BIG fan of Skurt. I first used it three months ago in LA shortly after their stealthy launch. Barack on their team picked me up at LAX, drove me to my car mins away, and handed me the keys within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport. A month later I rented a car in Avis (because Skurt isn't yet available in SF) and waited over an hour just to get my car. Apparently reserving a car weeks in advance doesn't help. 😤
I've spoken with @apcommunicate, @joshmangel, @harryhur5t, and team about their longer term plans to build an on-demand car rental service, everywhere. Like Uber when it first launched, it sounds "magical" but I have honest reservations on the business model. Question for the team: Are there enough people renting vehicles and can you offer this type of service at a competitive prices sustainably?
@rrhoover I'm with you on the on-demand experience for car rental vs. an Avis. Despite having Avis Preferred and other top tier status with the other companies, I don't think the service experience will compare. Avis may have bought Zipcar, but I don't see them trying to replicate Skurt anytime soon.
@kunalslab@rrhoover I agree Kunal. We've had a lot of customers come over to us from Hertz Gold/Avis Preferred who felt as if they just weren't getting 'Gold' or 'Preferred' service, the feedback from them has been overwhelmingly positive!
Hey hunters! Get $100 off the first time you use Skurt: http://www.skurtapp.com/?ref=pro...@rrhoover – Great questions! The rental car market is a $26.4B market in the US alone and growing. By not owning inventory or having physical infrastructure, we can focus solely on keeping prices competitive and our customer experience flawless. Additionally, we utilize excess inventory from our partners, allowing us to stay consistently competitive and pass even further savings onto our customers. We aren't trying to squeeze any unfair under 25 and gas fees from our customers like the big guys, rather build a brand that people can trust to offer them the best experience with fair prices, every time.
@joshmangel awesome concept, guys. are your partners existing rental car companies? have you convinced them to engage in revenue sharing with you in order to maximize their earnings from unused inventory? if so, just wondering how you've convinced them that this wouldn't cause cannibalization. best of luck and great launch!
@paul_hq@joshmangel - Another great question! We currently partner with independent rental car companies to help maximize overall fleet utilization. Our partners consider it another distribution platform for them which allows them to earn on units sitting without potentially affecting their brand.
@rrhoover thank you for posting us, we're having an amazing day with you guys, and thank you all for the upvotes!
I'd be interested to know from the PH community what specific pain points they hate most about traditional car rental?
Also, would you guys benefit (in some cases) from having the car delivered right to your hotel, airbnb or home?
@harryhur5t Absolutely! I was in Austin a few months ago and was thinking about on demand car rentals as I was staying at a house nowhere near any major public transportation routes.
I noticed these small Car2Go cars parked on some of the side streets as I walked around and thought that this seemed like a good idea. I decided to jump on their website on my phone, to see if I could jump into one of these cars right away.
Turns out I couldn't. I would actually need to visit a Car2Go office and verify my Driver's license and perhaps sign something. Problem was it was the weekend and the office was closed.
First off, hats off to you guys for making the on boarding as smooth as you did. Being able to scan in my license and bypass the bullshit really is fantastic.
I noticed right now local pick up is understandably near LAX. I honestly think if you can get a car to me anywhere in cities like Austin or LA where public transport is still figuring things out, you'll have a lifetime customer in me.
Simply having the car delivered really makes your service a much more enticing option to something like ZipCar.
Finally good job on making the insurance pricing clear as day through the booking process. Often the most intimidating part of renting a car is trying to decide what coverage to get while the rental agent tries to up sell you.
One question, if you elect to forgo coverage because you have car insurance that covers car rentals and get into an accident. Does Skurt charge any penalties while you are getting the car repaired?
One other thought. Any plans on offering pickup trucks or small moving vans down the line? Would love to be able to grab a Tacoma to pick up some wood from the lumber yard for the day.
@rustydingo that sounds like an awful experience! We are, in fact delivering locally in LA by request and plan to roll it out to other major cities soon. SF is next.
With regards to the insurance, there are no penalties, your insurance should cover everything - and if it doesn't we have some options for you at the lowest prices in the industry!
We certainly plan to expand our categories as we grow, stay tuned!
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