FLEXCARJACKED

TO ERICA C. BARNETT: I, too, am upset and sad at the merger of Flexcar with Zipcar ["Car Trouble," Feb 28]. I knew it was coming and felt helpless to stop it. The weekend of the "merger," my parents flew into Seattle from New York. It was a great weekend to show off Seattle! The weather was crisp but sunny, a big change from the teens and snow of upstate New York, and Mom and Dad loved their first visit here... but when it came time for me to drive them around this wonderful city, Zipcar dropped the ball. I was in Pioneer Square after the three of us had finished the Underground Tour and called Flexcar to get a car to take us over to West Seattle to watch the sunset. Flexcar told me that I had to call Zipcar. Great. I called Zipcar only to be told that they had zero cars available in Seattle. ZERO. A little upset, we took a cab back to Queen Anne to their hotel and I ran a few blocks over to my apartment only to see, lo and behold, a Flexcar parked on my street! I logged onto the website (Flexcar) and saw that all reservations for all the cars in Seattle were blocked. Fuck this! I grabbed my Flexcar card and held it over the sensor, and it worked! I sped off to pick up the 'rents, took them to West Seattle, sat in the horrid Beach Drive traffic, and had a pint at the Celtic Swell. Good old Flexcar....

Jesse B.

ZIP IT

TO ERICA: Thanks for the article on the Flexcar/Zipcar merger. As a member of Flexcar, now Zipcar, I have a few comments.

There is an inaccuracy in your story: The minimum time for a reservation on Zipcar is one hour, but after that you can book in half-hour increments.

Also, Flexcar was not all that. At times, trying to get through to a live person was extremely difficult (though free) and on a couple of occasions that caused me to waste time either during or after my reservation to report existing vehicle damage. Flexcar eventually failed on their promise to keep the cars stocked with logs for this type of thing, so if you really cared about reporting damage, it got so that you had to call them and wait in long call queues to do it.

Although Zipcar raised the hourly rates and has a more expensive minimum-driving plan, you glossed over the most critical cost issue facing current Zipcar members, which is the recent imposition of the Washington car-rental sales tax on car-sharing services. Any car-sharing company will face deep challenges with consumers unless the state does more to alleviate this unfair taxation on the users of the service, the few Seattle citizens who are willing to change their lifestyles to keep cars off the road in our city.

Jim Carnicom

PITTS

ERICA BARNETT: I am so glad you wrote this article. I don't know how many members Flexcar had here in Pittsburgh, but I have also had a poor experience with them and won't be renewing my membership, either. I had free Flexcar for life because I used the cars often enough (more than two times per year), but now I have to pay $50 dollars plus the high cost of the car, AND if there is a traffic tie-up get fined? Screw that. I wish we could publish your article here.

Caitlin Lenahan

DEAD, DEADLIER, DEADLIEST

TO THE EDITOR: Courtney Nash wrote in "Final Tracks" [Feb 28]: "This has been the deadliest avalanche season in Washington State history since 11 climbers were killed in a single accident on Mt. Rainier in 1981." I realize that a reporter is only as good as his or her source. However, this is incorrect, or you are not being specific enough.

The deadliest avalanche in both American and Washington history was in 1910, and it killed 90-plus people in Stevens Pass. Check out the snowshed and memorial at the town site of Wellington, below the summit, for physical evidence of this forgotten piece of Washington history. And if you are narrowing your figure to the deadliest avalanche for outdoor sports, then be more specific.

For the entire story on the 1910 avalanche, read Gary Krist's excellent book The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche.

Emily Pfeifer

HOLD TIGHT

TO THE EDITOR: Any chance you can bring back Kelly O's porn column? It was one of the best things about your paper.

Dmitri