Bengaluru man accuses Zoomcar of defrauding customers. Here's what the company said

The viral post caught Zoomcar's attention and the company responded with a clarification. (Image: @adadithya/X)

A man from Bengaluru narrated his bitter experience with Zoomcar in a post that has gone viral on X. Adithya Venkatesan titled it “The Zoomcar Scam” and accused the company of “defrauding customers” and slammed the brand for “collecting money” and not be accountable. His post prompted a reply from Zoomcar as well.

"The customer’s profile photo did not match the Driver's License and other required documents shared by him, hence his request was declined. The refund takes about 7-10 working days. As a Nasdaq-listed company, we uphold rigorous standards of safety and integrity in all aspects of our operations and it is non negotiable. Customer verification plays a pivotal role in the well-being of both our guests and hosts community ensuring a secure environment for everyone involved. Failure to do so leads to a booking cancellation with automatic refund which takes 7-10 days," a clarification issued by Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO of Zoomcar read.

"We are fully committed to maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers, and we will continue to prioritise their safety and security above all else."

Meanwhile, calling the workings of Zoomcar a “straight-up scam”, Venkatesan wrote, “Once you pay up, they add the caveat of verification. Not before. After you pay. And if that fails, there's no way to get in touch with anyone and resolve it. This is despite having a Driving License, Aadhaar and all the relevant documents.”

“It’s a solid dark pattern that makes Zoomcar ‘collect’ money and not be accountable for what ensues. Then, they just disappear. And, you can’t get this money refunded either,” he claimed.

Venkatesan also criticised Zoomcar’s customer support and called their tech “inferior” while slamming the company for being “irresponsible”.

“Don’t ever choose Zoomcar,” he wrote while concluding the post.

The scam that's pic.twitter.com/TkcFS1eFGR

— Adithya Venkatesan (@adadithya) April 10, 2024

Since being shared on Wednesday, the post has amassed over one lakh views. Several other social media users shared their own bitter experiences with the company in the comments section.

See the comments here:

“I have had terrible experience twice. Never using Zoomcar again,” one user wrote. Another user commented, “I've had a pathetic experience once. The car was just not there and there was no one to contact. Customer care didn't help at all.”

“Moved away from it and realized that it's actually pretty easy to find driving rentals in every city. A lot cheaper and hassle free without a clunky app interface,” a third user remarked.

A fourth user added, “Been through that, had to file a consumer complaint, used ChatGPT also to write those long emails. Took 4 months to get my money back, no compensation for jeopardizing the trip though.”

Zoomcar's response:

The viral post also caught the attention of Zoomcar and the company shared a clarification. “Hello Adithya, as previously communicated over DM, we've reviewed your profile status and observed a discrepancy between the face on your driver's license and the uploaded selfie. Hence, the profile was rejected.”

Your profile verification was rejected for uploading a picture of one person and the driving license of another. We don't allow guests with failed profile verifications to begin their trip keeping the safety of both guests and hosts to avoid misuse of our services. https://t.co/eyd0dOPHEx

— Zoomcar (@Zoomcar_India) April 12, 2024

In a separate tweet, the company claimed that a full refund has been initiated. “Since you've cancelled the booking, a full refund has automatically been initiated and should reflect in your source account within the next 5-7 business days. In case you need any help or require further clarification, please feel free to DM us.”

Meanwhile, a Bengaluru-based product designer recently slammed Urban Company using “dark pattern” design tricks to fool customers. Due to the unwanted feature in the app, Chandra Ramanujan’s elderly father ended up paying for the company’s premium plan, even after not wanting it.