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-   -   Zoom Car Reviews - Self Drive Rentals in India (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street-experiences/133357-zoom-car-reviews-self-drive-rentals-india-117.html)

Quick query on taxes, I have hired a zoom car from Delhi and plan to drive to Uttarakhand. Should I pay state entry tax at UP and UK? Is this refundable?

This is good to know. How much did it cost you?

Yes I don't see anh good AT options in zoom fleet generally. How much did the Swift AMT cost you?

I paid around 19k for 1 week. Zooms cars prices vary on day to day and intraday also. Suggest you look at the pricing trend and then book, late nights are a better bet.

[quote=anandpadhye;5279451]This is good to know. How much did it cost you?

I paid Rs. 14,322 for a period of 9 days and an additional 5000 Rs as deposit which I got back in a week after completing the trip. Do ask for an ODO screenshot if possible before booking. Also, do a video of the car before taking delivery and point out the scratches/dents. Although, our return was smooth and nothing was checked in particular.

If it is a commercial car registered in Delhi then most probably one need to pay entry taxes for the states you visit or pass through. Rental car guys will help you get this done online without much hassle. My taxes were checked in Manali when I took a PB registered Zoom car. Taxes are not refundable.

Thank you. My booking is confirmed however profile is not verified for over 4 days. Tried reaching to zoomcar support to clarify few things but no luck. Is this how they operate or something wrong? While app shows my booking, on calling support number get response that no active booking against my number. No response to mail either. My booking is for April 1st.

Not just other states, be prepared to pay MCD tax while re entering Delhi. Catches people off guard sometimes. It is 100 bucks or so I guess. You can get this clarified from their sales rep too. All the best for your trip.

Not sure if its refundable, but some states do offer daily/weekly/monthly permits. You can get the most suitable one for your trip.

Don’t worry they will get the profile verification done. Once you get closer to booking date they will allocate a dedicated agent to support you queries. Atleast that was my experience last time. Also I would like to suggest you to select the car pickup and drop facility if you are in unfamiliar city, for me Chandigarh railway station pickup/drop went well on-time.

@tj123 Did you need to show original DL in Chandigarh or was the Digilocker enough? Who even carries the DL anymore. Haha

I had a physical DL card which was verified by Zoom agent, however I am not sure if they accept Digilocker version. You may have to check with Zoom.

Here's another one-day ZoomCar experience. I was visiting Kochi for work and wanted a car from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM. Since the booking was last minute, had very few options but got a brilliant offer for a Swift Diesel AMT.

• Reached Ernakulam South Station at 9:15 & called up the delivery agent.
• He said car was parked in the Premium Parking. Since car was parked there since 2:30AM, had to pay Rs. 200 while take it out (Have e-mailed Zoomcar mentioning this).
• Car had multiple dents, repainted door but was looking clean and interiors were neat. The car key was damaged and was covered with Insulation tape but it worked. Fuel level was 65-70%. Did the basic checks and took off.
• Had booked the car till 6:30 but left it at the same Parking area by 5:15 as I had a 5:30 train!
• The procedure was seamless though I anyways took extra images of the car including the odometer+fuel level & a short video as a precaution.

About driving Swift Diesel AMT:

As usual with Marutis, everything was so easy and convenient. The diesel was jerky off the go, maybe an issue with the turbo lag + AMT combo, but downshifts were very seamless. There's a manual mode that's absolutely useless. For someone who wants an automatic just for the city, this seemed totally fine. But the car was noisy inside, just like I've seen with many other 1.3 MJD cars after 60-70k kms. I've taken a Swift Petrol rental previously and would prefer that over this diesel on any given day - it was so much more fun!

One major turn off was the Plastic quality inside, which was appalling, along with the extremely light feeling - something that I can't equate with an 8 lakh car. But overall, the Swift is for sure a nimble, fun car!

I have not hired any self drive rental for last 3-4 years and hence having no recent familiarity with the services. Now I am planning to rent from Zoomcar next month and just curious to know how the Fastag based toll payment works with Zoomcar. Earlier @tj123 has mentioned that I may need to link my Paytm account with the Zoomcar app. However, I am worried about how this will work when my Paytm account is already linked with the Fastag used in my own car. And what about if the total toll needs to be paid exceeds the Rs. 500 limit. Any insight will be much appreciated.

QUICK 5 MINUTE READ
On a recent holiday, my plan to rent a pre-booked ZoomCar (RENAULT KWID with WHITE Background Registration Plates) for a 3-day tenure, flopped miserably, as local cab and auto guys, in coordination with the local traffic police at Mysuru City Railway station objected to a White No: plate car being used by ZoomCar as a self- drive vehicle, and prevented me from continuing my journey.

The subsequent interactions with ZoomCar Customer care in order to get the trip completed, and get my money back have been frustrating at best and outright ridiculous at its worst. As I type, I am yet to get my money back from ZoomCar.

QUICK TAKE-AWAYS

• AVOID ZoomCar UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! Hire a cab OR go for other self-drive companies

• If hiring a ZOOM CAR from Mysuru, avoid picking up the car from Mysuru Railway station entrance

• BACK OFF from a WHITE REGISTRATION NUMBER PLATE ZoomCar

THE LOWDOWN

• The RUN UP

It has been a year plus since the family had stepped out for a vacation. With my elder child entering the crucial 10th standard in her schooling, we chose to reduce outstation trips, cut down on local trips and social engagements and made sure that the child was not disturbed, as she went about revising her subjects for the crucial board examinations.

Once the CBSE 10th standard board examination timetable was released, the wife, who herself was tired and bored of staying at home, suggested to take a quick week-long break once the board exams got over on the 24th Of May 2022. Schools were set to re-open on the 6th of JUNE, so that gave us a window period of around 13 days to plan a quick getaway.

I started looking for options for this getaway and after narrowing down on Panchmarhi and the Nilgiris as the two possible destinations, I finally closed in on the Nilgiris as the destination for a 3-day holiday. I booked a home stay at Kotagiri for 2 days, and had a quick chat with the owner of the home stay and paid up the requisite advance for the stay.

For travel, I booked 4 berths in A/C 2 Tier class accommodation on board the direct train to Mysuru from Hyderabad – Train Number: 12785. My plan was to hire a self-drive from Mysuru City and roam around the Nilgiris, and come back to Mysuru and then take the return train 12786 back to Hyderabad from Mysuru.

Having checked out two self-rental companies in Mysuru, ZoomCar and Revv, I narrowed down on a Renault KWID, for a duration of 3 days – 31st May 10:00 AM to 3rd JUNE Friday 01:30 PM. The total cost including Unlimited Kms and damage protection and excluding fuel came out to Rs 4792. I made the payment on 20th APRIL and got a confirmation from ZOOM CAR. I had opted for a pick-up from Mysuru City Railway Station. The actual location of parking is GARUDA Mall.

• The FIASCO and the NIGHTMARE

On the 31st May, we reached Mysuru JN station right on time at 09:30 AM. Along the way, I was getting regular WA updates from ZoomCar on various aspects to keep note of prior to starting the trip. I was assigned a PETROL KWID – KA-18**** at around 0933 AM, and a location partner (henceforth referred to as Mr KM) was assigned to hand over the car to me.
At around 09:45 AM, I get a call from KM stating that my ID proof and DL was not yet approved in the ZoomCar app, and that I need to call up customer care and get the documents verified. I was FLABBERGASTED! ZoomCar should have called me upfront in case there was any issue with my documentation. After all there were a good 10 days from the time, I had booked the car, to the actual date of commencement of the trip!! Nevertheless, I called up customer care, and asked them to resolve the matter ASAP.

It was close to 10:00 AM now, so we decided to have breakfast at the adjoining Railway canteen. At around 10:15 AM, I get a call from KM stating that he is ready to deliver the vehicle at Mysuru Station, and that I should sort out the document submission process with ZoomCar Customer car offline. Fine with me, I said, as we wrapped up our breakfast and headed out to the front of the railway station (near the I LUV MYSURU) board. I could see a White KWID petrol car, with the driver standing in front of the station, and as we approached the car, the driver (Nitin) noticed us, got out from the car, and slowly slipped away from the scene, talking on his mobile. I was perplexed and didn’t quite realize why the driver behaved in the way he did. I was expecting a more professional pick-up experience from the driver.

Soon enough, the local Auto Taxi folk at Mysuru station entrance got wind of this white registration KWID vehicle being used as a ZoomCar vehicle and all hell broke loose. Apparently the ZoomCar standing in a No-Parking zone for some time, was a bit too much for the local Auto and Taxi folk, and on top of that a White Registration Number plate vehicle was being used as a ZoomCar! One guy who appeared to be a senior amongst the Auto Taxi folk, started clicking picture of the KWID, and called the local police constable, even as the family and I loaded the luggage in the car and started the car.

As we rounded the parking and came back to the entrance, the local cop stopped us, and asked us to get off the vehicle and call the local ZoomCar manager. He asked us to park the vehicle near the kerb, clamped the front right wheel, and asked me to call the local ZoomCar manager. He asked us to make alternative travel arrangements to get to OOTY, as the car will simply not move from where it was clamped. The wife also got into an animated argument with the cops and the local auto folks, but to no avail. The damage had been done, and the trip was over before even it got started!

A quick call to KM to come in resolve the issue with the local cops drew a blank. KM flatly refused to come to our aid and asked us to contact ZoomCar support instead. I was furious with KM and ZoomCar for abandoning us in this manner. I called up ZoomCar Customer care at 10:45 AM And apprised them of the situation. The representative assured me that she will call up the location representative to come and help me. NO HELP CAME.

By around 11:05 AM, I called up ZoomCar customer care again, (re)explained the situation to them, and had the representative auto lock the car remotely, after I made sure that the ignition keys were kept inside the vehicle on the driver’s seat. I could not end the trip myself from the ZoomCar APP, as the trip had already commenced, and there is no option to cancel the trip once the trip has commenced. I took an assurance from the customer care representative that she will take up this matter with the concerned team, and arrange for a refund.

In the interim, on the advice of a helpful taxi bloke, I went back to the Mysuru Railway station, went to the Retiring Rooms booking section and spoke to the in-charge there, who managed to arrange a Swift DZIRE vehicle at a cost of around Rs 4800/- for a drop to Kotagiri.

On a related note, this White KWID has got an impressive 4.8 rating on the APP, however what I saw was an apology for a vehicle. Shabby interiors, equally shabby exteriors, semi bald tires, and empty petrol tank, - the Works! I was hoping that ZoomCar had improved over the years, but boy was I wrong! The car was pathetic in appearance and on hindsight I am glad, I didn’t head out to the Nilgiris in that dilapidated vehicle.

As we made our way to Gundlupet en route KOTAGIRI in the cab, I started following up with ZoomCar support to know the progress of the case. Here is a list of calls I made to ZoomCar Support in the time period of 31st May to 1st JUNE:

We got back from our trip on the 3rd of JUNE, back to Mysuru station, and took the return train back to Hyderabad and reached home on the 4th JUNE.

• THE AFTERMATH

After waiting for a few days and hearing nothing but radio silence from Team ZoomCar I restart the process of follow up and follow through. Here is a list of follow up calls made:

Even as I type, I haven't received any communication from ZoomCar on my refund. An enquiry on their site giving my booking ID reference number just shows a status of ‘Customer Refund’ and nothing else.

To Sum it up: I had a total FRUSTRATING and a HORRENDOUS experience with ZoomCar. It literally left me on the road, with minimal backup. The strain and tension that I had to undergo in the interim, when I was trying to arrange an alternative to continue my Journey to the Nilgiris, was too much. This whole experience left an insipid taste and I resolve NEVER EVER to use ZoomCar again.

Not suprised with the fiasco.
Zoomcar has moved to an asset light model, wherein they use the cars of other people on their platform. They have sold off more than 90% of the cars they owned. In such scenario, a customer is at the mercy of both zoomcar and the original owner of the car. Zoomcar has very little leverage as they don't own the cars.
Also it is illegal to use a private car for such rental purposes. No wonder the Auto drivers and cops weren't relenting in their stance.

Avoid Zoomcar for all instances, better hire a cab than take chances with them.

Thanks for enlightening us on the issue and hope Zoomcar resolves this at the earliest.

But, how did the taxi fellas make out that the Car is a Rent a Car? Did the Car have Zoomcar stickers on it or they recognized the Driver who brought the Car.