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Good riddance. They tried to reboot a few months back but the damage had already been done. The people who really wanted this sort of business to succeed (incl

Good riddance. They tried to reboot a few months back but the damage had already been done. The people who really wanted this sort of business to succeed (including myself) had already tried to embrace them, but got burned too much in the past to risk giving them another shot. My guess is the only potential market going forward were people who randomly came across FlightCar when searching for rental cars. My money is on this being an acquihire. The business failed. (I previously wrote an open letter to FlightCar, based on my personal experiences, which also summed up the general consensus amongst everyone who had tried it in the past: http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar http://watilo.com/open-letter-to-flightcar)

swang 10y ago
If it was an acquihire, wouldn't this press release more reflect that rather than saying it shutdown? Edit: reading it again it seems maybe there are people continuing on with Mercedes Benz Edit2: geez just read your post sans audio. That is pretty terrible
- gnahckire 10y ago
  It wasn't an acquihire. Source: Know someone who until recently ... worked at flightcar
phreanix 10y ago
The comment by flightcar employee was incredibly disturbing.
- ams6110 10y ago
  It was, but bear in mind also totally unverified.
ithinkinstereo 10y ago
What do you find particularly terrible about renting from one of the major agencies? I travel frequently for work and rent across all the major rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, National) and their discount subsidiaries (Thrifty, Budget, Alamo). These days the process is super smooth. If you register with the agency's free rewards program, the process is usually: 1) Bypass counter to the rewards members area 2) Pick up pre-assigned car or choose your own from the designated pickup areas 3) Drive to exit, show drivers ID, and leave. When returning, most agencies allow you to just drop it off and get your receipt delivered via email. I've tried flightcar a few times and have no complaints about the experience itself - it just wasn't any better than going with a major agency, with more downsides: 1) weirder off-airport location (makes returning more difficult - vast majority of airports have clear signs for car rental dropoffs that are super easy to follow) 2) not as consistent in terms of car quality (major agencies standardize their lineups across a few models and years) and maintenance - harder to change/swap cars 3) not as good support (stuck somewhere in random CT, hertz locations everywhere, flightcar = BOS)
- corywatilo 10y ago
  I'm price and car conscious, meaning: 1) I usually want a specific car (high capacity, off-road capable, etc.), and 2) I hate how expensive the big boys are. Flightcar was also a great concept for my wife and me, as we spend a good amount of time in another state where Flightcar had operations, so we could leave a car there and use it when we were in town. When I can, I rent with Sixt, which is typically way cheaper (though their customer service is also horrible and still has the same issues being a car rental agency). It's not that the rental agencies are always that expensive, but when the taxes and fees get tacked on, it's absurd and it's not something I want to support when I don't have to. (Energy Surcharge, Customer Facility Charge, Vehicle License Fee, Concession Recovery Fee.) It's like a restaurant charging you for a burger, then having fees for the condiments that come on it, the booth you're sitting in, and for having the lights on while you're there. Recently in Costa Rica, we rented a car for $10/day, but with fees, it came to about $100/day. But I digress... Since I always look for deals, it means I'm switching between rental agencies and not sticking with one, so I've never seen the point in setting up rewards account. But your comment makes things sounds way too easy, so maybe I'll take the time and give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!
  - richman777 10y ago
    I'll just add that your viewpoint is just the opposite side of the coin. I'm not as price conscious as I am convenience conscious. It's not worth my time and anxiety levels having to deal with the side-effects of the budget choice which you listed out. I also get a pretty nice corporate discount from my work which makes the big boys a no brainer. Although I still used the main car rental places before and the process was super smooth. Literally need a car and sign up for it in 10 minutes. Show up and get the car in ~5 minutes. At airports with kiosks you scan your license and go straight to get the car.
  - adevine 10y ago
    I really apologize if this comes off as critical, because I honestly don't mean it to be. But by your description, you sound like the worst kind of customer for a car rental agency, because: 1. You have specific, high-performance desires 2. You are very price conscious 3. You show little/no brand loyalty I don't think these are in any way "negative" traits, but it's not hard to see how catering to these traits is not going to be a winning move for any business where there are much more profitable customers to be had.
bsimpson 10y ago
Flightcar was the most abominable startup I can remember, which sucks, because they had an awesome concept. If only they weren't completely inept at operations/external relations. . .
jmharvey 10y ago
It's interesting to hear this. I used FlightCar (as a renter) quite a bit in its early days (2013) and at that time the customer service was unbelievably great, to the point that I actively preferred FlightCar over other rental car companies. I haven't traveled as much the last couple of years, though; it sounds like their customer service hasn't scaled. I'm guessing that a lot of my customer service interactions fell into the "do things that don't scale" category.
- ryporter 10y ago
  Based on the following comment by the employee, this was actually a case of "do shortsighted things to save money." "He moved the customer support to Philippines because he can get someone for like 10-12$ an hr. Great idea.. right? Let's connect the customers who are loaning flightcar a 30-40k car to someone in Philippines who does not understand english or even knows what a floor mat is."
  - yardie 10y ago
    Actually, English is regularly spoken in the Philippines. They were s US territory at one point in history. What the problem typically is is not a language barrier. These outsourced call centers are typically boiler rooms. The agents are incentivized to close the call, not fix the problem.
jasonlaramburu 10y ago
Rental cars are generally not treated well by renting customers. That's why the big boys sell them at steep discounts (fleet vehicles) after a couple years on the job. Didnt you expect that your vehicle would take on some wear and tear if you rented it out? Seems similar to the compromise made by an Airbnb host: "I know my AirBnB guests might spill something in my apartment, or break a glass, but the benefits of the extra cash justify it."
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
jasonlaramburu 10y ago
Zendesk does have a spam folder.

swang 10y ago

If it was an acquihire, wouldn't this press release more reflect that rather than saying it shutdown? Edit: reading it again it seems maybe there are people continuing on with Mercedes Benz Edit2: geez just read your post sans audio. That is pretty terrible

gnahckire 10y ago
It wasn't an acquihire. Source: Know someone who until recently ... worked at flightcar

phreanix 10y ago

The comment by flightcar employee was incredibly disturbing.

ams6110 10y ago
It was, but bear in mind also totally unverified.

ithinkinstereo 10y ago

What do you find particularly terrible about renting from one of the major agencies? I travel frequently for work and rent across all the major rental agencies (Hertz, Avis, National) and their discount subsidiaries (Thrifty, Budget, Alamo). These days the process is super smooth. If you register with the agency's free rewards program, the process is usually: 1) Bypass counter to the rewards members area 2) Pick up pre-assigned car or choose your own from the designated pickup areas 3) Drive to exit, show drivers ID, and leave. When returning, most agencies allow you to just drop it off and get your receipt delivered via email. I've tried flightcar a few times and have no complaints about the experience itself - it just wasn't any better than going with a major agency, with more downsides: 1) weirder off-airport location (makes returning more difficult - vast majority of airports have clear signs for car rental dropoffs that are super easy to follow) 2) not as consistent in terms of car quality (major agencies standardize their lineups across a few models and years) and maintenance - harder to change/swap cars 3) not as good support (stuck somewhere in random CT, hertz locations everywhere, flightcar = BOS)

corywatilo 10y ago
I'm price and car conscious, meaning: 1) I usually want a specific car (high capacity, off-road capable, etc.), and 2) I hate how expensive the big boys are. Flightcar was also a great concept for my wife and me, as we spend a good amount of time in another state where Flightcar had operations, so we could leave a car there and use it when we were in town. When I can, I rent with Sixt, which is typically way cheaper (though their customer service is also horrible and still has the same issues being a car rental agency). It's not that the rental agencies are always that expensive, but when the taxes and fees get tacked on, it's absurd and it's not something I want to support when I don't have to. (Energy Surcharge, Customer Facility Charge, Vehicle License Fee, Concession Recovery Fee.) It's like a restaurant charging you for a burger, then having fees for the condiments that come on it, the booth you're sitting in, and for having the lights on while you're there. Recently in Costa Rica, we rented a car for $10/day, but with fees, it came to about $100/day. But I digress... Since I always look for deals, it means I'm switching between rental agencies and not sticking with one, so I've never seen the point in setting up rewards account. But your comment makes things sounds way too easy, so maybe I'll take the time and give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!
- richman777 10y ago
  I'll just add that your viewpoint is just the opposite side of the coin. I'm not as price conscious as I am convenience conscious. It's not worth my time and anxiety levels having to deal with the side-effects of the budget choice which you listed out. I also get a pretty nice corporate discount from my work which makes the big boys a no brainer. Although I still used the main car rental places before and the process was super smooth. Literally need a car and sign up for it in 10 minutes. Show up and get the car in ~5 minutes. At airports with kiosks you scan your license and go straight to get the car.
- adevine 10y ago
  I really apologize if this comes off as critical, because I honestly don't mean it to be. But by your description, you sound like the worst kind of customer for a car rental agency, because: 1. You have specific, high-performance desires 2. You are very price conscious 3. You show little/no brand loyalty I don't think these are in any way "negative" traits, but it's not hard to see how catering to these traits is not going to be a winning move for any business where there are much more profitable customers to be had.

bsimpson 10y ago

Flightcar was the most abominable startup I can remember, which sucks, because they had an awesome concept. If only they weren't completely inept at operations/external relations. . .

jmharvey 10y ago

It's interesting to hear this. I used FlightCar (as a renter) quite a bit in its early days (2013) and at that time the customer service was unbelievably great, to the point that I actively preferred FlightCar over other rental car companies. I haven't traveled as much the last couple of years, though; it sounds like their customer service hasn't scaled. I'm guessing that a lot of my customer service interactions fell into the "do things that don't scale" category.

ryporter 10y ago
Based on the following comment by the employee, this was actually a case of "do shortsighted things to save money." "He moved the customer support to Philippines because he can get someone for like 10-12$ an hr. Great idea.. right? Let's connect the customers who are loaning flightcar a 30-40k car to someone in Philippines who does not understand english or even knows what a floor mat is."
- yardie 10y ago
  Actually, English is regularly spoken in the Philippines. They were s US territory at one point in history. What the problem typically is is not a language barrier. These outsourced call centers are typically boiler rooms. The agents are incentivized to close the call, not fix the problem.

jasonlaramburu 10y ago

Rental cars are generally not treated well by renting customers. That's why the big boys sell them at steep discounts (fleet vehicles) after a couple years on the job. Didnt you expect that your vehicle would take on some wear and tear if you rented it out? Seems similar to the compromise made by an Airbnb host: "I know my AirBnB guests might spill something in my apartment, or break a glass, but the benefits of the extra cash justify it."

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

jasonlaramburu 10y ago

Zendesk does have a spam folder.