[Thumping Soul]

I certainly know Zoomcar is still not operational in Kolkata.

But are there any other self-drive options in Kolkata?

Regards
Saurav

[black_rider]

Someone please help me with the Kerala RTO checkpost location, while going from Bangalore to Wayanad. A google placemark would be great. If not, a description to locate it should be good enough. Thanks.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by black_rider

Someone please help me with the Kerala RTO checkpost location, while going from Bangalore to Wayanad. A google placemark would be great. If not, a description to locate it should be good enough. Thanks.

Here is the location.

However, on checking the satellite view I am unable to confirm if the location is correct. It is anyways few hundred meters of the mentioned location.

While driving from Bangalore side, you will cross a small bridge which beyond which is KL. Few KM's past this you will cross the forested section and come across an incline with a slight right turn with fields on your left and a small temple on your right. Past this you will find trucks parked beside the road for sales tax check-post. Past this you will find both RTO and Excise checkpost. It is hard to miss since they have installed barricades at Excise check-post.

NB: You may get quicker replies if posting similar route specific query in Route/ Travel query threads.

[highway_star]

I have used Zoom four times in the last two years and every time I have faced problems.

You may wonder why I have behaved like a sucker by going back to them every time, and there are two reasons. First, the booking process is convenient. Second, their insurance cover limits the user’s liability to Rs. 5,000/-. After the fourth bad experience last week, I thought I must share the details to make people aware of the many issues that can arise.

Booking-1
Date – July 2014, Place – Bangalore Airport, Car – Tata Safari

We faced the following problems during this trip:

• I had asked for an airport pick up, but there was no one present at the designated time. They sent a driver with the car only after I made a call to their office.
• The driver picked us up and drove us to their parking location. On the way, he was speaking on the mobile while driving. I decided to keep quiet to avoid an unpleasant beginning to our holiday.
• At the time of booking I had asked them to provide a child seat and they had confirmed on mail that it would be provided. However, the staff at the parking had no idea about it. I decided not to pursue it because I realized that I will not get the seat anyway.
• We had taken the car for a trip to Mysore . On the way back one of the tires was punctured. We replaced it with the spare wheel and drove ahead. After a short distance some people stopped us on the road and pointed out that the new wheel had a severe wobble and we would probably get ourselves killed if we continued with it. We replaced the original wheel and continued after filling air. Luckily, the air lasted long enough to complete our journey with a couple of more fills.

Booking -2
Date - October 2015, Place – Andheri Metro Station (Mumbai), Car – Honda City

I had booked the car for an evening outing within Mumbai. Around 20 minutes before the pick up, I got a call from them saying that the car was not available at the given location (Andheri Metro) and I would have to pick it up at another location (Vile Parle Airport). Since the distance between the two was not much I agreed. But this was not the end of my problems.

When I went to pick up the car I found that it was in pretty bad shape on the outside with dents and scratches all around. However, the interiors were clean and the damage appeared to be only cosmetic so I agreed to take the vehicle. A form was filled out which listed all the damage which existed in the car.

While returning the car they pointed to some minor scratches and said that this was not listed in the form so it must have been caused by me. Now these were of such nature that although they would have been easily noticed in an otherwise scratch free car, but for a car in such bad shape it was overlooked by me for listing among the numerous other damages which were listed. I told them I am sure I have not hit the car anywhere. After much arguing they finally agreed.

Booking-3
Date – October 2015, Place – Juhu (Mumbai), Car – Mercedes CLA

I had booked the car for a few hours of driving (just to experience a CLA). It was scheduled for pick up at 5 PM. Around 8:30 AM on the same day, I got a call from some local representative telling me that the car is not available at Juhu and I can pick it up from South Mumbai. Now the location was very far and it did not make any sense for me to go all the way there, so I told him that I want my booking cancelled. He said that he would call me back and hung up.

After one hour there was no call from their end so I called up their support number. I had to call them three times as I got vague and contradictory responses. The summary of the conversations was that they insisted that the car will be available at the originally designated place (Juhu) so there is no need for cancellation. I asked them to confirm to me by writing on mail so I could be sure that it will not get cancelled at the last minute but they refused to commit in writing. I also wrote a mail to them describing the entire situation and asking for a confirmation but there was no reply. After a few hours I got a call from them confirming that the car is not available so the booking is cancelled.

Booking-4
Date - May 2016, Place – Vashi (Navi Mumbai), Car – Scorpio

This booking was done by my brother for a family outing. We had opted for the doorstep service to deliver the car to us in Vashi. Based on my previous experiences I knew that a cancellation from them was likely so we had made alternate arrangements with a friend for another car in case Zoom did not turn up. I was not at all surprised when they called in the morning and told us that they do not have any driver available for dropping the car and we have to pick it up ourselves from Kharghar. We ended up cancelling the booking as expected.

My recommendation is never to book Zoom in a situation where availability of the car is critical. Keep a back up plan ready if you are using their services.

[sayoojl]

Hi , I am planning to book zoomcar(swift/figo) from Chandigarh for 5 days in july to explore himachal pradesh(kinnaur valley,shoja,mandi etc). Recently I am hearing lot of horror stories from zoomcar users on ill maintained cars. Anybody here recently hired swift/figo from chandigarh or anyidea how good/bad they are?
Thanks
Sayooj

[biggrin]

Originally Posted by sayoojl

Anybody here recently hired swift/figo from chandigarh or anyidea how good/bad they are?
Thanks
Sayooj

Not in a position to answer the point, but I will give my 2 paise.

I would advice Figo over Swift. Swift might be very chuckable but Figo has faint chances of being less-abused in this business. Since both are available at the same cost, people with a tendency to misuse other's property will pick the Swift over Figo any day. Figo is not a bad car to drive and has a better feeling steering and overall drivability (in engine terms) than the Swift.

Else you can personally check out condition of the cars available before hiring one.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by sayoojl

Hi , I am planning to book zoomcar(swift/figo) from Chandigarh for 5 days in july to explore himachal pradesh(kinnaur valley,shoja,mandi etc). Recently I am hearing lot of horror stories from zoomcar users on ill maintained cars. Anybody here recently hired swift/figo from chandigarh or anyidea how good/bad they are?
Thanks
Sayooj

If you're planning to drive in locations where RSA and workshop support are patchy/delayed, I'd suggest you consider other options. Even inspecting vehicles beforehand at your chosen pickup location won't help much because they often borrow vehicles from other locations if a requested model isn't available on-site.

If their Bangalore cars are any indication of their overall fleet's condition, you DON'T want to be driving one of their cars where help isn't close by. Even if it is, a malfunctioning/broken down vehicle is still liable to lose you a good chunk of your vacation, ruin the mood and heavens forbid, cause a dangerous situation while in-motion. Check a few pages back for a member's review of a Ciaz with bad brakes.

Making the comment as an ex-long-term Zoom Bangalore customer who has seen the fleet go from new to junk over three years.

[sayoojl]

Originally Posted by biggrin

I would advice Figo over Swift...

Thanks for the advice.I considered swift because it is my daily drive and hence it will be easier for me to handle it.Also swift was inducted later in to their fleet as far as i know. figo seems to be the first one.

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

If you're planning to drive in locations where RSA and workshop support are patchy/delayed, I'd suggest you consider other options. .

Thanks for the advice. Any alternative to zoom that you can suggest?

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by sayoojl

......
Thanks for the advice. Any alternative to zoom that you can suggest?

Unfortunately not many self-drive options in Chandigarh.

Myles are operational in Chandigarh, check them out.

Avis is a reputed global rental brand but their self-drive option is not available in Chandigarh.

I recently switched to Revv, but you can only rent it from Delhi/NCR up north, if that's viable. Good cars and decent T&C.

[bking]

Guys i just returned a zoomcar and they have charged me 600rs for wheelcap which was not present and 2000rs for a minor scratch. Anything that can be done?

[ShaileshHinge]

Originally Posted by bking

Guys i just returned a zoomcar and they have charged me 600rs for wheelcap which was not present and 2000rs for a minor scratch. Anything that can be done?

@BKing - you should have checked the Pre pickup documentation and ensured they mention that the wheelcap was not present. So unless its documented i dont think you can do anything about it.

Same for the scratch. We should be very careful and meticulous before picking up the vehicle and ensure all such issues are documented and taken care of.

[racer_m]

Originally Posted by bking

Guys i just returned a zoomcar and they have charged me 600rs for wheelcap which was not present and 2000rs for a minor scratch. Anything that can be done?

Thats why I identify and photograph the dents and missing stuff before taking the rental vehicles. if there is anything missing that should be present but not available , I note it on the slip while signing.

Make it a practice hence forth

[antony.henry]

Seems like Zoom Car service is getting bad with time.

I had taken an EcoSport while i was in Bangalore August 2015 and the experience i had was decent. The car was not clean but it was manageable and the car i got was fairly new with just 10K on the odo.

This month (June 2016) i booked an A-Class and the experience was bad. I booked the car 3 weeks in advance and gave the pick-up time as June 5th 7:00 AM. the place of pick-up was around 1.5 Km from the place i stayed so i thought of walking to the place and take the car. Got up at 6:30, dressed up and walked to the place. reached the location by 7:10 and they confirmed by Name and just told "Car is not available" and to call customer care. i called up customer care asking if there are any other cars available around and they asked me to wait for 30 minutes to confirm. I was on a tight schedule and i cancelled the booking.

I understand things like "Car being Un-available" is supposed to happen when you are running a car rental business. I'm just un-happy about the fact that they could have called me up to update the status rather making me go to the pick location just to know the car that i've booked is not available. it kind of spoiled the plan i had for 5th morning.

Later i checked for reviews about Zoom on internet and seems like this is not just for me but a regular affair. infact i've seem similar incident in this same thread. so though of sharing my experience as well.

[ravib]

BHPians at Bombay, need a quick info.

I am planning to travel to Bombay this Friday with family. Thought of going to Lonavala on saturday.

Given that this is my first trip to Bombay, Do you suggest to book a zoom car and drive to Lonavala to enjoy the monsoon green/scenic ride or is it better to hire a cab (which costs approx Rs. 3500/- ) for sight seeing?

If you suggest to book a zoom car, can you please help to name the nearest pick up location? I am planning to stay at Dadar West/Near Matunga Road Railway station.

Any other useful tips/info for my first Bombay trip is appreciated!

-Ravi

[landcruiser123]

Just a question: Are these bad experiences only limited to Zoomcar or the self-drive business as a whole?

I've never heard anyone praise Myles, revv etc.

I've heard so many complaints about Zoomcar on this thread, I'm considering asking my uncle to use carzonrent when he comes to Bangalore next weekend.