What's happened to my £100 returnable deposit! Streetcar that became Zipcar - soon to be no car

keocom

Hi all, when I first joined Streetcar (now Zipcar)  as a founder member many many years ago, I paid a membership deposit of £100. The initial agreement was Deposit/Membership: Early membership involved a one-off fee of £25 plus a £100 returnable deposit. I have asked Zipcar if this returnable discount will be refunded, as Zipcar will cease trading. 

Zipcar have written back saying that... After reviewing this, we can confirm that we are not able to offer a refund of any historic Streetcar deposits or lifetime membership benefits at this stage. When Streetcar transitioned in 2011, all members were given until the 22nd September 2011 to request a return of any applicable deposit. The original Founder offer related to access to the Zipcar service while it was actively operating in the UK, and it does not extend to circumstances where the service is being fully withdrawn from the market.

I have no record of any email from Zipcar offering my deposit back. I know it's not just me who has this issue, as I have a friend who is also affected. Are there any other founder members of Streetcar who have managed to get their £100 returnable deposit back? 

I think Zipcar are being really cheeky about this!

paul_c123

Looks like you're about 14 1/2 years late to the party? Why didn't you request the return in Sept 2011? Zipcar didn't need any deposit, just the membership fee (and they're refunding prepayments there).

Grumpy_chap

paul_c123 said:

Looks like you're about 14 1/2 years late to the party? Why didn't you request the return in Sept 2011? Zipcar didn't need any deposit, just the membership fee (and they're refunding prepayments there).

I don't know the details of how Streetcar migrated to Zipcar but it is not wholly unusual that when the business operation transfers from A Ltd to B Ltd there is a transfer of liabilities and obligations as part of the migration.

Are Zipcar now making a strategic exit from the market or exiting because of financial difficulties?

Mildly_Miffed

Streetcar launched in 2004. When they were taken over by Zipcar, the same limited company remained operating, simply with a name change.
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/04525217/

75%+ of the shares of that company are owned by Zipcar Inc of Boston, Massachusetts, US.

It's not a case of financial difficulties - their most recently filed accounts show £27m profits on £100m turnover across the last two financial years.

For the sake of a hundred quid goodwill (there won't be many in your position), you'd think they'd just do it. But whether there's a legal obligation to do so - or how much it'd cost you for a pyrrhic victory against a US entity...

keocom

paul_c123 said:

Looks like you're about 14 1/2 years late to the party? Why didn't you request the return in Sept 2011? Zipcar didn't need any deposit, just the membership fee (and they're refunding prepayments there).

Hi Paul if I had been sent an email with the option back in 2011, I would have happily requested it back

keocom

It's not a case of financial difficulties - their most recently filed accounts show £27m profits on £100m turnover across the last two financial years.

For the sake of a hundred quid goodwill (there won't be many in your position), you'd think they'd just do it. But whether there's a legal obligation to do so - or how much it'd cost you for a pyrrhic victory against a US entity...

Thank you for that, may try another tack with the parent company - with those profits they can certainly afford to refund my friend and I!