PhillyCarShare's Downward Spiral
Above is a photo from one of my first reservations as a member of PhillyCarShare 3 years ago in the summer of 2006. Wow has a lot changed since I took that photo. Two months after that photo was taken, I was working at 50th St & Baltimore Ave on the 3rd floor of the firehouse for PCS. I toiled away doing more than my share (and my boss's share and his boss's share) of 70 hour weeks, 7 days a week (all for no overtime!). One day after my yearly review, I quit because I was treated like shit. In the last roughly 2 years since I've left PCS, they've been treating their customers like shit in addition to their staff which is a shame. I felt the need to write this post after reading my friend Roz's post about why she's done with PCS and numerous complaints about PCS buzzing through my tiwtter. You can see all twitter comments with "phillycarshare" here. As you can see, nothing positive to be said in a bit. Oh, and the @phillycarshare account has been a FAQ on how to not effectively use twitter as a company.
So, I saw the guts of PCS for a year; fuck it, I basically was the guts of PCS for a year. I still know people toiling away in there. For one reason or another, they're still there dealing with this shit. If there were more jobs available out there, I'm sure they wouldn't be. I worked in the Marketing Department, but I did everything. I set up events. I planned events. I worked events. I did customer service. I fixed people's computers in-house. I took over the old website. I set up mobile devices to sync email. I did some car maintenance. I took photos at events. I did final layout and some design work for printed and web material. I managed the newsletter. I even had to do some investigating to find evidence to get a co-worker fired (which was actually my direct boss's job, but he didn't know how to do it so guess who did it!).
While I was there, I believe membership grew 7 fold to 30k or something. I'm not sure what they're saying the official number is now, but months back, they were touting a number somewhere around 50k or something. With all the culling of their rolls, don't believe the hype of the numbers. While I was there, I also managed to get my director fired. It was no small feat. It took the better part of 6 months. She was not the right person for the non-profit gig she signed up for. Money wasn't spent wisely in many places. But all that is petty shit really (except for poor monetary decisions), when you see how PCS is treating their customers.
It was almost all okay as long as the shit happening behind the big magic curtain didn't have any repercussions to the end user. But the shit has certainly been hitting the fan, or in their case, the near-silent, regenerative-breaking powered, gas-electric hybrid engine of the Toyota Prius (different from the old skool original Prius at the top of the post).
A flurry of confusing emails have been sent out from PCS to it's members. A longtime ago, they sent out an email about how the gas card system was changing over to a universal number, 0988, so you didn't have to punch in your own PIN each time you filled up your car. Why? Who the fuck knows, but that lead to a shitload of gas being stolen. I wonder why: NO ACCOUNTABILITY. And what was their solution? Remove all gas cards from the cars and you'd have to pay for gas yourself and then email/fax/mail in the receipt for reimbursement. How about going back to a PIN system where gas purchases could very easily be linked to a PIN and time of usage + reservation? I'm 99% sure that was within the capabilities of the back end database they used at the time.
Rates have gone up and down and up again. To the end user, all this price changing looks arbitrary and idiotic; symptomatic of a company that doesn't know what it's doing and not like a multi-million dollar company handling a fleet of cars used by the staff of 5th largest city in the US and 30k other people. Of note, PCS lost their city contract a year and change ago when ZipCar came to town. If I recall correctly, PCS's daily rates changed a bunch. Their insomniac rate was removed and recently, brought back, but under a different rate.
Recently, they cleaned a shitload of house by culling their rolls of people who hadn't used the system in x months. What the exact timeframe for lack of use or amount of money spent in a timeframe was, I have no idea. But people were just cut. I don't think real reasons were given as to why this was happening.
But then just last week, PCS dropped the biggest bomb: they were dropping their Basic Freedom plan. The email sent out to Basic Freedom members started off like this:
Rate Plan Change to Benefit You: Please read on…
Benefit, eh? The Basic Freedom plan started over 3 years ago after the company had grown enough to no longer need a large cash deposit (was it $250 per person? I forget). People were given one week to cancel their membership or automatically be bumped up to the, formerly, Advantage Plan which costs $15/mo; now it's the only plan which they're calling the Philadelphia Plan as if there's a Manhattan Plan, Chicago Plan or otherwise? Is there a need to call it a plan if there's only one?
Why is PCS doing all this? Simply, it's a money thang. Bigger picture? Seems like their mismanagement has finally caught up to them; it's been a long time coming. It hurts a little bit to write this, but I've seen the writing on the wall for a good long time. I left PCS 2 years ago without a job and no prospects other than a growing photo business (which thankfully grew quite a bit in the last 2 years!). I couldn't take it there anymore.
While it may seem that the "free" members don't cost PCS money, they do. It's 50k, or whatever their number is now, people covered under their fleet insurance. That's a shitload of insurance. Each one has $1M liability coverage. Yes, they're not paying the same amount as a single person would pay for private insurance, but that's a whole lot of cheddar to carry on their books each quarter. Gas prices have gone up and come back down. However, the mileage rate, which was once I believe 9¢/mi is now 22¢/mi, has not come down nor, from what I can see in my email inbox, have they explained why it will or won't come down after the price of gasoline has normalized (I'll digress for a second and state that the unnaturally low price of government subsidized gasoline in America is a luxury we won't have soon. We should be paying something closer to $8/gal to truly pay for gas and simultaneously change driving habits).
All this hasn't effectively been told to the end user. But I just did. There you go, that's a lot of why shit has happened. There are other reasons I know of, but I could probably be sued for talking about them in a public forum like this here blog of mine. PCS has an email list of something like 50k members, but information is sporadic, disorganized and unclear. It has roughly 400 cars out there where information can be disseminated. It has access to a [currently] free social networking system, twitter, which companies like Comcast has used incredibly effectively, to critical acclaim you might say; but they choose to make it a one-way conversation, a shitty one at that.
There will be an end to PCS's downward spiral and it can have a few endings. 1) PCS's mistakes catch up to them so bad that they're fully in the red with no sign of coming back to black and a wonderful, local, non-profit project started by 5 UPenn graduates with a dream ends. 2) ZipCar gives them an offer they can't refuse and the Board of Directors, which has had it's own issues, takes it and runs for the hills. 3) PCS somehow, (perhaps by hiring my ass as an expensive consultant, heh) turns their money hemorrhaging ship around and does more than limp along.
I don't want to see PCS fail. I'm seriously rooting for them. I'm not giving up my Advantage Philadelphia Plan in solidarity for my now maligned Basic Freedom cousins. But how long can you root for a team which seems to be sabotaging itself? If my former co-workers are reading this, and I hope you are: I feel for you and you know who you are. There are greener pastures out there, but if you want to stay with this ship and believe that it can be turned around right, more power to you. But damn, shit looks bad from the outside now and that wasn't the case when I left.
Around the time I left, PCS had roughly 40 people on staff. About a quarter of them left within 3 months before and after my final notice. Many more were fired or left since.
Worst case scenario: Could PCS could be gone by the end of the year? I guess I'd have to join ZipCar in that case as I rely on PCS for those every once in awhile times I need me a car to go do stuff. I'd rather not like to be forced to do that. I hope the good times I remember as an employee helping to make PCS what it once was don't all end up in the shitter. I'm rooting for you PCS, but you have to root for me a little bit too every now and again. You talk a lot about community building, but it's been more like an abusive relationship for most members as of late.
Elsewhere:
stellargirl: why i'm done with PhillyCarShare
Philebrity: Repo Men, Shady Charges, And Mass Confusion: Philly Car Share’s Season In Hell
Tim's posterous: A Member's Letter to Philly Car Share
as seen through my eyes: They raised their rates, and???
Phillyist: It was good while it lasted
bits and pieces: My correspondence with PhillyCarShare
Philebrity: Emails From The Dead: The Offending (Apparently Very Offending) Philly Car Share Sheisty-Missive
The Illadelph: Philly Car Share Shits Bed, Eliminates Free Membership Plans
twitter: phillycarshare
The full contents of the email via Roz
From: PhillyCarShare
Date: Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Subject: Important News Regarding your PhillyCarShare Account
To: Basic Freedom Plan member
Rate Plan Change to Benefit You: Please read on…
PhillyCarShare is pleased to announce that we're simplifying car sharing in Philadelphia!
Starting May 1st, we will streamline our offerings into one plan, the Philadelphia Plan, which will give every residential member access to the lowest PhillyCarShare hourly rates. The monthly fee will be $15 and the hourly rates will range from $3.55 to $8.55, with the continued monthly 5 cent reduction in the hourly rate through July 2009. All current Basic Freedom members will be converted to this new membership plan on April 30th, when the first of your $15 monthly membership fees will be charged to your credit card.
With the significantly lower hourly rates available in your new plan, you will have access to the lowest hourly rates on the largest fleet with the most locations in Philadelphia.
If you have any questions, please call our Member Services folks at 215-730-0988, ext. 5. If you would prefer to pay all at once, we will provide a 30% discount on the monthly fees; you should mention "Coupon Philadelphia" to the Member Services associate, who will then charge you $125 for a 12 month membership.
If you have any concerns, please call Member Services at 215-730-0988, ext. 5. If this plan is not for you, then please use the link below by April 30th, 2009 to cancel your PhillyCarShare membership and avoid being charged the $15 May membership fee.
With rate simplification and the most extensive network of vehicles and neighborhoods, we are solidifying the fact that PhillyCarShare is the most convenient choice for those short trips around the city.
Since we launched in 2002, Philadelphians have embraced car sharing because we're convenient, we make good sense for your wallet, and we're green. As the nonprofit car sharing company dedicated wholly to serving Philadelphia now and in the long-run, PhillyCarShare is, in fact, a plan for Philadelphia, creating a more sustainable future for this great city and playing a fun and convenient role in your life.
Explore posts in the same categories: Conservation, Me, Money Matters, Transportation, Work
April 27th, 2009 @ 9:55 am
"Recently, they cleaned a shitload of house by culling their rolls of people who hadn't used the system in x months. What the exact timeframe for lack of use or amount of money spent in a timeframe was, I have no idea."
It was for 12 consecutive months of non-use. I got ample warning, though- I got an email from them, saying that I had to either use the service at least once within one year, or I would be automatically unsubscribed at the end of the year. I actually had to use it twice this year, as we had gotten rid of one of our cars, so it worked out.
What else also worked out is that since I'm moving to DC, I'm going to use Zipcar anyway, so it was convenient to cancel my Philly CarShare membership and switch. Zipcar's plan is more expensive per mile, but there's no monthly/annual fee.
April 27th, 2009 @ 8:12 pm
Who's on their board? It's not really a very forthcoming website, as to both that information and as to cancellation of membership/
April 27th, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
I'm not sure how up to date it is, but according to this .pdf:
Eli Massar; Interim Executive Director [formerly of Mural Arts Program]
John McGee; Chair; Chief Officer, Revenue, Ridership, Marketing & Sales SEPTA
Patrick Fitzgerald; Co-founder & President RecycleBank
Jonathan H. Klein; Principal Harral-Winner-Thompson-Sharp-Klein
John Kuper; Principal Howard Fischer Assoc.
Linda J. Miller; Senior Dir, Facilities & Public Affairs PPA
Larry Shaeffer; President, Financial Services Shaeffer Enterprises
April 27th, 2009 @ 9:42 pm
I guess it is a little hard to compete with ZipCar in Philadelphia, when ZipCar's prices here are 30% lower than anywhere else in the US. Just a look at their website tells that story. It also is an open story that ZipCar is loosing ton's of money in Philladelphia because of PhillyCarShare.
ZipCar has a history of raising prices and pulling out vehicles once there is no competition. Look at the Fleck Car blogs after the buyout.
My hope is that PhillyCarSHare can stick it out. Without them I am sure ZipCar will raise their prise that 30% and with only 20% of the cars on the street it will be a real dogfight to make a reservation.
April 28th, 2009 @ 12:57 am
I've been a PCS member for over 5 years. For the first couple of years I used the service weekly, but my needs diminished after that.
I maintained my ($15/month) membership anyway, because I felt that I was supporting a good cause as well as to have a backup option for when I couldn't borrow a friend's car. When I got laid off last year, I switched to the free monthly plan.
It's worth noting that PCS started pissing me off a long time ago, beginning with the dissipation of my $350 deposit, continuing through the opaque and poorly handled firing of the founders, and then the December "reactivation" fee.
In addition to these membership issues, it is also clear that they made some very poor fleet purchasing and placement decisions.
Their fleet purchasing and placement locations should be based on usage patterns, not membership levels or geography. As such, the marginal cost of maintaining my membership (and that of other occasional users like me) should effectively be zero, whereas the revenue stream from such users should essentially be found money.
Furthermore, the variety of vehicle choices was absurdly broad, and that translates to actual higher costs, in terms of training, maintenance, parts etc. They should have maintained a maximum of 5 different vehicle types – one each of hybrid, convertible, luxury, economy and utility.
As others have mentioned, I might feel differently if PCS appealed to the community for support. I read the email shortly after it was sent on Friday and I was so angry that I purposely avoided responding until after the weekend. But I'm done until PCS management can convince me that they understand how to run such a business.
April 28th, 2009 @ 6:46 am
I use to work for PCS. They have been making these kind of decisions from the hip for awhile now (and I had fought against my entire time there). This is one of the things the new "upper management" slammed Tanya & Clayton for & swore would never happen again now that "they" were in charge. All they had to do was make this change take effect June 1, not May 1. Even if people didn't like the change they would have dealt with it… this just comes off as one more shady move.
April 28th, 2009 @ 8:16 am
Miss working with you Albert. PS: Someone had to say it. Thank you!
April 28th, 2009 @ 11:32 am
This is sad to hear about… although I've heard grumblings for a long time about the troubles there. Thanks for posting this.
My only question is why the continued loyalty? Based on what you've said here, it seems like they treated you and the customers like crap and have a pattern of mismanagement that doesn't seem to change with the leadership. Do you really think they can get better, or is this just an abusive relationship? Why should anyone believe things are going to change?
April 28th, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Just do the sensible thing and buy a small motorcycle or scooter. Problem solved, and a world of transportation adventure is open to you.
Stay home in the winter, that's where the heart is, baby.
April 28th, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Steve – If PCS is gone, then Zipcar has a monopoly in town and that's good for nobody. Prices will go up. PCS needs to clean house from the top down and then, things will get better. Maybe they won't though.
I've moved on and I'm not stupid angry at them like I used to be. I wasn't screwed over by this plan though, I'm on the pay plan already. Their patterns are predictable and I know how to get what I need out of the service.
May 4th, 2009 @ 1:00 pm
Does Philly Car Share charge a $2.00 car rental tax? I think I heard that recently.
May 7th, 2009 @ 7:49 am
I just realized that they started charging $15 a month. Oh well, as soon as it is 9AM, I will cancel my membership.
My overall experience has been good, but I don't want to pay a monthly fee for a car that I have as a backup.
July 14th, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Albert: Any word on PCS's community healing forum this Monday? PCS seems to need a lot of healing, and I wonder if the event did anything. Did the director take feedback well or just try to justify his actions?
July 29th, 2009 @ 1:41 am
I just canceled my membership of PhillyCarShare. I had a problem in the past with them with a specific person, but had decided to give them another chance. This time, however, what happened was so disturbing that this is it. When I tried to return the car about 11:00 pm to its location -a single parking space on the street- the parking space was occupied. I immediately called and was connected to a pleasant person who said for me to leave the car in any nearby available legal parking space and to phone them back to tell them where. There was a parking space the other side of the street. Like all parking spaces in the area (and in center city) there is a time restriction for non"sticked" residents- it's only unrestricted from 9:00pm to 9:00 am, (which is actually better than than most others). I phoned back as I walked home and spoke to a 2nd person (with whom in the past I also had an interaction problem). She tells me that if the car gets tickets after 9:00 am next day I will pay for them otherwise I have to find an unrestricted parking space. As I explained to her there are NO unrestricted parking spaces except for those residents with a sticker and that in any case my reservation had concluded . The car was no longer managed by me, but by Phillycarshare. She insisted and insisted there were unrestricted parking spaces on a nearby street (which I knew was not true) and I was already near home where my child was expecting me and walked/ran back to the dark street that she mentioned near their dedicated parking space. Of course, she was wrong but had insisted.. She also told me that I was responsible for the car till the end of the reservation though I had dropped it before my reservation time and had informed Phillycarshare by phone. During all this time, frustrated (wouldn't you?) and walking fast I was trying to explain over and over again that there are no unrestricted parking spaces . When I arrived to the mentioned street and back to the car (it's the same location) a gangster like person was in his car occupying Phillycarshare space and I had to confront said person and ask him to leave. This was not terrible safe specially since this Phillycarshare space is just across from a congregation of homeless and crazy and all the business had already closed on the block . So Phillycarshare was asking me repeatedly to provide them with the impossible (an unrestricted parking space) and put my safety at risk by insisting a unrestricted parking space could be found on a nearby dark street (not true at all). The Phillycarshare person wasn't interested in any solution that meant that they had to manage the situation, the car and its parking space. I asked if the space was not going to available for 3 days because of other cars occupying it would I be expected to pay tickets or babysit the car (and move it every 2 hours to a different block) until the space was vacant ?. Or should I sit in the car and send spies to tell me when the space is vacant? The absurdity of Phillycarshare position and its demands that the impossible be obtained and that the member should be responsible for the car and stay in it presumably (how else?) for as long as necessary to obtain the dedicated parking space is only matched by its nastiness and complete ignorance of their own rules-they charged me for the time to get to the street of their choice on foot (with the wrong info) and the time that I took to put the car back in its proper place and still gave me a lecture on the delights of a membership which apparently requires that Phiilycarshare member is responsible for managing cars and parking spaces after their reservations expired. According to her a member has such duties. Well, no longer. Phillycar share will not get me to manage their cars. I was a monthly member when no such thing was required. I was a very good member. What bad management and what terrible membership interaction. Nothing has changed since their last survey.
March 12th, 2010 @ 10:39 am
I closed my PCS membership today. HORRIBLE experience and HORRIBLE customer service. After 30 minutes on the phone with them, they determined the car I was in was DEAD. I was late for an important meeting. Customer service follow up was sorely lacking – and they didn't do anything to keep me as a customer. Then, they hit me with extra fees. I'm done with PCS and will warn as many people as I can not to deal with them. They are unrealiable and don't give a hoot about customer service.
December 29th, 2010 @ 6:05 pm
Massar is known to be a troubled and troublesome little man.
March 3rd, 2011 @ 4:08 pm
Customer service at PCS is HORRIBLE! They auto-renewed me for another year, without contacting me. The last car I tried to rent wouldn't let me in. They were on the phone with me for 15minutes trying to get me into it. I was late for my appointment, so they sent me on a train/bus and walk for another car! Absolutely insane!!
And eventhough I told them I have not used their services since last November and am NOT happy with the availability in my neighborhood and that I DO NOT want to continue membership, it appears they have NO OPTIONS for reimbursement. So they've taken $125.00 out of my account and I am STUCK with another year of their shitty cars!
I am spreading the word… DO NOT JOIN PCS!!
June 14th, 2011 @ 12:36 am
I used to be a member of Philly Car Share until one fateful night when I had too much to drink and decided not to drive. Unfortunately, I also fell asleep without extending my rental. Although my car was rented from a parking lot with more than 10 PCS cars and an identical car that could have been used had I effected another user's reservation, Philly Car Share charged me over $300 in fees and refused to give me any kind of break for my error. When I mentioned this to a coworker, she boasted that she had once had a similar situation and was able to argue with customer service to get the fees waived. Moral of the story? You are better off driving drunk or being a complete dick to customer service in order to avoid getting charged an enormous fee. My credit report has an unpaid debt from Philly Car Share over $500 now. They will never be worth what they have cost me, and I will never stop advocating against their ridiculous "friendly" image.