Ofo users are trying anything to get their deposit money back
Huge lines at their headquarters and letters in English from users desperate for their money
Two years into the bike-sharing boom, Chinese users are now turning their back on one of the industry’s stars.
For months, users said that they haven’t been able to get their deposit back from Ofo, as the company ran into financial troubles and extended the wait time for refunds from 3 days to 15 days.
Users of “bike-sharing” apps, which in fact are more like bike rental, have to put a deposit in the app before using a bike. In Ofo’s case it’s 199 yuan (US$28.84), while Mobike used to charge 299 yuan (US$43.33) before it was acquired by Meituan and dropped the deposits.
With so many people in line for a deposit, users are seizing on any way to get ahead of that enormous queue. One Weibo user claimed that he sent Ofo an email written in English, in the hope of getting some attention. It allegedly worked -- Ofo not only gave back his deposit the next day, they also wrote back an apology letter. The user posted screenshots of both his email and Ofo’s response on Weibo, but later deleted them and explained that he didn’t want to attract too much attention.
State media blasted Ofo for not being genuine to its users and asked authorities to step in, and people on Weibo were furious. The hashtag “Pretend to be a foreigner and get refund immediately” has been viewed 270 million times on Weibo, where most people are condemning Ofo’s double standards.
Ofo was started in 2014 by Dai Wei, a Peking University graduate. He first created Ofo for college students in Peking University, and later expanded it to other universities and eventually cities across China and overseas.
Remember China's bike sharing boom? Those bikes are now scrap metal
For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.
For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.