I recently joined Zipcar. I have been incredibly impressed in all of my dealings with them. Some examples…
Like just about every other company nowadays, Zipcar has a form on their Web site you can use to send them a message. However, unlike most other companies, they also publish an actual email address you can use to contact them, whether you’re a customer that. And unlike just about every large company in the world, real people actually read and respond to those messages in a timely fashion.
You can also reach them on the phone. It’s easy to get through to a real person, and when you do, the person you’re talking to is actually able to help you. What a concept!
I discovered shortly after joining that if I had enrolled as an MIT alumnus, the application fee would have been waived and the annual membership fee cut in half. I sent them email and asked: could I switch to the MIT alumni plan; could they refund my application fee; and could they refund half of my original membership fee? I expected the answers to be no, no and no, or at best yes, no and no, but I received a response less than an hour later indicating that my account had been updated and a credit would appear in the next few days on my credit card for the application fee and half of the membership fee.
I sent some suggestions to them by email about car features, and I got back a detailed response (>1000 words!). Much of it was explanations of why some of my suggestions were unworkable, but the person who responded took the time to explain why they were unworkable in a way that made perfect sense, rather than just ignoring me or sending a generic “we will take your suggestions into consideration.”
These examples make it obvious that Zipcar is one of the few large companies nowadays who actually understand how to provide exemplary customer service. On top of all that, of course, is the fact that the service they’re providing is incredibly cool!
P.S. If you’re not a Zipcar member and you want to try it out, email me and I’ll send you a referral, and we’ll both get $25 in free driving!
Pingback: My email identity thief is at it again « Something better to do
Dear Jonathan
I wish a good year and hope that you know these problems
that i have with my embassy because they would that i go to
Egypt via alexandria since Dakar and at this moment i am not
so friendly to go to Egypt.
I want that you help me soon.
Assuming that you really are Diallo Mamadou Oury, i.e., the guy who has been signing up for mailing lists and web sites using my email address for years, can you please tell me (a) why the hell you have been doing that; (b) what the hell you are talking about in your completely incomprehensible comment above; and (c) why you submitted that comment using someone else’s email address (unless “Ibrahima Ndao” happens to be another alias you use?) and a completely irrelevant URL?
My best guess is that you’re simply insane, though I’d be happy to hear any explanation which might convince me otherwise.
Now that I’ve saved you a little money, will you drive my kid in the morning? Cuz, um, my Zipcard isn’t here yet… :->