Two stars because I was initially really happy with the service, but recent events have changed my rating. Added a household member to my account- thought it was a good way to split the annual fee. No mention of fees or costs associated. Couldn't find any FAQ or details on the website. Credit card charged $25 application fee, $26 additional annual fee, no emails or notifications from Zipcar that I had been charged (sneaky!). If I had not checked my credit card statement, I wouldn't have known! Called support once, they submitted a request to member services. Email told it was nonrefundable. Called again, told it was in the "Terms and Conditions" during the approval process (conveniently those terms are no longer accessible since I had already "approved"). Passive aggressively told, "that's why you should read all the terms and conditions carefully every time before you agree." Looked and there was no such clause about additional application fees for households, or additional annual fees associated with households. Still no refunds or credits. Would have been cheaper for household member to sign up on his own. Considering cancelling account because of extremely poor customer service and hidden fees. read more

I'm not one to write reviews especially on this horrid website but I don't even know how else to handle this situation. I used this service one time previously with zero issues. I rented a car yesterday for several hours and had no issues until I parked in a garage. The car went "offline" and I wasn't able to unlock it. After being on hold for 20minutes someone finally transferred me where I was left on hold again for an additional 50 minutes. I hung up and called back and waited just as long, leaving me stranded in a garage by myself with melting groceries for 2 hours. I can understand being short staffed and I can forgive some inefficiency but this should have been a quick and easy fix. I hung up and called again to tell them I would be getting a Lyft home and I expected to be able to retrieve the items that were left in the car & I expected a refund at least for the time extension I paid for and was unable to use because of the issue. I was on hold again for another hour and a half before my phone died. Someone finally called me back later and told me they would call me the next day between 8 and 10 AM to retrieve my stuff and offered me a $50 credit instead of a refund. I accepted bc at this point I just didn't want to deal with it anymore. But now its 1 pm and I haven't been called about retrieving my belongings and I've been on hold for another half hour. At this point I'm honestly just grateful that I wasn't in an accident or stranded longer or further & I feel bad for whoever booked the car behind me who probably still hasn't received any explanation or a refund when there was no car for them to drive. I'm not gonna pretend to know what's happening behind the scenes that makes this company so god-awful but something's gotta change. Give some other company your money because this one is not worth the risk. read more

Zipcar has turned to absolute junk. I've been a member since 2007, and back then they were awesome. They actually tried to resolve issues, the customer service agents were adept enough to problem solve and help with any issue. Nowadays, the customer service agents are totally useless, like totally useless and a lot of them are rude and condescending, too. Some of the cars are total junkers, too. We reserved a Nissan Titan one day and when we got there it had the bumper duct taped on and there were dents all over it... seriously, Zipcar? It's just a bad service, the customer service is atrocious and just hope that if you use this service that you don't have any issues that you need to call-in for. Numerous times I've shown up for a reservation and my car wasn't there, when I called in to get help they always tried to "help" by putting me in a car I had absolutely no way to get to. So yeah, I use Reach Now or Car2Go or Uber before I use Zipcar. read more

I had a TERRIBLE experience on my very first ride with Zipcar, and they didn't seem to care at all. I don't think I'll be trying this company again. The car I reserved was not available when I went to pick it up, and the customer service agents on the phone had no idea where the car was, and even though I was in a parking garage with other Zipcars, were unable to switch me to those Zipcars. I spent an hour on the phone with multiple customer service agents who seemed completely unable to navigate basic computer functions, let alone something as complicated as figuring out where an entire car ended up. After wasting an hour of my supposed rental time, missing my event, and ruining my evening, they finally got me into a different, more expensive, car 10-15 blocks away uphill and charged me for the rental. No apologies, no offer of comp-ing the rental or trying again. Come on Zipcar. You've lost another new customer. read more

Honestly not worth the money. I understand it covers insurance and gas but it was such a struggle. I reserved a car from 11 am to 12 pm the next day. At the start of the reservation the card wouldn't work so I resulted into the app. Throughout that day I had to continue using the app. The app kept on glitching when I tried to lock or unlock the car. Waiting for the app to lock the car made me late to 2 of my appointments. The next day when I opened my app to unlock the car it said that my reservation ended at 12:30 am. So I called zipcar and the operator took FOREVER and on top of that she kept on messing up. I told her I needed the reservation from now(8 am) until 12:30 this afternoon she scheduled a 10:30 am to 1 mime pm, then I corrected her and she fixed it but charged me $10 and I was running late so I didn't bother telling her I already paid $85. Honestly not gonna recommend this to others. read more

I would give zip car zero stars if possible. I originally signed up in Seattle, WA and then used Zip Car in CA quite a few times. I spent a lot of money on this service. When I arrived back to Seattle and wanted to continue using zip car I found out that my account had been suspended. There is no way to find out anything about this through customer service. I had to go to the office in person which I did and when they looked my acct up they said that everything would be fine in a fee days after I gave them proof of my address. A few days later I was charged two membership fees and my acct was "permanently closed due to general membership concerns." I just went to the office in downtown today and the receptionist who wears her hair in a pony tail both times she's tried to help me said it was closed due to security concerns they had no idea why and they could contact the home office to find out more but that there was no way to open another acct or do anything like that. Worst service I've EVER used by far. Worst customer service experience ever. Stay far away. read more

zipcar is a scam ! don't use this company they will over charge you & steal your money out of your account ! constomer service doesn't car worst company ever ! read more

i was a Zipcar subscriber since 2012. sure, i had a few late returns because LIFE happens; as do unforeseen traffic anomalies, unpredictable bureaucratic delays, and plain old bad luck. i've rented several Zipcars in those few years for all types of errands: grocery runs, moving, odd-jobs, etc. until ONE day, i hit a curb on accident (a curb that i'm sure has been hit by many other drivers over the years due to the visible deteriorated condition of the curb) that was on a sloped / angled driveway while i was backing in to a parking spot in Seattle. the car that i had rented was 'lowered' more than the average car - (driving different Zipcars can be tricky because one has to adjust to a different 'form factor' / 'feel' that each vehicle uniquely has). it was my first time driving a 'lowered' vehicle, and i wasn't informed by Zipcar about the challenges that such a vehicle would present while driving up or down hills, slopes, speed bumps, or any other raised terrain-related obstacles that could curtail driving a vehicle such as that one without incident. after i hit the curb, i IMMEDIATELY took pictures of the sustained damage and IMMEDIATELY called both Zipcar AND sedgwickcms.com telephone operators to inform them of the incident. all of this before i even left the scene. i also had the best insurance that money could buy through Zipcar - just in case something like this happened - so i was under the impression that everything would be okay and life (and business) would proceed as usual. i thought that i would have to pay a deductible (and i was totally fine with that); but i was in for a surprise instead! sedgwickcms.com processed the incident and all requisite paperwork within a timely manner; Zipcar did not. Zipcar suspended my account while the incident was under 'investigation'. while my account was suspended, i was attempting to get updates from Zipcar about the status of my account for a several weeks. sedgwickcms.com had already given me the proverbial 'green-light' and didn't know what was taking Zipcar so long to give me an update about the situation. once Zipcar finally DID get back to me, they notified me that my account was PERMANENTLY suspended...REGARDLESS of the fact that it was a 'one vehicle accident' - regardless of the fact that the terrain obstruction had CLEARLY been hit / contacted by several other vehicles over the years - REGARDLESS of the fact that i took about 20 high-definition pictures at different angles and distances - and REGARDLESS of the fact that i wanted to appeal the decision or move it further up the chain. in my opinion, Zipcar is just like any other company with shady business practices - AS LONG AS 'LIFE' doesn't happen, everything will be fine...but once a situation arises that costs them a negligible amount of money in the grand scheme of things, then you have to go (and NEVER come back) - without question. it's just really a shame to have a false sense of security; thinking that you will be covered by the insurance that you purchase from Zipcar, and to find out that not only are you NOT covered, but you are also PERMANENTLY SUSPENDED. in closing...if you are out there and are thinking about renting a Zipcar, just be forewarned that ONCE YOU GET INTO AN ACCIDENT - EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE THE BEST ZIPCAR INSURANCE THAT MONEY CAN BUY - they will suspend your account permanently and impartially and not communicate with you in a transparent and / or timely manner. they will also give you the 'runaround' and 'Joe' will tell you to call 'Bob' and 'Bob' will tell you to call 'Joe' thank you for reading - and PLEASE never get into any kind of accident with Zipcar, because they will ban you permanently and with impunity. take care, people - and drive safely. (p.s.) please share this review on social media if you feel like it could help others. read more

Actual store employees are very helpful, but forget about calling customer service. The reps I have talked to are absolutely clueless, rude, obstinate, etc. Trying to report issues is like banging your head against a wall. They won't let you finish a sentence and try to turn everything back against you- a very strange experience. Also, nowhere near as cheap as they make it out to be. Not worth the effort or frustration if you can possibly avoid it. read more

I've been a Zipcar member for years. In general, I love their service and wish I could give it five stars. There are a couple of areas where Zipcar fails miserably. As with any service, sometimes things don't quite work as they should. When that happens, their customer service telephone reps are often hapless. They often cannot even understand the nature of the problem, and once they do understand, they often don't know what to do about it. Then they are reluctant to bump the problem up to a supervisor who might know how to help. I would advise Zipcar members to check alternatives before using airport Zipcars. Avis has rolled out this service before they have it ready to work. It worked well for me for a reservation in Boston (aside from the car needing some maintenance attention). However, I recently had an airport reservation in Oakland, CA, and that became a vacation nightmare. There were eight cars parked in the Zipcar spaces. When they would not authorize for me, I contacted the Avis rep. She informed me that she didn't show any available Zipcars, then acted like the matter was settled. (No cars available, so just go away?) After further checking, she said the problem was that none of the cars were available for a full week, the duration of my reservation. Again, that info was presented as if the matter was settled. "Hey, here is the reservation I made over a month ago, I just flew in for a week of traveling, and I need you to get me a car." We went through the usual phone-rep-bounce: Avis telling me it was Zipcar's responsibility to find a fix, Zipcar telling me it was an Avis responsibility. After nearly an hour, Avis and Zipcar worked out what I was told was a fix. I was told I could just take one of the parked cars and operate it using the key rather than my Zipcard. Okay. After dinner that night, I got back in my car and it had deauthorized and would not start. After another half-hour trying to get Zipcar customer service to comprehend my situation and bump me to a supervisor, they got the car reauthorized. I asked if the source of the problem was fixed, or would I have to keep calling them. They assured me it would not deauthorized again. Four days later I got back in my car in Yosemite Park and the car had again deauthorized. I had no cell service. I had to catch a ride to the Park office where they allowed me to use their phone. It was another nightmare trying to get CS to understand my problem. After finally getting past the CSR to a supervisor, I had to explain about five times that my car was over a mile away, so I could not try the things they asked me to try. The supervisor said he thought he could fix it and asked me to call back in 15 minutes to verify that the problem was fixed before walking back to my car. Did he have a direct number? "No just call the same number again and ask for Oscar." Thirty minutes later (the 15 minute wait plus yet another 15 minutes on hold) I was told by a CSR that he had no idea who Oscar was. After overcoming the inevitable reluctance to bump me to a supervisor, I had another supe on the phone. We started all over again. After a long hold, he came back and told me he was now quite certain my car would start. He said he had called the regional Zipcar director in San Francisco for assistance. I made the 45 minute walk back to my car in a pouring rain. Nope. My car would still not start. I begged a ride back to the phone. I was through with customer service. I called my Portland local rep and begged his help. As always before, he was the only person I talked to who seemed to comprehend my problem, and he was able to resolve my problem. I went back to the car again, and it now worked throughout the remainder of my vacation. This was after four-and-a-half hours! All problems combined, I lost a full day of my six-day vacation in the Yosemite area. My account was apparently credited about one-seventh of my seven day reservation estimate. Satisfied? If you were on a vacation that was costing you about $200/day and you effectively got a $60 credit for losing a day of your vacation, would you be happy? I'm left with a sour taste in my mouth and absolutely exasperated. I will remain a Zipcar member, and I still appreciate having Zipcar as an alternative to car ownership. There really is no competitive alternative. I love the Portland Zipcar team. However, I so wish Zipcar would take a look and its absolutely terrible problem-resolution system. When it works it's great. When it fails, it fails spectacularly! I don't dare recommend Zipcar to friends, as I certainly don't want to take the heat when they experience the worst of Zipcar. read more

They have the worst customer service possible. I booked a car and when I was returning it, it was locked. I called their customer care and they asked me to park in a separate location. They charged me late fee for that and even after multiple calls refused to remove it. Will never be using them again. read more

Not worth the trouble, time and money that it costs to go Zipcar. This business is a total rip off with bad customer service. We needed the car urgently and the website did not say how long the signup process takes. They took a whole week !! Many policies are not explicitly stated on the website. Just a single line: "please call customer service to inquire more" is being offered in lieu of a proper policy. some examples of this are the signup process, membership renewal, cancellation and refunds. in short, their customer service expects that we have all the time in the world to discuss and be put on hold repeatedly for a $10 credit which should have been obvious to catch and apply. i guess once your exit strategy has materialized, you dont care anymore. happy to share my zipcar membership number for authenticity. read more

Zipcar needs more cars in bike heavy neighborhoods like Greenlake! I joined more than a year ago and AT FIRST it was great because the cars in my neighborhood were generally available. However nowadays it totally SUCKS because there's never a car in my neighborhood when I need one. And you have to be especially careful when making reservations because they use the same car picture and similar names for cars that are actually parked in totally different neighborhoods. Once I ended up having to walk 4 miles in the pouring rain because the car that I thought was parked a couple of blocks away was actually the same type of car with a very similar name parked very far away. So they are making more money but I'm not seeing it being reinvested in better services. read more

I've been a Zipcar subscriber for twelve years, and just had to cancel my account because of their sketchy billing practices. They made it virtually impossible, as the local branch doesn't answer their phone, and corporate HQ doesn't answer emails. I will absolutely, positively never subscribe to this service again. read more

I joined zip car as it seemed to be the best solution. First time I used it, fine. Thanksgiving day, supposed to have it for 5 hours. 40 people waiting for food at my daughters, pick up vehicle and get back to my house to load car and go. Little red light comes on saying it needs anti-freeze, Great, I'm told to buy the anti-freeze, I'm supposed to buy this when the shops are closed, that's fine which one? And then I'm told by zipcar that I'm not allowed to drive the car. Catch 22. Not I'm so sorry let's find another car for you. Couldn't even tell me which anti freeze to buy, if it's the red one I have it on hand. Not happy with them at all. read more

From my experience, Zipcar is very convenient when you need a car for a short drive of one hour or less, but anything longer than that and it ends up being cheaper to rent a car through a traditional car rental company. Another negative is that if the gas tank goes below 25%, you're responsible for refilling the gas. Although Zipcar pays for the gas, when you're on a tight schedule and also trying to return the car on time, this ends up being a hassle. I've had to pay more to extend my reserved time simply to buy the time to refuel the Zipcar. (Hopefully Zipcar will fix this by giving drivers a 15 minute bonus for refueling.) read more

Sadly, Seattle has no other car sharing organizations that i could find. I would be using them if I could. I was a Flexcar member (they rocked) and when they were bought by ZIpcar I made the mistake of staying with them. I have since cancelled my membership and i want to be sure everyone knows what a stunningly ineffective company this is before they sign up. the lats two reservations i made both went so horribly wrong that i couldn't get where i needed to go and ended up needing to cancel my plans. The first time the car i had reserved was missing and couldn't be found, no car in walking distance was available and after an hour of asking me to wander down random streets looking for the vehicle, the best solution the customer service girl could offer was to go running up to a returning Zipcar driver in the middle of the street and ask if i could use their car if they were finished with their reservation. I missed an important doctors appointment and had to pay 250$ because of it. The next time i couldn't get my car out of the garage and aside from hailing a cab off my residential street (not possible) there was nothing i could do, and no other cars available. When i called the Seattle office to complain the best they could offer me was a 25$ credit. That doesn't even cover the amount i had to pay my doctor because of their neglegence. I live my life without a car for a variety of reasons. I strongly support car shares, and realize there are times when a car is necessary. What Zipcar doesn't seem to realize or care about is how necessary the use of their cars can be. I would never recommend them to anybody, they are more expensive, with fewer hybrid and eco friendly cars, unresponsive in their customer assistance, don't offer incremented time, don't refund time unused and don't know what is going on with their vehicles half of the time. Worst of all, they don't care as a business when they are unable to provide the service they offer. read more

I was visiting Seattle for Christmas week and decided to rent a zip car and drive down to Portland for a couple of days. I came into the store, made a reservation on their computers. The staff was friendly and helpful except I did come across a problem when I changed my card on file from my debit card to my credit card. I didn't know that you MUST change your payment method before you actually reserve the rental, so when I got back home I come to find my debit account was overdraft. I spoke to a few representatives on the phone to get the issue solved and get the bill switched to my credit card--After a lot of "noes" a manager at the store went out of her way to make a rare exception, talk to accounting and switch it for me. Part of the reason she was able to work it out was because of my student account which I have owned for almost three years now. Thank you! to the dedicated the Zipcar manager that turned this negative situation which almost lead me to leave Zipcar into a positive one. I'm sure I will continue to advocate for Zipcar, like I always have and continue my longterm relationship with this company every time I need an affordable rental! read more

I checked out my first zip car yesterday and everything went smooth a clockwork until I brought the car back after a few hours and realized I'd accidentally made the return reservation for the following day and due to a pretty standard 24 hour cancelation policy, I was stuck with a huge bill for a three hour ride. I mentioned my self-inflicted problem on the post ride questionnaire and, to my surprise, they were back to me almost immediately with a courtesy refund. I was in the wrong but they still made it right. That's good customer service. I'm a loyal supporter, and I'll be more careful checking my dates. read more

Hey I have been a member for a few months now and it has been great. Cars are available when I need them but not always the models I want. The card key some times acts funny when I lock the car without the card so just use the card. The last car I rented sounded a little like it needed a tune up or oil change. Its an overall good program when you find the right car you like. If you would like I have a coupon you can use for $25 of driving credit with new accounts but have a limited number of them so email me with your interest and ill send you the code. read more

Reserved a car close to my home. Two days before, they moved my reservation to a car more than 3 miles away. They'll reimburse cab rides to and from the car but they don't tell you that until you complain. Even at a higher hourly rate, Car2Go is looking pretty good. read more

No one who does not know how to drive, should not be driving a ZIP CAR, and do they check the driving records of those who rent these things? I think not!! read more

When I found out about Zipcars when I first moved to downtown Seattle, I gave them a try and soon after became a member. It has been 5 years since I became a member. You would think they take good care of a member and treat you with respect but instead they treat you like you are nothing. In the last couple of years things just got worst. I don't like writing bad review on a business, I like to give them chances to fix the issues, but over and over I got screwed and no one ever called me, or made any compensation for the mistakes they made. I never complained when I go get the car and find out the car is dirty. Never complained when the car was low on fuel to the point the red light comes on and now I have to take the time that I should be driving to my destination to go out of my way to fill up. One time I went to fill up, the fuel card did not work and I had to use my own credit card, the company did refund the amount I paid. I went to get the car that I booked only to find out that the car was not there. No one told us where or what happened. Twice, I ended up calling customer service and was late for my destination. They did credit me back the hours I lost but that isn't the point. I rent these cars for a reason and my time is very limited so is most people who are using these kind of car services, convenience and what had happened to me is the opposite of anything but convenience. The worst time of all I made a reservation a weeks in advance to go on a special trip with my spouse for our anniversary. The very day I went to get the car, I got a call telling me my car was not available. And the worst part of all they never offer any other choice. I made a complained to customer service and they never did anything. I got so fed up, I canceled my service after 5 years. Wow, why did I waited this long to walk away, you might ask? Like I said I like to give a business a chance to fix their mistakes. But obviously this company don't bloody care. They probably don't read this review either. Well, I wrote this review for other customers out there, do not get sucked in like me. There are good car services out there. read more

I'm beyond livid right now. Despite being a member since 2007 when they were just a startup and having no prior accidents, Zipcar has canceled my membership because I got rear-ended by a Cadillac Escalade at 60 MPH on a mountain highway three weeks ago. Zipcar's own insurance carrier concluded the accident was not my fault, but they've still decided to cancel my membership. The whole reason I picked my apartment in downtown Seattle decided not to buy a car was because there's ten Zipcars parked in the building's garage. Fortunately I live in a city with decent public transit and two other car sharing services, but it's still going to be a major pain to run errands and get groceries from now on. Looks like I might be looking to rent a new apartment and buy a car when my lease is up next year. After being passed around between four different customer service reps on the phone this morning, Zipcar has concluded there's nothing they're going to do and their decision is final. Thanks for completely screwing over a 9-year customer, Zipcar. read more

perfect for not having a car living downtown