Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Zipcar, Inc.'s headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

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Zipcar, Inc. has 16 locations, listed below.

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• 

  Zipcar, Inc.

  35 Thomson Pl Boston, MA 02210-1202

• 

  Zipcar

  654 Seymour St Vancouver, BC V6B 3T4

• 

  Zipcar

  429 Forbes Ave Ste 1606 Pittsburgh, PA 15219

• 

  Zip Car Rental

  6019 W Central Ave Toledo, OH 43615

• 

  Zipcar, Inc.

  191 Peachtree St NE Ste 3200 Atlanta, GA 30303

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/28/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I'm currently a university student who was trying to use ZipCar's services available on this campus. I booked a car, a ****** Sentra, which was parked a 10 min walk away from my dorm. I walked over to find out the car wasn't there. I opened the app to see the switch up where now it looked as though I had booked a ****** SUV 25 minutes away. As I was in a rush, I had no choice but to book an Uber to that location and drive back to where my friends were. I lost 45 minutes due to this. Not to mention, I didn't enjoy driving this huge car which is why I had booked a small one.I called support to hear them flippantly tell me that "that's just what happens when cars get overbooked". Not only is this not my problem as a customer, but I expect more of an apologetic reparation of this issue. I am a student and I turned to Zipcar to avoid the price of an Uber and now not only did I have to spend on an Uber but I'm late to my event. I was only offered a free 30 minute extension. At the end of my trip, we had to park the car in the far away location and walk all the way back to campus on a cold and dark night to avoid paying for another uber. This is frankly unacceptable. Zipcar as a company preys on people and especially students in busy desperate situations who have nowhere better to turn when they need transportation. I emailed them this complaint and they responded that they could not reimburse me at all. Not only that, but they added on a nearly $10 "young driver's fee" which wasn't part of the charge I put my credit card down for and didn't even give me the 30 minute free extensions that the man on the phone promised. ZipCar has taken advantage of me and countless other friends who have had to choose between battling a predatory company and just coughing up sums of money that we can't afford just to have to let problems like this go unresolved.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  We have reached out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/06/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/27/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I signed up for Zipcar as a courtesy account from my employer, but never once used their services. I have no idea how many years ago that was, but I have never used and have no intention of using their services. I suddenly am being told I owe $70 or my account will be turned over to collections. This is fraudulent and unfair business practice and if this cannot be resolved quickly and easily I will be considering additional legal counsel on the matter. I expect my account to be cleared of balance and closed/removed completely, I do not even live in the ************ area any longer.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  We have reached out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/02/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/27/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Disappointing experience with zipcar. I will be cancelling my membership after theyve made no effort to resolve or help in any way. I reserved a car with zipcar on 02/26/23 to transport some furniture and I had paid a friend to come and assist. On starting up the car, the car had warnings flashing saying it needed maintenance (not the first time by the way - do they even check these things??). When I arrived to pick up the furniture, I had significant problems locking the car (the app kept saying the doors were not closed even though I spent over 20 minutes opening and closing the doors). I started a message report in the app saying the doors were not working. I ended up having to leave the friend I had paid to help me transport the furniture in the car so it wasnt left unattended and unlocked in the middle of ****** while I hauled furniture up and down 3 flights of stairs by myself (with a back injury by the way). As a result, I had to extended my reservation by an hour so I wasnt charged an additional $50 fine for an issue with their car which they have made no effort to reconcile. I reported issues with the doors closing during the booking and at the end of the booking at check out I left a full report.

  Business Response

  Date: 03/02/2023

  We have reached out to the member at their email of record and believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/02/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/26/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I had used zip car on February 14. At the end of my trip the oil light came on saying 15 percent oil. Luckily my trip was ending and I called immediately to tell them the oil was low so they could notify whomever is responsible for maintenance of the cars. They thanked me for reporting the incident. About a week later I receive an email saying there was an unreported incident/accident/injury. I was not involved in an accident or injury. I called to find out what was going on and they said they do not have any information. they claim there is some sort of accident yet out of 5 people not one person can tell me what happened. Yet they can email basically a threat. I have been waiting days for a reply for someone to tell me what the issue is. Finally I get an email stating they need more time to find a resolution. A resolution for what! Nothing happened! And if they claim something Happened they cant even tell me what it is I am being accused of but are threatening to take money from my account for an unknown incident? The customer service line is completely useless as no one can answer my questions and when asked to speak to a supervisor Im given the third degree and then transferred to someone that clearly isnt a supervisor and given fake names. Im not sure what is actually going on however I feel like it is a scam. *** researched the owner of the zip car, some other employees, reached out on indeed, cc them in emails, emailed their legal department and not one response. Yet I keep being blamed for an unknown issue? After reading reviews of zip car I am terrified they will take money from my bank account. To put someone through anxiety and worry over an imaginary incident and what I consider threats to be charged for an imaginary Problem is insanity. There is literally no reason that not one person can tell me what is going on. I will attatch the last email I got saying they are figuring out a resolution, a resolution for what?

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  We have reached out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/25/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Despite being a paying member of Zipcar, I have been unable to book a Zipcar ride for months due to a app/website glitch. It does not let me book cars with my existing payment method, saying "there is an issue with the payment", but also unable to let me update to any other payment method. So, there is no way for me to book the car, despite being a paying member. This has been extremely frustrating and disrupted my plans several times. The app/service is essentially nonfunctional to me and I am unable to do literally the one thing I signed up for to do - book cars. I have called repeatedly and the issue has not yet been resolved, and I have not gotten any followup from Zipcar. I would like membership either extended for at least 6 months to a year (since I have not been able to use the service in that time) or credit for the inconvience and time this has caused me.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  We reached out to the member at the email of record and believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/01/2023

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  The response provided by Zipcar is inaccurate. As shown in the screenshots, I did pay for the initial membership. Later, as shown in credit card statements, I did chargeback the initial transaction by accident (I didn't recognize the transaction because it wasn't by "Zipcar"). This was a mistake on my part, but I contacted my credit card company and it was reversed, also as shown in the transaction log. I was charged the ***** twice, once for the initial membership, and once reversing the temporary credit that I was given by Discover. Therefore, I have paid the full amount for the annual membership. 

  I think this is a serious error by Zipcar. I did pay for my membership and was charged the $***** by Zipcar. Now, they are closing my account and the remainder of my still valid membership, while keeping the membership fee. I would like my account reinstated and for this to be resolved correctly.

  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *****

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  We have reached back out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/21/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  All of this happened during my first rental:The vehicle was absolutely filthy. I sent photos as soon as I started my journey. Spilled liquid, a used mask, used plasticware, half drank beverages, etc.The vehicle smelled like a mixture of cigarettes and marijuana There was no gas card, creating an extra step for me to have gas reimbursed once I got home There was a signal for low tire pressure from the moment I got in the car. It is indeed NOT the job of renters to ensure proper maintenance of the vehicle.I ended up with a flat tire on a highway in freezing rain, very possibly due to the low tire pressure mentioned above **************** assured me that roadside assistance would arrive with a proper tire and ***********. Low and behold, he replaced our flat tire with a donut. I had to drive hours at no more than 50 mph in freezing rain to ensure that I got home safely.Although Zipcar was made aware of how filthy the vehicle was and would have a donut instead of an actual tire upon returning it, I saw the car had been allowed to be reserved by someone after me. So it then became MY responsibility as the renter to reach out to Zipcar AGAIN to let them know that the car is unacceptable from both a cleanliness and safety standpoint.I talked to multiple customer service reps and escalated as far as possible and was offered a mere $25 driving credit for my $250+ rental.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/27/2023

  We have reached out to the member and having not heard back, believe this matter to be resolved.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/20/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Picked up the ZipCar on Friday 1:52 AM at the designated location at **********************************************. This was a ***** CX-5 (Plate# BHPQ89). It was dark so the condition of the car was not noticed until later in the day. Car was very dirty and also smelled like someone had previously smoked inside the car. The smell was so intense under the sun it felt like I was inhaling second hand smoke while driving. ZipCar has no smoking policy with $450 penalty for smoking in the car. ZipCar promised to maintain their cars so that renters would drive a smoke-free and clean car. The car was safe to drive on the road, but that was it. Riding in the car was uncomfortable and hard to breathe. Spoke with the customer service and they said they can't do anything but report so the car can be maintained after my rental. They could not give me any more credits because I had already been given credits ($3.50) for their gas card that got denied at the gas station and I had to pay and get reimbursed later (another hassle). I do not think proper service was provided for $440.12 spent on this rental from Friday 2/17/2023 to Sunday 2/19/2023. Car was promptly returned on 2/19/2023 at 5:04 PM (scheduled drop off was 7:00 PM). While the policy states that we do not get refunded for unused hours on the car, I feel the car should have been maintained to their advertised standards. $440.12 was only the rental, becoming a ZipCar member cost additional $9.92 for monthly membership fee and $27.56 application fee (both charged on 2/16/2023).

  Business Response

  Date: 02/28/2023

  We have reached out to the member, believe them to be fairly compensated, and as a result believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/28/2023

  Better Business Bureau:I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ********. Please add your rejection comments below; if you do not provide any details, your complaint will be closed as Answered. 

  I was not satisfied because aside from the gas reimbursement ($95.38 because zipcar's gas card was denied at the gas station), I received $60.12 of reimbursement back on my credit card after spending nearly $490 (rental and membership fee) on renting the car for 2.5 days (~60 hours). Business said the $50+tax reimbursement (total $56.62) was a very gracious reimbursement equivalent to "half of a weekday price." Friday (2/17)'s daily rate was $103, if I rented this for 60 hours, $50+tax would not be "half of the weekday price" for a near 3 day rental.

  $103 divide by 24 then multiply by 60 hours gives $257.50, supposedly the weekday price of the rental, and half of that would be $128.75. 

  Trip Summary for the rental:

  $103 - 2/17 to 2/18 (1am to 1am)

  $280 - 2/18 to 2/19 (1am to 7pm)

  $56.92 ****** Tax+Fees

   

  Membership fee for Zipcar: 

  $27.56 application fee

  $9.92 monthly fee

   

  What the business gave me was half day off of my near 3 day rental. On a President's *** weekend where car rental was pretty much fully booked, the option of getting another AWD vehicle was slim. As a tourist and not familiar with ******'s snow/ice roads, I did not feel safe to drive a front or rear wheel drive vehicle while visiting friends. I requested $100 + tax as the compensation as I thought this was reasonable since the business promised smoking free, clean vehicles with working gas card. This would have been the equivalent to half a day's rental and membership fee for ZipCar. The business has an ongoing "refer a friend" discount for $25 off when new members signup. I told the business that a friend has a link and if I could take advantage of the $25 off and the business said it was too late and can't apply the discount. Therefore it's not like they cannot offer a better compensation, the business just decided $50 was enough for sitting in a filthy, smoke smelling car for 3 days with a non-working gas card. 

  The compensation offered by the business was deplorable. The service was not up to par as claimed on the business's website and the money spent was not worth the services provided. 

  
  Businesses and Customers should be civil, courteous and polite in their responses to complaints. It is important to remain professional and productive when participating in the BBB complaint process.
  
  FAQ
  
  Regards,

  *******

   

   

  Business Response

  Date: 03/06/2023

  We have reached back out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/16/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On August 11th 2022 I joined Zipcar and rented a car. I believe I was supposed to have the car turned in by 11:30 PM that night. However, when I went to get back in the car to return home, there was a system wide outage preventing me from getting into the car. I tried calling customer service with no luck. Over an hour later I got back in the car, but I had no way of making it home on time for the drop off. I also encountered a detour to get home as the do construction after midnight on the main highway to my apartment. On this detour, I ran over something coming through a busy intersection and flattened both driver side tires. I pulled over as soon as I could, and again couldn't get ahold of their "emergency customer service line" I was on hold for over 45 minutes after reporting I had an incident. They told me they would send a tow truck, and would call back with an update on an ETA for the tow. They didn't call me back for 2 hours and told me the tow would come in another hour. At that point I called an Uber home and took pictures of the vehicle for proof. I didn't receive notification that the tow truck had arrived until 9 AM that morning. 9 hours after I originally called for emergency assistance. I was in the middle of the city and absolutely not waiting for the tow by myself when it was supposed to be an hour wait. Fast forward to now, I just found out they have still been charging me monthly for this membership, with no way to cancel because my account is "under review" from this incident. I need a refund for all of the months they have charged me since August for the membership and insurance. Their customer service is unresponsive and quite frankly a joke as no one seems to be able to actually assist. No one has reached out to me unless I contact them first for an update on this so called incident report. They were willing to leave me stranded over night because of their poor serivce.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/23/2023

  We have reached out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/14/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I rented a car near my home in Brooklyn on February 11 so that I could drive to ************* for a number of business meetings.Along the way to *************, when I stopped at rest stops, I realized the car did not lock and I had too many valuables in the vehicle to leave it unsecured. Each time I stopped, I had to wait almost 30 minutes to get through to Zip Cars roadside assistance for them to lock the car for me remotely. This was a huge inconvenience and made me very late to my first meeting.Then on Monday, February 13 when I attempted to use the vehicle to attend a meeting with prospective investors in my business, the vehicle would not turn on. When I spoke with ZipCar roadside service, they attempted to trouble shoot the problem and were not able to start the vehicle. They then told me that they would have the car towed and that I had to find my own way back to Brooklyn!!! They left me completely stranded and I missed the meeting with my investors!I spent $421.92 on my ZipCar rental and requested a full refund in addition to reimbursement for the second car I had to rent to get back home ($168.51 rental cost with Budget plus $25 of gas). In addition, according to ZipCar policy they are going to charge me for additional miles driven in the car (estimate $26.10 @ $.58/mile over 180 miles driven).ZipCar customer service only offered me a refund for one hour of my rental ($122.08) and then offered me a $60 driving credit on my ZipCar account.Then

  Business Response

  Date: 02/21/2023

  We have reached out to the member, and having received no response, we believe the matter to be resolved.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/08/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  After an accident while renting a Zipcar (being hit by another car) on 6/4/2022, Zipcar charged me $1,000 which was to be paid by my credit card insurance. I ended up being autoatmically charged for the $1,000 which I tried to dispute because my insurance was going to pay but it was already billed to me and I had to pay. So on top of me paying, my insurance also paid out $1,000 as they processed my claim. Zipcar has not provided any assitance in refunding me the money I had to pay out of pocket and claim that ******** needs to refund it to me (even though Zipcar was the one who took my money). ******** has ignored my calls for 3 months now without any notice of refund and Zipcar support claims they have no responsibility over this. Zipcar needs to refund my money.In addition, I was not refunded my reservation for that car for the day. I was about an hour into my reservation before I got hit. Attached both my credit card showing I paid $1,000 and then a month later my insurance pays the $1,000. Zipcar owes me $1,000 back.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/15/2023

  We have reached out to the member and believe the matter to be resolved.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/15/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does satisfy my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint #********. I understand that by choosing to accept the business response that my complaint will be closed as resolved. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *****************