Look Out Zipcar: Mint Car Coming to Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope

By on April 16, 2009 9:56 am in Brooklyn Heights

From the BHB Inbox comes word that Zipcar’s competitor Mint will be rolling into Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope on May 1. While we’ve been core Zipcar customers for years, they’ve seemed to have slipped in the last year or so. What’s been your experience with Zipcar? Has anyone used Mint?

For their launch Mint is offering a $50 driving credit for new members who use the promo code “BKDeal”.

We’ll have more on Mint soon.

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  • alex

    My experience with Zipcar:

    -No cars available unless you book weeks, sometimes months, in advance.

    -Shady customer service. (When I complained about the lack of available cars, they advised me to book every weekend several months out and just cancel the day before if I don’t end up needing it, hence screwing over all other customers.)

    -Dirty cars, mediocre cars. (Picture stained seats and an antenna dangling from the roof.)

    I’m sad to have wasted money on the activation fee and annual membership.

    I’ll certainly look into Mint.

  • Dazza

    I’ve been a frequent Zipcar user for ages, and I’ve never had a problem reserving a car. I rented a car last weekend in Philly and encountered a problem. I later wrote and complained, and they promptly replied and gave me a driving credit for my trouble. Yes, their cars can be a little dirty; it’s kind of hit-and-miss. The Volvo I reserved last week was spotless. I am, however, interested in Mint. if they can beat Zipcar’s prices, then they will get my business.

  • R

    I have had a few problems with zipcar, but overall am happy with the service. They do, however, need more cars in the BK Heights area. Part of the problem is that a lot of the cars in the Heights live in garages that aren’t open on the weekends so the number of available cars at a peak usage time (weekend) drops.

    As for the cleanliness – I think a lot of this is the members’ faults: The fault of the piggish member who left the car dirty, and the fault of the member who had the car next for not consistently reporting the pig. If a member is consistently reported for leaving the car dirty, then Zipcar can take action, but if we keep the cleanliness issues to ourselves then they’ll never know.

  • R

    Just looked at the Mint site – looks alarmingly similar to the Zipcar site/feel, right down to giving the cars names that are alliterative with the car model.

    I’m not sure this will be the cure to Zipcar reservation woes, though – as they currently only have 30 cars for all of Manhattan, with each location only having 2-3 cars.

  • Andrew

    When Mint or Hertz Connect have locations as convenient for me as Zipcar’s, I’ll consider switching. Unfortunately, there aren’t all that many garages in the Heights for the car sharing services to get spaces.

    Except for summer weekends, I haven’t had any trouble getting Zipcars when I’ve wanted.

    Oftentime, Zipcars can have some musty or other funky smells. But then, I’ve had that with rental cars, too.

  • CJP

    Must say I’ve had no complaints, other than the price, with Avis at Court and Atlantic. For longer rentals I did a Priceline once. Pick up was at LGA and for 7 days for a mid-size car it was about $300 which is a shockingly low rate for NYC! Your experience may vary…

  • http://www.zipcarsucks.com Adam

    I hate Zipcar for the following reasons:
    1. There customer service reps are incompetent and can never provide you with an practical solution.
    2. The cars are often in dire need of servicing and therefore you pay to use a car and then wonder if you will breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
    3. The cars are dirty and I know its NYC and no one cares about the cars, but this is a service after all…
    4. Zipcar expanded way too fast and does not have the capacity to fulfill all customer needs.
    5.Zipcar sucks and is a waste of money.
    6. For a refreshing car sharing experience choose Mint!

  • Luke C

    I only use Zipcar about once every two months and have done so for 3-4 years.

    With 4 location near the N.Heights (DUMBO, Concord Village, Henry+Orange, Montague), I’ve rarely had a problem getting a car on short notice (summer weekends excepted). Mint won’t beat that soon.

    Customer Service has been acceptable but then Apple is the only company I know with what I consider actual good customer service. Mint could do better but it’s not a top priority for me.

    Prices are reasonable versus taxis and rental cars by filling a niche for partial day rentals where flexibility is key. If Mint found a way to undercut them, that’d be very appealing (and surprising).

    I think a little competition would be good and if it gets a few people to sell their private cars and go commie-car, even better!

  • http://www.bigapplestyleworld.blogspot.com Dorian S

    Now that I have something to compare, Zipcar is seriously heads and tails above Mint. I’ve been a Zipcar member since ’06 and I just joined Mint this month, and I will be promptly cancelling my membership tomorrow. I had my first and last rental yesterday and the customer service was hit or miss and when I did get a live body, people either sounded confused, distracted or were unapologetically rude to me. When I complained about the poor customer service, the rep went so far as to yell at me and tell me that Mint didn’t need “members like me”. Urghhh…it would have been nice to have a cool alternative to Zipcar…but I don’t believe in giving my hard earned money to people who don’t understand that it’s the customer who pays their bills. :(. I blogged about it because I was so PO’d! :(