car2go Austin

Car2go needs to make a better map showing garages and where parking spaces are located. Very difficult to maneuver around Austin not knowing where parking is located. Very good idea, but Car2go needs to be better visible to customers so they know where one can park and shop. The map it uses now is ‘useless’. I think I’m not using them again.

We have been using Car2Go for a few years now – at first infrequently and lately more often as we have been without a vehicle. In the early days there were issues, mostly with reservations and sometimes with sessions not terminating. But support was always very helpful and we always got a refund and/​or free minutes. It is economical and convenient and a great alternative to owning a car when used in conjunction with public transit and bicycle. We feel fortunate to have them readily available in our neighborhood.
Many of the reviews here seem unreasonable. No service is perfect. Many of the parking issues could be remedied by simply taking a few minutes to understand the rules and restrictions. They are fairly straightforward.

In such a small city as Austin, we should be able to get around without owning cars and, with buses, biking, Über, and Car2go, it’s doable enough. Car2go isn’t ENTIRELY reliable in that cars aren’t always as close as I’d like and the reservation system gets confused, not letting me in on the first couple tries because the car is reserved (ya…by me), but it IS a convenience I use occasionally and would use more if it was a little more accessible. They frequently have awesome promos with free minutes or reduced rates.
Since I’ve started relying more on the terrible bus system in Austin, I’m finding Car2go is more and more of another option I consider, especially getting home from the airport. I guess I still just don’t trust I won’t get stranded or stuck dealing with a glitch. I’d have to study the rules a little better to feel more confident I won’t unintentionally cause myself grief in fees/​citations. They’ve got attentive customer service, however, and I hope their system will continue to improve. It’s nice to leave my clunker at home as much as possible.

Quick update. I said I’d rate them 5 stars if they fixed a couple issues and they did. By reducing the home area I can now find cars again! Also, they (finally) released an app for Windows Phone although there were already several good 3^rd party apps. Even if you only use it once in awhile you should definitely sign up.

Booo Car2go. Great concept that could work well but between cars not being available at ABIA as advertised and the reduction of the area serviced it is no longer convenient.

What the??? I like Car2Go, but it really let me down on a recent trip to Austin. I stayed with friends who lived within the demarcated map area of Car2Go. Found a Car2Go at the airport, drove it to their place, used it the next day, no worries. A day passed. It came time to drive to another destination. Suddenly, the map had changed its area to gray out my friends’ address. Almost no cars left in their neighborhood. I was left completely high and dry. It would now take half an hour to walk to the edge of the new map boundary. Why, Car2Go? Why change your map area with zero warning???

Reserving a car and getting in it is still extremely unreliable. I just spent 20 minutes staring at a car that I had reserved that failed to unlock.
Car2Go is a great idea and execution has to be difficult, but if your customer don’t know if they will make it to your appointments on time, the service will continue to be of marginal value.

Car2go is awesome. I prefer not to use my own car when in downtown and this service has been indispensable in getting me where I needed to go with no fuss. The price is reasonable, the membership fee is one-​time, there are no upsells, and the customer service is splendid. In short, the experience is quite unlike the sleaziness of a typical car rental company.
I wish they expanded to the northern parts of the city but I am happy they are here. The Smart cars need some improvement — the shift from first to second is a bit jarring when one first encounters it. All in all, I am delighted to be a customer.

My own car started shaking violently and making weird sounds right when I needed to go to a friend’s house in Cedar Park, so I parked my car, went down the street, and hopped into a car2go.
This kind of stuff makes me feel like I live in the future. Your car broke down? Well, pull out your phone, find a car2go nearby, walk one block, and hop in. It’s really magical sometimes.
I did have to do a stopover in Cedar Park because it’s outside of the car2go service area, but my car’s tank was under ¼ full, so I got a credit for filling up the tank at a Shell station (they only take Shell), which will help balance out the extra cost of the stopover. Gas is free — use the gas card in the car (premium gas only). It’s still way less expensive and convenient than taking a cab. Also, if you keep a car for an hour or longer, you get the hourly rate (14.99), which is less than it would cost to drive for 45 minutes (~18.50).
Also, I’ve found that when you do have a problem with a car2go, it’s better to call or email the Austin office than to call the 1 – 877 number. They’re usually more helpful and can address your problem faster. Every time I’ve had a problem, I email the Austin office after the fact and they usually give me a credit for lost time. While you can technically open a car using the iPhone app, it’s also good to keep your car2go card with you in case the app doesn’t work.

«We want to remind you that a one time Registration Fee of $ 35.00 (plus tax) will be applied unless you have a valid promo code. Only valid promo codes will be accepted.»
That is equivocally false. it should read:
«If you have a valid promo code, we will deduct the promotional value from the registration fee.»
Tried emailing them and they didn’t even read the email and refused to acknowledge that their wording was less than straight-​forward. NOWHERE ON THEIR SITE DOES IT EXPLAIN REGISTRATION FEES EXCEPT WHAT I QUOTED or in the FAQ it’s almost identical. They even called me afterward to tell me they were doing nothing to resolve the matter – albeit quite pleasantly. But why waste my time to tell me why I should use your service when we haven’t addressed the issue.
Also, My friend applied for a car2go membership a while ago, was charged and never received a notice or membership card. Thanks car2go for having me waste my time. You should be thanking me for bringing this to your attention rather than pushing me aside. Now I’ll bring it to the publics attention.

I’ve used car2go almost daily for about 2 years. Sometimes they drive me nuts, but I have to admit they’ve listened to their customers and have continued to improved the experience. I love not owning a car and couldn’t do it without these guys!

Car2Go is an extremely convenient service with great customer service. Anytime I have had an issue they have graciously rectified it in an expedient fashion, often granting me free minutes for the inconvenience. Can’t say enough good things. It can get pricey if you use it a lot, but it is definitely worth it for the convenience.

It makes me sad to write a negative review for Car2Go. I loved their business model and referred several friends and colleagues to their service. However, it seems that in the past year they’ve struggled with internal communication. On Halloween, I found myself stranded when my account was locked with no notice due to an internal error, and I basically received a «my bad» from the rep. Since that call, there have been several minor issues with the account. They just can’t seem to get it right. The first call always ends with «sorry, there’s nothing I can do.» You have to call several times and raise your voice to get anywhere. I don’t want to be that person.

Since I got an automated reply I will say I tried to resolve it with the office, they were useless. They informed me that there was nothing they could do.
Don’t bother anymore, you have already lost me as a customer I won’t be back, and I will tell everyone I know to stay as far away from your «services» as possible.
Thanks anyways!

Had issues with their system updating my info correctly which super delayed me receiving my card keys. I had to send a couple emails and call which was timely and irritating because it felt like they accepted fault but no solution and I just had to sit, wait longer, and take it.
Mary from member services unexpectedly reached out to me and turned around the situation. Her email restored my faith in this company I really wanted to support.
Thanks for the follow through and customer focus!

Great concept, poor execution. The app frequently doesn’t work on my phone, and the website-​based car-​finder is also often down. On my phone, it often says «Connecting to server» forever, without actually connecting, or else the map is gray and unusable, or else if it actually deigns to show any cars, every single time I try to book one it says «Vehicle unavailable». While trying repeatedly to get the app to work, it threw up the stupid «Going to ACL? Blah blah blah» EVERY SINGLE TIME. They hide the customer service phone number on their website (they expect you to email them about any problems), which is just as well because the agents there are downright moronic.

I’m going to be nitpicky, but it’s important to me: if you send your customers spam email, you must abide by CAN-​SPAM regulations. Car2go does not.
Okay, also, car2go is really goddamn expensive! This is not a valid basis for a negative review in itself, but seriously if you want a car for more than an hour, nearly any big commercial rental car company will be cheaper, which makes me sad.

Numerous little issues… nothing too irritating. THEN…
I tried to end a rental & the system wouldn’t let me. I called customer service & was told that even though I had ended rentals in that location before, it was technically a «grey zone» and doesn’t work all the time.
The rep told me to park in a parking lot nearby, then the car got towed. Then they let it sit in impound for a few days, and my account got charged for $ 450+.
Seriously?
DONE.

I was once a big Car2Go advocate, after this experience I will never use them again and encourage anybody else to find alternate modes of transport. I’ve never quite experienced Customer DIService like I have with Car2go.
During SXSW this year (2014), I was using Car2Go to get around Austin and parking at a location I frequently park my own vehicle. I am very familiar with the parking regulations on this particular stretch of street, I live in the city. This location is public street parking metered by the city.
A week later I get a notice in my email that during this time I had parked a Car2Go vehicle that had been towed and was thus being charged $ 500 for the tow. Of course, I called to find out more only to be told that Car2Go was going to do nothing to help me and I had to call the Tow Company to find out more. Ridiculous customer service answer #1.
I call the tow company which tells me the vehicle was blocking access to a business– this is a downright lie. The vehicle was parked well over 200 feet from any entrance to a business very nearly on the street corner. When I called Car2Go to let them know that I did NOT in fact park where the tow company claims they found the car, they told me it was my problem and that I’d need to cover the cost of the tow regardless. Any dispute needed to be taken up with the tow company. Keep in mind that Car2Go is the party that will be billing my credit card for this charge, not the tow company.
At no point has Car2Go, the business which I am a customer of, provided me any evidence other than anecdotal and circumstantial that the vehicle was actually illegally parked, nor have they tried to advocate for me as their customer.
My experience with them has been «who cares, not our problem.» I will never use Car2Go ever again. I will also make sure everyone I meet hears this story.

Love the concept, but I’m done with Car2Go. Will probably to switch to Zipcar.
Technically, this was an error on my part, but I got slapped with a $ 50 fee for parking in a private lot. C2G said there was a towing risk and sent out a service member to move the car. I watched this person get the car and just thought it was another customer picking up the car. Could have easily just moved it myself if they’d notified me (my cell phone is on file).
I received an email saying I was supposed to get a $ 100 fee, but since it was my first infraction, it would be $ 50 only. So I spent $ 50 plus the $ 4 dollars I actually used to drive like a mile. I joined C2G to save money and not have to worry about getting hit with $ 50 fines that make it a financial burden.
I called C2G and they put me through to the Austin office. Despite my request to have the fee waived on the grounds that it was my first mistake, no towing occurred, and that I’d be using it all the time in the future over the years in Austin, they said they had to impose it and drew attention to the fact that I was only charged half the fee. Not cool — I still paid $ 55 to grab pizza 1.2 miles from my place.
Basically the no we won’t waive your fee, to me equals Car2Go would rather take my $ 50 right now than the $ 450 (I probably spend 10 bucks a week on it) I spend using the service through the rest of the year.
My mistake on incorrect parking, but Car2Go should think about the customer here and try and generate a little bit of a relationship. I’d get it if I had a record of this with their vehicles, but first time honest mistake. I’ll be sending that $ 450 to a competitor instead.