removed Bluetooth features from the fleet (substituting in bare model cars), which I consider a basic safety feature as I often need to do calls while driving. Prices are insane: $120 (starting) for a daily rental. $80 to spend 4 hours at the beach. $50 late fees if you run a few minutes over. This is not a practical option in SF, where you may get caught in traffic, next thing you know you have spent an extra $60. I cancelled my membership and now use City Car Share and Enterprise, both of which have pricing that is sane. read more

D O N T U S E T H E M T H E Y A R E H O R R I B L E !!!!!!!!!! This is the worse company to work with, they have NO customer service. I rented a car last Saturday to move my kid to Davis the van broke down called ZIpcar The gave me 3 options when I called: 1- Take to a gas station and change the oil ...That was not acceptable this a rental car I am not going to fix anyone's car 2- Drive the car as is until it breaks down on the freeway 3-wait for the tow truck came which took over 5 hours from my first call, At this point I had no Car and those were the options from Davis (CA) to get back to the city: 1-ride w the tow truck --- really ???? 2- figure out your own way to get back to the city WHAT KIND SERVICE IS THIS THAT WE PAY $20.00 AN HOUR FOR A CAR THAT DOESN'T WORK AND YOU MIGHT GET STUCK WITH NOT OTHER OPTION TO GET BACK TO YOUR HOME . I was not going to ride w a tow truck so I had to make arrangements to stay overnight and had to buy 2 tickets on Amtrak to get home ... Basically you are screwed. I rent a car that was not reliable , I called 5 times now to check on my claim, My credit card was charged for a service that was not done, wasted my whole afternoon waiting for the tow truck. and occur expenses that were not necessary. I hope this will help who have a membership to think twice before you rent their car. I am going to file a dispute w my cc , file a claim w BBB and small claims to collect my expense for the overnight. That is how angry I am w them... read more

I needed a car at SFO for a few hours on a stopover for a meeting. Ever since they moved all the car rental companies to the off-site car rental station several years ago they have added on that silly surcharge and the 15-20 minute train ride along the freeway to get to the centre (which feels like you are going all the way to SF the first time you take it!). That centre always has long return lines as well and you end up needing to have an extra hour built in to make sure to catch your flight on the way out. That surcharge that probably paid for the lengthy train ride's tracks also seems like "highway" robbery. (Oy, that was an awful pun. Shoot me now.) I didn't have time or desire to deal with the hassle. And dammit, I resent that surcharge! I got the bright idea of just finding the closest zipcar and using that since you are allowed to use Zipcars in other cities (I live in Vancouver). The Daly City BART Station location was the answer! The train ride over wasn't much longer than to the "SFO" car rental centre. I use the term "SFO" car rental loosely. They should call it "South San Francisco" car rental centre! This zipcar location only has a single car - a Toyota Corolla. But it did the trick. It was only $10.25 per hour including all insurance and gas. So it ended up being under $50 for what would have cost me about $80 + gas + insurance with Hertz. And no lines to rent or return. Just step off the train, get into the car and go. Return the car by just parking it, locking it up and going. It was perfect for the 4 hour rental I needed. And now I have a new use of my Zipcar membership! Zippity doo dah! (Oy....Not again.) read more

Dropped by the office today, since I'm new in town and without a car. I've been on their website before, but didn't really feel the love, so when I passed by the office, I figured I'd give them another chance to convince me, since I'm so perfectly aligned with their target demographic: young, independent city-dweller without a car. But alas, I still didn't get any love. They are paying not one, but TWO disaffected boys to sit behind the counter and text their friends all day. Not a single customer in sight. I wasn't even greeted when I walked in. So once I got their attention, I try to whore myself off as a customer. Disaffected guy #1 gives me an impassionate run-down of the cost structure, without putting any effort whatsoever towards convincing me that there's anything in it for me. And well, it doesn't look that attractive. $25 sign-up fee? $62 yearly membership fees? Holy cow, I'm already almost a hundred bucks in the hole and haven't driven a single mile! Where do I sign up for this? On second thought, no thanks, I'll keep my money. read more

Unfortunately I still occasionally have to use Zipcar, though I've mostly switched to Getaround now. I'm amazed they are still in business given how often they raise prices and by how much. I really wish there were more alternatives for people who only need to use a car once in a while and don't want to be price gouged. I made a reservation for a car at $10/hour and before I even used the car they raised the price on me to $12.21/hour! Truly unbelievable. Hopefully they will go out of business soon and will leave a gap in the market for some better car sharing company to fill. I used to be able to get cars for $7/hour a year or two ago. Now they are mostly $13.55/hour and up, which is almost a 100% increase in prices. That's crazy. read more

I've been a member of Zipcar for one month. I want to like Zipcar, I really do. I've borrowed a car about eight times and only once did everything go smoothly. The first time the car was low on gas and had a mechanical issue. I tried to fill it up only to find that the gas card was not accepting my member number pin. I had to return the car running on fumes and a prayer. The second time, the car was arriving late. I ended up being re-routed to a car with mechanical issues. Then I was re-routed to a ZipVan. Finally, the 4th time, Zipcar got it right and re-routed me to a car. I was re-routed a half an hour late into my appointment time. I asked Zipcar if I could have this one free since it was such an inconvenience and I walked half the city to get a car. They said no. The next time the car was not in the correct garage and my most recent problem occurred today when I got a car low on fuel with no gas card! I had to fill it up using my personal credit card and wait for Zipcar to reimburse me! Customer service is friendly, but limited in what they can do to resolve whatever issue you are facing. Some cars have mechanical issues or gas cards missing and you don't know until you have arrived at the car and need to be on your way. I really wish it worked that you can simply get in and drive away, but all too often it doesn't. You waste precious minutes calling Zipcar to report damage (that may have been already reported) or filling up a car that the person before left virtually on empty. Zipcar is gonna make me buy a car. Zipcar is my only option now - and I am thankful for it, but it isn't the right fit for me. Maybe I am exceptional in the number of Zipcar crappy experiences I've had, but I just can't justify keeping a service that works perfectly once in a blue moon. read more

A word of caution to new and existing members of Zipcar. You don't get credited back if you return a Zipcar an hour early like I did today. It's easier to re- reserve the Zipcar that you were previously in just to retrieve an item, that you forgotten. Than it is to call into customer service. You'll just get charged an hour for the reservation. Zipcar has a partnership with Avis and Budget rental car. read more

Until I own a car that's sole purpose is to get me from A to Barstow for no other reason than the pleasure of driving, I don't want to own a car to bounce around on errands. Thus, I am the ideal candidate to be committed to the Zipcar brand. I'm one of the lucky ones (eventually we all will be) where there are two lots with in a half mile of my front door -- which include cargo vans. An intuitive, thoughtful process & app. Notes: *Consider having some of the Zipcars be able to go one way (rather than having to return it to its location. Do you have a staff who could potentially *zip* around the city shuffling cars when need be? *And, when there is a reservation that immediately follows our reservation, and we return it more than on time -- like with fifteen minutes or more to spare: reward us with a refund (albeit a slight amount... it'll feel good). You give me an Audi turbo whenever I'd like it? I may just end up in Barstow with this one. read more

Reading the reviews of Zipcar have made me apprehensive to absolutely gush about it; I'm sitting here anticipating catastrophe one of these days...but so far so good! There are very few advantageous points to be made involving vehicles in North Beach, except that as a NB resident and a Zipcar member, there are plethoras of locations within walking distance of my apartment. I was a little nervous when busting my Zipcar cherry....I felt like a fool walking up to this heinous bright red Nissan Versa, holding my card up to the windshield thinking, "Is this REALLY going to unlock the car?" After that, it was smooth sailing...except for the hysterical lauging fit my friend and I fell into when attemping to start the ignition of a Mini Cooper for our wine country excursion. Apparently, turning on a car with a KEY is something out of the stone age. Here's my one gripe: I have been in situations where I've had to extend my reservation and as long as there hasn't been another res. behind mine, it's been a piece of cake. I really wish they offered the option to cut the reservation short if need be. There's no sense in me driving around the city, wasting gas and polluting the air just because I have the car of an additional hour because I anticipated an extra 15 minutes of service. read more

There's not too many options for you in the city for car sharing. It was either Zipcar or City Car Share. After careful research, Zipcar won after considering locations, types of cars, and pricing. I do the occasional driving plan where I pay annual fee of $25 (found a discount promo online) and pay hourly rate depending on which car I drive. They have everything from Prius', Corollas, Mini Coopers, and BMW's. Love: - Insurance, Gas, and 180 miles included - Lots of different cars to choose from - Lots of locations, especially downtown area - Minimum is only 1 hour and you choose any length of time in 30 mins increments - Can call to extend your reservation if you're running late as long as nobody booked it - The Zipcard is easy to use and carry so no hassle with keys Hate: - The day rate is expensive! $69+. If you rent more than a few hours, then it's totally not worth it. You can get a cheap rental for the day for $40 anywhere else - They book reservations back to back so someone may be returning it at 3pm when you need to be in the car and start driving at 3pm - Their late fee starts at $50! - Can't replace your car in the spot the Zipcar was parked in - I wish they had a gps system in their cars - that would be sooo useful! Overall, I've had a good experience with Zipcar (so far at least). Perfect for when you need a car to do some errands, but for extended trips, go check out Priceline or Hotwire for better deals. read more

I once LOVED Zipcar. I was their number one evangelist, convincing even people who had cars, to join. I went to all your parties and referred many new members. Zipcar represented ultimate freedom to me. Freedom from a car payment. Freedom to choose a car that suited my destination, the weather, job, mood or outfit. It was fun! Now all Zipcar represents is fees and fees aren't fun. Avis came up with a wonderful solution for Zipcar's shortfalls. I call it "The Return to Freedom"! They offer cars by the hour. Reservations are not required. I don't have to join. There are no annual fees. I can stroll in whenever I am ready or call ahead to make sure a car is available (FYI - they don't make their customers call an 800 number; we call the office direct and talk to a real person). Smart cars are $9.99/hr, 2 hour minimum and a daily rate of $60.44 (amount includes tax). Plus, customers get a 20 minute grace period on their return time. The grace period allows for stuff out of my control, takes away the stress and makes it fun again! If Avis is offering this program, the other car rental companies aren't far behind. Unfortunately, I have been late on few occasions. I do my best to plan for traffic, travel time and anything unexpected. Sometimes stuff out of our control happens. I accepted responsibility and paid the late fee without complaint... until now. Recently, I was about 15 minutes late on a 3 hour rental. Another member was not inconvenienced due to my tardiness. The late fee, with tax, is almost $55. I feel that amount is excessive and should be reversed. I hope my thoughts are helpful and Zipcar is able to make the necessary adjustments. In the meantime, I choose to take advantage of Avis' Return to Freedom. FYI - Enterprise now offers Smart Cars at $9.99/hr. read more

This company makes money from their service, but with the way it benefits me, it's hard to imagine how it's economical for them. It's miraculous how they coordinate their customers to share cars, and cover their costs without impossible prices. I especially enjoy the late-night 50% hourly rental. It feels like I'm getting away with something. I use that to haul friends all over town after a night out, for less than going 1 block in a taxi. Zipcars are a key piece of my plan for car-free urban living. The other pieces I depend on are (in order)- my bike, Bart, Caltrain, muni, and other car rental (for longer times). Having so many flexible options is one thing that makes it a privilege to live in this city. My most common Zipcar use is for intermittent, unpredictable short business trips across town. Generally for an appointment or to pick something up on short notice. Say, I'm biking around and stumble on a garage sale with a $5 piano that won't fit on my bike rack. I can get on my phone on the spot and do an hour pickup truck rental, and then I'll have a thrifty-scored piano to sing rocket man with. These trips make my rentals tax-deductible and the costs are covered by whatever business I'm doing. It's a big advantage to work that way instead of the overhead of ownership. (No nasty headaches from separating tax-deductible driving and personal driving with my own car either.) Thanks for helping me professionally, Zipcar. I see a lot of mixed reviews on here. Many of the poor ones seem to come from personal difficulty with coordination inherent in such a service. Late fees are high because lateness is such a challenge for running the whole system. I have had to deal with those fees too. Imagine the frustration when there's 3 minutes left on the clock and I'm stuck behind a slow-ass dump truck 4 blocks from the drop-off. It helps to plan ahead by adding an extra half hour on the rental. I love how it's so easy to call in an extension too (but don't depend on it because another customer may have it reserved and then you're screwed.) Customer service is the worst complaint for some reviewers. I have found the opposite. The last time I had a late fee, it was because the streets were blocked with protesters against education cuts, who made me honk for support while I swore at the clock. I emailed in an article about the protests and zipcar made the late fee disappear. What a nice favor. I have never had a problem with a dirty or badly maintained car (although I did find apples in a glove compartment once, and they were delicious.) Gas has been a need once in a while, I seem to take care of it no more often than other drivers do. Lastly, I recommend Zipcar for a fun trip to the beach with a friend. Check my Stinson Beach review to see how much fun we had thanks to them. read more

The ending to the book-cancel-repeat saga with my Mini odyssey in San Francisco was a happy one. Zipcar reached out to me, and although we never connected (the usual phone tag on both sides), something strange and magical happened. After my last Mini was canceled, I was just about to end it all when I got switched to (surprise!) a Mini. Not knowing San Francisco, I walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (aka The Tenderloin--please don't kill me wasted-guy-fighting-invisible-demons!) to get there. Lo and behold, it was a Mini convertible. 5 hours up the PCH, dream accomplished. The Mini Takes the States event was brilliant, with 1000 people that night at kick-off. Zipcar really made my trip happen. They really came through in the end. I am a bit disappointed that they are moving away from the Mini in their locations, though I understand it's a bit of a contention between Mini and Zipcar around servicing. I do like the business model, though it doesn't really fit how I rent cars, but in the end Zipcar of San Francisco delivered on the goods. read more

TIME TO EQUIP CARS WITH FASTRAK TRANSPONDERS. I have used my FasTrak numerous times and it failed for the second time on my birthday. FasTrak apologized and dismissed the violation fee both times. ZipCar did not. ZipCar did not even bother to respond to my email with the violation dismissal #, and instead charged me $20 for the violation processing. Fast forward to yesterday--coming back from Sonoma, we hit the Bay Bridge toll center and decided to wait in line and pay cash rather than risk using my transponder. Needless to say, we were late because of this. ZipCar slapped us with a $50 late fee. You just can't win with ZipCar. UPDATE! They equipped ZipCars with Fastrak transponders!!! AWESOME. I'm impressed. read more