Experience tells us that the real trouble in foreign countries often comes from companies run by our fellow countrymen. Here, I will compare this company with other mainstream car rental companies like Hertz and Alamo.
1. Picking up the car
For mainstream rental companies, you need to take a shuttle bus to their location. The downside is that you need some English skills. The upside is it's fast.
For this company, they have a dedicated car to pick you up from your specified arrival area, and the driver is Chinese. The downside is the long wait time; I waited for about half an hour. The upside is you don't need any language skills.
2. The process of picking up the car
Mainstream rental companies allow you to complete the process via self-service kiosks or through staff. The downside is that staff might push you to buy insurance, requiring some English skills. The upside is it's fast—10 minutes at most—and your information is secure since they only check your documents without keeping copies or taking photos. You also usually have more than ten cars to choose from.
This company handles everything manually at a single window in a room on the 5th floor of an office building. The whole process took about 50 minutes—I got my luggage at 8 AM and the car at 10 AM. Most importantly, during the process, they required to take photos of my passport, driver's license, visa page, and credit card. The advantage is full Chinese service, but the downsides include a long processing time, only specified car models available, and all your information including your credit card being photographed and stored. What they might do with that information is worrying.
Description of issues encountered, the most important part
After taking photos of my license and passport, the company staff also wanted to photograph both sides of my credit card, not just use the POS machine for authorization (you can find out yourself what that might result in). I firmly refused, and the staff called their supervisor, who was extremely arrogant during our phone conversation. The supervisor told me two things: 1. This is America, so they have the right not to serve me unless I let them photograph my credit card, or else they would cancel my order and throw me out. 2. I could complain anywhere I wanted, but they didn't care because this is America...
Under such circumstances, I first called the customer service of Zuzuche to complain about the issue of photographing my credit card. When the customer service tried to communicate with the other party, they refused. I then confirmed that if they were really going to cancel my order because I refused to let them photograph my credit card, I would call 911. Probably the threat of calling 911 worked, and they finally agreed not to photograph my credit card and gave me the car (note: in the U.S., you can call 911 for any issues, as there aren't as many regulatory bodies as in China).
Then a second serious issue arose, which I later learned from friends was quite severe. The company told me that due to a system problem, they couldn't print the rental contract and receipt on the same day, so they only gave me a car key and let me drive away. After getting the car, I immediately called Zuzuche to inform them that I didn't get any documentation. I was worried the company might accuse me of car theft, so I reported it to Zuzuche. Their customer service advised me not to accept the car, but since I had already driven away, it was too late. The customer service then called the company to confirm and recorded that they would email me the contract the next day. I did receive their email the next day. The most critical part is that according to California law, a car must have insurance to be on the road, otherwise, it's illegal. Without an insurance document, if there's an accident, I would have to pay for everything myself. Not having a contract meant they didn't add insurance to the car (note: in the U.S., car insurance is tied to the driver. If the insurance doesn't have your name, the consequences are severe, so don't let others drive the rented car). So, if there's any accident before I receive the rental contract, I would bear significant responsibility for checking the contract and insurance information myself.
The above is not a review of the company but a statement of facts.
Returning the car was quite a rip-off. Very unsatisfied. Their refueling service is extremely expensive, several times more than foreign rental companies, and they did not inform us beforehand. This is far worse compared to US car rental companies.
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Cecilia Arnold
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