[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Papa Blaze

Hello Vidyut.

Have you done a review or a feedback on your experience?
I'll be travelling to Ranthambore in the first week of April. Planning to use Myles for a self drive road trip from Jaipur airport.

It'd be great if you could share your experience. The details would help make the right choice.

Hey Papa blaze,

My trip is only in APril end

I asked them over the phone and they told me that the Innova's are GX variants 2012 make.

Pickup is only possible from their office near the station.

From our Delhi experience I am pretty confident they are reliable choice. Jaipur being a smaller scale you can call them at the Jaipur office and confirm that everything is in place before hand.

[Papa Blaze]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Hey Papa blaze,

My trip is only in APril end

I asked them over the phone and they told me that the Innova's are GX variants 2012 make.

Pickup is only possible from their office near the station.

From our Delhi experience I am pretty confident they are reliable choice. Jaipur being a smaller scale you can call them at the Jaipur office and confirm that everything is in place before hand.

Ah! I see... Then i guess I'll be the one giving details upfront

If its anything like my experience with ZOOM (Bangalore -Coorg), it'd be neat.

I was considering the Vento as we are only 2 passengers. But then the Innova is tough to miss out on.

Where you travelling to?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Papa Blaze

Ah! I see... Then i guess I'll be the one giving details upfront

If its anything like my experience with ZOOM (Bangalore -Coorg), it'd be neat.

I was considering the Vento as we are only 2 passengers. But then the Innova is tough to miss out on.

Where you travelling to?

Jaipur to Bundi. Renting for 3 days.

They aren't exactly like Zoom since fuel you need to pay for i.e. return with same amount of fuel as you got it.

I have 5 plus bags so Innova was the most comfortable option. Jaipur has lesser cars so you will need to check which cars are there.

[infotech58]

Does the contract list terms and conditions for self-drive rental? If you have a copy, could you share?

Does the following (found here) apply for self-drive rentals?

Insurance cover, if any provided as a part of the service/ product by CARZONRENT shall be based on the terms and conditions of the insuring company. The User shall contact the insurance company directly for any claim/s or dispute/s which may arise out of such insurance cover. CARZONRENT shall not provide any express or implied undertakings for acceptance of the claims by the insurance company.

Originally Posted by GTO

• Price is inclusive of full & comprehensive insurance (accident, theft etc.).

[GTO]

Originally Posted by infotech58

If you have a copy, could you share?

Sure thing, attached. It's a scan of a xerox, but zoom in and the text is clearly legible.

[vishwaschettri]

Originally Posted by GTO

Sweet tip, thanks!

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Instead of booking from carzonrent, you can book directly from the Hertz international website. In that case, they don't block your card for the 30000 rupees. Been there, done that. Hertz is serviced in India by carzonrent.

I dont think this will work anymore. Hertz & Carzonrent have parted ways way back in 2010. Hertz india operations are now handled by OASIS which is a JV between ORIX & IL&FS.

here is the news of launch of same.

http://www.ilfsindia.com/press_room/...stomer_pro.pdf

cheers
Vishwas

[fusionbang]

GTO,

Can you please share your experience on the refund of security deposit amount?

How many days did they take it to refund?

Did it reflect on your credit card statement? I have seen some reviews where they say the service is pathetic and post 15 days also, they haven't received the deposit.

Can you please give some inputs on this, since I am planning for an Innova-GX this weekend and I am planning to book it very soon.

Thanks.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Can you please share your experience on the refund of security deposit amount?

How many days did they take it to refund?

Didn't see it being charged or refunded on my statement. Guess it was a "temporary block".

I have seen some reviews where they say the service is pathetic and post 15 days also, they haven't received the deposit.

Please share links to those reviews; it'll be of great help to anyone considering the service.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by GTO

Please share links to those reviews; it'll be of great help to anyone considering the service.

Please find the links below on the bad service experiences/reviews. Some of them are related to the security deposit amount.

http://www.mouthshut.com/websites/ca...iews-925702611

Also the rating is majority at 1-star with 86%, whereas 5-star is 7%, 2-star - 7%.

Also there are some posts on their facebook page as well:

https://www.facebook.com/carzonrent#

Hope this helps.

Also, I think if carzonrent can wave off on the security deposit amount for self drive rentals and increase their level of customer service, it can go past Zoom in terms of more customers.

[paharino1]

Has anyone driven Interstate in these cars ? I am assuming we will have to stop at the border toll posts & relevent documents need to be shown ? Any fees etc which needs to be paid, or maybe there would be un-necessary stoppage/hassles while the govt guys are trying to validate/check/understand..etc ?

eg. if renting in Bangalore & driving to Ooty, Munnar etc..there would be multiple places on the border where stoppages would happen due to the number plates ..

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by paharino1

Has anyone driven Interstate in these cars ? I am assuming we will have to stop at the border toll posts & relevent documents need to be shown ? Any fees etc which needs to be paid, or maybe there would be un-necessary stoppage/hassles while the govt guys are trying to validate/check/understand..etc ?

eg. if renting in Bangalore & driving to Ooty, Munnar etc..there would be multiple places on the border where stoppages would happen due to the number plates ..

Self drive rentals have to pay up tax at state border crossings. Since you mentioned Bangalore, if going from Bangalore to Chennai, you'll have to pay up at Hosur check post. Thats what we did for two trips in Zoom (another rental company in Bangalore) cars. Yes, relevant documents need to be shown, fee is to be paid and receipt collected. I never faced any hassles while crossing borders in rental cars. Even if you are stopped at any point in other states, you just need to show tax receipt. FYI, tax for a KA registered Tata Safari self-drive taxi was 500 for a week in TN.

[maheshramaling]

Originally Posted by black_rider

Self drive rentals have to pay up tax at state border crossings. Since you mentioned Bangalore, if going from Bangalore to Chennai, you'll have to pay up at Hosur check post. Thats what we did for two trips in Zoom (another rental company in Bangalore) cars. Yes, relevant documents need to be shown, fee is to be paid and receipt collected. I never faced any hassles while crossing borders in rental cars. Even if you are stopped at any point in other states, you just need to show tax receipt. FYI, tax for a KA registered Tata Safari self-drive taxi was 500 for a week in TN.

As per GTO's post - myles cars are "all india permit" (refer the attachment with title "All-India Permit. Car was a 2014 build" in the page 1 of GTO's review). So - does this mean we don't have to pay road tax while entering other states?

[noopster]

Originally Posted by paharino1

Has anyone driven Interstate in these cars ? I am assuming we will have to stop at the border toll posts & relevent documents need to be shown ? Any fees etc which needs to be paid, or maybe there would be un-necessary stoppage/hassles while the govt guys are trying to validate/check/understand..etc ?

eg. if renting in Bangalore & driving to Ooty, Munnar etc..there would be multiple places on the border where stoppages would happen due to the number plates ..

Yes. Please check this thread. The OP has crossed 3 separate state borders in a Zoom self-drive and has unique experiences at each, though nothing disconcerting. It's an interesting Travelogue to boot

[black_rider]

Originally Posted by maheshramaling

As per GTO's post - myles cars are "all india permit" (refer the attachment with title "All-India Permit. Car was a 2014 build" in the page 1 of GTO's review). So - does this mean we don't have to pay road tax while entering other states?

Permit allows you to take your car to other states. You still have to pay entry tax for your duration of stay there. Zoom too have All-India permit for all (or most, I think) of their cars, but they advise users to pay up at first RTO check-posts of other states. This link has clear info on permits and taxes, from self-drive taxi operator Zoom: http://www.zoomcar.in/outstation

[LoveToWander]

Hi Friends,

I'm a newbie to TBHP but a long time lurker. Though I have rented cars outside India, I was hesitating to do so in India. But reviews on TBHP made me believe that I can do it without any issues. So, I went for a self drive rent and I have written down my experience with CARZONRENT Pune. I did not want my first post to be this. But it happens to be so.

This is about my FIRST EVER experience with Rental Car company in India which I unfortunately decided to go with Carzonrent.

I had planned to visit Shirdi on 22-Mar-2014. Since it was going to be a short visit, I decided to fly to Pune from Bangalore and go to shirdi from there. Within the limited time window I was going to get, I thought of multiple options to reach Shirdi (train, bus, taxi, self drive) and decided that Self driving a rental car would best suite my time and budget.

Based on few good feedbacks from my friends and Team-Bhp, I decided to book it through Carzonrent. On 13-Mar-2014, I booked the basic self drive car (swift) and got the confirmation emails. I was happy that I got the car and went ahead with my flight bookings, hotel bookings etc. Finally all the arrangements were done.

This entire trip was planned 10 days before. This was done to make sure there are no uncertainities or last minute surprises to the trip.

22-Mar-2014
I was to board my flight at 6:30 pm and I was planning to leave my place at Bangalore by 5:30 pm. I was taking a quick nap and I get a phone call at around 4 pm. Upon answering,
Pradeep - Sir I'm calling from Pune carzonrent. You had a booking with us for tonight.
Me - Yes.
Pradeep - sir , the car you were suppose to take has met with an accident.
Me - oh , ok. What are you going to do now ?
Pradeep - sir, gaadi ka accident ho gaya hai. Aapko gaadi nahi milega
Me - What do you mean by gaadi nahi milege ?
Pradeep - sir, jo bhi gaadi aapko dena tha woh accident ho gaya hai. doosra gaadi book hai toh aapko gaadi nahi milega.
Me - what the hell ? if your car met with an accident do some alternate arrangements. why are you saying "Gaadi nahi milega". I did not plan the trip ahead of time to hear these kind of silly reasons. Give me your managers number.
Pradeep - sir gaadi toh nahi milega , baaki aap baat karlo.

He gave me his so called manager's number(dont remember the name). I tried calling him mulitple times but the phone was switched off.

Then I decided to call customer care. The call was answered and I was talking to Navneet. I asked for a Supervisor/Manager to address my concern. But Navneet politely asked me what was the issue and she will try to address it. I told her the entire story and said this is not what I expected out of Carzonrent. She immediately said, she will try to fix it and conferenced the person from Pune Carzonrent, Pradeep. But Pradeep kept saying the same thing. Car has met with an accident, no other cars available.

I told Navneet that I dont care what happens to your car. I'm your customer and I have made my plans. If there is any inconvenience because of your mistake, dont put it to me. Make me alternate arrangements. Navneet then asked me if a Chauffer driven car will be ok ? I said I dont mind as long as I am not charged extra. She said I wont be charged extra. To confirm I asked he again that I wont be paying anything extra as it is not my mistake. Navneet confirms the same that I dont have to pay anything extra. She said she will arrange for the car and will call me back in a few min with new booking id. I thanked her for resolving the issue and disconnected.

After sometime, I get a call back from Navneet. I asked her if everything was arranged. Now she starts saying, sir, Chauffer driven car is a different unit, you have to pay sir. I was so furious. In between all these drama, its getting time for me to leave for the airport. Again, I started discussing with her whose problem is it and why are they asking customer to pay more ? She could not help.

I asked for her manager or supervisor. She put Jeetender on line. I explained everything again to him and ask him why am I being made to pay more because of your mistake. He keeps me on hold for sometime and checks for any other cars available. He comes back and says no better alternatives are possible. For a chauffer driven car for one day I was to pay Rs.5667 (excluding any tolls, parking etc). I told him if I were to book a chauffer driven car, I would have gone with something else which suited my budget. Now this was going to make me pay double the budget I had in mind. A simple math:

Swift booking - Rs.1750
Diesel for 400 km - Rs.1200
Total - Rs.3000

Chauffer driven - Rs.5667
Food for driver - Rs.300
Total - Rs.6000

Upon telling this, Jeetender talks to Pune team again, comes back and tells me that Pune team can give me contact details of other local taxi drivers who can do the trip for less. This I clearly refused because of the safety concerns I had (and safety was one of the reasons I chose Carzonrent). The only options left with me was to pay for the chauffer driven car or the entire plan would be screwed. I decided to pay for the chauffer driven car.

Once I agreed to pay for the chauffer driven car, Navneet took over again and arranged another booking. She CONFIRMED that my earlier booking will be cancelled and full amount will be refunded within 4-5 business days.

After this, everything was as expected and went fine. Car picked me up from airport , I did a shirdi trip and back to airport. No issues here.

31-Mar-2014
Till this day I had not received my refund. So, I thought of calling carzonrent and checking on this. Upon calling I found that it still not clear to the representitives/system whether a refund request was made or not. This made me write an email to whoever was authoritative enough to make decisions on the CARZONRENT. I wrote the entire story and asked them below questions:
1. As I understand Carzonrent is a ~400 crore company. For a company this big, and wanting to grow, dont there need to be a BASIC CUSTOMER SATISFACTION factor ?
2. If a customer makes a plan and if your car is met with an accident , IS CUSTOMER RESPONSIBLE FOR IT ?
3. Even if it is not customer's fault, why do you make him pay extra ?
4. Why cant the you make alternate arrangements WITHOUT MAKING HIM PAY EXTRA ?
5. Even after all this, WHY CANT SOMEONE FOLLOW UP ON MY REFUND AND UPDATE ME ON THAT ? I had to call to check the status.

I got a response from CARZONRENT apologizing for the inconvenience and was told that the refund is in progress. Also, for all the issues I faced, they are offering a free 2 day rental of basic car (swift/etios) in any city they operate. This is good on their part.

But, ideally you should prevent the wound/cut from happening rather than applying a band-aid once you are wounded. That leaves a scar. If I am to book a self-drive in the future, I would think twice.

I just wanted to jot down this experience on the forum and seek help from experts to see if there were any other possible alternatives that I could have chosen given the situation. Might help in the future. Thanks !

Thanks,
LoveToWander