Don’t let poor performance leave you stranded: Behind Zipcar’s Black Friday outage

On Black Friday 2024, Zipcar faced a severe technical issue that disrupted its app and website services, leaving countless customers stranded and frustrated. Users reported being unable to unlock cars, make reservations, or even retrieve belongings from rented vehicles. The fallout and backlash have been widespread, with many taking to social media to voice their frustrations with the platform.

According to 404 Media, one user posted on Instagram, “Rented a car and went to buy a quick drink at the store and all of the sudden the car is locked. I’ve been waiting over 4 hours in the cold. No help whatsoever, different answers and stuck waiting for an hour to speak with someone and no help. All my things inside, even my house keys and no way of getting them. This is so crazy and frustrating.” Another customer lamented missed appointments due to system failures.

Since then, Zipcar acknowledged the technical issues and assured users that its teams were working on a fix. However, for many customers, the damage was already done. The incident is yet another highlight of the importance of robust digital systems, especially during high-demand periods, and right after the commotion caused by the poor streaming performance of the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight just the week before.

So, what exactly happened?

Digital service providers like Zipcar must deliver seamless user experiences to maintain trust and satisfaction. A failure of this magnitude exposes critical vulnerabilities, so what caused users to be unable to use or unlock their retail vehicles? Based on a response from a Zipcar representative:

“During part of Friday afternoon, we experienced a rare outage related to increased site traffic and SMS requests to authenticate log in. SMS requests were delayed due to cellular network congestion, which intensified as users repeatedly requested authentication. For a small percentage of our members who were not already logged into our mobile app, this resulted in login difficulties, impacting their reservations. While this issue is resolved, we are also working to prevent it from reoccurring.”

Zipcar’s troubles, just like Netflix’s, serve as a reminder that interrupted or slowed service to a small fraction of users (the percentage of users that reported issues with Netflix’s streaming the fight was just 0.14%) can cause media attention, lower user satisfaction, and tarnish a brand. Especially today, when users are incredibly sensitive to even the slightest lag on whatever application or device they are using.

What can brands do to prevent performance issues from occurring in the future?

As Zipcar starts working on preventing situations like this from happening, one thing is clear: All this is often avoidable through proper performance testing. By adopting and moving towards continuous performance testing, companies can ensure their systems and applications –– especially critical, customer-facing applications – are robust, scalable, and capable of withstanding peak traffic conditions. With continuous performance testing, companies can:

• Detect bottlenecks early: Catching performance problems during development avoids costly fixes post-deployment.
• Develop scalability confidence: Regular testing validates that systems can handle increased loads as user bases grow or during unexpected scenarios.
• Deliver seamless user experiences: By maintaining consistent performance under varying conditions, companies can uphold trust and satisfaction.

In the meantime, Zipcar is offering remediation to affected users, with a company rep stating that “responses have varied by case but include refunding reservations, providing driving credit for future trips, and refunding alternate transportation.” But for many, this might not be enough due to the inconvenience already incurred and the long time it will take to receive refunds.

Looking ahead and preparing for the next Black Friday

The Zipcar Black Friday 2024 incident serves as a cautionary tale for all digital service providers. In a world where user expectations for seamless experiences are higher than ever, adequate and continuous performance testing is no longer optional. By adopting continuous testing practices and leveraging tools like Tricentis NeoLoad, companies can prevent outages, ensure reliability, and protect their reputations. For Zipcar, the path forward lies in learning from this experience and ensuring its systems can meet future challenges and demands with confidence.