[UPDATE: At about 4:30 p.m. the day this posted, I got an email from car2go telling me that they were crediting my account with 110 minutes. The email apologized for the delay, but did not explain what had caused it.]

[UPDATE (6/12/13): On my very next next car2go rental, either I failed to do a final card-swipe (or the reader failed to register it), and several hours of fees wiped out my new credits. The customer service agent told me I should have received a text when I ended my trip but no swipe occurred, which didn’t happen — although I always receive texts when I reserve a car. He thought that the overtime could be wiped out once the situation was reviewed, but as of this moment, car2go has simply eaten up the new credits and billed me for the overage.]

Everyone who tries car2go seems to love it — in principle. $0.38-per-minute, one-way trips, street parking included: What’s not to like? A few things, it turns out: cars that won’t go, cars that won’t let you leave, and “free” driving credits that fail to appear.

When I researched car2go, on their entry into Seattle, I found customers complaining mainly about technical glitches. But as car2go is a young company, it seemed reasonable to wait and watch as they upgraded. But though Seattle has turned into one car2go’s hottest markets — they’ve already boosted their fleet from 350 to 500 cars — their website, for instance, still stubbornly defaults to a view of Austin. When you visit, you’re asked if you’d like to set Austin as your default. If you choose not to, and choose your city, the site refuses to remember your choice. Well played, Austin.

Last month, after some heavy usage (I ran up $135 in mostly $5 to $8 trips, thanks in part to SIFF’s Capitol Hill and Queen Anne venues), I finally got the chance to experience an on-the-road glitch. A car2go I picked up near Columbia City kept balking during my login, not wanting to let me drive it off. I had to exit the car and end my nonexistent trip, then try to login again. Noting the gas gauge was at 1/4-tank when I started, I thought I’d fill ‘er up when I got back to the Hill. (Car2go offers you 20 free minutes if you fill up a car that’s below 1/4-tank.)

Back on Capitol Hill at the end of the trip, I tried to exit the car, but it refused to end my rental. I tried three times, hopping in and out of the car, then gave up and called it in. The car2go agent agreed something funny was going on, and ended my trip remotely, promising to credit me with a few minutes for my trouble. A few days later, I checked my account to see what my credit stood at. No credit visible, not for the check-out glitch, not for filling up.

I waited a few more days, still nothing. I called car2go to check on the free fill-up credit (thinking maybe the few minutes credit just wasn’t apparent to me), and the agent asked if I was sure the car was below 1/4-tank. It seemed logical to me to assume that it was, given that, at this point, I will never fill up a car2go again. He was going to look into it. No credit ever appeared.

Last week, after getting out of a late SIFF show on Queen Anne, I found the closest car2go was about half a mile away, down Denny on Minor. The 8 bus had of course left 3 minutes earlier and wasn’t due for another 27, so I decided to hoof it, but reserved the car first. When I arrived at Minor, I walked down the block on one side and back up the other, without spotting a car2go. The little dot glowed tantalizingly on my iPhone — I stood on top of it — but there was no car. I called in to see what the matter was, and after several minutes, the agent (looking at a different screen, obviously) located my car2go in Lincoln Towing’s impound lot.

“Does it look like it might have been parked illegally?” she asked. I could still see the phantom dot; if it was accurate, it was a 4-hour parking space. She located the nearest car, up on Capitol Hill on Bellevue. Walking 2/3 of my three-mile trip home didn’t seem like an acceptable substitute, so I asked for driving time credit instead. She told me she’d pass than along, and I’d get an email. It’s been a week: no credit, no email.

I’d be more perturbed by the fact that their GPS location is only pretending to be live, but I’m getting the sense that the company’s customer service is as glitchy as the cars. I’d be interested to hear if you’ve had similar problems.