Hi! Did you guys ever look into getting phones in the cars that only call Zipcar? I don't have a cell phone and it's hard to go find a payphone to call in if something is wrong with the car. Thanks! Jenn

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2003

Answers

Yes, we did, and there is a significant monthly charge for such a phone, which we would have to pass on to our members. Since most of our members already have cell phones, we did not feel it was fair to ask them to pay these additional costs.

While we do expect you will call immediately in case of emergencies or to report a problem with the car that we should deal with right away, for minor non-time critical problems we have business reply comment cards in all the cars. Or you can call or email us later for these non-time critical problems.

-- Anonymous, January 16, 2003

Jenn; The best cell phone for occasional users is from http://www.virginmobileusa.com/ $59 for the phone, no monthly fee, 10- 25 cents per minute. You must spend $20 every three months, which is far less than any of the major carriers. The phones use the Sprint network.

A phone in the Zipcar would be great, but what if the problem is that you can't get into the car?!

-- Anonymous, January 23, 2003

Ditto about the virgin mobile cell phones--I always said I would never get a cell phone--but this is so affordable and so useful when using zipcar. Karen

-- Anonymous, March 06, 2003