[neeravnaik]

Picked zoomcar only for Endeavour. travelling next week. Hopefully the car should be relatively in better shape. Will post about my experience.

In terms of service reliability Myles is better than Zoomcar though even Myles car was not in a good shape

Problem with zoomcar is that their customer support system is broken. Call center, onsite service people and website backend do nto talk to each other resulting in lot of confusion.

Myles they assign one point of contact for you and you can deal with them and they are usually reliable.

Myles also is available in lot of smaller cities though their Bangalore network is pretty thin

Voler is the other one in business and I have not tried it yet

[rich_heart]

Hi all, I recently saw an advertisement on Facebook about Zoom cars' ZAP initiative. Has anyone tried this and can share reviews and feedback?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by rich_heart

Hi all, I recently saw an advertisement on Facebook about Zoom cars' ZAP initiative. Has anyone tried this and can share reviews and feedback?

It just means you buy the car, insure it at your expense, repair and maintain it at your expense and periodically let it out to zoomcar for the use of its clients while using it yourself when you need to.

What are the problems with this?

1. Commercial (self drive) registration and insurance required - costlier

2. Maintenance at your expense - and guess how high that will be when that poor car gets abused by dozens of clutch riders, enthusiastic lane cutters, off roaders etc who hire a car just because they wouldn't abuse their own car in such a manner.

3. Any traffic police bribes that periodically get collected, depends on your police station and how corrupt the cops are there

4. Very short useful lifespan of that car - it will be unusable, with over one and a half lakh km clocked on it in two years or three at a maximum so you have a very very short time for any returns on this "investment". So don't take a loan for this. Most people buying and renting out cars to ola / uber / zoomcar type places tend to use "spare cash" that's lying around out of sight of the taxman.

and finally

5. If you're the sort that religiously files returns, the tax implications of your earnings from this are going to be different from your salary - so you need to pay advance tax, possibly also register for service tax as the renter-out of a hire car, etc etc. Your CA will be very happy on your behalf.

[Nissan1180]

I had a horrible experience with Zoomcar yesterday.
Let me narrate the sequence of events.
Morning 10:30 - I reached the Delhi Aerocity station and could not locate the ecosport. I called the customer care who told me to call an alternate number which was not reachable for 20 minutes.
Morning 11:10 - The car arrived. Bruised and battered. I trusted the employee in filling the checklist. He said 'minor damage ' suffices to explain the dents. I foolishly agreed. I did not click pics because he did not tell me to. He said it is alright since he knows where the dents are.
Evening 8:30 - The executive's number was not reachable. I waited in the car till 8:45 and then lodged a complaint. The executive arrived at 9:05 pm. He told me I was late. Fortunately, I had registered a complaint.
He goes to the back of the car and shows me a scratch that already existed. He said I caused it. I told him I did not. He then told me I was lying and asked me to show the pics before the trip began. I had not taken any becsuse I was told not to. He laughed and said this happens all the time and it is an 'old trick' customers use.
I was disgusted. I left the place because my flight was at 11 PM from Terminal 3.
I reached the airport and called up the customer care and told them about what happened. They sounded apologetic. I thought that was an honest apology.
In the morning I saw this.

They charged me for returning the car late. They charged me Rs. 2000 for 'bumper damage'.
I complained again in the morning. They said that the late fee will be refunded and they will call me about the damage.
I am still shocked at the transformation of Zoomcar from a professionally run startup with an American CEO to a thug controlled enterprise that does not know what business ethics mean. If Zoomcar is losing money and wants to charge more, that is fine by me. But blaming people for damaging cars to extract more from the customer and conning them to trust you with the initial assessment of the vehicle condition is not how it works. These guys don't have pictures of the vehicle damage before the customer takes the car and they don't even inform the customer about the need to make a video of the damages. And then they charge you for something you did not cause.

Zoomcar is a scam. I hope the alternatives are better. For me, self drive is not something I plan to do in India anymore. This was the last trip.
I did not share this with an intention to complain or badmouth the company. I want customers to know that you will be conned in a similar way if you trust the executives. If you're booking a Zoomcar, take a video of the car initially and make the executive stand in front of the damaged areas so that they don't get the opportunity to lie at the end of the trip.
I really hope the company ceases to exist if they continue duping people in the same manner. Businesses without ethics never succeed.

[hserus]

This is one of those "never compromise on the walkthrough steps" things that you learn with experience, I am afraid.

They give you horrible enough cars with such a lot of scratches and dents that they can point to any random dent that is old but deeper than usual, claim you did it and extract a repainting deposit.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

I had a horrible experience with Zoomcar yesterday.


I trusted the employee in filling the checklist. He said 'minor damage ' suffices to explain the dents. I foolishly agreed. I did not click pics because he did not tell me to. He said it is alright since he knows where the dents are.
.

Sir, no offense but I really think it was your folly to believe a stranger's word for the condition of the car without any writing !

I believe it is mandatory for the customer, especially in India, where the concept of self-driving is still budding while those cars are prone to abuse and hence, it is as much important for the user as much as the company to evaluate the physical condition of the car before taking delivery!



I just think we need to take a video and photos of the car 360 degrees predelivery and post usage so that it can be kept as an evidence against any nefarious charges levied by the company.


By the way, I had a hassle free in and out process as I booked a car at Jaipur Zoom, picked up at the Jaipur Railway Station.

The executive asked me to videotape the car and showed me all the documents along with other instruments. And with the OTP, I was ready to zoom...

I booked a KUV 100 which clocked less than 5k and was a new vehicle and perhaps , not abused as I expected. I returned the car before the scheduled time as our trip was over. I returned the car with the finishing 'OTP' and refund was initiated in a couple of hours.

[vinit.merchant]

I just completed my booking of zoomcar for a period of 4 days. Experience was good.
Returned the car 8 hours before the promised time at 9 pm, and when I woke up, I saw the refund of the fuel bill was already credited to the Citrus wallet.

I usually keep an eye on which cars are new on zoomcar. This time I found the Aspire added to the list. Booked that and found the car to be just 2 months old and 4k on the odo.

Only problem with the car was the projection of the headlights. I picked the car at 5 in the morning and realized half an hour later that the projection for the upper was horrible. The left headlight was where the low beam should be and the right one was even below that. En route, stopped at Ford Kolhapur and they alligned the right HL, but still while returning realized that the high beam was where the low beam should be. Put in my suggestion to the zoomcar staff while returning the car.

My experience is that they usually do not check too much about small dings and scratches. This can be an issue when opting for the pick up and drop service.

[venkat_partha]

Hello everyone,

This has been a pretty informative thread. The general conclusion that I get is that

1. Zoomcar's cars are not in great shape overall,
2. Do a complete inspection of interiors and exteriors, take enough photos to CYA, get a proper sign off from the person in-charge of delivering the vehicle at both the receipt and return of the vehicle,
3. Zoomcar's CS is no help and there is no inter-departmental communication between various departments and screw-ups are likely the norm.

With this premise in mind, could anyone compare the other company "Myles". Has anyone done price comparisons? If so, could someone point to that thread?

I have a north-india (ND/RJ/UP) trip planned in the last week of December. Your help will be appreciated in enabling me to take a decision on Self-drive vs Railways.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

.
I really hope the company ceases to exist if they continue duping people in the same manner. Businesses without ethics never succeed.

Originally Posted by hserus

This is one of those "never compromise on the walkthrough steps" things that you learn with experience, I am afraid.

They give you horrible enough cars with such a lot of scratches and dents that they can point to any random dent that is old but deeper than usual, claim you did it and extract a repainting deposit.

I too got robbed off Rs. 2000 as vehicle damage charge deducted out of my Security deposit of Rs. 5000.

This is not a car rental company. They are thugs who are talking advantage of this newly introduced self-drive culture among Indian people.

I swore to never ever use Zoomcar again in my life the day they deducted my money for the damage that was not done my me.

[Nissan1180]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

I too got robbed off Rs. 2000 as vehicle damage charge deducted out of my Security deposit of Rs. 5000.

This is not a car rental company. They are thugs who are talking advantage of this newly introduced self-drive culture among Indian people.

I swore to never ever use Zoomcar again in my life the day they deducted my money for the damage that was not done my me.

Thanks for sharing this. It is difficult for them to believe the customer but I am surprised that the onus of proving that the damage was not caused by the user lies with the user. Even in a court of law, you are innocent until proven guilty. They can charge you anything if you are not careful.
In my case, what surprised me more was the amount of damage money they claimed. The reflector on the bumper costs Rs. 600 online. They deducted 2000. That's two levels of dishonesty.
I really hope others don't fall for their tall claims about transparency.
Also, try booking using the citrus wallet. I suspect that they can levy charges directly if you use your credit card for booking in cities that do not require a security deposit (like Bangalore). With a wallet, the amount they can deduct is limited by what you have deposited in the wallet.
You are right in saying that they are taking unnecessary and unethical advantage of consumers. I doubt this will make them thrive.

[kisharchit]

So I had rented the Nano for some hours on the 24th. And what horrible condition the Nano was in. Thankfully the AC was working but the brakes. Engine noise and vibration was too much. And for the record, I have driven the Nano numerous times so I can distinguish what is wrong and not.

It was full of scratches and dents. I made a video of it but sadly I dont know why my phone didnt save it. When I returned the car, the bonnet was checked and it was faulty. It was faulty from before but the guy didn't believe me. So I told him to call the person who was there in the morning and he assured it was faulty before. Hence he agreed. Overall a mediocre experience. I really hope the car is in better condition next time!

I would opt for it next time as the pickup area was right near my house and it was an easy way to commute!

[Hells Bells]

Folks,

I am due to pick up my zoomcar rental from Mayur Vihar location next week. I am planning a longish (~1600 kms) drive in Rajasthan and all these pages are now making me worried over two things:

• Reliability of vehicle
• Peace of mind

I see that we have Revv too in Delhi (though not in Noida) and I am more than keen to cancel my zoomcar booking and book Revv. Any pointers to how good/bad Revv is as zoomcar seems to be pathetic experience going by majority here?

[lHarpreetl]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

Folks,
Any pointers to how good/bad Revv is as zoomcar seems to be pathetic experience going by majority here?

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167422. Here you go Hells Bells. I had a good experience with them few months back. Go through the thread and it might answer few of your queries if not all.

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by lHarpreetl

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=167422. Here you go Hells Bells. I had a good experience with them few months back. Go through the thread and it might answer few of your queries if not all.

Thanks buddy. I had already gone through the link in parallel which is a big motivator to think of this change. Their relatively better state of cars is a big draw. I guess I will go ahead with Revv then. Zoomcar has too much of a potential to wreck my driving holiday.

[procrastinator]

Originally Posted by Hells Bells

Folks,

I am due to pick up my zoomcar rental from Mayur Vihar location next week. I am planning a longish (~1600 kms) drive in Rajasthan and all these pages are now making me worried over two things:

• Reliability of vehicle
• Peace of mind

I see that we have Revv too in Delhi (though not in Noida) and I am more than keen to cancel my zoomcar booking and book Revv. Any pointers to how good/bad Revv is as zoomcar seems to be pathetic experience going by majority here?

A long drive and you may wanna talk to Zoomcar/Revv about your car's condition.
Our fellow bhpian shares his thoughts on a trip using Zoomcar's Scorpio here. His post will give you pointers on what to check.
Incidentally, he went to Rajasthan and his travelogue would help you too.

Enjoy!