Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies

naadopaasaka · 15th May 2022, 14:03

I booked a Ford Ecosport on Zoomcar on a Saturday about a month ago for the following Tuesday. I chose to have the car delivered at home, and booked the trip from 09:00 A. M. to 07:00 P. M. I chose to experiment with Zoomcar as our car would be away for the day for its 6-monthly checkup.

I got the following confirmation SMS immediately on booking, telling me that the driver would be allocated 1.5 hours before the time at which the trip was to commence.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss1.jpg

The car did not show up at 09:00 A. M. At about 09:20 A. M., 20 minutes after the trip should have started, the app gave me a notification that a delivery agent was allocated. The notification said the car would arrive at 09:44 A. M. I thought, “something is better than nothing,” and simply waited. At about 09:35 A. M., I found from inside the app that there was no delivery agent allocated at all. I then called customer care.

Here is a screenshot of the app showing that position (no delivery agent named). The screenshot was taken at exactly the instant at which the delivery agent was allocated for a second time, as can be seen from the push notification.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss2.jpg

Customer care said they’d give me the agent’s number and told me that I could follow up with the delivery agent. Although I took the number, I explained that it was their job to send the car to me and not mine to follow up, and politely refused to do so. At 09:35 A.M., as you can see from the screenshot above, I got a notification that the delivery agent of the same was allocated again. This time, the promised delivery time was 09:54 A. M.

Here is a screenshot of my notifications screen showing the allocation of a delivery agent at 09:23 A. M., and again at 09:35 A. M.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss2a.jpg

I then spoke to the delivery agent at about 09:40 A. M. He first asked which car I was talking about and I gave him the number. He then gave me the number of the driver. I am not sure if Zoomcar contemplates the driver being somebody different from the delivery agent. The driver told me on the phone that the car was supposed to be at BTM Layout, but was in or near the Airport instead. He said he would reach in twenty minutes.

At 09:56 A. M., since the car was nowhere in sight, I thought I had extended enough of a long rope to Zoomcar and decided to cancel the booking. However, the app didn’t permit me to cancel the booking on the ground that the trip had already commenced! This, a little under an hour after the scheduled start of the trip, while the car had not yet reached me. Here’s a screenshot of that error message.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss3.jpg

The car finally reached me at 10:20 A. M. Yet another issue, which I discovered at this stage, was that the car had a white board.

The car was in relatively good condition. The interiors were extremely clean and well kept. There were some small scratches on the exterior, and one of the fog lamps had come partially out of its slot, but overall the car was in good shape. The EcoSport was a great pleasure to drive. Sadly, I was rather busy at work on that day and couldn’t drive it as much as I’d have liked. I drive a 2017 pre-facelift 1.3L DDIS S-Cross. I found that the EcoSport handled very well and didn’t have as much body roll as I would have expected for the relatively higher and more upright posture it has when compared to the S-Cross. The only failing was that the clutch was heavy. As somebody who likes manual transmissions but drives in traffic everyday, that alone would be a deal-breaker if the car was still on the market.

The woes do not end here. The Zoomcar app recommends (nags) that you fill up the tank to the full to get a 5-star rating as a user. I, naively reposing faith in the robustness of Zoomcar's systems and processes, filled the tank up. I spent more than ₹4,000 as the car came to me with less than 10% in the tank. After the trip, multiple promises were made on telephone by customer care (for so long as I could reach them) for remitting the refund within various periods of time. However, after much follow up through multiple avenues (customer care on the phone, email and twitter both by tweets and DMs), the money was refunded to me only about three weeks after the trip.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss5.jpg

Beware that customer care on the telephone is not accessible to you for these purposes a few days after the trip, as the IVR will not permit you to speak to an actual human being unless you have a trip pending or recently concluded. The options available on the IVR at this stage also do not contemplate this. I was able to reach a human being for roughly 10-15 days after the booking. But once that period expired, the options on the IVR changed.

The apparent human being who handles their twitter account seems to be nice, although somewhat helpless. There was no point losing my cool with him/ her, or indeed losing my cool in life in general. So I patiently persisted and sent the apparent human being a message every time the period within which s/he promised redressal had expired. I suspected that their in-house systems would eventually have to compel them to close this case/ complaint if I persisted for long enough. I played it like an endurance game; a test match, never losing either my cool or my persistence. That strategy seemed to work. Many unkept promises later, the refund was finally processed. Once the refund was processed from their end, the actual remittance was pretty quick. A link was sent to me, and the refund came to my credit in 2-5 minutes after I filled my remittance details in the webpage the link led to.

There are some other tiny complaints too. Although the trip is complete in all respects now and I have received my refund, against that trip, the app continues to show an error message “image upload error,” although within the app all the images are clearly uploaded without difficulty. I hope this is only a bona fide technical issue. Here's a screenshot taken today showing this.

Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies-ss4.jpg

I should also point out that a cousin of mine booked a Renault Kwid from the IGI Airport in Delhi a couple of weeks ago. When he arrived in Delhi, no Kwid was available, and he was given a Datsun Go+ in what he describes as “terrible” condition. This car too was a white-board. He sent me a video of the blower of the AC making a noise which was so loud that I initially thought it was the car’s engine. He also had a puncture which resulted in the whole tyre ripping off.

Anyway, while, based on these experiences, I have no hesitation in recommending against Zoomcar, I do see that some people have had rather a pleasant time with them.

Engine_Roars · 13th July 2022, 11:43

Hi Guys, is there any rental agency around delhi that can provide new Thar on rent? I will be arriving in Delhi on 20th Morning & was wondering if I could rent a Thar there. Any help/feedback would be much appreciated.

mail4ajo · 21st July 2022, 23:48

Folks, is there any reliable professional service that is available in Cochin? I am visiting and was hoping to get one for the duration of my stay.

vb-saan · 22nd July 2022, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Folks, is there any reliable professional service that is available in Cochin? I am visiting and was hoping to get one for the duration of my stay.

Check out EVM Wheels - a very professional and hassle-free experience. I have posted my impressions here.

FanaticOnWheels · 22nd July 2022, 19:35

Folks, how good is MyChoize for Bangalore? We plan to arrive in Bangalore at Yelahanka Junction, take a self drive car and head out to a nearby hill station.

The only gripe is they don't seem to offer doorstep delivery for a distance > 10 KM, & Yelahanka Junction station seems to be >> 10 KMs from all their points.

I only see the below options:

1. Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station
2. Outer Ring Road HSR Layout (7AM to 10PM)
3. Nearby locations: Hennur, Koramangala, MG Road.

All are for self pick up. Which one would make sense if I am to arrive with family at Yelahanka Station?

mail4ajo · 26th July 2022, 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by vb-san

Check out EVM Wheels - a very professional and hassle-free experience. I have posted my impressions here.

Thanks a lot. Your review was super helpful. I booked a Kicks. Let hope it goes well.

vandemanw · 26th July 2022, 22:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by FanaticOnWheels

The only gripe is they don't seem to
1. Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station
2. Outer Ring Road HSR Layout (7AM to 10PM)
3. Nearby locations: Hennur, Koramangala, MG Road.

None of the mentioned self pick up points are even close to the 10 km range of Yelahanka junction. If you get down at the other stations in Bangalore (city/Banaswadi/Cantonment) then yes, these pick up points will be in range

CaptAM · 5th August 2022, 16:12

Hi everyone, request inputs for the most reliable and hassle free car rental in Chennai. Will be booking for 3 days to drive down to pondy and back.
Also, any points to be aware of for driving a rental between two states(or UT).
TIA

amitayu · 22nd August 2022, 10:02

Hello All

Planning to avail a rental car for road trip from Delhi to Chandigarh to Amritsar.
We are looking for a 7 seater and hence not planning to drive our personal cars.

Any suggestion in which service to avail?

iamitp · 28th August 2022, 01:03

Any One Way Car Rental services in Bangalore? I want to pick up the car from Bangalore airport and drop it off at Mangalore airport.

hserus · 28th August 2022, 07:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamitp

Any One Way Car Rental services in Bangalore? I want to pick up the car from Bangalore airport and drop it off at Mangalore airport.

Easier to book a ksrtc volvo?

iamitp · 28th August 2022, 11:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by hserus

Easier to book a ksrtc volvo?

I guess

Found this online. Any reviews?

https://www.onewaycarrental.in/

adrift@life · 7th October 2022, 17:44

Dear members,
My first post here , would have liked to start with an introduction but been lurking here since my approval for past three months. But here goes, I am travelling to Delhi would appreciate current scenario on self drive cars. Will be crossing in to Uttar Pradesh, being my first time venturing north would appreciate your inputs. My purpose is to drop my wife into medical college for PG. Need a hassle free experience and cannot make alternate arrangements on short notice. My hindi is limited to spoken and not confident in finding public transport.

ronford · 7th October 2022, 18:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by adrift@life

Dear members,
My first post here , would have liked to start with an introduction but been lurking here since my approval for past three months. But here goes, I am travelling to Delhi would appreciate current scenario on self drive cars. Will be crossing in to Uttar Pradesh, being my first time venturing north would appreciate your inputs. My purpose is to drop my wife into medical college for PG. Need a hassle free experience and cannot make alternate arrangements on short notice. My hindi is limited to spoken and not confident in finding public transport.

I have used Revv in November 2020 from delhi airport and made a trip to Agra and back. Car was a bit old with MH 14 registration (Vento Diesel) but was okay to drive and clean. Service was professional. Give them a try. Please note you will have to pay the local MCD toll when moving out of Delhi.

adrift@life · 7th October 2022, 18:53

Thank you for the prompt reply, was the mcd tolls deducted from fast tag and later deducted from the security deposit. thanks again.

15th May 2022, 14:03	#301
naadopaasaka BHPian Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 70 Thanked: 301 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies I booked a Ford Ecosport on Zoomcar on a Saturday about a month ago for the following Tuesday. I chose to have the car delivered at home, and booked the trip from 09:00 A. M. to 07:00 P. M. I chose to experiment with Zoomcar as our car would be away for the day for its 6-monthly checkup. I got the following confirmation SMS immediately on booking, telling me that the driver would be allocated 1.5 hours before the time at which the trip was to commence. The car did not show up at 09:00 A. M. At about 09:20 A. M., 20 minutes after the trip should have started, the app gave me a notification that a delivery agent was allocated. The notification said the car would arrive at 09:44 A. M. I thought, “something is better than nothing,” and simply waited. At about 09:35 A. M., I found from inside the app that there was no delivery agent allocated at all. I then called customer care. Here is a screenshot of the app showing that position (no delivery agent named). The screenshot was taken at exactly the instant at which the delivery agent was allocated for a second time, as can be seen from the push notification. Customer care said they’d give me the agent’s number and told me that I could follow up with the delivery agent. Although I took the number, I explained that it was their job to send the car to me and not mine to follow up, and politely refused to do so. At 09:35 A.M., as you can see from the screenshot above, I got a notification that the delivery agent of the same was allocated again. This time, the promised delivery time was 09:54 A. M. Here is a screenshot of my notifications screen showing the allocation of a delivery agent at 09:23 A. M., and again at 09:35 A. M. I then spoke to the delivery agent at about 09:40 A. M. He first asked which car I was talking about and I gave him the number. He then gave me the number of the driver. I am not sure if Zoomcar contemplates the driver being somebody different from the delivery agent. The driver told me on the phone that the car was supposed to be at BTM Layout, but was in or near the Airport instead. He said he would reach in twenty minutes. At 09:56 A. M., since the car was nowhere in sight, I thought I had extended enough of a long rope to Zoomcar and decided to cancel the booking. However, the app didn’t permit me to cancel the booking on the ground that the trip had already commenced! This, a little under an hour after the scheduled start of the trip, while the car had not yet reached me. Here’s a screenshot of that error message. The car finally reached me at 10:20 A. M. Yet another issue, which I discovered at this stage, was that the car had a white board. The car was in relatively good condition. The interiors were extremely clean and well kept. There were some small scratches on the exterior, and one of the fog lamps had come partially out of its slot, but overall the car was in good shape. The EcoSport was a great pleasure to drive. Sadly, I was rather busy at work on that day and couldn’t drive it as much as I’d have liked. I drive a 2017 pre-facelift 1.3L DDIS S-Cross. I found that the EcoSport handled very well and didn’t have as much body roll as I would have expected for the relatively higher and more upright posture it has when compared to the S-Cross. The only failing was that the clutch was heavy. As somebody who likes manual transmissions but drives in traffic everyday, that alone would be a deal-breaker if the car was still on the market. The woes do not end here. The Zoomcar app recommends (nags) that you fill up the tank to the full to get a 5-star rating as a user. I, naively reposing faith in the robustness of Zoomcar's systems and processes, filled the tank up. I spent more than ₹4,000 as the car came to me with less than 10% in the tank. After the trip, multiple promises were made on telephone by customer care (for so long as I could reach them) for remitting the refund within various periods of time. However, after much follow up through multiple avenues (customer care on the phone, email and twitter both by tweets and DMs), the money was refunded to me only about three weeks after the trip. Beware that customer care on the telephone is not accessible to you for these purposes a few days after the trip, as the IVR will not permit you to speak to an actual human being unless you have a trip pending or recently concluded. The options available on the IVR at this stage also do not contemplate this. I was able to reach a human being for roughly 10-15 days after the booking. But once that period expired, the options on the IVR changed. The apparent human being who handles their twitter account seems to be nice, although somewhat helpless. There was no point losing my cool with him/ her, or indeed losing my cool in life in general. So I patiently persisted and sent the apparent human being a message every time the period within which s/he promised redressal had expired. I suspected that their in-house systems would eventually have to compel them to close this case/ complaint if I persisted for long enough. I played it like an endurance game; a test match, never losing either my cool or my persistence. That strategy seemed to work. Many unkept promises later, the refund was finally processed. Once the refund was processed from their end, the actual remittance was pretty quick. A link was sent to me, and the refund came to my credit in 2-5 minutes after I filled my remittance details in the webpage the link led to. There are some other tiny complaints too. Although the trip is complete in all respects now and I have received my refund, against that trip, the app continues to show an error message “image upload error,” although within the app all the images are clearly uploaded without difficulty. I hope this is only a bona fide technical issue. Here's a screenshot taken today showing this. I should also point out that a cousin of mine booked a Renault Kwid from the IGI Airport in Delhi a couple of weeks ago. When he arrived in Delhi, no Kwid was available, and he was given a Datsun Go+ in what he describes as “terrible” condition. This car too was a white-board. He sent me a video of the blower of the AC making a noise which was so loud that I initially thought it was the car’s engine. He also had a puncture which resulted in the whole tyre ripping off. Anyway, while, based on these experiences, I have no hesitation in recommending against Zoomcar, I do see that some people have had rather a pleasant time with them.
	(7) Thanks

13th July 2022, 11:43	#302
Engine_Roars BHPian Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Pune Posts: 417 Thanked: 2,541 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Hi Guys, is there any rental agency around delhi that can provide new Thar on rent? I will be arriving in Delhi on 20th Morning & was wondering if I could rent a Thar there. Any help/feedback would be much appreciated.
	() Thanks

21st July 2022, 23:48	#303
mail4ajo Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 1,957 Thanked: 331 Times View My Garage	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Folks, is there any reliable professional service that is available in Cochin? I am visiting and was hoping to get one for the duration of my stay.
	() Thanks

22nd July 2022, 19:35	#305
FanaticOnWheels BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 330 Thanked: 111 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Folks, how good is MyChoize for Bangalore? We plan to arrive in Bangalore at Yelahanka Junction, take a self drive car and head out to a nearby hill station. The only gripe is they don't seem to offer doorstep delivery for a distance > 10 KM, & Yelahanka Junction station seems to be >> 10 KMs from all their points. I only see the below options: 1. Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station 2. Outer Ring Road HSR Layout (7AM to 10PM) 3. Nearby locations: Hennur, Koramangala, MG Road. All are for self pick up. Which one would make sense if I am to arrive with family at Yelahanka Station?
	() Thanks

5th August 2022, 16:12	#308
CaptAM Newbie Join Date: Mar 2022 Location: Delhi Posts: 18 Thanked: 33 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Hi everyone, request inputs for the most reliable and hassle free car rental in Chennai. Will be booking for 3 days to drive down to pondy and back. Also, any points to be aware of for driving a rental between two states(or UT). TIA
	(1) Thanks

22nd August 2022, 10:02	#309
amitayu BHPian Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Kolkata Posts: 416 Thanked: 504 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Hello All Planning to avail a rental car for road trip from Delhi to Chandigarh to Amritsar. We are looking for a 7 seater and hence not planning to drive our personal cars. Any suggestion in which service to avail?
	() Thanks

28th August 2022, 01:03	#310
iamitp BHPian Join Date: Jun 2019 Location: New Delhi Posts: 479 Thanked: 1,193 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Any One Way Car Rental services in Bangalore? I want to pick up the car from Bangalore airport and drop it off at Mangalore airport.
	() Thanks

7th October 2022, 17:44	#313
adrift@life BHPian Join Date: Jun 2022 Location: hosur Posts: 42 Thanked: 83 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Dear members, My first post here , would have liked to start with an introduction but been lurking here since my approval for past three months. But here goes, I am travelling to Delhi would appreciate current scenario on self drive cars. Will be crossing in to Uttar Pradesh, being my first time venturing north would appreciate your inputs. My purpose is to drop my wife into medical college for PG. Need a hassle free experience and cannot make alternate arrangements on short notice. My hindi is limited to spoken and not confident in finding public transport.
	() Thanks

7th October 2022, 18:53	#315
adrift@life BHPian Join Date: Jun 2022 Location: hosur Posts: 42 Thanked: 83 Times	Re: Feedback on different Self Drive rental agencies Thank you for the prompt reply, was the mcd tolls deducted from fast tag and later deducted from the security deposit. thanks again.
	() Thanks