After I got my license, I was not sure how long it would be before I bought a car. So, I signed up for ZipCar. My friends who lived on university campuses said they had found it very useful for occasional use. I signed on for Zipcar’s plan with fee of $7.5 per month. But I was disappointed to discover that they had no car spots nearby and even the ones which required a lot of walking had one car that was booked for most convenient times.
So, I eventually bought a car and then decided to cancel my ZipCar membership. That is when I discovered some sneaky tricks they use.
Cancelling membership: ZipCar makes signup very easy. You need to pay a deposit and provide your details and they will send you a card to use with their cars. However, if you look for an easy way to cancel your membership online, that is not there! You need to call 1-866-4ZIPCAR and speak with a human to do that. When I called, the operator tried a bit to dissuade me from cancelling. Another thing I did not like is that the operator asks for details of the new car I have bought. I caught myself revealing that and questioned why he needed to know that. Only then did he refrain from asking that detail.
Getting a lower rate on your plan: Towards the end of the call, the operator offered me a lower monthly fee of $3.5 per month if I chose to stay with ZipCar. This trick I believe is very unfair to normal ZipCar users who use it regularly and do not call in to complain or cancel. So anyway, if you use ZipCar it looks like you can call in and get a lower rate.