Hi folks -

I left my cell phone in the 11th Street Brooklyn Prius a few Saturdays ago. I called Zipcar, and the kind folks there called the person who had the car after me and said that that person had told Zipcar that they had turned the phone in to the attendant at the garage. To that person: thanks so much for trying to do the right thing.

The problem, however, is that I never got the phone back. Every garage attendant who worked that Sunday says he didn't see it. One says he saw it in the car on Saturday and left it there. I convinced one guy to let me search the garage office up and down, and it isn't there. So it's gone, and I'm out a few hundred bucks.

Folks, please send valuable lost items to Zipcar itself, or call Zipcar and ask them to contact the person who had the car before you, then arrange for that person who lost the stuff to come get it from you. Though it may involve a bit more work, the odds of getting the item back to the loser (that's me) seem higher this way.

Many thanks, Ron

-- Anonymous, August 10, 2004

Answers

Your title is somewhat miss-leading, if I hadn't come in to read the post, I would think "not a bad idea to turn in to garage attendents".

A possible solution is that whoever sees a forgotten item should call zipcar and leave the item in the car until the owner come back to retrieve it.

-- Anonymous, August 31, 2004

Thanks for the reply. Sorry to have confused you.

Leaving the items in the car isn't such a great idea. First of all, you're not supposed to be able to get into the car (to retrieve the item) without a reservation, and that costs money (though at garages with attendants, they can get you in for free since they have zipcards too). And as an item loser, I'd much rather a responsible person grabbed the item and held onto it so I could come retrieve it from them than have them to leave it floating around the inside of the car.

-- Anonymous, August 31, 2004

I think a lot of the attendants think of Zipcar people as high-maintenance and low-return. This may not be true, but for the less-motivated employees, it's easy to think, "why should I do anything extra for them" and not pay too much attention to lost items.

If you leave the lost item in the Zipcar, it's protected by the lock and you have a record of who drove the car with the lost item. You can call Zipcar and have them unlock the car when you're there to retrieve the item. And I think the chances for recovery are better when it's in the custody of Zipcar community people. We're not perfect, but we're more likely to look out for lost cellphones when the next one might be our own!

Above all, the best way is to have one standard procedure and for losers and finders to call Zipcar for information about what to do.

-- Anonymous, September 01, 2004

Here is an official policy response regading lost and found items: Place items of potential value in the glovebox or trunk of the car. Throw out perishable items and personal belongings that qualify as 'litter'...you can report these to us via e-mail so we can give feedback to the previous user.

There is no need to call Zipcar for either of the previous cases.

Report items that render the car unserviceable to you at the start of your reservation, including bulky, contraband or offensive objects. If you left, or think you left an item in the car, make a reservation (1 hour minimum) and go look or wait until the next time you have a need for the car and look then. We won't unlock a car any longer without a reservation except in emergencies for security and cost reasons.

We are looking at ways to support self-service lost and found communications. I know it's obvious, but I have to say it: The best way to avoid the problem is to make sure you get your stuff out when leaving the car (tidy).

Thanks

-- Anonymous, September 08, 2004

Stephen...

That's an unexpectedly nasty response from the friendly Zipcar folks. We need to pay $8-$10 to grab a missing set of keys from under the seat? What's so expensive about unlocking the car for 1 minute so a verified member on a cellphone can retrieve something? Not only that but it contradicts your own website FAQ which says:

"What if I leave or find something in a Zipcar?

Call (866.4ZIPCAR) and let us know. Our members know to leave anything found in a Zipcar where it is. We'll attempt to track the previous members down. That way, you can arrange to go back to the car and retrieve your items."

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2004

I have to agree with the most recent response--I've always followed the Zipcar FAQ policy, of calling (or emailing if it's not a super high-priority item, like a pair of golf gloves or a keyboard), and if the policy has changed, a response to this thread from Zipcar does _not_ seem like the best way to let members know it.

-- Anonymous, September 10, 2004

"What's so expensive about unlocking the car for 1 minute so a verified member on a cellphone can retrieve something?"

I totally agree. Please, zipcar, add this capability. It would make me a much happier customer.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2005