[Vid6639]

I booked 2 Zoomcar's last week for a day trip to Palamaner AP and back. Used the same day booking which got me a cool 30% via the app. I initially thought, the app will not let me book 2 cars. Plan was to have a colleague who is registered with Zoomcar already, drive the other car. Luckily the app allowed me to make 2 bookings for same time.

Unfortunately the experience was a bit of a mixed bag. There were some issues.

I had booked for more number of hours as we were expecting to cover 300 kms in 8 hours. I made the booking for 25 hours. I was supposed to leave at 4PM but booked the car from early morning. I went to pick up the cars only at noon.

An XUV and Scorpio were booked. The XUV unlocked via the app but the Scorpio did not. I called up customer care and he wasn't able to unlock. Finally the car was unlocked by Zoom representative using his spare key. Since the Scorpio could not be unlocked remotely, the option for checklist was not there. The representative there checked everything and he said just nothing much to note.

For the XUV I had the option to fill the checklist. Unfortunately the checklist got stuck at the point where photos of the cars were would be shown and you had to confirm if the photo matched the car. The photos were not uploaded for the XUV. Again representtaive said don't bother with checklist. I checked documents of both cars and we left.

The XUV had only 10K kms on it but was worse for wear. Interiors were dirty around the centre console, seats were not that clean. Car had wheel balancing messed up leading to crazy vibrations on steering wheel.

Upon return I could not fill the return checklist as the start of trip checklist was not completed due to the errors. I called up customer care at 1am and they were prompt in locking the car and closing the trip. Since I took the car to AP, I had paid entry tax of Rs.2670 for both cars which I mentioned to the customer care guy.

Because return checklist was not done, I left the 3G tablet provided by zoom in the rear seat. I got a call at 8am from the Zoom representative saying tablet was missing from the XUV. I told him to check the back seat as I have left it there. He calls back in 10mins saying there's no tablet in back seat also. That was a shock. He said he needs to inform superiors and I need to pay a fine. My colleague luckily stays near the Zoom pickup point went there to see. He calls me saying he is standing next to the XUV and can see the tablet in the front seat back pocket from outside. Called the representative and he says he checked in the back but it wasnt there. I sent a photo that my colleague took to the Zoom rep and he calls back to apologize.

Yesterday I got the final invoice from Zoom and sure enough they had forgotten about the Rs.2670 entry tax. Have sent an email following up and asking to include that.

While the customer care is very helpful and there are representatives at the centres most of the time, the software is still quite buggy and is not reliable.

About the Electronics City Phase 2 pick up point. It's located near TCS, Tech Mahindra office in Phase 2 but is in a very very dirty area. Approach road is only mud and my leather shoes were completely soiled due to the rain that made the mud road into slush road with puddles. Even the car was filled with mud as soon as I drove out. Zoom needs to find a better place in Phase 2.

[Vid6639]

Update: Got a prompt reply from Zoom that the AP permit refund was not added due to human error. Refund has been initiated.

As I said, there customer care is quite prompt.

Another issue I noticed was that the customer care works only if you made a booking. You cannot call them for help in new booking. Colleague tried calling to check on status of DL verification but it only gives 2 options, 1 for live bookings or 2 for completed bookings.

[noopster]

^^For new booking help use the online chat option on their website. They are pretty responsive and helpful. One time my bookings were getting stuck at the final stage (generated multiple overlapping booking IDs) and I used this route to clear up the mess.

[black_rider]

Can someone post Greg Moran's email address or PM me? There is a support case, which is not getting resolved and I need to escalate it. Couldn't find the address on ZoomCar website. Thanks.

[a*ed]

Has Zoom Car changed it's terms and conditions? I am trying to book a car in bangalore for Monday - 15th June from 10:00 PM to 16th June 02:00 AM and it keeps prompting me that "The duration is not allowed, please select pickup and drop off time between 6 am to 12 midnight." I am facing this on both the Android app as well as on the website.

[coolkurt]

how come the Toyota innova isn't available in bangalore? Or they don't have the car in their stable?

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by a*ed

Has Zoom Car changed it's terms and conditions? I am trying to book a car in bangalore for Monday - 15th June from 10:00 PM to 16th June 02:00 AM and it keeps prompting me that "The duration is not allowed, please select pickup and drop off time between 6 am to 12 midnight." I am facing this on both the Android app as well as on the website.

Are you trying to book a Nano, because even I faced this issue when I wanted to book a Nano. I think if you try other cars it should be fine.

Originally Posted by coolkurt

how come the Toyota innova isn't available in bangalore? Or they don't have the car in their stable?

IMO Innova is currently there only in Delhi for airport pickups, not sure why it is not their in other locations.

PS: Currently I am in discussion with their support team on the part refund to be done, which is pending from past one month. Hope they good service and retain customers like me.

[a*ed]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Are you trying to book a Nano, because even I faced this issue when I wanted to book a Nano. I think if you try other cars it should be fine.

Looks like ZoomCar pickup/dropoff locations will be closed from 12:00 AM to 06:00AM. This what it says on the website:

Is Zoomcar 24/7?
Our call center is open around the clock to help you with your bookings. You can also keep a Zoomcar for as long as you like. However, our pickup locations close between 12am-6am to allow us to reset for another day of excellent service. Our users cannot schedule a pickup or dropoff during that time. But don’t worry if you are running late and miss the 12am mark, you can still drop the car and lock it keylessly.

[mukundz]

Just noticed that they have added the Ciaz AT too. Guess this replaces the Vento that the rep informed me last year was being discontinued.

Has anyone booked from the center on Old Airport road, Bangalore? It would be good if we had a voting option on the thread regard the condition of vehicles each time we pick them from each location.

[9tMax]

Originally Posted by Vysakh

First ZoomCar experience:

3 days now and still waiting for the caution deposit refund. How much time does it take? (I haven't signed up with citrus)

Originally Posted by SyncNest

I haven't received my deposit yet. Been over a week. I think it takes ten days.

My refunds were luckily superfast.
One booking cancellation and then the security deposit refund after the actual booking completion - both happened within a few hours. The amounts got credited to the citrus money account within about 4 hours. The next day I withdrew the money from the citrus account to my bank account - and that took 1 day on both the occasions.

BTW I picked up a red XUV W6 with ~9k on the odo. Car was in good shape except for a slight wheel balancing issue. The interiors were not very clean though when I picked it up. But overall a satisfactory experience and will go back to them definitely.

Just wondering about the AP Entry tax part! Does it have to be paid every time a vehicle enters AP - even if it is the same car and has paid the tax once earlier ? Or is it valid for a few months once it is paid by a particular car ?

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

......

Just wondering about the AP Entry tax part! Does it have to be paid every time a vehicle enters AP - even if it is the same car and has paid the tax once earlier ? Or is it valid for a few months once it is paid by a particular car ?

It's an annual permit, valid for unlimited entry/exit. I didn't travel to AP in one of their cars, but the one I rented had the permit in the documents bunch, presumably paid for by a previous user. Zoom reimburses this amount in case one needs to pay during rental.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

Just wondering about the AP Entry tax part! Does it have to be paid every time a vehicle enters AP - even if it is the same car and has paid the tax once earlier ? Or is it valid for a few months once it is paid by a particular car ?

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

It's an annual permit, valid for unlimited entry/exit. I didn't travel to AP in one of their cars, but the one I rented had the permit in the documents bunch, presumably paid for by a previous user. Zoom reimburses this amount in case one needs to pay during rental.

If the car you get has the AP permit in the blue pouch with the documents then you don't have to pay.

The permit is indeed valid for a year so is not required to be paid everytime.

[Vysakh]

Originally Posted by 9tMax

My refunds were luckily superfast.
One booking cancellation and then the security deposit refund after the actual booking completion - both happened within a few hours. The amounts got credited to the citrus money account within about 4 hours. The next day I withdrew the money from the citrus account to my bank account - and that took 1 day on both the occasions.

I'm still waiting for the refund. 15th day today.

[9tMax]

Originally Posted by Vysakh

I'm still waiting for the refund. 15th day today.

Have you opted for a charge reversal to your credit card account? In that case I think it takes a bit of time. But still 15 days is too long.
Why didn't you sign up for the citrus money account ? Initially I was also slightly apprehensive about signing up for one more account, but then realized that all the monetary transactions of Zoom car are probably handled by the citrus money channel. And that's why the transactions are faster through that channel. The only limitation is that you can not withdraw more than 5000 INR at a time into your bank account.
What is the Zoom car helpline saying about the delay?

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by Vysakh

I'm still waiting for the refund. 15th day today.

I would recommend you to write an detailed email to support@zoomcar.com with screenshots of your booking details.