[Zappo]

Just finished dealing with the vehicle business. Finalized with Zain. Gem of a person Mrs. Shamina is. So 2 new Wagon Rs (we will see about that) for 4 days at Rs.7000. I will get the vehicles at the airport and will surrender it back at the airport again at the end of the trip. No customary pickup and drop charges of Rs.300 either.

Venu, she asked about you.

[rohanjf]

My experience with http://www.carrentalsingoa.in/

Earlier I had booked Wagon R for 3 days (13th September 6.30 PM to 15th September 1.30 PM) and we had agreed for 3200 Rs excluding petrol. But they had told me that they would give me Getz for the same price, as they did not have a Wagon R available at that time.

The owner, Ryan, had delegated the work to another guy Melwyn. Melwyn had delegated the work to Manju, who gave me a call on 13th morning to tell me that he will send Ali to give the car. Too many links in the chain!!

When we got out of the airport, the car was ready. It was a current generation black Wagon R (surprise, they found a car). It was neat, although the interiors were smelling a little of cigarettes. Previous clients must have smoked in the car. Also, the low fuel indicator was blinking (expected). Ali told me where to find fuel in Zuarinagar too, since we had to go that way to reach our resort in Betalbatim, and there aren't any other fuel stations around.

To return the car on 15th, I had asked Ali to come near airport at 1.15 PM. He came at 1.30 PM. Then he pointed at some scratches on the left bumper and fender and said it wasn't there when he gave the car to us. That's when we realised our mistake. Since it was late in the night when we took the car, we hadn't noticed any scratches. Also, I was driving the car throughout the trip. I would have noticed the moment the car had rubbed against something bad enough to create scratches. I don't do drunken driving either, so I was in my senses all the time. Since our resort and all the places we visited had decent parking, I didn't think this scratch was created by us.

But sadly, we didn't have time to argue, and we had to pay up 500 Rs extra.

[aakash.goenka]

I had a great experience with Zain travels too. But then, I didn't actually end up renting the car, thanks to some unexpected difficulties (I'll explain further).

So, we flew into Goa today. I called Mrs Shamina today morning before the flight, and finalised a Ritz. We settled at 6800 for 5 days including pick up and drop at the airport. What I liked in particular was that she was clear and accurate about everything - the deposit, yellow-plate, advance payment, car condition. On her end, there was no attempt to mislead me about anything. She asked me where we were going to stay, and I said Emerald Palms. I hadn't done the resort booking and it was some Club Mahindra resort. There are 2 of them here, and for some reason I thought it must be Emerald Palms. Moreover, since both are nearby, it shouldn't matter anyway, right? (and boy, I was really wrong in assuming this). Later during the flight I found out that it was Varca Beach.

The person was there at the airport on time, waiting for us with the car. He asked us where we were headed and I told him that we were at Club Mahindra Varca Beach. That's when he told us that this was a problem, and he couldn't rent us the car. He said he thought we were staying at Emerald Palms, which is why they had agreed in the first place. He informed us that there's a violent taxi union right outside the resort which doesn't allow resort guests to use rented self drive cars or cars rented from 'outside'. All resort guests must use the local taxis. He said he could have rented the car to us if we were staying at ANY other place, but Club Mahindra Varca Beach. Later, I found this review which gives a clear picture of the situation - Worst and dangerous place to stay even though the property is good. It is not exaggerated. Anyway, there was nothing we could do about it.

At this point, I had wasted at least an hour of Mrs Shamina and some fuel (for reaching the airport and back). This situation could have been avoided if I had remembered the correct resort name earlier. However, he was very courteous and didn't say anything. Instead, he was very understanding, and helped by setting us up with a taxi within 2 minutes, to drop us at our resort. So, although I couldn't try them out this time, the attitude of Zain travels does make me want to use their service next time I'm here and recommend them to others.

[shavian]

+1 for Zain Travels.

Based on the reviews on this thread, we rented a wagon-r white number plate in Nov 2014 for a week from them - @1100/day + 300 airport pickup and dropoff.

Beautiful car inside and out with less than 10k on it. Very clean and well maintained. A very courteous and professional family based operation that made our vacation pleasant. We were staying in South Goa - Agonda beach and then driving up north all the way to Arambol. My wife was in the 2nd quarter of pregnancy and we wanted to do a slow and self drive trip.

So this came by as an excellent suggestion folks!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

This is true, I have been trying to following him up for two weeks, and still no response. So I went in for Zain travels.

Their site, prices and their fleet seems very attractive though!

Does Zain travels have a website? That's good, sounds like they would be more professionally managed. Last time I tried to book a car from the airport, it never turned up at all. Could someone post the website for Zain? Thinking of trying them this time.

[gabrielthomas]

Originally Posted by floyd

Does Zain travels have a website? That's good, sounds like they would be more professionally managed. Last time I tried to book a car from the airport, it never turned up at all. Could someone post the website for Zain? Thinking of trying them this time.

I dont think they have an website, but you can contact them on this # 097658 76416. They offer a good and decent service. I have even told them that I got their # from Team-BHP and promised them that I will put a good feedback back on our site which i did as soon as I completed my GOA trip :-)

[sushrutha]

Originally Posted by Zappo

Just finished dealing with the vehicle business. Finalized with Zain. Gem of a person Mrs. Shamina is.

Originally Posted by shavian

+1 for Zain Travels.

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

They offer a good and decent service.

Back from Goa trip.

+1 to Zain travels.
Thanks to Shamina & Zamin, very professional indeed.
Booked a Wagon-R for 3 days (Yellow board one)
1300Rs/day - Tariff
5000Rs - Security deposit
250Rs - Pickup & drop charges (airport)
At the exact time, they were outside the Airport both while delivering & returning.
Car delivered was neat & clean, without any mechanical issues.
Will definitely use their service in future.

[k2max6]

How does it work incase the car is damaged/any accident happens? Who bears the cost

In Zoomcar we are liable to pay upto Rs.5000 in case of any damage to the vehicle.Any charges incurred above that are covered by Zoomcar.

How does this work in Goa?

[inddofr]

Originally Posted by sushrutha

Back from Goa trip.

+1 to Zain travels.
Thanks to Shamina & Zamin, very professional indeed.
Booked a Wagon-R for 3 days (Yellow board one)
1300Rs/day - Tariff
5000Rs - Security deposit
250Rs - Pickup & drop charges (airport)
At the exact time, they were outside the Airport both while delivering & returning.
Car delivered was neat & clean, without any mechanical issues.
Will definitely use their service in future.

+1 for Zain at Goa.

I wanted to thank the folks here for this stub/thread. The Zain folks are very professional and everything was well setup - the pickup at the airport (though the flight was delayed by more than 3 hours), the car delivery - it was a brand new car. It was raining heavily and I did not bother to check much on the damages.

Drove it more carefully than I would drive my own car.

Dropping back was also a breeze. They dropped me at the airport. Pick up and drop charges extra but worth it.

Will use them again.

I think they are one of the best if you want to pick up the car and drive to your destination.

I did leave a bit of extra fuel as a 'much-thank-you' gesture for them.

Thank you Shamina & Zamin!

Regards, Franklin

[Jaygojer]

+1 for Zain from me too.

Shamina and Zamin are extremely professional, polite and extremely clear and transparent in their dealings.

Car was well maintained and clean, it had all the documents with it too.

I would happily recommend them.

[vinay85]

I booked a car from Zain travels for our end of September Goa trip. Due to poor planning on my part (read as the usual leave everything for the last minute plan ) I got around to searching for car rentals only a couple of days before the trip. I narrowed it down to Push, Joey's and Zain travels. However for the first two I found more than a few negative reviews both on this site and others some quite disturbing. Zain travels on the other hand stood out in this regard with every review recommending them highly.
I called Shamina the day before we landed and was informed that due to it being the eid weekend there was a higher demand for cars and she didn't have any with her at the moment, however she would confirm by 7:30 p.m. Exactly at the time promised she called back saying a Wagon R is available, I requested for a better car and she said she would confirm by next morning ( I was travelling next day evening so was a relief to hear that if not anything else a Wagon R would be waiting). Next morning she gave me the good news that a new Swift would be available. Perfect !

Me and my wife landed at Dabolim airport at 9:00 pm and at 9:10 akin to a concerned family member Shamina calls and gives me the number of the Taxi guy who would take us to her office (in Vasco ) after a brief 10 min drive we reached their office, Even though we were quite late, She and her husband were patiently waiting and without any hurry handed over the car. A grey swift with 27k on the odo, Her husband showed me all the bumps and scratches the car had (very few) and I deposited my PAN card and the total amount due. Since the car had a white number plate just gave us a general low down of what to say in case of any checking etc., gave us directions to the nearest petrol pump and all the way to Calangute where we were staying.
Returning the car was also a breeze with Shamina confirming a day before and coordinating brilliantly.

All in all the experience was just like the story we were supposed to tell the cops in case we were stopped - that the car belonged to a family member who had given it to us for our Goa trip.

Cost 1300/- per day (700/- for the first day since we took the car at night), 400/- pick up and drop by taxi from their office to airport, 5000/- deposit which was returned with no issues.

[Aurum]

+1 to Zain travels from my side too. Very clear communication from beginning to end. I think I got the same grey Swift mentioned above. Timely pickup at the airport, transparent discussion on rates and bumps/ scratches, and clean/ crisp closure. Will rely on them for future requirements as well.

[Sachin4920]

Originally Posted by gabrielthomas

I had made my reservation just now. I spoke to Mrs. Shamina and we had the deal for the below itinerary:

Car Booked: Maruti Ritz/Petrol
Type of Registration: Yellow Number plates
Cost: Rs 1400/Day (total 3 days - 4200)
Deposit: Rs. 5000 which will be refunded when I return the car back
Total: Rs.9200 (including deposit)
Pick Up/Drop off Points: Vasco Railway station

I and my wife were there in Goa recently with a friend of mine and family and had rented a petrol Ritz - Rs 1300/day - from Zain Travels. All was well, until my friend, who happened to reach Goa early in the day, came to pick us up from Karwar railway station in the evening. Once they crossed into the Karnataka border they got a call from Zain asking whether they crossed the border and if so they will charge an additional 900 rupees for that single day. Since they didn't want to argue over phone they let it be and decided to settle things up while returning the car.

On the last day of the trip we returned the car at Vasco and had a pretty long discussion regarding this with Zain. And he was like the onus is on us - the customer - to let the company know they are planning to travel out of Goa. We told him we thought it was the other way around; it is something that the company should inform the customer. After few good minutes of ranting we decided to let go and paid the additional 900 rupees and left.

With all the good reviews here for Zain, ours could be a one off case but we were disappointed nonetheless.

As a side note, anybody who is planning to rent from Zain while in Goa; please give them a heads up regarding your itinerary especially if you are planning to cross the border. Or else all this could come as a surprise and a bitter one at that.

[shady_lawyer]

Another update on Zain Travels

rating-8/10

Spoke to Shamina much before leaving on the number given above which is still active and was offered a Swift. There was some initial confusion regarding the pricing however finally the deal was made at Rs. 1100 per day for a white board swift along with a Rs. 5000 security deposit and PAN Card deposit as security.

She kept in touch throughout and guided our taxi driver from the airport to her shop opposite HDFC Bank in Goa. Was offered a grey coloured Swift Vxi with a mere 12k kilometers on the clock with the fuel needle on reserve. Few dings and dents otherwise in excellent shape mechanically and was recently serviced. Must mention that the car was given in an extremely clean condition and smelt fresh. She insists that you take photos of the car yourself to record the various defects you note.

Drove the car extensively through hills and vales and the horrible candolim baga road without a hitch. Returned the car to her shop where her employee inspected it and promptly returned the Rs. 5000 and my pan card. Given the excellent service we returned the car 1/3 rd fuel and an umbrella. She then offered a free drop to the airport to the airport as we were short on time.

Pros-
Quick, hassle-free, and prompt service
vehicles are in good nick.
good and open communication with everything being documented on whatsapp

Cons-
Does not offer a pick/drop service from hotels/airport.
unclear damage policy, must clarify this the next time. Though she seemed to hint that insurance would be invoked only if the damage exceeded Rs. 30,000 thereby meaning that customer liability was Rs. 30,000. Again note-not very clear on this point. the next renter may update this information.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Sachin4920

...Once they crossed into the Karnataka border they got a call from Zain asking whether they crossed the border and if so they will charge an additional 900 rupees for that single day...

Why all this fuss over broder crossing? Even if this is a yellow plate, I guess a ta has to be paid by the driver at the border right? So, why would anyone charge extra because you crossed the state?