[Eddy]

We had a good experience with Zoomcar recently in Pune. We had booked a Hexa. The car was 60k kms old and was abused - clutch, suspension etc were on their deathbed but thankfully the tyres were new. The wipers and the brakes worked well. The pick-up and drop were smooth and got the security and fuel refund within 48 hours.

Thumbs up !

[bblost]

I had a very weird experience with Zoom Cars.
Booked the Swift for 13 hours. I picked up in the morning from a very cramped parking location. The car was in very decent shape and I unlocked it using the App.

When it came time to return the car, I navigated back to the same place.
There was a scooter parked there.

This street is narrow and there was no parking available anywhere. I stopped in the middle of the road and started taking the pictures as instructed by the App.

A lady from a neighboring house came and complained about the car. She wanted to know why I park it there everyday.

I informed her that it is not my car and is a Zoom Car. That the App asked me to come and park it here.
Told her I am very sorry about this but have no role in this particular situation.

No one came to check on the car. I was hoping maybe the owner of the car will see me and come. Nope.
I tried to reach customer support.

After calling them almost 20-30 times, it finally connected. But then there was no option of talking to a support staff. Left with no choice I selected the option for accident damage.
This did the trick and someone replied.

I took the car into a side street and had to park it in a very bad way. There was already another car on the side and now the street was narrowed down for just bikes to pass thru.

Disgusted and very annoyed with the lack of space, I left the car there.

My sincere apologies to all the residents of that area who might have been inconvenienced by this action of mine.
I had no alternate way and in future if I use zoomcar, I will use the home pickup and drop. The extra charges are less than sheer trauma of parking like that.

[Rahul Bhalgat]

Originally Posted by bblost

I had a very weird experience with Zoom Cars.

Disgusted and very annoyed with the lack of space, I left the car there.

My sincere apologies to all the residents of that area who might have been inconvenienced by this action of mine.
I had no alternate way and in future if I use zoomcar, I will use the home pickup and drop. The extra charges are less than sheer trauma of parking like that.

Hi.

Sorry to see your embarrassment and appreciate your quest for not causing any trouble to others.

Does Zoomcar not allow you to park at some other location (where parking is available)? The next user shall pick up the car from that location.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Hi.

Sorry to see your embarrassment and appreciate your quest for not causing any trouble to others.

Does Zoomcar not allow you to park at some other location (where parking is available)? The next user shall pick up the car from that location.

There was none. The house was adjacent to a park. In that entire area the roads are barely about three cars wide with hardly any pavement.
Everyone parks on the street.

The customer support guy said I can park upto 50 meters away from the designated spot. But there was no space except this horrible one in the entire block of over 500 meters radius.

[Abhinav V]

I have rented cars from Zoomcar several times now. My first booking, however, went out well. The car was quite new and clean.
Every car I got after the first booking was either dirty or had mechanical issues.I have seen all sorts of garbage one can imagine in a car, from banana peel to diapers.
Luckily, they give us a refund for getting the car cleaned provided it does not exceed Rs 500.
Also, sometimes zoomcar assigns a car to us located at a different place, away from the pick up site, mentioning the owner's name and his address. I once booked a Freestyle to be picked up at Rajajinagar, but it assigned a car belonging to someone in a remote location near IOB Colony. I could not find the car even after searching for an hour. I called the customer care, informing them to cancel the booking. The lady on the phone was kind enough to raise the issue and get the refund processed immediately. Kudos to that.
I still use zoomcar because it the nearest to my place and convenient as I rent out cars only for short duration.
I will never use Zoomcar for long trips and do not recommend it!!!

[jetsetgo08]

Had a bad experience with MyChoize cars((Pune)) as they disapproved my KYC post booking a car, because of which I lost 3k for the disqualified/cancelled booking.

Went back to the tried and tested method of Zoomcar. Hired a Freestyle in Pune last week. Although, the tyres of the car weren't in great nick, the car did survive the pathetic roads of Tamhini ghat. It was a great pleasure to drive the Ford Freestyle through the ghats around Pratapgarh fort and Panchgani. It cost me close to 7k for about 750kms over a span of 56 hours.

[binoyyj]

We booked a 1.5L Diesel Ecosport Zoom car for 6 days for our North East expedition. Luckily, it was only around 2 years old and completed around 67k Kms. Initially it was kind of disappointing to drive since the car was equipped with a speed governor which prevented us from getting past 80. But after we started our journey towards Tawang, we couldn't even get past 50 Kph, so the speed governor wasn't a problem. We had to take the Zoomcar through the toughest roads we have ever driven and it's ground clearance (200mm I believe) wasn't good enough but still managed to survive a few hits at the bottom. We got the car washed from a local workshop before handing it over to Zoomcar. This was my first experience with Zoomcar and everything was smooth, got the caution deposit fully refunded within 2 days.

[Subrat Seet]

I have booked automatic Creta from zoomcar at Bhubaneswar for six days. Anyone has any experience with Bhubaneswar zoomcar.
Off course, i had taken it at Coimbatore and it was a great experience although cleanliness was a bit of issue.

[Amit_breakfree]

Hey guys,

We are planning a trip to Kodai and we plan to book Zoomcar from Coimbatore. Just had a couple of questions and it would be great if someone can help me out. Zoomcar's customer care if one of the most hopeless I have ever come across.

Q1. One of my friend has 5,000 points in her Zoomcar account however, she won't be travelling with us. Is it possible for us to book a car from her account and use it?

Q2. Are there any other self-drive car rentals available in Coimbatore? We tried Myles but they only have one car, i.e. Ignis available in Coimbatore.

Thanks in advance.

[rsrnair80]

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat

Hi.

Does Zoomcar not allow you to park at some other location (where parking is available)? The next user shall pick up the car from that location.

I too had a similar experience in Kochi Airport. My actual pickup/drop point was about 4 KM from the airport (where they do have another point). For the drop, when i asked support if i can drop the car in the airport location and their guy can bring it back to the other location, i was told if the car is dropped in any other place Rs 2000 will be charged as relocation charge.

[saildrive]

I am in Bangalore from 22.12 to 25.12 with family and intend to travel to Wayanad and back from 23.12 and return on 25.12; just wanted to check on a few things:

I plan on hiring a Creta.
A) which self drive cars are best for the above trip (with wife and kids so hygiene and safety are top priority)?
B) since I plan to leave by 8 am on 23.12; should I ask for the car to be delivered to the hotel on 23.12 by 7 am or should I collect it a day prior?

Last time around, I cancelled Zoomcar as it was abused and didn’t feel safe for a long haul. Wayanad will take about 8 hours +, want to avoid any possible delays.

Do let me know your views, I intend to book the car this week. Are there any other local (good) self drive options that ‘Bangalorites’ know about with good vehicles? Do please share....

Thanks

[Funny]

Originally Posted by saildrive

Do let me know your views, I intend to book the car this week. Are there any other local (good) self drive options that ‘Bangalorites’ know about with good vehicles?

You can try AVIS as they maintain their cars pretty well. Also OLA has recently launched Self Drive in Bangalore, they should be having newer fleet of cars, you can give them a try. My answers to your queries:
A) Go for anything from the SUV category. i.e. XUV300, EcoSport, Brezza, Creta, Duster/Terrano etc
B) Its up-to you. I prefer drop/pickup from my home since it is much more convenient for me. I have tried home pickup/drop from AVIS and REVV multiple times and didn't face any problem, the car was delivered on time always. Just make sure that you get it at-least 2-3 hours before your trip start time so that you have some margin for late delivery or other issues.

The trick for getting a newer and well maintained car would be to go for newly launched car models (XUV300) or new vendors(OLA Drive).

Good luck and have a safe trip..

[Amit_breakfree]

In my opinion, it's time for other players to step up. We recently had a horrible experience with Zoomcar. We had a trip planned to Kodaikanal and we have booked a Zoomcar (EcoSport) from Coimbatore. 2 days before the trip I got a call that EcoSport is not available and they are upgrading our booking to a Creta and we were more than happy.
However, this was short lived as just 45 mins before our boarding I again got a call from Zoomcar that the Creta is not available and they cannot provide us with another car. This is while 4 of us are waiting at the airport to catch the flight.
We checked on the app and there was a Figo available and I asked the executive to book the same from his side as I have already made the full payment. However, we were in for a shock when he said that he cannot see the car. We have checked on the Zoomcar app and the car was showing available for booking and they asked me to book it from my end as their 'end' is different from ours.

I cancelled the booking and booked a Revv instead and we got a brand new Swift with 2,500 kms on the odo and the experience was much better.

Based on this experience, I would prefer Revv over Zoomcar anyday.

[sajaijayan]

Having regularly used rent a car services abroad, I would like to share a negative experience with Zoomcar that I had recently. The intention is to inform potential clients on the pitfalls and where to be careful when using a Rent a car and also possibly inform Zoomcar Management teams on what exactly is happening, as I believe their intentions would be honourable and not to cheat customers.

Basically, I am an NRI, having worked with various Automobile dealerships representing many of the top global brands for the past 25 years. I visit India atleast twice a year and usually use our family car when in India. About a year back our car was involved in an accident and it was declared as a Total loss and we haven’t picked up a new vehicle yet.

Recently, I was visiting India for 4 days, and decided to take a Rent a car for use during this trip. Looked around and decided on Zoomcar as they have an Airport pick up and drop off at Bangalore International Airport. Carried out all formalities and made a booking for a Ford Figo Manual.

The pickup process was pretty hassle free. However, the car itself was not so good. Full of scratches and dents, took a full 10 mins to mark what I could see at 3:30 Am on the app. The car had completed around 96000 kms while picking up the vehicle.

I used the car for 4 days, and used it for about 350kms ( mostly highway as I had to go to Madanapalle from Bangalore) . On the way back to return the vehicle, I noticed in our car park, that it was hard to shift the car into first gear, since it was basically a direct highway drive to the airport, didn’t have to shift to first gear again till the airport parking lot.

While returning the car, mentioned to the attendant that there seems to be a beginning of a problem with the clutch as first gear wasn’t falling properly. Completed the handover on the App and left. Except for the condition of the vehicle, the overall experience was pretty convenient. However, now starts the trouble. Couple of days later I received an email stating that I would be charged Rs 10,000/- as apparently I damaged the gearbox. I wrote to them trying to explain my view, but to no avail and I promptly paid up to avoid any hassles and decided to take up the matter elsewhere. Tried writing to them and some consumer forums but all I got was that I had damaged the gearbox and I had to pay up.


Considering the condition, mileage driven on the vehicle etc, I feel that I have been cheated and charged for a normal wear and tear issue. Since I don’t live in India, I couldn’t take the matter further.

Having gone through this, I wonder how I could have done things different to avoid this situation. I feel it is absolutely unfair to charge a customer for what is essentially a wear and tear issue.( Worn out clutch plates)
Post this experience, I would recommend to all potential Zoom Car customers, to be absolutely certain about the condition of the vehicle you choose to avoid any unforeseen expenses. If the slightest problem with the vehicle is seen, please make a note with the attendant as proof.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sajaijayan

Having gone through this, I wonder how I could have done things different to avoid this situation.

Sadly, the answer is Don't try to be helpful.

There are many service industries where suppliers rely on customers to report faults.

Back in the 1980s, I was a keen sailor, and I and a group of friends used to charter yachts for one or two week trips. We were regular customers, once or twice a year, at one particularly agency. At the end of the period, we would give them a full and comprehensive fault list. They loved us for doing that, and told us so. In only one instance was a fault of our causing --- and they let us off the charge for that because we had put our own time and money into fixing something else that went wrong during the trip.

A recently deceased relative was the proprietor of a posh 4-star hotel in England. He was actually cross with me because I didn't tell anyone about a fault in the room until the last minute. As a non-paying guest, I was shy to complain. Not on subsequent visits: I learnt my lesson!

If your treatment by Zoomcar is typical, they are just cutting their own throats.