| Revv Car Subscription, Delhi-NCR
We live out of the country so while planning a trip back home to visit family, we needed a vehicle. Not a taxi as it doesn't provide the level of independence that I am used to. Also, buying a car for a month and a half didn't make much sense so alternatives were being looked into. My wife suggested renting a car for whenever we needed and that prompted me to look for car rentals. Looking for car rentals was never really a thing whenever we visited earlier. We always had a car but it was sold off when we realized it wasn't being used enough.
While renting a car for 45 days turned out to be unnecessarily expensive, I came across a new service called Car Subscriptions. It was specifically a company called Revv, that was providing this service and was cheaper than renting for a long while. I had heard about Revv a few times but didn't know anyone who had tried it. I decided to give it a shot and experience it for myself. I tried to book a rental from the airport itself and get a drop off at my home in Faridabad. It was a feature advertised to rent the car and drop it off somewhere else. On trying multiple combinations, I figured that Faridabad was not one of the locations that were supported for this feature. This was not mentioned anywhere and hence wasn't obvious to anyone. So, in Delhi-NCR region, I realised that at least people in Faridabad were being considered as Second-class citizens.
I kept looking though and figured that Revv subscriptions were still an option but not from the airport itself. Also, given the Covid situation, I wasn't expecting to travel much so renting a car for a long while didn't really make much sense anyway. I also considered renting cars on-demand whenever needed and it made sense as well. But then again, getting them to drop the car in Faridabad and pick it back from there was going to be challenging. Brainstorming for sometime, I figured Subscriptions would probably be my best option. I decided to book a subscription for a month after reaching India. This would give me some time to acclimatise to the conditions and have a car till the end of my trip.
Booking Experience
On the mobile application, the subscription booking would redirect you to the browser so the app experience wasn't any good. I decided to use my laptop instead to make the booking. Browser experience was relatively intuitive and straightforward. Coming to India after a while, my priority was to get an automatic so that its easier to drive and protect in traffic. Santro was shown as one of the options and Santro was recently launched as well. I expected it to have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Besides, apart from being easy to maneuver, having a small car meant that I could try the service and invest some more next time if I liked it. I decided to go for it and 5th of January was going to be the delivery date for the vehicle. I could see a few discount coupons on the website as well but I wasn't able to apply them due to one condition or the other. These were the so-called fine prints and I only got to know about them when I called their customer care.
Docs Review process
The entire payment was to be made upfront which made sense. One is required to pay an extra 5000INR as security deposit which was ok as well. It was when I made the payment that I started getting issues. I got an email asking to send the scanned copies of all my ID proofs. This was alright except for the security-concerned enthusiast in me. I wasn't very comfortable in sending all my ID proofs like PAN card, Aadhaar card, etc. as an email attachment. So, I crossed and wrote on every ID proof the purpose for which they were being sent. This was better than sending plain scanned copies in my mind. Revv didn't seem to like it very much and started calling me asking for colored scanned copies this time. I tried asking logic behind this but couldn't get a convincing reply. Having argued over this for a while, I told them to cancel my booking and refund my money.
An hour later, I got a call from another sales rep that I remember having spoken to earlier (<<< Shubham >>>). He had been a reasonable person so far so I told him my point of view. He agreed to proceed, obviously with the condition that original documents will be shown at the time of delivery. This was fine by me and made total sense. So the booking was finally through and I could move forward.
Booking Confirmation
Over the next few days, I got at least 5 calls confirming the same thing. They wanted to know if the booking was still on and my address for delivery. Exhausted by innumerable calls at sometimes inconvenient times, I said I had provided this info over and over again. I was told them that those could have been different teams. This was the first time ever that I got such a reply from an entity. They couldn't come up with the logic to check internally first before bothering the customer multiple times. Anyhow, by then, either all the teams had called me or they finally figured that booking was confirmed.
Santro Unavailable
Around a week before the scheduled delivery, I got an email saying that vehicle was not available anymore. They mentioned contacting me (once, but I couldn't be blamed for not picking it up at this stage) over the phone. So, I had to get on a call again and try to sort this out. By this time, I had been on at least 10 different calls with them and I hadn't even gotten the car yet. Since Santro wasn't available, I was told that an upgrade to Celerio was available. This required an additional amount of 1200INR on top of what I had already paid.
I hate to bring this comparison here again but I couldn't help it this time. I have rented cars in US, Europe and Australia and have experienced this a few times. If the car you chose in the booking isn't available at the time of delivery, you are given a free upgrade. Also, you are never phoned to discuss this as if this was your mistake.
Here I was, shocked yet again at how I was being treated as a customer and was forced to argue over something unnecessarily. I mentioned that it wasn't my mistake that the vehicle I chose was not available with them. Also, I asked, if they only had one car in subscription that they were allocating to me. I was told that the previous customer had extended their subscription so the car couldn't be allocated to me. I decided to drop that there and figure out what I could get. I knew Celerio definitely wouldn't have CarPlay but moreover, the automatic gearshift wasn't as smooth as Santro's. And yet, here was the rep asking me to bear the difference. I stood my ground and was placed on hold while the rep spoke to the supervisor. After a hold of about 2 minutes, I was told that I will not be required to pay anything and I will also be due an amount of 400INR. I wouldn't really bet on the due amount as I didn't really trust their calculation at that time. I was just relieved that this was resolved.
Contract Signing
The contract is sent over an email and has a lot of fine print. When has someone actually went over the entire fine print before signing a car rental contract. It could do with some bullet points listing the most important aspects of the subscription. This will be reflected upon further in forthcoming sections. Digitally singing the contract was pretty straightforward and hassle-free for a change.
Vehicle Delivery
Come the day of delivery, I was eagerly waiting for a drive. I had already seen a few Celerio reviews on YouTube and couldn't wait to get my hands on one. I also had a doctors' appointment later in the day that I intended on using this car for. I was communicated a time of 10AM for the delivery and that's what I had requested in my booking as well. I was also informed that I will be called at least an hour earlier before the deliver. I woke up around 9:15AM only to realize that I hadn't received a call. I waited till 10AM to see if I get a call. Also, Revv doesn't operate its call centers before that time so I had little options but to wait. I finally called them around 1015AM and was told that delivery time is actually a window and not a fixed time. The window is between 10AM-12PM and I was to expect the delivery till then. Another first, I told them that I had a doc appointment at 12 but little do they care. I was told to wait till 12PM and they promised to get in touch with the team to expedite the delivery. It was 12PM and I had taken a cab to go see the doctor. I still hadn't received a call from the delivery person. So, I had called again only to get a response that they weren't aware and would reach out to the concerned team and get it expedited, yet again.
Around 1PM, I got a call from the Revv driver that he would reach me in an hour. Finally, I thought, the vehicle will be delivered and I would be able to run some errands.
Vehicle Condition
It was around 2PM that the car finally arrived. White in color, it looked like I had called a cab, a rather cheap one at that. I didn't believe at first that this was the car but the driver came out and said he indeed was from Revv. I found myself at loss of words as to what had happened. The car was a yellow number plate with black number. There was also yellow lining along the car and a yellow block and black text above the fuel tank that had the owner's information. The latter is also a typical sign of taxis being run by drivers who are not actual vehicle owners. The only indication that this was a Revv car were the stickers on the side indicating the same.
The car's condition, unlike advertised, was definitely not like new. It had scratches and small dents all around. Also, I later realized that the plastic cladding underneath the driver seat was coming off. I hadn't taken a picture of them when taking the delivery and this could be an issue when they take it back.
Finally, being a taxi number meant that I will be required to pay MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) tax every time I entered Delhi. This is a sum of 100INR and is different from the normal toll that I will also be required to pay. I agreed to paying the toll which is normal but this MCD toll was unreasonable.
I called Revv while asking the driver to wait. I was told that this was normal which I still don't agree with. They said that all Revv cars either come with a Yellow-Black or a Black-Yellow number plates. I also told them of the car and that it looked like a taxi to which they agreed to look into. Later in the day, I got a call telling me that they could send me a Manual transmission Swift that also had a private number. That, however, would take another 2 days and they will take the existing car back that itself.
I understood they intended on starting another contract and cancelling this one. I was not going to stay in India that long to use that subscription. Also, I needed the car that day itself to get things done. I decided to live with this car for the period of the subscription.
Living with the car
Being a taxi lookalike, I knew I will have unnecessary challenges. If you are in NCR region and not Delhi, you have to make innumerable Delhi visits in a month. Paying 100INR on top of car rental, fuel and taxes without running a taxi is unreasonable. Yet, there was little that I could now do about it. I was bound by contract and had to live with it. One day prior to the end of subscription, I was stopped at the MCD toll booth. Reason being, the car did not have MCD pass and they had mandated a pass on every car entering Delhi. It was almost 9PM and I knew I'd get extremely limited support from Revv on this and waste more time. I tried to explain my situation and argue with at least 3 people. It took me about 30 minutes and an argument with their supervisor to pass that booth. This was one of the major incidents.
Couple of small ones included being denied/delayed parking as it was a commercial number in malls/outside shops etc. It was easy for people to mistake it for a taxi and then behave accordingly.
Subscription End and Vehicle Collection
I was expecting some issue while returning car as well. We had gone to Delhi on a real taxi this time to get my in-laws' car for the last 2 days of our visit to India. The collection team from Revv called me to confirm the time and I asked them to come in late afternoon. There was another call a bit later from the person himself who was to collect and we decided on the time. He also asked me my current location and wanted to collect the car from Delhi itself but then agreed to come to Faridabad when I told him that I haven't brought the car with me. The car was smoothly picked up from my home after a visible inspection by this person in the evening. There was no confirmation email/call from Revv so I called them to confirm the car was being picked up before letting the person drive away with the car.
There was no email confirmation from them till the next day when I finally got the finally bill. I had made the payment through PayTM and security deposit was also returned to my PayTM account.
Conclusion
My experience of a rental subscription turned out to be a mixed bag. While the onboarding was painful, the subscription ending was relatively smooth. I could have been better prepared with what I needed. I didn't ask for a non-commercial number plate which I later realized was feasible. I also didn't ask for specific features like CarPlay. So, next time when I book, I'd know exactly what I want from them. All in all, I think it was a value for money deal but I could have asked for a better service at the time of booking. | 
8th January 2021, 18:51
. Will not forgive Revv for spoiling this.
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Thanks
