Self -proof | Why does Communauto have its services now during the day?

Communauto will soon charge its customers’ trips on a daily basis, and no longer monthly, as it was still the case for many users. The company says it proceeds to better manage its volume of calls, but also to prevent cases of fraud and increase its liquidity in passing.

“We want to inform you of an upcoming change in our billing process,” you can read in an email sent this week to members of the self-sharing company.

The said message specifies that to “harmonize” its billing practices, it will be daily for all vehicles from July 2. This has already been the case since this spring for Flex cars – which can be taken directly in the street – and this will now be the case for the vehicle park reserved in advance. Other provinces, including Ontario, have already started this transition.

In telephone interview, Communauto vice-president Marco Viviani explains that the decision is based on several factors.

“One of the main reasons is that when you charge in the month, you have a peak in calls that follows the sending of invoices for a few days. People call to understand, make adjustments. It’s normal, but it really represents a lot of work and it affects all of our operations. ”

Ultimately, “Customer service is then often busy responding to that than in the rest,” he says. We had to review the formula to better identify our internal resources ”.

Prevent fraud

In addition to internal reasons, fraud is one of the causes that prompted Communauto to review its invoicing in the last months, malicious practices being easier to detect on a daily basis than on a monthly basis.

“It has already happened that someone leaves three weeks with a vehicle, for example, which has thousands of kilometers and which, afterwards, does not pay. Then we cannot get the money because we realize that the card was usurped or stolen, ”explains Mr. Viviani on this subject.

With daytime billing, “the worst that can happen is that you lose income over 24 hours”. “And above all, we can block the journey if we see fraud behaviors, or call to see what is the problem if it is a long journey. In short, it gives us more room for maneuver, ”notes the vice-president.

The ultimate and last reason, he says, is liquidity. “It is more an advantage than a cause, but it is sure that it will help. One of the big spending of the year for us is the flex vignettes, ”continues Mr. Viviani.

He stresses that the vignettes payment system was designed for individuals who have one or two cars, three at most. “The citizen will pay $ 100 per car, on average. We have almost 3000 vehicles and pay $ 900 each year for each of them with our type of sticker. It’s been more than 2 million, and we have to pay all that suddenly, ”he notes.

Mr. Viviani assures that the measure also has no connection with the arrival of a new competitor, Leo Autopartage, which invoices per minute, at the time or day.

Useful details

In principle, all journeys will be invoiced per working day from July 2. If you book a car for a long time, you should have a more precise idea of ​​the daily cost of using service, depending on the mileage traveled and the journey time.

“However, we must temporarily suspend daily billing in certain situations,” admits Communauto in his opinion to members, citing for example public holidays.

In these cases which promise to be rather exceptional, the pending journeys will be grouped and taken from the credit card in one go during the next day.

Note, finally: other transactions, such as invoicing of packages, deductibles or tickets, will always be deducted monthly. This practice “will remain in force until further notice,” said the company.