Zipcar users beware!

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I'd like to share my bad experience dealing with zipcar.

I rented a Jetta for two days several weeks ago and because the garage where I picked up the car was closed after 12am so I had to park the car on the street. It was near Columbia Univ. New York. In the morning I found out that the car's rear window was smashed. So I reported the accident and filed a police report. The conclusion: it was an act vandalism (nothing is missing and there's no evidence that someone entered the car).

To my surprise, zip car insurance doesn't cover damage caused by vandalism. The insurance only cover damages when there're other parties that can be held responsible for the damage. Because in my case no one can be blamed, I ended up having to pay more than $300!!

And I still had to pay the rent after the accident even the car is unusable.

Another thing that makes me curious is that why from all cars that were parked only zipcar was targeted. We suspect it's the big zip car logo that single out the car from the rest.

So my conclusions are: 1. Zipcar insurance is a rip-off. They don't cover you when you most need it (i.e. when a random accident happen and no one can be blamed) 2. The big zip car logo on the door attract unnecessary attention and sometimes this can mean bad luck for you. 3. Zipcar is very unconsiderate by still charging me the full rental fee even after the car is unusable because of a misfortune that wasn't my fault.

Don't get me wrong. I'm still using zipcar but only during the day and less often for sure.

-- Anonymous, November 19, 2004

Answers

The insurance deductible is $500 anyway, so you would have had to pay regardless. This is standard insurance practice. Any time something happens to your car, there is the deductible that you have to pay. Which means when my friend's side mirror got knocked off by a vandal a few weeks ago, he had to pay to replace it despite haveing excellent insurance coverage.

But insurance pays for the Big things, not the small things.

-- Anonymous, November 20, 2004


That really sucks man. You shouldn't have to pay for it if there was no way for you to park it in the garage. Did you try contesting the charges with zipcar?

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2004

Well I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that you used a car under the terms of an agreement. Having just checked, seems to me that the agreement is pretty clear that you return the car as you received it or pay the first $500 in damage, unless there's another at-fault party identified.

It seems there are only a couple of possible complaints you might possibly be making here:

1) "Zipcar is not honoring the agreement."

2) "I was fraudulently induced or coerced to sign an agreement that I didn't understand."

3) Zipcar is exploiting an ambiguity in the agreement unreasonably in their favor.

If it's not any of those, I'm not sure what the complaint is?

As for the insurance being "a rip-off", we can't judge whether or not something is "a rip off" unless you say how much paid for it, and how much value you received.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2004


I actually had to return a car to a 58st garage at 4 in the morning. The gates were closed but the garge was open. Since I had the phone to the Central parking facility, I got the guy to come to the gate and open up. Plus I almost returned a minute past the deadline.

Night rentals are iffy. At half price you really have to ask the right questions and allow for mishaps. I only reurned the car thin (right on the minute) since there was no traffic. But the garage closures can bring an obstacle. Definately have the attendants' number. All in all I cant argue for 28 bucks in a BMW for 4 hours WITHOUT THE CHEESY LOGO!

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2004


That doesn't sound like zipcar's fault, or a reflection of their business. It is in the agreement. For the low cost that we pay to use the zipcars, be glad you didn't have to pay a lot more. Zipcar is in my opinion a great company, and unfortuntely outside circumstances can make it difficult for both parties. They are not out to get you. When I owned my own car, there was a $500 deductable on my insurance, it is just par for the course.

-- Anonymous, December 12, 2004


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