I did my first Zip rental today, and while it was a great experience overall, there were a couple of problems I thought Zipcar should know about.

First of all, I didn't know to activate my account. I went to the office to pick up my Zipcard, and nothing in the packet I received mentioned this. I wonder if I received the entire new member packet? This was a minor problem, but it seems like something pretty basic that Zipcar should get right. I also notice from the archives here that their were complaints last year about members having cars "die" on them when they cut the engine and didn't know to flash the unlocking device with their Zipcard to restart it. This didn't happen to me, but I would have been in the same boat as those members if it had, since nothing I received (nor anything on the website) explained this. Having the right info is key to having a good first experience with Zipcar, so Zipcar should really put some effort into this. First impressions and all that, right?

Secondly, I accidentally took the wrong car. I didn't know about the different cars at the location, and when my card unlocked the first Zipcar I saw, I assumed I had the right one. I was under the impression that the Zipcard would only work on the car you had reserved. Right? Was this a fluke, or did I misunderstand how the system works? If the latter, this is something else that should be explained to new members. (I can't be the only one to do this, can I?)

Nevertheless, the Zipstaff who had to put up with me for not making these mistakes (and for calling to see if the car was returned late because I tried to go in the wrong entrance to the garage and had to back out and drive around the block in bad traffic with seconds to spare!) were all friendly and helpful. Everything went well, and I didn't get any extra charges.

One final problem--I'd wanted to reserve Focus Fandango at Takoma Metro, but when I tried, it didn't show up at all--I thought I'd dreamed it! Now it comes up on the reservation page, but with prices listed as TBA. What's causing this problem? I thought maybe it was a new car, but I see it's been there for many months.

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2004

Answers

Andrew,

Thanks for this feedback. In general, you can send inquiries to the info@zipcar.com email address for a more direct response.

Regarding activating your card. It is interesting to hear from first time users the things that trip them up. Of course we assume all the systems are brilliantly intuitive and it is always an eye-opener to see. Since we allow both telephone and web reservations, it is possible for members to never get the account activation (register your Zipcard) message where we put it (when you first log on to the web after approval) I think we can add a line somewhere and fix this.

I am not sure why you were able to get in the other car. We try to deliver enough information about your reservation to preclude this and the system is designed to prevent it. There are a number of operation situations that might make it possible and I will have to investigate these. It is probably not something we need to explain by default...rather reduce the incidence.

Our location directions are continuin opportunities for improvement, and with some garages, the return trip can be confusing. I will look into these as well.

The last item is a function of our need to move cars around from time to time to time. In this case the car is in a serivce status and will come out. If you 'move' the reservation grid a few days ahead, it will show you the prices. A little glitch we will work on.

Thanks for joining...

-- Anonymous, August 27, 2004

My first experience was less than stellar, but that was because the member using the car before me was 30 minutes late in returning it, which made me 30 minutes late for a surprise party. That was the first and only time I ever had a problem. :)

-- Anonymous, September 22, 2004