RECEPTIONIST (Australian): Sydney Autoshare. How may I help you?
WOMAN (Australian): Hello. I was recommended to your company by a friend of mine, and would like to ask you a few questions.
RECEPTIONIST: By all means.
WOMAN: First of all, I’m fairly new to the idea of a car cooperative. Could you just brief me on the basics?
RECEPTIONIST: I’d be happy to. The gist of it is that we provide cars for self-service use so that you don’t have to own one. It saves you the hassle and expense of purchasing and maintaining a vehicle, and is better for the environment as well.
WOMAN: How do you mean?
RECEPTIONIST: Um, the environmental bit?
WOMAN: Yeah.
RECEPTIONIST: Oh, well, people who belong to car cooperatives tend not to drive as much as people with their own cars. So, they contribute fewer carbon emissions on average.
WOMAN: I see. But isn’t it also less convenient to go the car cooperative route? I mean, you’d have to travel just to get to a car, right?
RECEPTIONIST: That’s a common misconception, but in fact we have cars located within a three-block radius of any point in the city.
WOMAN: Wow, that’s impressive. And I can just go pick one up at any time?
RECEPTIONIST: More or less, yes. You have to first check online to make sure there’s a car available at the pick-up/drop-off spot nearest you, but since we keep 2 to 3 of our 300 cars at every spot, that’s rarely a problem.
WOMAN: Um, do you have to return the car to the same place you pick it up from?
RECEPTIONIST: Nope. The beauty of our system is that you can bring the car to any of our designated spots within the greater Sydney metropolitan area.
WOMAN: Great. Um, this might be a dumb question, but…
RECEPTIONIST: No, please, ask away.
WOMAN: Is it the same key for every car?
RECEPTIONIST: That’s a very common question, actually. The cars open and are operated with a card system, actually. No keys involved.
WOMAN: That’s so high-tech!
WOMAN: So, how does the payment work?
RECEPTIONIST: If you want to use our cars you first have to sign up for a membership plan. With some of the plans you pay per use, and with others you pay per use in addition to a monthly fee.
WOMAN: Why would I pay a monthly fee if I can just pay per use?
RECEPTIONIST: The plans that include monthly fees have lower per-use rates. So if you are going to drive a lot, you’d want a plan with a monthly fee.
WOMAN: Oh, OK. I wouldn’t be using the cars very often. How much does your most basic plan cost?
RECEPTIONIST: That would be the Starter Plan. There’s no monthly fee, although there is a $49 joining charge. Then it’s $9.90 per hour in addition to $0.40 per kilometer.
WOMAN: Are there discounted daily rates?
RECEPTIONIST: Why yes. The daily rate is $89 and includes 150 kilometers. Additional kilometers cost $0.25 each.
WOMAN: Sounds reasonable to me. How do I register for a membership plan?
RECEPTIONIST: Ah. You just go online, fill out the application form, and then we’ll get back to you within 3 business days.
WOMAN: Fantastic. And about how long until I’ll be able to start using the cars?
RECEPTIONIST: You usually receive your access card in the mail within two weeks of the application being processed.
WOMAN: I’ll take care of that today.
RECEPTIONIST: If you give me your full name, I’ll make sure that you receive a 10% discount on your joining fee for calling in today.
WOMAN: Really? Thanks! My name is Sandra Wallace. W-A-L-L-A-C-E.
RECEPTIONIST: OK Sandra, I’ll make sure to enter the discount into our system. Can I help you with anything else?