There’s so much that I love about this time of year. There’s the smell of a crackling fire, egg nog, Christmas lights and family. Unfortunately, the holidays also involve lots of planning, travel, organizing and finding new ways to stay connected. Recently, I was invited to check out some offerings from Qwest and give away $500 of their money to one of you.
Get Organized
Qwest partnered up with Microsoft to offer Qwest High-Speed Internet customers Windows Live from Qwest, which they’re calling a customizable, one-stop-shop for those things that matter to you most online. This service brings together your online world all in one space, with everything from news and weather to your calendar, social networks to your blog.
The service is pretty customizable. During my introduction, I was shown how you can move any widget around, add new widgets like weather or a news feed, check your email, get to your bookmarks, etc all from your homepage. It also allows multiple pages for multiple users, work vs home, or just different pages for things like games, blogging, or whatever strikes you. There were a few other features that stood out to me. One was the online storage (with privacy and sharing options_ for photos or just about any files, which could be a handy way to share Christmas photos and videos with family. Others were the online DVR manager that lets you schedule and manage your recordings when you’re not in front of your TV and the ability to purchase and view movies online pretty easily. Everything is intuitive from a user’s standpoint and works pretty quickly, too. To be fair, there are several services like this out there, but only a few do a good job with it and this is one. The additional features I mentioned above make it stand out, as well, and it’s really easy to use. If you already have service with Qwest, try out these features and if you don’t, it’s a nice selling point. For anyone who has any trouble with it, they also offer tips and FAQs.
Win $500!
What better way to liven up the holidays than $500 courtesy of our contest sponsor, Qwest.
First, I’ve got to throw out a big Thank You to Qwest for sponsoring the contest and helping to give one of my readers an extra special Christmas to remember. That said, there’s a lot of details about entering the contest below, and it’s always good to read that stuff, but here’s the basics. To enter, just post a tip in the comments below between now and 12:00 AM, December 21, 2009. Your entry must be written in 50 words or less and should describe how you get your family and/or children’s schedule organized during the holidays. Entries will be judged on : Creativity (50%), Uniquness (25%), Ability to help organize (25%), so give your entry some thought. We might not be able to pick a winner with just one or two entries, so tell everyone about it on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Then come back here right before Christmas, where I’ll announce the contest results.
Qwest “Hectic Holidays Sanity” Contest Official Rules
NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
The Qwest “Hectic Holidays Sanity” Contest (the “Contest”) starts on December 7, 2009 at 12:00 AM MST and ends on December 21, 2009 at 12:00 AM MST (“Contest Period”).
ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are “readers” of the designated blog and are 18 years of age or older. Employees of Qwest Communications (“Sponsor”), Current Lifestyle Marketing, the publishers or owners of the designated blog, and their respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and promotion and advertising agencies, and members of their immediate family (spouse, parent, sibling, child and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible to enter or win. Void where prohibited by law. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws.
HOW TO ENTER: During the Contest Period, visit the JoeTech.com (“Blog”) and follow the directions provided to share a tip on how you get your family and/or children’s schedule organized during the upcoming “hectic” holiday season(“entry”). You may be required to register to post an entry via comment post on the blog. Your entry must be written in 50 words or less. All entrants are required to comply with any blogging guidelines of the selected Blog author (incorporated herein by reference). All entries must be received by 12:00 AM MST on December 21, 2009 to be eligible. Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and entries by any means which subvert the entry process are void. There will be no e-mail or mail entries accepted. All entries become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be returned.
Each entry must be entrant’s own original work, be in English, cannot be previously published or submitted in connection with any other contest, be in keeping with the Sponsor’s and Blog’s image and may not be offensive or inappropriate, as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion, nor can it defame or invade publicity rights or privacy of any person, living or deceased, or otherwise infringe upon any person’s personal or property rights or any other third party rights. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry that it determines, in its sole discretion, is offensive or inappropriate, not in keeping with Sponsor’s image or that is otherwise not in compliance with these Official Rules.
By submitting an entry, entrant hereby grants permission without payment or other financial consideration being provided for the entry to be posted on the Blog and other websites selected by Sponsor. Entrant agrees that Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for any unauthorized use of entries by third parties. Released Parties do not guarantee the posting of any entry.
By submitting an entry, entrant acknowledges and agrees that Sponsor as well as Blog may obtain many entries under this Contest and that such entries may be similar or identical in theme, idea, format or other respects to others submitted under this Contest and/or other contests sponsored by the Sponsor or submitted for other reasons on the Blog, and entrant waives any and all claims entrant may have had, may have, and/or may have in the future, that any composition and/or other works accepted, reviewed and/or used by the Sponsor or the Blog (or their respective designees) may be similar to his/her entry.
JUDGING: All eligible entries received for the Blog will be judged by the author of the Blog on the following criteria: Creativity (50%), Uniquness (25%), Ability to help organize (25%) (the “Judging Criteria”). The entry with the highest score, as determined by the Blog author in his/her sole discretion, will be deemed the Grand Prize winner for that Blog, subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules. [In the event that the Grand Prize winner’s entry (or an entry with the same theme or tip) was posted on the Blog by more than one entrant, the first entry to be posted will be deemed the winner.. Sponsor and Blog author reserve the right not to select a winner for the Blog, if, in their sole discretion, they do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified entries for the Blog. Prize award is subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.
Winner Notification: Judges’ decisions are final and binding on all matters relating to this Contest. Potential Grand Prize winner will be notified by telephone, mail and/or email and may be required to complete an Affidavit of Eligibility, Liability and Publicity Release (unless prohibited by law), and, if Grand Prize winner, any other documents that may be required by Sponsor, which must be returned within seven days of date appearing on prize notification. Return of prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability to contact the potential winner within a reasonable time period, or noncompliance with these Official Rules will result in disqualification and the prize may be awarded to the runner-up for the Blog.
PRIZE[S]:
Grand Prize (1): $500 awarded as an American Express gift check(s).
General Prize Conditions: All prize details are at the sole discretion of the Sponsor. Prize is awarded “as is” with no warranty or guarantee, either express or implied. No substitution, transfer, or cash equivalent of prize is permitted, except by Sponsor, which reserves the right to substitute a prize (or portion thereof) with one of comparable or greater value, at its sole discretion Any and all federal, state and local taxes on the prizes, and any other costs, fees, and expenses associated with prize acceptance and use not explicitly stated herein as being awarded, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
GENERAL: By participating, each entrant agrees: (a) to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and Blog author, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest; (b) to release, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor, Current, Blog author, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, dealerships, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of the awarded prize; and (c) to the use of his/her name, voice, performance, photograph/video, tip, image and/or likeness for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Sponsor and its designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.
OWNERSHIP/USE OF ENTRIES: By submitting an entry, each entrant agrees Sponsor shall own the entry submitted (including all rights embodied therein) and that it and its designees may exploit, edit, modify, and distribute the entry and all elements of such entry, including, without limitation, the names of any persons or locations embodied therein, in any and all media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity without compensation, permission or notification to entrant or any third party.
Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled tips, posts or entries; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of tips, posts or entries, the announcement of the prize, the or in any Contest-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person’s computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from or use of the website. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Contest or website, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Sponsor or Blog may disqualify anyone from participating in the Contest or winning a prize if, in its sole discretion, it determines that such person is attempting to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by cheating, deception or other unfair playing practices, or intending to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass any other entrant or Sponsor’s or Blog’s representatives. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR DELIBERATELY UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. Sponsor or the designated Blog reserves the right in its sole discretion to cancel or suspend any portion of the Contest should causes corrupt the administration, security or proper play of the Contest and, in the event of cancellation, to select the winner for the Blog at issue from among all eligible, non-suspect entries received for the Blog up to time of such impairment using the judging procedure outlined above. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of an entrant, entry will be deemed to be from the authorized account subscriber of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry, regardless of the name that appears on the official entry form and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is the natural person who is assigned the e-mail address by the Internet Service Provider (ISP), on-line service provider, or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses.
Request for Winner’s Name: For the name of the winner (available after December 31, 2009) send a self-addressed, stamped, envelope by (date TBD) to: Molly Steinkrauss, Current Lifestyle Marketing c/o Qwest Communications, 440 Pacific Ave., San Francisco, CA 9413.
SPONSOR: Qwest Communications, 1801 California Street, Fl. 50, Denver, CO 80202
Back in June, I gave you a LA Besace Lime Drop review for a bag I really liked and use pretty often. Last week, I found a new bag from be.ez called the LEvertigo in my mail. It’s designed for a 13″ MacBook or a 10.2″ netbook and has a compact design.
Simple Design and Function
The LEvertigo looks pretty simple from the outside. It’s a slim shoulder bag that is very portable. Like the LA besace I reviewed before, it has a gray exterior with a lime green interior that provides a nice contrast. It’s not bad looking from the outside, but you really don’t feel its fashion until you open it up. Be.ez decided to replace the traditional zipper with velcro in the shape of a lower case letter e and a period. It’s the details like this that set the be.ez bags apart. While this makes getting to your notebook faster, it’s louder and not quite as library (or sleeping wife) friendly. For fans of zippers, they managed to include a couple inside the bag. The first is a small pouch in the bottom of the bag, just big enough for a paper back book. The other zipper is found closer to the top, sealing up a larger pouch that might hold CDs, etc.
Also near the top of the bag are three small pockets, each big enough for a cell phone. The bulk of the inside of the LEvertigo is soft, so it’s not likely to scratch up a cell phone. I’m not sure that three of these pockets is as good an idea as, say, two pockets and some pen/pencil slots. Of course, this bag has two large compartments that will be used the most. The first is the larger area for the laptop and had the usual velcro strap to keep it in. This time around, the strap is adjustable to fit your specific notebook. The final area is a large mesh pocket to hold important papers. Where the flap folds over, the sides fold in, as well to create a little more protection from any rain you might come across. Everything hangs off the shoulder with the help of the seat belt like strap that seems to be a welcomed theme for be.ez products.
Conclusions
Another tough bag from be.ez, I can imagine this one faithfully protecting your portable computing for years while being, itself, very portable. It will likely turn a couple heads when you open it and can be purchased in black/pumpkin as well (and additional colors for the non-US version). At about $60, it’s not cheap, but you’ll get your money’s worth, I’m sure. If you know someone who’s getting a netbook for Christmas, this would be a decent compliment to it.
Have you ever been the victim of a scam? It happens to the best of us, and these scams are all over the Internet. I’ve been seeing a lot more in my email than in recent years, so I thought I’d take a few minutes to talk about online scams and people phishing for passwords.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is trying to obtain otherwise guarded information about accounts from someone by fraudulent or deceptive means. Typically, you’ll get an email claiming to be from your bank, PayPal, Facebook, etc., asking you to log in to perform some action. Usually, that action is said to be critical to keep your account open or help with a security audit, etc. Once you’ve fallen for the bait, the scammer either uses your online account in nefarious ways or gains access to your finances and drains you of all that pesky money you had. Either way, these guys have plenty of tricks.
Phishing examples
I get a lot of this kind of thing, so here’s some examples to help you recognize these emails:
The Lottery
I actually won several things online before I ever got one of these. When I got my first one, I was excited, but then I thought, “I never entered any Australian lottery”. I discarded it as a scam and have since seen the same thing ove and over. If I got $100 for every one of these I’ve received, I wouldn’t need to win. This is a pretty simple scam to get you to part with some private information that they can then either sell or use to open accounts in your name.
OFFICIAL WINNING NOTIFICATION FOR CATEGORY “A” CYBER LOTTO DRAWS
Dear Winner
We are pleased to inform you of results of our cyber lottery draw of the Lotto.nl Promotional Draws.
The online electronic-raffle draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 250,000 international emails accounts picked by our Electronic Random Selection System (ERSS) from an exclusive list However, no tickets were sold.
After the automated computer ballot collection, your e-mail address emerged as a winner category “A” with the following numbers attached:
(i) Reference Number:MSP 91104 EL 7612
(ii) Batch Number: 563881545-NL/2009
(iii)Ticket Number: PA 3502 /8707-01
You are therefore to receive a cash prize of 2,500,000.00. (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars) from the total payout sum.
The payout of this cash prize to you will be subject to the final validations and satisfactory report that you are the owner of the winning email address. In line with the Governing rules of claim, you are required to establish contact with your designated claims agent via email or telephone with the particulars below:
Mr. Soresen Holms jr
Foreign claims agent Netherlands Office.
Contact Email: soresenholms09@yahoo.cn
Tel: +31 619 970 279
Fax: +31 847 455 835
You are advised to provide him with the following information:
DATA PROFILE
First name:
Last Name:
Telephone/Fax number:
Nationality:
Age:
Occupation:
We ask that you keep your Winning information confidential until your claims have been processed. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some participant.
Endeavour to include your email address when sending a fax for verification purpose. Furthermore, should there be any change of address do inform our agent as soon as possible. Congratulations!!! And thank you for being a user of the World Wide Web.
Limited account
This scam lures you in by claiming that your account will is or will soon be suspended for one reason or another. To get things cleared up, all you have to do is log in. The link goes to http://phce.org/westpac/index.html, NOT any bank. In this case, it looks like phce.org was hacked and aren’t aware of it yet. I’m emailing them.
Dear customer,
Please pay attention that your online banking account is suspended because of missing information. In order for it to remain active,please pass the account authorization process.
Email Support scam
This one just comes right out and asks for your information. It said it came from info@helpdesk.org (that was faked), but the reply-to goes to supportteams2009@live.com, who will surely get lots of passwords before Live.com shuts them down. I’m emailing abuse@live.com just to be sure.
Dear Webmail User,
This message was sent automatically by a program on Webmail which
periodically checks the size of inboxes, where new messages are
received.
The program is run weekly to ensure no one’s inbox grows too large. If
your inbox becomes too large, you will be unable to receive new email.
Just before this message was sent, you had 18 Megabytes (MB) or more of
messages stored in your inbox on your Webmail. To help us re-set your
SPACE on our database prior to maintain your INBOX, you must reply to
this e-mail and enter your
Current User name (_________)
and Password(________ )
You will continue to receive this warning message periodically if your
inbox size continues to be between 18 and 20 MB. If your inbox size
grows to 20 MB, then a program on Bates Webmaiwill move your oldest email
to a
folder in your home directory to ensure that you will continue to be
able to receive incoming email. You will be notified by email that this
has taken place. If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to
receive new email as it will be returned to the sender.
After you read a message, it is best to REPLY and SAVE it to another
folder.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Webmail Help Desk
Update Required
This is a common one with MySpace, Facebook, etc. You’re told you need to perform some kind of update to your account to continue using it. Once you give them your login info (by logging into a fake MySpace page), they’ll go in your account and spam all your friends. Many times, they’ll include real site links or email addresses like the privacy@myspace.com address here, just to lend to the credibility.
Dear MySpace user!
Please be informed that you are required to update your MySpace account.
Please update your MySpace account by clicking here:
Type it yourself – Always type the site URL into the browser yourself before logging in. Most of these scams prompt you to click a link to log in or confirm information. Some are crafty and make the URL look pretty close to the URL you would expect for the site you think you’re logging into, but many times, you end up at a .cn or .ru domain or some other variant.
Look for your name – Almost always, the phishing email doesn’t have your name at the top but instead has something like “Dear member”. Most of the large social sites and banks will greet you by name in an email. No name = probable scam
Don’t Click! – I know it was the first rule, but it’s also the third because it’s THAT important. Never click or open anything in an email you aren’t 100% sure about.
Keep private info private – This goes beyond just email. Never give out private information like your home address, phone number, birth date, and social security number in a communication exchange you didn’t initiate.
You didn’t win – There’s a reason you don’t remember entering that Euro Lottery you just won 143 million euro in… You didn’t enter. They just want your information to try and steal your identity.
Report abuse – Help out the rest of the Internet and forward these emails to the appropriate people. Many sites will have special emails for this. For example, phishing emails that target your PayPal account should get forwarded to spoof@paypal.com. Find out the right address and help stop the scammers.
Have you been the victim of any phishing scam or do you have another tip I may have missed? Drop a comment below and let me know. If you find this article helpful, tweet it or share this link on MySpace or Facebook: http://lnk.gd/qk.
UPDATE:
An email from Microsoft Customer Support showed up today. Here’s the important part:
I have closed the account supportteams2009@live.com that you reported, in accordance with our Terms of Use (TOU).
To view our rules and regulations, visit the following Web site:
http://help.live.com/help.aspx?project=tou&mkt=en-us
This is why you should report it. The scammer will surely find another email account to use, but for now, perhaps the account being closed has stopped the scammer from getting a few username/password combinations that were sent to him.
I love electronics. The problem is that they all suck up electricity like mad. There was a time when I would have several computers running all through the night. These days, I’m much more aware of energy concerns and try to be more responsible with my usage. Having a huge electric bill is no fun either. That’s why I was pleased to get this little device in the mail.
Vampire Power
The TV TrickleSaver from TrickleStar is a little device that sits between your TV and its power source to stop it from slowly using power throughout the night when it would normally be in standby mode. This standby power is also called vampire power because your devices sit there all night sucking up power. The goal is to stop those power-sucking devices, be more green, and put a little green back in your pocket. But does it work?
Installing TV TrickleSaver
I really shouldn’t use that word, installing. You don’t install a TrickleSaver any more than you would install your dirty laundry in the washer. You just plug the TrickleSaver into the wall (or surge protector in my case) and then plug your TV into the TrickleSaver. It also has a secondary (”slave”) outlet for plugging in an accessory device like a game system or DVD/VCR/Bluray player. On the end opposite the power outputs they’ve placed the Trimmer, which adjusts the threshold (watts of the master device) at which devices switch on and off. The instructions point out a couple very important things. First, you probably don’t need to mess with the Trimmer. It tells you to just try it out first and see if it works at its current setting, and it did for me. This is a big plus because most people don’t want to have to figure out wattage and experiment. If it doesn’t work right off the bat, you can just adjust and test. The second important setup note is about what devices to use with it. Of course, you want toplug in your TV, but which of your accessories? It warns against plugging in devices with hard drives in them. I’d worry that it would interrupt nighttime recording of shows on my DVR, anyway, so I left the DVR alone. I would suggest plugging in some other accessory as the slave. Once everything is plugged in, your done.
My experiences
As a test, I hooked up my TV and XBox. Unfortunately, I don’t have a meter to watch the electricity usage change on the spot, but my TV is relatively new, so it has a power button that is always lit up. It’s as if it’s constantly reminding me of my power consumption. I set it all up and turned off the TV and off went the power switch light, too. Great. So it works, but what about the hassle of having that in the way and installing? As I mentioned above, the setup is pretty simple, so that’s not a problem for me. It’s doesn’t really get in the way, either. It has a couple mounting holes on the back, so you could put a couple screws in the wall and mount it if you want. Personally, I don’t like to mount stuff any more than necessary. I prefer to just let it sit behind everything else. It’s not tiny, but it’s not so big that it can’t be tucked behind your A/V components.
Being and saving green
This is all about being green for the environment and saving a few bucks while you’re at it. Even the packaging says “Save Electricity. Save $$$. Save Earth.”(tm). I’m sure the first thing you want to know is “how much?”. That was my first question. Luckily, they have a handy little savings calculator. I punched in my TV (42″ LCD), and my XBOX. Then it asked how many hours a day my TV is on during the week (6) and on weekends (8) which I entered and the gears started turning. After some calculation, TrickleStar says I’ll save 1198 kWh and 789 kg CO2 per year. Not bad, but what about my wallet? Here’s the part that surprised me a bit. It says I’ll save almost $180 a year. Of course, that depends on my energy costs from my provider, but even if that’s off by a little, that’s great for a device that costs just under $20.
Conclusions
This was one of those devices that left me checking the site for similar products. I am contemplating picking up another one for the other TV for another $100 or so a year in savings. Paying around $20 once to save upwards of $100 a year is a no-brainer and it helps you be more green. If you’re looking to lower your carbon footprint and your electric bill at the same time, this is a great way to do it.
While routinely digging through the iPhone App Store to see what new treasures I might find, I came across an application called ZipCar. I was curious, so I read the description and learned of a different kind of rental car company. ZipCar rents by the hour and you never have to see another human being to get a car. Not only that, but you can unlock the car from your iPhone? This, I had to see. After a couple emails last week, my shiny new ZipCard arrived in the mail and I was ready for a review.
No paperwork or people
We all need human interaction at times, but there are some times where it just seems unnecessary. Renting a car isn’t always one of those times, but ZipCar seems to have thought through some extra details to help get people renting without a lot of human interface. There’s a couple ways to do it. The first, of course, is the web site. It’s pretty simple to use, but the part I enjoyed the most was the fact that I didn’t have to read through tons of fine print to rent a car. I didn’t have to sign 15 things either. In fact, I didn’t touch one piece of paper throughout the whole process, which I think is part of what ZipCar is trying to accomplish for the environment. They even tell you to not bother with a receipt for the gas.
The second way to reserve a car is via new iPhone app, and it’s smooth. This was how I reserved my car. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that I found myself on a screen with a time and date (current time/date) selected for the reservation and I had to back track a bit to find where to change it. The idea is that you’re walking up to the car, reserving in on the spot, but for me, this was a bit of a pain. Other than that one glitch, it was very fast and intuitive. I was able to find and reserve a car near me in about 2 minutes.
Cost and availability
Let’s talk about the cost first, because it can be much better than a standard rental, depending on your needs. When you start out, it’s $25 to apply and $50 per year, but the cost can go up depending on the plan you want. I think the one I chose would work for most people. The rates start at $8/hour or $66/day and go up. It sounds much better when you throw in the free gas and insurance. That covers 180 miles per day, even if you only rent for an hour. ZipCars become cost effective when you just want to move some furniture for a couple hours or just need to run an errand that you can’t do with public transit. The short term rentals are key here.
While it looks like there’s still some cities ZipCar needs to hit, there’s plenty already covered and they’ve made a really important strategic move connecting with the universities. I had a few location choices for my reservation and I went with the ASU West campus. I don’t think there’s a lot to choose from, depending on location. It looked like ASU West may have only had a couple cars and I imagine other locations (like ASU in Tempe) would have several more based on more need. In any case, I didn’t have any problem getting the car I wanted on the day and time I wanted with just two days notice.
The little details Those who read this blog often know that I’m a fan of companies who pay attention to the little things that make an experience perfect. ZipCar has won me over in this area with some small details. One of these is the text and email notification system. Email is pretty standard, but I have the option to have a text reminder sent to my phone a half hour before the reservation start time and more importantly, another a half hour before the car is due back. And you can reply to those texts to extend your reservation, cancel it, etc. They really seem to be working hard so you don’t have to.
They want you to play, too. Sure, you could unlock the car with the card, but if you could do it with your phone instead, over the Internet, you know you would. I couldn’t resist. It didn’t seem to work if the car was left alone for a long time, but if you just left it and went back for something, you could use your iPhone to unlock it. In my case, it didn’t work to unlock the car when I came out from and hour or so lunch, but when I had just stopped over at my dad’s and he walked over to poke around in it, I was able to unlock the car (and lock it again) from my phone. The horn option was fun a couple times, but then it’s just a little annoying to run around honking it all day.
ZipCar in action
Yes, I said free gas If you watched the embedded video above, you may have seen one of my favorite parts of my experience with my ZipCar. I rolled up to a gas station and put gas in the car without spending any of my own money on it. Every ZipCar comes with a gas card and it work unlike any credit card I’m used to using. The card is inserted like a credit card and the system asks for your ZipCard number. You enter that and then the car’s mileage when prompted and it lets you fuel up. Where does the bill go? Who cares. I don’t have to pay to put gas in the car before I drop it off, so I’m happy.
Conclusions
ZipCar is awesome. I loved the free gas, the availability, and the iPhone app, but what really stood out was the all-digital rental experience that left me with no arguments, headaches, lines, hold time, or miscommunications. Instead, I was left with a fast reservation at a good price and that goes a long way. I definitely recommend grabbing a ZipCar if you find yourself in need of wheels for a short period.
