[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

........
This was the biggest logistical nightmare I foresaw for Zoom. How the cars will fare in long run.

What ails them goes far beyond logistical issues alone. They've become arrogant and unscrupulous.

In my own instance:

1. They conned me out of completing my pickup checklist. Customer care/Escalation Manager wouldn't even acknowledge this when I complained about it.
2. Refused to acknowledge obvious issues (both at local site and customer care/escalation level).
3. Insisted that I should adjust with whatever they were offering me, including going to another location to pickup the replacement car being offered.
4. Knowingly sent off another unsuspecting customer with an unsecured and punctured spare tire hanging loose beneath his car (it's another thing the customer didn't care about it when I flagged him down and told him about it).

Compared to my own previous experiences with Zoomcar, this was worlds apart. Lousy customer service has nothing to do with old(er) cars, though I won't be surprised if they actually don't service their cars at all beyond breakdown repairs. Their cars definitely don't look/feel like they've ever been cared for.

[MCR]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

What ails them goes far beyond logistical issues alone. They've become arrogant and unscrupulous.
Their cars definitely don't look/feel like they've ever been cared for.

Very bad experience indeed.

Every time I see a Zoom car on road, I give way no matter what. The way they are driven is simply too dangerous for other road users. Once a guy on Mysore road just rushed through with his Zoom car Figo (Orange colour KA-03-AC-xxxx) into a non existent gap next to my car, missing my car only by a few inches. He had the audacity to show me the middle finger. Had to call a few people and get him blocked a few kilometers ahead. The guy than told me that he was in a hurry to reach the airport and was extremely sorry about the situation.

In another incident a guy (again in a Figo) was driving at crazy speeds on BDA link road near Gubbalala. He failed to notice a road hump (quiet big) near Karishma hills and just jumped over it and continued at the same speed.

So in my view, since the car can be rented out by any tom-dick & harry and at a throw away deposit, its may be quiet common that almost all their cars are not maintained and driven rashly!

[aswin ajith]

Hi guys,
Does anybody here have experience renting a zoom car from Delhi/NCR ? I have a Delhi visit scheduled from May 5 to the 9 th, and I am planning to book an Ecosport for these days. Planning to pick it up from the nearest place to IGI airport. What variant do they offer(for the Ecosport) ? And how is the condition of the car generally ? Reading some comments on this thread, it definitely isn't confidence inspiring. Would appreciate advice from someone with first hand experience.

Cheers

[theexperthand]

Phew! The recent posts in this thread is giving me butterflies in my stomach. I have made my maiden Zoomcar booking for this Thursday (have opted for Drop and Pick up from my home), for a Tata Safari, for two days.

Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that they turn up with a good car on Thursday morning.

--Anoop

[veyron_head]

I have been following zoomcars in the last 2 odd years and I can clearly see that their services have gone downhill. The other day when I was about book a car, I had a couple of questions to ask before I could book. But the call center IVR wouldn't let me talk to anyone unless I already had a valid booking! There is simply no way to talk to a human if you haven't made a booking. Moreover, They have increased their prices significantly in the last couple of years. It doesn't look like VFM anymore.

Another major irritant was that you couldn't book a car before 6 AM!. But, I got an email yesterday that they have restored 24hr booking for the summer vacation period, more like a limited period offer. Dont know how long this will last.

[harikr]

Same thing happened to me last month. I had a booking for Mercedes Benz GLA from their Indiranagar center for a week, and paid the whole 40k in advance. But 5 minutes before the pickup time, I got a call stating that the car I booked is not available because it was returned by the previous customer with a broken windshield. They asked me to go to Ibis hotel near stadium and pickup the vehicle from there. Again it was a week day and will take me atleast an hour to reach there. Hence I asked them to deliver the car at indiranagar as my booking is from that location. It was plainly rejected stating that they don't have manpower to deliver the vehicle here. I called the customer care and they told that I will get a call back from the concerned department in 15min. But that call never came. Finally the zoom car guy at indiranagar office offered to drop me at ibis hotel as one of his car was going that side. Thus I was dropped at ibis hotel. After almost 45 minutes from my scheduled time I reached ibis hotel and there was more kept for me that day. The zoom car guy at ibis hotel had no idea about the booking. I again called the customer care and was promised a call back within 15 minutes, which never came again. So I called them again. Again the same 15min was offered. But I insisted to talk to their supervisor immediately. The call was connected through, again the whole story was explained. The supervisor then talked to the zoom car agent there and told me that he will issue the car now. After finishing the call the agent told that he cannot release the vehicle unless he gets a mail, and they are sending the mail in 5 min. Again waiting, but the mail didn't come. Again called the customer care, repeated the story to the new customer care guy, got the call connected to senior. Again the senior talked to the agent. He told he cannot release the car unless he gets the mail. Then the supervisor collected the car details, my booking details etc and finally send a mail from his side. Thus after almost 1.5 hours I received the car.

Also the checklists are completed nowadays by there own guys. We cannot do anything. We should be careful to point out damages clearly and get it marked in checklist. In my previous booking for Mercedes Benz, the tyres were severely damaged in the inside and had a few bulges. These were not visible in the dimly lit parking. Finally when I hit the highways and started going at higher speeds, the vehicle started wobbling heavily. Then I called the customer care and I was asked to take the vehicle back to their parking near airport which I rejected. Finally after so many calls they offered to deliver the car to me. And after like 1.5-2 hours I received the replacement car.

I understand that such incidents like broken windshields are accidents and cannot be predicted. But in such a case they should take care of these arrangements themselves. Seems like they are losing the control over all these vehicles centres etc. At least they should have some drivers to ship the vehicles in between the centers. They don't keep the promises of call backs. I was offered call backs 3-4 times, but never got those call backs. These small points are showing how lightly they take customers now. Since they are popular and gets so many customers they are least bothered about complaints. Unless they start looking into these seriously, they will lose a lot of business.

[ak1990]

I had a terrible experience with Zoomcar a couple of weeks ago - I had booked a Ford Figo to be picked up from their Sarjapur Road (Bangalore) outlet at 9 AM on April 16. I reached the pick up point at 8:55, and there was absolutely no sign of Zoomcar anywhere nearby - no parking lot, no signboards. I asked around and sure enough, nobody had even heard of Zoomcar. By this time it was 9:15 AM, and I hadn't even recieved the SMS confirming my car details. Called up customer care, and they kept insitsing that they would like to speak to the local fleet executive - finally after getting them to believe that there was no Zoomcar representative anywhere near the supposed pick up point, they promised to look into my problem and call back within 15 minutes.

Needless to say, I didn't receive any phone call; I called them back and demanded to speak to the supervisor. Her defense was that she could not reach the fleet executive as his phone was unreachable, and thus couldn't do much to help me. I needed a car desperately that day, and was unfortunately dependent on them so I had to bear with this inconvenience. I asked them to arrange a car to be sent from another location, which was flatly refused. After several to and fro's with the customer care team, I finally received a call from a fleet executive at 10:20 AM that the car was on its way. Totally unapologetic, he even refused to acknowledge that the car was late, saying its not his fault.

Coming to the car, it was in a pitiful state; 72K on the ODO but felt like much more. One headlight broken, Right side sideview mirror broken, and so dusty and dirty that it felt like the car had just been through the Dakar rally. I took it only because I had to, and could not make last minute alternate arrangements on the day.

In the evening, when I wanted to return the car, same story - I reached the drop point and there was no Zoomcar rep to be found anywhere nearby. I called him up, and he said that Sir - please wait 1 hour I can only come then. Finally, I drove to their Bellandur Novotel outlet, and learnt that the cars for Sarjapur are parked over there. The Sarjapur outlet had just opened a few days ago, and obviously they are not being able to manage it from 5 KM away.

Never using Zoomcar again - they've lost a happy customer, who encouraged other people to use their services!

[Shiv_1984]

Extremely strange to hear about Zoom. perplexed to see that why such power corrupts or those who think they have a monopoly get so much inept at dealing with people, are found mostly in our country ? Something is seriously wrong.

I have several times used the zoom facility and came back home happy each time.

If this goes on, only time will tell now how long it takes for the company to see the doomsday..

[WhiteHorse]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This was the biggest logistical nightmare I foresaw for Zoom. How the cars will fare in long run.

It was only 2 weeks ago on a Tuesday morning (12th April) at around 7AM that I found a ZoomCar Ford Figo being driven very rashly on the Quality Inn-Raheja Circle Rd near Gachibowli. Folks from Hyderabad will note that this road is a 3 lane one, has a pretty decent incline, and a sharp curve enroute to Raheja Circle. The driver of the ZoomCar was overspeeding at around 90 and he overtook couple of cars and a bus from the left - after which he over-steered the car losing traction and did a 360 . Luckily the car didn't topple over - but the driver looked shaken and sped away.
Zoomcar prides itself on saving you from the cost and hassle of owning a car, but it comes at a price - you do not know what rotten tomato you are getting into. Hope they fix it before they loose the market.

[DCEite]

I recently hired a Zoomcar Ecosport in Navi Mumbai (doorstep delivery).

It was a KA registered blue coloured car.

The overall condition of the car was Ok, but it had the Engine Oil low indication and a Service Interval Reminder which i only noticed after having taken the delivery and driven a good distance.

Thank god the car didn't give any troubles and i could succssfully complete my Zoomcar experience.

Phew!

[vantheman5211]

Thank you for sharing your experience Chetan. Here is mine -

Reason I needed Zoom -

I have recently moved to Hyderabad and have thus taken my car over there with me. When I go back home to Mumbai, instead of having a car I either use OLA or Uber. However, since I wanted to go to Shirdi, I felt Zoom was the best experience this time.

Booking process -

The booking process was a breeze. I used the paid Rs 300 option so that they can deliver and pick up the car themselves. I chose the most economical option i.e Figo.

Drop experience -

The good -

The drop was scheduled at about 7 am on a Saturday morning and fair play to them they made it on time. When I saw the car's exteriors and interiors though, I was disapointed. The exterior had more than its share of skirmishes and dents. The car was a rattling machine when it I drove it over relatively smooth roads.

The slightly bad -

When the delivery guy finished with the checklist, he asked me whether I can drop him to the station citing he has very less money. Since this was a lone trip, I said "ah what the hell" and also the station was on my road. After I said yes, he told me he would wipe 10kms off my list to which I replied "No thanks". The guy kept on going about Zoom and how they should function blah blah blah.

How can Zoom improve on this?

@Zoom - Please train your employees. The above guy you sent was clearly a contractual laborer. I have no qualms on that however, please train them for basic courtesy. Also, never send a disgruntled (temporary) employee to someone who is experiencing your service for the first time.

The car -

The condition was a mess. The interior did not have any Aux cable, charger as they had given on the checklist. It also smelled pretty bad and had mud on the rear passenger's seat. Overall, I was not in a position to go for a alternative as the entire reason I came to Mumbai was to go to Shirdi and I had just that one day. So praying the almighty that this does not falter until I reach his place, I wandered on. The car actually had no problems running the 530km round trip, but the brakes were in real bad condition so I did not go past 80 even on the expressway.

The pick up experience -

I had the car for two days i.e Saturday (Shirdi), Sunday (Normal house errands). The cost of returning the car on Saturday or keeping it till Sunday was about Rs 600 so I scheduled the pick up at about 6pm in the evening as I had a flight to HYD at about 9.40 pm. Here is where it got a bit worse as I had to call the guy atleast 20 times to make sure he is coming to pick up the car. I had no one at home so couldn't keep the key with anyone at my place. The guy eventually came at 8pm and I absolutely gave him some a piece of my mind which he kinda deserved. I also complained to the customer care, however my experience was similar to Chetan's. The thing is, they don't have any processes at all and nor they care about their customers. The employees literally don't care how their company functions nor they care how the customers are being catered.

The worse thing about this one was that I missed my flight and had to pay 7k to book a new one on the same night. It was incredibly disappointing however there was no point in escalation and thus I just decided not to use them again.

My conclusion was to check for used cars. I will most probably buy an entry level hatchback this year.

[ads1485]

Wow...what a nightmare. I've booked from Zoomcar in the past and found their service to be generally much better than their main competitor Myles (who ditched mere slipshod service, in favour of outright thievery).

I just hired a Scorpio from Zoom for a period of 20 days (Mumbai/Andheri Pickup). I too faced some issues during the pickup - namely -

- The representative arrived almost half an hour late.
- The car allotted to me was dirty and all the tyres had low pressure. After a short pow-wow with their call centre, they replaced the vehicle.

The other stuff - fuel refund/vehicle drop off was generally pretty quick and hassle free.

However, going by the recent replies in this thread, it seems that their standards are going down fast - as is the case in our country, when business is good and customers are aplenty, standards & quality control take a nosedive instead of going up.

[ambujlal]

Zoomcar is the last thing one should think off if you are going on your long planned well deserved vacation. The service has especially detoriated in Bangalore. Cars are smelly. I once got a car which smelled of vomit and alcohol. I almost threw up when I opened the car gate (0% exaggeration) . After using zoomcar for few times, I have dumped them for good. My experience summary:

1. Poor customer support. Doesn't want to solve a problem.

2. Dangerously unmaintained cars. Especially check the tires if renting for out of station trips. Also check the spare. 80% of times they are puntured.

3. I once got a car (xuv) which had no coolant.

4. Took a figo once in which alternator was faulty.


May be I have been particularly unlucky but then if 6 out of 8 times if your experience has been bad, you really are not unlucky.

Local cab service providers are much better, drivers polite and cabs very well maintained. I know it's Apple vs orange comparison, but then if driving a self drive car means putting life in danger, it's really not worth the fun.

Cheers.

[mohammedismail]

Here is Another one, pretty scary !

[ShaileshHinge]

Originally Posted by mohammedismail

Here is Another one, pretty scary !

Attachment 1501215

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I am sorry he had to deal with this. . I think zoom is not able to handle its fleet and keep it upto date.

I would have just left the car there itself and hired a taxi go back home. He is courageous to drive it without brakes.