[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by hserus

What was the original condition of the tyre? They probably don't fit michelins and yokohomas, just the cheapest available (JK, MRF etc) so one tyre is just not going to cost you Rs.5000/- which is the deposit amount.



You can certainly contest this. They probably got two tyres for the price of one out of you.

Agreed my bad 😒 Well, learnt an expensive lesson and will never recommend them nor will use them

Cheers

[libranof1987]

Wow, ZoomCar seems to be having a terrible time controlling the expansion; quite typical if you don't have a strong management at the top to deal with several issues that arise when the numbers grow.

Customer service in our country is a foreign concept; very few realize the role it plays in the success of a service-based company.

A strong reason why rental agencies in the US are able to control and sustain the quality of their cars and hence, deliver an exceptional driving and rental experience to customers is, they change the cars every three years.

Irrespective of how much or less the car has run, or how good or bad the condition of the car is, they change the cars at the three year mark.

[Companies such as Hertz and Avis even run their own used car market, which is competitively priced against other used car dealers.]

What this does is, coupled with other factors such as a strong liability clause and periodic vehicle maintenance, customers almost always are assured that the car they get will be mechanically sound and cosmetically pleasant.

I have rented cars often and most cars have been just about a few hundred kms run! The smell of a new car, washed thoroughly just before you accept the keys, is enough to start the drive on a good note!

ZoomCar probably still looks at growing and their energies in acquiring new cars might perhaps be in meeting demand, but they need to have a check on the average age of cars in their fleet.

[hserus]

The cars are new - under one or two years old (I look at the RC books).

They are however heavily abused and zoomcar has no effective means to enforce penalty against erring customers, and a mere 5000 deposit.

Zoomcar has GPS tracking and they should crack down even more on speeding, offroading etc. And raise the penalty amount.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Wow, ZoomCar seems to be having a terrible time controlling the expansion; quite typical if you don't have a strong management at the top to deal with several issues that arise when the numbers grow.
.

They have too many outlets and too many cars compared to their system capability. As for the cars, most hire companies keep them for less than a year and sell on. They usually buy or lease at attractive rates. However, there are penalties for not returning a car in fair condition. This is what is happening to Zoom. They have no system to monotor the cars, the cars start becoming problematic leeding to poor customer satisfaction. The storm has just begun

Additionally, they have poor facilities in their locations to clean and maintain the cars.

[jaaz]

Has anyone faced issues with ZoomCar Refunds ?

I've been following up with them for the last 20 days for a Refund of around 11K. They're avoiding to directly reply and copy pasting a standard reply, that the link for IMPS has been sent. Even after 7-8 emails, they're not sending the IMPS link, but only sending how to withdraw amount using IMPS link.

They're trying to fool with another amount as the amount has been split into 2 parts. A total amount of approx. 14K was refundable. And they've refunded 3K after 15 days, but held up 11K. Their Website shows that the amount has been refunded.

They don't have any redressal system. Even Phone calls are of utter waste. They promise to call back, but never call back.

So, I would like to know - Has anyone faced issues with Refund? And If so, what action have you taken?

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

In my entire experience abroad in rental cars tire bursts, punctures, damage are part of claims of rental agencies.

Most global rental agencies don't cover tyres, etc. unless covered by a separate additional insurance policy.
We faced this issue in Iceland, where our Mondeo's tyre was punctured badly and we had to pay for a new tyre as it couldn't be fixed.

You should ideally ask Zoom Car to refund the balance payment after deducting for the cost of the tyre.

[Waxeloquent]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Most global rental agencies don't cover tyres, etc. unless covered by a separate additional insurance policy.

.

My experience is different. In US in all my rentals, probably over 100, not a single occasion I had been asked to pay for tire burst though in last 5 years it must have been at least 3 where the tire did suffer damage. No, I had not driven in Iceland. Cheers

[nitishk]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Is ZoomCar planning to start operations in Kolkata? I saw a brand new (no number plates) grey Ford Ecosport with ZoomCar stickering on it, being driven in Ballygunge. Couldn't find any news of this on their website too.

Yes they have finally launched in kolkata saw this ad today.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by jaaz

Has anyone faced issues with ZoomCar Refunds ?

I've been following up with them for the last 20 days for a Refund of around 11K. They're avoiding to directly reply and copy pasting a standard reply, that the link for IMPS has been sent. Even after 7-8 emails, they're not sending the IMPS link, but only sending how to withdraw amount using IMPS link.

They're trying to fool with another amount as the amount has been split into 2 parts. A total amount of approx. 14K was refundable. And they've refunded 3K after 15 days, but held up 11K. Their Website shows that the amount has been refunded.

They don't have any redressal system. Even Phone calls are of utter waste. They promise to call back, but never call back.

So, I would like to know - Has anyone faced issues with Refund? And If so, what action have you taken?

I don't know what to do with such cases really except take legal recourse! I've faced this with AirAsia and i've been chasing refunds for cancelled tickets since April'14 and simply getting in touch with their customer service is exhausting. Since my amount is around 5k, i'm just doing what i can sitting at my desk.

Edit : One way that gets a response in the short term is pasting this whole complaint with screen shots on their social media pages.

[AkMar]

I have booked my first Zoomcar for a 4 day trip starting Thursday morning from Mumbai. I've chosen a Ciaz AT. We'll be leaving early morning on Thursday to escape the morning peak hour traffic. So I booked the car from tomorrow night itself. I'm hoping all goes well - fingers crossed. If anything goes wrong, there is Dad's Xcent as plan B.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by Waxeloquent

My experience is different. In US in all my rentals, probably over 100, not a single occasion I had been asked to pay for tire burst though in last 5 years it must have been at least 3 where the tire did suffer damage. No, I had not driven in Iceland. Cheers

Did you get supplemental comprehensive insurance that covers damage to the car? Sometimes if you book via a corporate plan, it can be automatically included as well.

[supertinu]

I have never used Zoomcar or for that matter any self drive rentals in India. From casual observation on the road itself I can see the quality of the cars from the outside are certainly deteriorating over the years. Most of the cars looks fairly abused with dents and not maintained well. This is worst on the cheaper offerings like Figo and Amaze. Bigger vehicles are little better in shape. My view on the business model and current state.

• Just like any other service kind of startup biggest goal is to increase customer base, grow market and get market share

• For the above point to happen the entry level barrier for customer has to be low. Hence low deposit schemes etc make it very easy to rent but at the same time give customer a feeling of no accountability. Resulting in car abuse

• Rapid expansion means Zoomcar is hardly being able to do a good job of up keep and maintenance as they expect some cars are meant to take beating

• In a nutshell the issue is both on Zoomcar and customers. If we as customers also dont do our bit, we cant just keep blaming Zoomcar only

Reminds me of this line by Jeremy from TopGear, that the fastest cars in the world are rental cars . Just because people dont give a shit for them and drive the hell out of the engines. He goes onto rent a corolla to race James May who is on a boat.

[AkMar]

I completed my first trip with Zoomcar. It was a 5 day long trip to North Konkan from Mumbai. Here is the Ciaz AT which we got:


Booking & service:

The booking & payment was a hassle free affair. I opted for doorstep delivery & pickup of the car. The car was delivered around 40 minutes late. Not an issue since we had booked with entire night as buffer time. The person who delivered the car didn't explain any of the papers in the car. Pickup was done on time. Overall a hassle free experience till date. i will update the experience with refunds as and when it is processed.

The car:

Car's condition was below average. I did not go through any heartburn since I set my expectations quite low after reading other members' experience on the forum. It was shabbily cleaned from outside. That is forgivable. Thankfully the interior was in a usable condition. It had clocked 62K km, but the abuse made it feel like much more than that. All 4 corners had scratches. Bonnet & bootlid had a large dent each. Both bumpers were loose. Rear bumper was torn and had wires hanging out below it. Doors & roof had tell tale signs of shabbily done accident repairs. Tyres were worn out. Windscreen washer tank was empty. I had fully expected this, hence checked & filled it beforehand. Ride quality was below par. I am certain that Ciaz would not have such a bad ride. So most likely the suspension needed some work. But the biggest of them all - there was something wrong with wheel alignment/steering/suspension. The car was pulling to the left. Above 60-70 kmph, steering would start wobbling. We restricted speeds to 80 kmph due to this.

The good part was that the car did not breakdown midway. Engine sounded coarse probably due to all the abuse, but its performance was decent enough. AC & ICE were in good working condition. 1 speaker did tend to distort when there was some extra bass in the track, but that is forgivable in a rental car. The AT made life simpler for us. The route from Mumbai to Alibag is in a very horrible condition these days. Due to the AT we were saved all the clutch - brake juggling through traffic + craters. Driving a MT car on this road would be very stressful.

Overall, I would rate the experience at 2 or 2.5 out of 5. It scores high on convenience factor, but the cars are abused badly. Of course the Indian mentality too is to be blamed for this.

[ShaileshHinge]

Zoomcar revises its accident vehicle damage to INR 10,000

[adhiraj]

Has anyone picked up Zoomcar from electronic city phase 1 (Infosys-Gate 6) location? I need the exact location of the pickup point.I scouted that area yesterday but could not find the designated area. There is an empty ground opposite to altimetrik, but no sing boards or rental cars were there :(
PS> I know that area well, you can give me any landmark/company name which will be easier for me.

Thanks