Actual rental wasn't too bad.
However, when we received $400 short refund on our security deposit, queried via customer service email. It took 5 emails until they actually replied.
Just be careful re the tolls - the wording is unclear. It says $25 fee "each time zigzag received my toll charge." So our understanding was that it is $25 per day or per rental. Not for each and every toll (that would be ridiculous it seemed).
Toll fees came to $40. Penalty (admin) came to $375
We wrote back to explain that it was not clear from the wording, but customer service to date (2 months later) has not bothered replying.
We thought we were saving money by not going to the mainstream rentals, but this rental of 10 days actually landed up costing us more.
BE CAREFUL WHEN SIGNING THE TOLLS WAIVER!
MI
Mitch
ZigZag Miami - Unexpected Charges
Dear potential users of ZigZag Miami,
We booked a Toyota Camry in May 2018.
Prior to booking, we were slightly hesitant to use this company given a moderate amount of negative reviews online. However, we decided to give ZigZag Miami a shot. We were enticed by an opportunity to save $100 - $120 on our car hire. We now regret making this decision.
The Zig Zag shuttle service (one of the workers in a van) delivered us to a rough neighbourhood of Miami (we are not precious, but it was rough – heavy industrial and the office sits next to a (ZigZag owned?) parking area that resembles a car salvage yard. We signed the forms, paid our fees, deposit, etc. We were then on the road. The car was fine (despite being quite dirty and having no reverse sensor / camera; all good, it was a cheap rental). We returned the car and thought we were done. Had the experience ended here we would have assessed the rental as being a moderate success.
Unfortunately, it didn’t end there.
Additional fees
The deposit took over a week to arrive so I started to get nervous. I called and had good feedback from Alex (I think). Nerves subsided. Email contact (Olga) was also good.
An email was sent on the day the deposit was received indicating that $45 had been taken from the deposit. The deduction was for car cleanliness (the car was dirty when we got it. We didn’t clean it before returning (the contract allowed ‘for ordinary usage’)). The second was for picking the car up late. The pickup time was 1pm. We called for shuttle pickup at 1:20pm. The ZigZag shuttle arrived at 1:40pm (ten minutes after the driver said he would be there). After filling out the forms, inspecting the car, etc we were presented a number of forms and one that indicated that we were picking the car up at 2:03pm. The ‘3 minutes’ past 2pm required (per the contract) that we owed another $20. Nothing was mentioned at the pickup.
I am fine for paying my fair share, but the manner in which charges were levied was backhanded and done with the intent of defrauding the customer. I think we got off fairly light, but other reviews I have subsequently located indicated other customers enduring a lot more expense.
I would recommend to all potential clients to reconsider and stick with the large brands that have a reputation to maintain.
All the best and safe travels
CB
Charles Blake T.
Proceed with caution...
Positive side: very cheap car rental compared to other providers. We were able to rent a Mustang which we enjoyed using. It was clean when we picked it up and we had no problems with it. The return process was painless and we were on our way again quickly.
Negatives: my main complaint is that they charged us an out of hours fee. The ONLY reason we went past the deadline was because they took ages to pick us up from the airport and the paperwork wasn't ready when we got there resulting in everything being completed after 9pm.
Right until the point I was in the car about to drive off, they were still bringing me new forms to sign that they had forgotten to give me. It was very disorganised and all based on copious amounts of printed out paper which only added to their confusion.
The company will undoubtedly write a reply explaining that their out of hours charges are clear - I don't dispute that. What I am complaining about is the underhand way it was done. I feel very angry that they charged it given we only went past the deadline because of them and not us. If we had arrived late then I would have quite understood.
On top of that, they have flatly ignored my emails disputing the charge and when I rang, they were very unhelpful, telling me I would hear back in 48 hours - which never happened. So I have given up after about 5-6 emails to Andrey in the Customer Service team.
Up until this point, I would have recommended them but now, based on the terrible post-sale customer service, I would not.
Other points that are drawbacks, but not negatives :
1. They are based about 15 mins from the airport and we didn't find that out until after we had booked.
2. If you book direct, the Miami toll cover is much cheaper. The company we used to make the booking were marking-up the ZigZag price
3. They gave us the car with a form showing no scratches but when I checked, there were plenty that weren't marked and we had to go over the car again (adding further time to the collection process).
The experience with ZigZag was in stark comparison to a rental I did the next week with Enterprise. The process was all digital, took about 3 mins, was transparent and had excellent customer service. Whilst I can't deny the low cost of rental is attractive, the negativity it has left is not.
