The problem with car sharing
April 7th, 2010 by Tim Uden
Last year I blogged about car sharing and said it was a viable alternative to car rental. When I visited the USA in September and October I had the chance to try it out and I discovered a major flaw in the car sharing concept.
I signed up for a Zipcar membership and used the service twice. First off I rented a Mini for four hours to visit and review the HI – Marin Headlands hostel near Sausalito. My second rental was in Palo Alto, where I intended to visit a hostel in the Los Altos Hills. I was planning on using Zipcar extensively on the east coast and also planning to make a video blog post demonstrating Zipcar’s new iPhone app. It was after the second rental that I learnt a very expensive lesson about a major issue with the car sharing concept and ended up renting from Hertz instead of getting a Zipcar on the east coast.
Around a week after my second rental I received an email from Zipcar accusing me of damaging the car and I was subsequently charged a USD $500 fee for the damage. I guess I’m lucky this didn’t happen in the UK where the damage fee is £500.
It is appalling customer service to be accused of doing something I clearly didn’t do, even though Zipcar may have every right to charge the damage fee. It could have been handled differently, without implying that a customer was wrong (I know I didn’t damage the car and don’t appreciate being told otherwise).
This whole experience soured my view of the car sharing concept by highlighting a serious flaw in the system. The car lives on the street or in a public car park and the person renting it is responsible for any damage that occurs to the vehicle until the next person takes the car. Unlike a traditional car rental company, there is no employee to check the car when you return it. The car just sits unattended in a public car park where anyone can damage it after it has been returned and the last person to use the car gets the blame (and a USD $500 damage fee).
To Zipcar’s credit they at least have acknowledged that this is an issue and several months after I used their service (several months too late in my opinion) they implemented a damage fee waiver. For USD $50 per year you can reduce the damage fee to USD $250 and for USD $75 per year you can reduce it to nothing. Anyone signing up for the service really should pay the additional fee because it is a lot cheaper than being charged USD $500 for damage that occurs after the car is returned.
Ideally occasional users should have the option of paying a smaller fee per month or per use (rather than per year), although Zipcar’s damage fee waiver is still a step in the right direction. In the UK, this is how City Car Club charge their damage fee waiver, which is a more cash-flow-friendly £5 per month to reduce the damage fee from £500 to £100.
Update
8 May 2010Zipcar has since refunded my $500 damage fee (plus a free day credit).
Although it may seem that they speeded things up because I blogged about the problems I was having, it has become quite clear to me that they do have systems in place for dealing with issues like this. Basically I fill out a form (I remember filling out a form months ago, but can’t remember if I sent it in) explaining the situation, then they look into the case and possibly give a refund.
In my case, I knew I was right but couldn’t prove that I didn’t cause the damage. I returned the car early and neither myself nor Zipcar could tell whether the damage occured during my rental period. In this case it was a matter of my word against Zipcar’s, and they had every right to charge the damage fee (even though I may not have felt it was fair). Even though I wasn’t responsible for the damage, I couldn’t prove that to Zipcar. The car would have been off the road for a day or two while they repaired it meaning that they would have lost money on it, so it was nice that they refunded the entire fee.
I really didn’t expect this. I thought that if anything came from this, they may have come to some sort of compromise where part of the fee was refunded as driving credit, with Zipcar keeping enough to compensate them for the time the car was off the road. Anyway this refund has changed my opinion about Zipcar and I look forward to driving one of their cars again in the future (and using their iPhone app), although I’m currently living around a 16-hour flight from their nearest location so I won’t get a chance to do this until I’m either back in London or when I next visit the USA.
Despite Zipcar resolving this issue for me, the prospect of a renter being held responsible for damage caused after a car has been returned still exists – although that is the case with all car sharing services.
View Comments to “The problem with car sharing”
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June 3rd, 2010 at 10.29 am
I guess there should be no problem and what there basic needs a perfect identification of the car owner and car driving person itself thats so important that while sharing a car.
July 30th, 2010 at 3.32 pm
Sorry you had a bad experience and thank you for the warning on damage fees: we should always check this. I have been using car sharing in many different countries for 10 years myself and I absolutely love it: you choose the time, the brand, the size depending on how many people are in the car and what you do with it: sometimes you take a car for a day then stay in town and use the bus or tram instead then take the car for a 3-day trip etc.
Another topic I would like to see on this site is carpooling or ride sharing or lift sharing or anything you want to call it. It is a wonderful way of traveling: save on petrol, meet the locals. It is very popular in Germany already and is becoming increasingly popular in some countries like France.
I recommend http://www.envoiture.fr for France or http://www.rideshare.co.uk for UK: both sites cover all Europe though.
September 16th, 2010 at 3.37 pm
This has just happened to me. I joined Zipcar in the US last month, used the service 4 times, and this week was emailed about damage to the last car reserved. For my first reservation, I called in minor damage. For my second reservation, the car was returned late and low on fuel. I called these in (and refilled the tank on my time). My third and fourth reservations were without incident. I used all my time during the second reservation, but didn’t realize that while there was no damage to the car DURING my reservation, I was completely exposed to someone else causing damage to it until the next user showed up. I am fighting this result, but caution others about using this service. BTW I’ve been driving for 30 years with a spotless record (including numerous rental car uses).
October 21st, 2010 at 10.10 am
I agree with your views here. Definitely sharing cars always create problems and damage to the car. Nice sharing some interesting links here. There are really some good car rentals that can solve such kind of damage to the car. Nice writing. Keep posting.
October 24th, 2010 at 10.12 pm
I have heard that quite many people have faced this problem which I guess is the biggest disadvantage of sharing a car. It is always safer to take some pictures before taking a car and after returning a car if you have the time showing option in your camera to have some evidences you have dropped off a vehicle in the same condition you picked it up.
November 24th, 2010 at 8.33 pm
Hi please tell me who did you contact to sort this problem out? how did u sort this out? zipcarz are trying to charge me u00a3600 for damages on a car which occured after i dropped the car off but the damages occured before the end of my reservation. please tell me how u sorted the damages out?? please help me, Kuly UK.
November 28th, 2010 at 11.08 pm
When I was informed of the damage fee by Zipcar, there was a form for me to fill out and dispute the damage. If you didn’t receive this form, contact the manager of your local Zipcar branch and ask them to send it to you.nnAlso some insurance policies cover the excess charged by rental car companies (Zipcar doesn’t always fall under this category, it depends on the insurance company). Unfortunately this isn’t as common with insurance policies issued in the UK.nnZipcar’s contact details are here: http://www.zipcar.com/contact/
December 8th, 2010 at 6.44 pm
Sorry I meant who
December 8th, 2010 at 6.44 pm
How rents a car without checking for damages? You got what you deserved.
December 8th, 2010 at 6.46 pm
Dumb fuck
December 11th, 2010 at 4.33 am
Lovelili, genius, the damage could have been caused after he returned it to the garage.
December 27th, 2010 at 11.03 am
I agree with your views here. Definitely sharing cars always create problems and damage to the car. Nice sharing some interesting links here. There are really some good car rentals that can solve such kind of damage to the car. Nice writing. Keep posting.
February 11th, 2011 at 7.47 am
in my case yes sometime I get frustated when some other person is using my car and sudden i need to go some where and I did not get my own car. So I thinks sometimes in sharing creates a big problem.n
March 15th, 2011 at 5.26 am
I agree with your views here.sometime it makes big problems
March 17th, 2011 at 3.24 am
i agree with car loans.
April 14th, 2011 at 8.27 am
i agree with your view
May 4th, 2011 at 9.46 pm
You just were unlucky. I am using ZipCar for more over 3 years quite regulary and never had such problem. nOnce I was in an accident and had to pay $500, but it was my fault, so no complains. nThe only actual problem for me is car availability. I live in NY and with weekend trips you have to think ahead and do the reservation well in advance, otherwise you do not go at all or end up packing 5 not-too-small people plus barbecue/beach stuff into a Mini.
May 4th, 2011 at 9.47 pm
Oops.. it was not reply, it should be moved level up. Sorry.
June 11th, 2011 at 9.27 am
This is nice post
June 27th, 2011 at 8.30 pm
Definitely sharing cars always create problems and damage to the car. Nice sharing some interesting links here. There are really some good car rentals that can solve such kind of damage to the car.
June 29th, 2011 at 12.20 pm
This is a Great post
July 2nd, 2011 at 8.26 am
It is very helpful post
July 7th, 2011 at 2.02 pm
I did my part and reported a few dents I found before my reservation and Zip-BS turned around and tried to blame me.. they have no way of knowing who, what, when, or where damage occurs….I have had at at least 4 reservations dropped at the last minute by them in the last year…..and I understand if you are involved in some major damage you are screwed….
August 24th, 2011 at 3.36 pm
I have been a daily website visitor to your blogs, great work.
August 24th, 2011 at 3.41 pm
I have been a daily website visitor to your blogs, great work.
October 10th, 2011 at 9.24 pm
I have just experienced Zipcar’s awful customer service. I have been charged double for a car rental by arriving 40 minutes late whilst speaking to a very rude operative called Tim.
I had no such trouble with streetcar and it’s a shame they’ve been taken over.
My affair with car clubs is officially over.
March 12th, 2012 at 10.18 am
Injury claims compensation can be easy to get if you take help of a personal injury solicitor because with his help you can get claims of compensation very easy and with proper strategy as and when required.
March 31st, 2012 at 4.53 pm
I like to read this good post.This post sharing a well information to manage a car related problem. By this post I got a well solution for my car connected issue.
April 19th, 2012 at 7.36 am
Keeping insurance on your vehicles is vital to you avoiding serious
fines and even time in jail. By knowing the coverage you have is
sufficient, you can have peace of mind knowing you are covered if you
have an accident or you are stopped for a traffic violation. If you do
not have coverage during these times, you could have a great deal of
money to pay out.
May 5th, 2012 at 10.33 pm
Spambot, you’re on the right lines. Except EXIF / overlaid time stamps in photos are easy to fake. Recently I got a zipvan that had so many dents and dings that the damage log book was almost full. It would have taken half an hour to go through it seeing if any dents were new.
So instead, it’s better to use your smartphone to make a video. Do a thorough 360° sweep of the car, and in the same shot WITHOUT PAUSING, open the driver’s door, and zoom in on the dashboard, showing the official zipcar date and time. This is much harder to fake and would be much more helpful in protecting you against claims. Do the same at the end of your trip, and then stop worrying about it (-: