The demise of Zipcar, why its time to look for alternatives

I've been a ZipCar customer 'formally Streetcar' for over 5 years and have seen its quick demise from a really great service into a very low rate car hire company, cumulating in the unacceptable customer experience for my family and I had to endue on the evening of 23/12/13:

I had booked a car close to where I live to collect my young son for our only Christmas evening we were all spending together, it should have been a low hassle quick trip, taking less than an hour, it was also a horrible evening with bad rain and wind so using Zipcar made perfect sense.

I went to pick up the car with my baby daughter only to find it had not been returned, and in the rain and the wind I was told by Zipcar on the phone that my Zipcar car was going to be 30-40 mins late back (this was not the problem, these things happen although in 5 years I have never returned a car late back), I was provided an alternative: a van 30 minutes walk away in Wimbledon town.

Desperate and stressed and wet, we went to collect the van from the town centre and went to collect my son. On returning the van to its drop off point in Wimbledon town centre I noticed the Zipcar bays were occupied by other Zipcars, one parked in the van's drop off space. I called Zipcar for advice, I was greeted by a unhelpful and arrogant call centre staff and the manager who provided the following unbelievably terrible 'service':

* I was made to feel the problem of not being able to park the van was my fault and it was up to me to rectify this problem, Zipcar offered no helpful support.

* I was advised to go and find an 'unrestricted' parking space in Wimbledon, I had never seen such a road in Wimbledon, maybe on the very outskirts of Wimbledon.

* Zipcar blamed the Merton council for parking restrictions and refused to take any responsibility for this problem.

* I asked if I could park in a restricted bay (it's restricted to 11pm in town and outside town restrictions start at 8:30am) as I had no time to search for an unrestricted bay area. I was told if I did I would pay any parking fees until the van was collected which could be a few days.

* I explained that another Zip car customer had parked in the bay and gave the registrations, hoping they could do something as it's their cars stopping me parking, but they did nothing!

* I asked for some help in finding an unrestricted space in Wimbledon as I could not be expected to drive around all night in search for an unrestricted road, Zipcar could not help, they insisted I will just have to drive around until I find one.

* In desperation and with tired and upset kids I drove around in search of a space, it was impossible to find a road in Wimbledon with unrestricted parking.

* Eventually I parked in a bay near to my home, the opposite side of Wimbledon, the van was in a restricted bay from 8.30am and I asked if they could please take responsibility for this problem and collect the van before 8.30am and take the problem out of my hands so I can get on with my evening? I was told no they could not collect the van it would be picked up by the next customer in a few days, also "if I was not willing to find a unrestricted bay I would pay the costs" I was also told I also need to find an unrestricted bay as close to the original bay as possible, not in its current location.

* Reluctantly, against my family wishes, I moved the van to the other side of Wimbledon and drove for an hour to find the closest 'unrestricted' parking space I could and had to walk a 1 hour journey home in the rain and wind arriving home 3 hours later than I had hoped with evening ruined.

This experience leaves me with the conclusion that Zipcar:

1. Zipcar Punish good customers by imposing grossly unreasonable conditions on them when others break the rules.

2. Zipcar go to great lengths to avoid all responsibility or care for their customers, to the extent where Zipcar refuse to support customers resolve problems, which are Zipcar's responsibility.

3. I find this experience totally unacceptable

4. Zipcar policies and processes are not fit for purpose.