Today I returned a zipcar to its garage in NYC and the attendants on duty had to chase me down the street to tell me that I had to lock the car using my zipcard before leaving or the company "would charge me lots of money". They were not pleased about this happening on a busy Memorial Day. However, I checked the Zipcar web site and couldn't find anything that says this has to be done...

So my question is: is it true that a card swipe completes the rental? and if so, does it make sense to post something in the FAQs?

Thanks!

-- Anonymous, May 31, 2004

Answers

If you don't lock it, you are leaving an unlocked car with the key in plain sight! So even if you are just going into a convenience store for 5 minutes, you should always make it a habit to lock the car.

-- Anonymous, June 01, 2004

I don't think you looked very hard for this information on the website--it's simply a click away. Besides, locking the car with your Zipcard--once you've already figured out how to _un_lock it with your Zipcard--is not really a difficult concept. I'm pretty sure it was covered in the tutorial you have to take prior to initializing your membership, but it's also available on the "How to Use" page on this website Note Zipcar's "no skimming" tip--a hint that info on this page could _possibly_ come in handy in the future:

"We've kept this short—one page—so no skimming! Read every word and click the links along the way for details on any given area. . . .

"The key belongs in the car at all times (but don't leave it in the ignition), and you use your Zipcard to lock and unlock your Zipcar during your reservation. Get the car to its location by the return time of your reservation, switch off the lights, take the key out of the ignition, don't forget your stuff, and clean up your mess. We only check our cars once a week, so we're relying on you to be considerate of the next person using the car. Hold your card to the reader one last time and the car will lock. That's it, you're done!"

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2004

I don't even take the card out of my wallet .. I simply put my wallet on the dashboard and it locks/unlocks. That's wicked cool...!

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2004

If you live in NYC, you know that it's standard practice to return a car to a garage by driving up the attendant and leaving it for him/her to drive it away and re-park it immediately. In fact they yell at you to leave the key in the ignition to make their lives easier. So I don't think this question is as stupid as you all might think. But thanks for the help - now I know and won't forget next time!

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2004

Wow, I never thought to try unlocking/locking the car with my whole wallet instead of just the Zipcard - I find it slightly inconvenient to take the Zipcard out of my already-stuffed wallet every time I leave/enter the car, so I'll try this trick out next time. I hope it'll work even through the many layers to the zipcard.

-- Anonymous, June 12, 2004

I was given a choice of choosing between a keyfob-type and a card-type "Zipcard" soon after I joined and have had the keyfob-type ever since -- at least three years. But I don't know if this is available as I have never seen any reference to this option on the website or in e-mails and newsletters and the only other Zipcar member I've mentioned the keyfob to knew nothing of it. I also don't know if the keyfob-type is recognized at places giving discounts, since mine at least doesn't have a Zipcar logo on it. (I wrote an e-mail to Zipcar asking about this and never got a response)

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2004

I too had a concern about returning the Zipcar. SO I got out an hour before teh reservation was over, because I was done with the car. I have a habit of manually locking the doors, so I did this. I went home, went to bed and shot straight up in the middle of the night wondering if I had to swipe my card over the windshield to end the reservatiuon!?!?!? How does ZIpcar know I brought eh car back on time if noone reserved it after me? If I forget to swipe over the windshield when I am done, does the clock keep going?

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2004

I have been a Zipcar member since 2000, and the last time I checked, the microprocessor inside each car automatically locks the car after being parked for 10 minutes. I believe that this act is equivalent to doing a zipcard lock, so if you returned the car on time, it should not result in a late charge (since there was a 10 minute grace period last I checked). What this means is that it is seriously foolish to dare leave your zipcard in the car, since the car will lock itself 10 minutes from when you shut off the engine, regardless of when you finally left the vehicle, and if the Zipcard was left inside, it will do you no favors by magically leaping within range of the windshield by itself.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2004

You should always lock the Zipcar with your card when you are through with it. This is mainly to prevent theft and vandalism. Zipcars will never lock themselves during a reservation, but they will do so 10 minutes after the reservation is over, just in case the member forgets.

This amount of time is not related to any 'grace period' which for the sake of our members tapping their feet in the snow, is not a term we acknowledge (whose grace?). The cars should be returned on time and if you know you are going to be late at all, you should extend by the phone and if you can't, call, because that means someone has the car booked at the end of your reservation.

It is important to lock your Zipcar when returning the car to a valet controlled garage. The valet will use their own Zipcard to unlock the car and our systems won't confuse the valet driving with yours.

In response to an earlier post, keyfobs have not been issued for a couple of years now...they were nice, but couldn't match the reliability of the cards.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2004