A heap of broken ofo bikes.
Winter has come earlier than it did last year for bike sharing firms in Shanghai.
Ma Yibing, public relations executive of ofo in Shanghai has been busy in the past few days answering tricky questions from the media.
“We are not going bankrupt and our operation in Shanghai is fine,” said an exhausted Ma. “It was fake news.”
In October, mainstream Chinese media published a story saying ofo was close to bankruptcy. Denying bankruptcy rumors has become part of Ma’s regular monthly routine.
Several days ago, another story said ofo’s office in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province had been cleared out.
“We moved to another office building, and suddenly people started to wonder why we ‘fled,’” Ma said.
Despite all the rumors and counter rumors, ofo is having some rainy days. In June, the bike firm started to demand a 199 yuan (US$28) deposit from users. About the same time, its main rival Mobike waived its 299 yuan deposit.
Ren Fei didn’t delete the app as her boyfriend did because of the deposit, she continued to ride ofo bikes because they are easy to find in the street. But when her balance was used up last month, she decided to withdraw her deposit, and it took her more than two weeks to get her money back.
Accusations of ofo stalling on deposit refunds flooded social media, some saying they hadn’t received a refund almost a month after they asked for it.
The bike sharing firm said its refund process is operating normally.
It can take up to 15 days before users get their money back. The service hotline is also operating just fine, but people may have to dial more than once because they are short-handed.
“First three days, then seven, now 15 work days,” said Ren. “It‘s not very convincing just to say that our deposit is in safe hands.”
Ma told Shanghai Daily that for those who paid their deposit through Alipay, the refund process is fine. But for others, ofo will send them a message in the app if the refund is not successful after 15 work days.
“Users are asked to use their Alipay accounts so that the money can be returned there,” said Ma. “Many people don’t notice the message.”
A broken e-bike of Xiangqi is seen on the street.
Another bogged down bike sharing firm is Xiangqi. Again, it is about deposit refunds.
The headquarters of Xiangqi in Minhang District was packed with people asking for refunds on Friday, Wu Yu among them.
A month ago, he noticed the app asked for an update to turn his deposit into balance.
“The balance is not refundable,” said Wu. “I wasn’t using the app anymore, so I decided to get my 299 yuan deposit back.”
The app said Wu would get his money back within 15 days, but there he was at the doorstep of Xiangqi, with his money still stuck in the app a month later.
Everyone who came to the company to get their money got what they wanted within half an hour.
But before that, they told Shanghai Daily that the customer service line never worked. Even if someone picked up, their manner was terrible, and they didn’t help at all.
There are about 57,000 Xiangqi e-bikes on the streets.
Xiangqi said all operations of the firm are normal and refused to comment further.
“I kept finding broken bikes,” said Lu Yina, who was among those went to get her money back. “It was once fast and easy to ride an e-bike, but no more.”
Shanghai Consumer Council has received more than 15,000 complaints about Xiangqi since October. Sometimes more than 1,000 calls in one day.
People ask for a refund of their deposits at the headquarters of Xiangqi in Minhang District on Friday.