yeah, it doesn't sound so awful to me. she asked you to acknowledge you were late. you said yeah and walked off. unless she was yelling and screaming, it doesn't sound like she was all that unreasonable.

perhaps you should have added time for average traffic delay
you know sort of like how airlines should adjust the length of a flight to factor in the average delays (which i think some do but not all)

but hmm to me that doesnt seem like a good idea to have no time at all in between. perhaps a buffer between the two reservations would be better

If I have a car for an hour, 8 minutes is more than 10% of the reservation time. For short, close to home errands, I will plan a tight time frame and, yes, 8 minutes can mean I have to either pay to extend my reservation or incur the late fee.

That said, for errands more than a very short distance from home, I always make the reservation for longer than I think I'll need the car (by at least an hour if BQE or other major roads are involved, more if toll areas are in my route). So far, this has worked out well for me and fingers crossed nothing bad happens.

Since I've never been involved in this situation, I'm wondering how zipcar handles it. If I have a reservation and the car is late for it, do I automatically get an extension or will the late fee be waved if I am the same amount of time late?

out of curiosity, what's worth the drive at the SI mall? (I've never done more than drive through SI.) I just can't imagine dealing with that bridge (it has never been fast for me) unless necessary, but maybe I'm missing out on something awesome in SI

I was excited about the Brooklyn Ikea and ready to zipcar it over there until I realized how much stuff is out of stock. I'm wondering if its presence will make the Long Island Ikea less crowded? That's where we usually go for Ikea stuff as opposed to dealing with the Verazzano and the Red Hook area construction or crossing Manhattan for the one in Jersey.

robot_chickn wrote: woah boy. totally agree with everyone. and i do understand. i think it was all compounded by the fact that we knew we were late, were already upset about it, and it was not what she said, it was how. obviously i can't recreate the tone in her voice or the icy stare. and my roommate did say she was sorry, so my passenger side of the story was perhaps too dramatic.

so who am i really angry at world? me.

dear me,

stop being late. get your act together. do not be upset by things that are your fault and project your anger onto others. play nice. do not write posts while you are still angry. or have had too much gin.

love, me.

=D> =D> =D> =D> =D> =D>

Just for a mall trip, you might want to check out the Newport mall in Jersey to see if it has stores you like. You can take a path train to the Pavonia/Newport station and cross the street to the mall!

I go there sometimes to shop away from the crowds and I can end my day with some cheap food court options Oh, and the mall also has a great dollar store.

Yup. I was about an hour and half getting the car back on 4th of July Weekend. I accounted for Sunday evening traffic, but I didn't account for mega holiday standstill traffic. I felt terrible - but I felt even worse when I was fined $100.

2 things:

a) you can hire a man with a van from this board for like $35 plus tip. I'm pretty sure that's cheaper than zipcar.

b) while I understand everyone slamming the OP for being upset, and how people tightly budget their zipcar time, I've been stuck on so many highways, streets, whatever in this town forEVER for no good reason - random construction, accidents, etc. it once took us like 5 hours to get atlantic city partly because of a fuckup in SI that we had no warning about - and it was relatively early in the morning. shit happens. so, while yes, the OP was obviously late and thus, under zipcar rules, in the wrong, I am sympathetic to the "holy crap - I budgeted an extra hour for this and it took an hour and 8 mins! this is so annoying!"

alafairnadia wrote: 2 things:
a) you can hire a man with a van from this board for like $35 plus tip. I'm pretty sure that's cheaper than zipcar.

90 minutes of zipcar @ 10.50-14.50/hr seems cheaper. I suppose you could argue for that pesky annual fee ($50)...but as long as that gets spread out over many uses, it's still probably cheaper. Assuming, of course, that he places no value on not sweating like a pig while hauling around mattresses in 90+ degree heat!

However, in case of man with a van, you do get an extra set of hands.

=D>

***edit: er, ^ what she said. yeah.

arches wrote: Chicken rings are underated as a currency. Pros:
1. Round, just like coins!
2. Near infinite life, resistance to decay.

3. Zero Trans Fat!

ah. I hired a board member to assist me in taking some items to goodwill. the price was negotiated up front, on the phone (or maybe via PM - don't remember) and it was actually his brother who showed. I hadn't gotten the stuff downstairs yet so he helped with that part, in addition to getting the stuff into the goodwill and drove me home. I was very pleased with the service and felt like the $35 plus tip was well spent. If I'd tried to pull that off in a zipcar, well. faceplant. etc.

but! I do see the good in zip cars which is why I was a member for a bit. but whenever it would occur to me "oh wait! I could get a zipcar for this!" they were always sold out. so I just canceled. now I rely on friends, men with vans and enterprise when I'm desperate enough to drive my own ass around.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS JUST VENTING. I AM AWARE THAT THERE ARE RULES TO FOLLOW...


urgh... Zipcar is getting serious about there late rules... which I think is highly unfair... I call when I am running late... and pay the late fee with no compliants... I was wrong I know... anyways I got this email from zip car today...

FYI to all:

"They say the early bird gets the worm, but what about the late bird? As it turns out, the late bird doesn't get anything...except in trouble. You've been the late bird more than once recently, and while we've let it go in the past, things are getting more serious in the near future.

Honesty is our policy, and the truth is that when our members are late, it affects the whole Zipster community. Imagine if you needed a Zipcar to pick up your kids from school, or get to the doctor, and when you arrived you learned that another Zipster was still out hiking or shopping.

We know that running late just happens sometimes. Even the best-laid plans can hit a snag, and you can always call 866.494.7227 to request an extension and let a Member Services Representative know you're going to be late (or go to the website on your mobile device to see if your reservation can be extended). In the near future, you'll get three warnings, but after the third, your Zipcar membership will be up for suspension, even permanent cancellation. Not to mention the hefty $50/hour fee for being late.

We don't want anyone losing his or her membership. We value our members, but part of what makes Zipcar a viable transportation alternative is the convenience of knowing your car is going to be there when you need it.

Soon, if you return your car late, you'll receive an email alerting you of how many times you've been late. Need some help staying on track? Visit your 'my stuff' page at zipcar.com and sign up for text alerts. You'll be alerted when your reservation is almost up, plus we'll let you know if your reservation can be extended.

If you have any questions, please send us an email at [email protected].

Thanks for listening,

The team at Zipcar"