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I'd like to welcome others to post their reviews of the brand new WeCar program. Here's mine:
Please know that Enterprise did follow up with me in writing and on the phone. Enterprise met all of my needs. They were extremely helpful, and truly welcomed my concerns and suggestions. This program has never been done before, and I am confident that anything they can do to serve our community better will be done – just be sure to let your thoughts and experiences with the program known. Overall, my satisfaction with Enterprise continues to be 5 out of 5.
I recently took the WeCar program for a test drive – literally. What follows are the details of my experience.
My positive notes: The car was conveniently located, and the idea behind WeCar is just awesome. The phone support person at Enterprise was also very friendly. Booking the car was fairly simple online and the cars are Smoke-Free, which is just wonderful!
My negative notes: As a novice, I found it difficult to figure out how to operate the Hybrid Vehicle. I also must note that the first vehicle I tried was having some sort of electrical problem (which was verified by Enterprise), as well as the fact that a different user had removed the ice-scraper from the vehicle (which was verified by Enterprise).
The details of my experience:
On Friday, February 22, 2008, I decided to test drive the new WeCar program in the Downtown St. Louis area. In my native Wisconsinite spirit, I chose an icy, cold, and wet night.
At about 6:45pm, I popped online, logged in, and mad my reservation for 7:15pm for the car parked at 9th and Olive. I then re-read portions of my instruction manual that was sent via mail, was sure to have my key codes and key ring "fob". I went to the car a minute after my schedule time, and unlocked the doors using the fob. I got inside, and, looked for an ice-scraper. There wasn't one in the car or trunk (another user had taken it). And so, I thought that perhaps just running the car and heating it up would help. I proceeded with the instructions to insert the "key" (really just putting the remote locking mechanism into a slot and pressing the "Start" button…I realized at this point that I was going to need to move my mind to a new era of technology past that of my '94 Pontiac Grand AM). I was able to get the car started, but the wipers (front and rear) were frozen, and coated in ice. At this point, I figured I ought to just call Enterprise, and so I did. After a 3-4 minute hold time, a nice guy on the end took notes and I informed him that it was going to be difficult to get the windows cleared and since 15 minutes had already been eaten up from my 1 hour reservation, I was just going to leave the car without having driven it. He was very kind, and we ended the call.
I began to gather up my things, but had noticed the car had "changed". Some of the lights had stopped, and the LCD Information Screen was alerting me that I needed to put the car in park and push the "P" button. I did this several times, but had problems. I tried restarting the car, but that failed. And so, I did what anyone in my situation would have done – tried to put the key back in the "glove box key lock" and be done with it. That didn't work, because the keypad screen would not light up for me to say, "finished with the car". And so, I called my friend at Enterprise back. He told me it was fine, and I just made sure the car was locked. Again, I thanked him.
After going back home, I thought, "Well, I want to go out, so I'll just rent a different car". And so I got the one right next to City Grocer – because I wanted to purchase an ice-scraper there first to use on the car. (Please, if you borrow the car, leave those critical supplies in it when you are finished.) I ended up renting the car, and had a wonderful hour long drive around the city. And, I of course went on some roads that weren't cleared to see how the car could drive on them – it was really nice. I was also fascinated at watching the information screen show how the car took power from the battery to drive, and then when I was just cruising it would transfer the energy back to the battery. This screen was a little distracting, but then again, I am sometimes overly curious.
I returned home, and found that the WeCar parking spot was indeed open (something I was a little nervous about, since cars downtown are constantly being illegally parked). I pulled in, fumbled just a little with re locking the key (I still don't know if I actually did it right), and got out, put my fob up to the windshield, heard the doors lock, and that was it.
I am happy I took the opportunity to test-drive this program before actually needing in a real-life situation (i.e. friends call me to meet-up, needing to attend a meeting, or picking up a date). It gave me the opportunity to see how it worked, learn where I need to improve my skills, and figure out what I am doing.
My recommendations to Enterprise were as follows:
1) Make a simpler instruction card, one that doesn't require a lot of reading to see how the car starts.
2) Explain that keypad mechanism a little better. It was somewhat intimidating and the on-screen instructions were vague.
3) Perhaps give people who join an hour or half hour free for their first "trip". I don't feel that I would have been very productive in my first hour of driving with trying to learn the new "ropes" of the vehicle, the WeCar system, and my own skills.
4) It would be nice to have a voice "walk-through" option available on that little dashboard screen. It would have put me at ease some of the time.
5) Have a disaster/emergency/weather conditions readiness kit inside the vehicle. (They did originally have an ice-scraper). I guess at the very least, OnStar would be helpful.
I'd like to thank the city and Enterprise, and everyone else involved in making this happen. For someone like me, who can't afford to spend the money to park my car downtown, this is a blessing. I hope it becomes a regular part of my lifestyle, as the Metro has already.
Regards,
Jason Vander Weele
Board Member
Downtown St. Louis Residents Association
Post edited by: jvanderweele, at: 2008/03/04 19:22
Post edited by: jvanderweele, at: 2008/03/04 19:23
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