Rental car experience: Getaround puts its customers through hell

Car-sharing is all the rage, but it sometimes hides some strange practices that can drive customers mad when they want to cancel or get their deposit back. Abusive charges and unreachable customer service are the complaints of many Getaround customers.

First published in 2023.

Collecting deposits is a flourishing business, and a very effective one when combined with inaccessible customer service. The Getaround car-sharing service irritates its customers by collecting their bank details, thanks to its leonine GTCs (general terms and conditions of sale) and highly skilful KYC. An unreachable customer service team then takes care of the rest. Hello Simon Baldeyrou?

Hiring a car from a real rental company, staying in a real hotel, in places where there are receptionists, switchboard operators and customer service representatives, can make sense. That's what people who have been disappointed by dehumanised platforms, where customer service has been replaced by robots, and where automated e-mail processing tools are ineffective in resolving the problems that sometimes arise, are gradually realising. Unless they are used to make customer journeys more complex, to discourage ... ? Here's a selection.

Getaround, the former Drivy.
Headed up in France by Simon Baldeyrou, Getaround enjoyed strong growth during Covid 19. Unfortunately, the company seems to be making its money on collecting deposits from customers, as many disappointed customers have reported on forums and in the press. Les Echos.

Contacted by us, and as is often the case, the spokesperson was not available (sic). But the press agency was, and gave us the following answer: ‘regarding claims management, we have recently posted information on the Getaround website explaining the policy implemented by Getaround’. The translation for the uninitiated: the hirer has validated the GTCs (general terms and conditions of use) which give Getaround full powers. This includes the power to debit vehicle repair and cleaning costs directly to the credit card provided by the customer at the time of hire. SFAM (now Indexia) and Sadri Fegaier seem to have been emulated ;)

Customer service accessibility:
‘Customer service can be reached by telephone 1 hour before each rental, during the entire rental and 1 hour after the end of the rental. This system has been put in place to give people on the road a priority line. It is vital to be able to prioritise urgent road accidents in this way.

This system enables Getaround to answer 98% of incoming calls. Requests are then sent by email: 95% of written messages are answered within 24 hours. Getaround also endeavours to handle as many requests as possible via social networks. With regard to the RGPD and data retention: Getaround has just completed an audit on this subject that lasted more than 2 years. The aim of this audit, carried out in conjunction with the CNIL, is to draw up a comprehensive Data Privacy policy, covering both data protection and access security.

What to make of the explanations given so far by Getaround.
The company claims that it does not make a profit from the sums collected, which it would pay back to the vehicle owner. This is not true.

It can add up to 40% in management fees to these charges, as stated in the terms and conditions for handling dirt.  A significant amount of dirt and its cleaning earn money for the Getaround teams. An ill-intentioned mind would deduce that repairing any damage to the vehicle has become a profit centre for the company.

Customer service can be contacted. But it isn't. Despite being equipped with Zendesk and Slack, and helped by efficient outsourcers in Madagascar and Barcelona (Adm Value, by Tessi), the company has set up a Canada Dry customer service department, which responds to requests on the side and, above all, never by telephone. Although well hidden, the company has a telephone number, coupled with an IVR (interactive voice server), 01 73 72 94 83. No matter which option you choose, you will never be able to speak to anyone. The only effective and rapid way of closing incident tickets when claims need to be explained. When you are told that X% of requests are dealt with within 24 hours, it is simply because you have rented SaaS customer service software such as Zendesk or easiware and sent back a response, often automated. But what the customer or user wants is a detailed, well-founded response to their request, not an answer. The famous once and done that some customer experience champions manage to achieve (the right answer, in one go).

Does the company have accomplices in these kind and lucrative practices? Yes, and first and foremost the customer, who has validated and accepted the Terms and Conditions in which he agrees to be fleeced.

As in the case of MADE.com and other platforms that have donned all the trappings of modernity (the September 2022 press release in which Getaround joined forces with SIG, the government's information service, to advocate car-sharing as a way of preserving consumers' purchasing power, is a model of its kind), those who are being charged sums that they consider unjustified have accepted the mode of collaboration. At Made.com, whose head office was in the UK, customers paid for furniture in advance but did not own it until it was delivered. When the company suddenly filed for bankruptcy, the carrier blocked furniture deliveries. Customers then discovered that they had agreed to pay for furniture in full, before it was delivered, without any guarantee. 

The second ‘accomplice’ is usually the communications and public relations agency, delegated to clear up any requests for specific information from journalists or media wishing to understand and obtain precise answers. In Getaround's case, this is Gen-g.com. The company's spokesman and managing director, Simon Baldeyrou, is not available within the timeframe you have given us’. Contacted directly by us, he did not reply. 

Do private hire and sales services have the customer service they need? Getaround, Ouicar, Airbnb, Leboncoin?
Are they sometimes tempted to devote their resources, the funds raised, to acquiring customers and publicising their offer, with the corollary of investing too little in the customer experience and customer service? What about the schizophrenia of the consumer, who wants to pay little, as little as possible, sometimes validates any terms and conditions and then wants to be accompanied, listened to and answered by real people?  You can find out more about this issue and the effective car rental companies and a few media platforms of the collaborative economy, sharing and its heralds in the next Spotlight. And on Marta Castells Ojeda.

To go further, read how, at a real rental company, the counter agent can contribute to traveller satisfaction.

What about Turo, the main competitor ? 

Worth knowing: Monk, a machine-learning specialist, helps Getaround to detect damage to vehicles, while Dekra is the insurance expert, a trusted third party to certify that a claim has indeed been made. Find out more in our next spotlight.