Bike sharing customers complain in their 1,000s
Print Edition
THE city’s consumer rights protection commission received 2,619 complaints regarding the bike sharing industry from January to April.
Nearly 60 percent of the complaints related to prompt refunds, the authority said yesterday. Unreachable customer service came second, with 28 percent, followed by erroneous charges caused by system faults, 12 percent.
With the increase in user numbers and growing competition, many bike-sharing companies launched recent promotion campaigns to attract more customers, such as free rides. However, the authority saw an increase in complaints that users could not get promised coupons for using the bikes in time, or could not get refunds after paying large deposits.
The authority said the customer service of most of the bike companies wasn’t matching their business development. Bike sharing firms mainly received customer feedback via applications, e-mails or WeChat, but when emergencies occurred, customers often found the hotline service unreachable. Ofo drew most of such complaints, accounting for 44 percent, followed by Xiangqi and Mobike.
Some riders said that when they had finished using the bikes, the application systems didn’t acknowledge the fact and continued to charge.
Xiangqi had three systematic faults last month that caused a surge in complaints as consumers could not return e-bikes via the app, the authority said.
It called on bike firms to improve their systems and urged them to invest more in customer service to match their rapid market expansion. “The companies usually invest more in launching new bikes and marketing to secure market share, but not enough in customer service and maintenance,” the authority said.
The commission said the companies should better integrate multiple channels, including apps, WeChat and call centers, to resolve disputes with consumers more effectively.
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