6 ms·

As someone who is not familiar with oBike or the situation, could someone clue me in as to what happened? My guess is that the company signed up a bunch of peo

by llampx 8y ago

As someone who is not familiar with oBike or the situation, could someone clue me in as to what happened? My guess is that the company signed up a bunch of people, took a sizeable deposit from all of them, and then cut and run? Where does the ICO (or ICOs) come into the picture?

angerman 8y ago
Bike sharing company in Singapore. Initially collected a S$49 to use its service. With the deposit paid you were entitled to rent their bikes at S$0.5/15min. Bike were almost everywhere. Initially they had lots of free ride promotions. A few days ago, they claimed that they ceased operations due to newly imposed government restrictions. (To prevent bikes from lying/standing around just about everywhere and have them be rented/returned at designated parking areas) A while ago I think they dropped the deposit requirement, as other competitors did not have the deposit requirement. You could ask for your deposit to be returned. This would take up to 30days, but apparently took much longer, according to some comments on Facebook. They also offered a VIP subscription for 3years or so for S$49, which would entitle you to a certain amount of free rides per month, I think. All in all, I don’t know how I feel about my deposit. I’m pretty sure it’s gone. On the other hand I’ve used the bikes a few times with all the “free”/promotional rides, without giving them any additional money. After all I got some value for the S$49. Did I ride for 25hs in total? I doubt it. I guess the ICO stuff is just trying to draw a parallel defrauding scheme?
- Cthulhu_ 8y ago
  S$49 is I guess not that big a loss for a bicycle, buying one yourself is probably more expensive. What happens to the bikes then? I can imagine they're being stored left and right now.
  - mhueni 8y ago
    Here's an idea - "upcycling" https://mobile.twitter.com/tamberg/status/1013085708234485760 https://mobile.twitter.com/tamberg/status/101308570823448576...
  - Tepix 8y ago
    S$49 is around 30€. German c't magazine did a review of various rental bikes in Germany and found OBike to be the worst by far. They also got their hands on an offer for their bikes. Apparently these bikes cost 69€ (S$112) if you buy 1000 of them.
  - johannes1234321 8y ago
    I haven't tried oBike as I am already customer of two other bike rental schemes in my town (Munich) but from what I see when looking at those and from reports they are really bad in quality and comfort. As an example here a (German) video comparing oBike and a "normal" bike rolling down a small hill: https://youtu.be/9bTnwJc5gzc https://youtu.be/9bTnwJc5gzc There are probably better ways to spend those bucks.
- jsemrau 8y ago
  One of the problem was that they automatically and without customer consent converted the deposits to VIP subscriptions. [Edit] Also this whole concept of dockless bikes is very unsightly. Singapore has changed the law to have the companies pay for the bike removal.
- CaptainZapp 8y ago
  Bike sharing company in Singapore. Initially collected a S$49 to use its service. In Zurich they initially charged a deposit of CHF 150 (later halved). That comes to S$206 and is probably three times the amount of what those atrocities are worth.
  - JoeAltmaier 8y ago
    Right! A bike was cheaper than that 'service'. It made no sense.
paradite 8y ago
oBike stops operations in Singapore, cites difficulties meeting new LTA regulations: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/obike-stops-operations-singapore-difficulties-lta-regulations-10466736 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/obike-stops-o... They seem to be working on refund now: https://www.facebook.com/oBikeSG/photos/a.1940572166174921.1073741829.1886923821539756/2204552426443559/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/oBikeSG/photos/a.1940572166174921.1...
guidedlight 8y ago
They were notorious for dumping bikes all over Melbourne, Australia. A city that takes its liveability seriously. Eventually the government told oBike they would be given a $3,000 fine for every bike in violation, which is obviously far more than the small cost of the bike itself. They left soon afterwards. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-12/obike-dockless-bicycle-scheme-to-leave-melbourne/9860314 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-12/obike-dockless-bicycle...
- konschubert 8y ago
  Looking at aerial photography of Melbourne, it there are an awful lot of cars for a city that takes its liveability seriously. I can't imagine that bikes were taking MORE space than the cars?
  - guidedlight 8y ago
    Melbourne has the world's largest tram network. It has a massive train 869km train network too, plus current construction of a new $10 billion tunnel in the city center. Cars are allowed in the city center, but they are mostly commercial vehicles (taxis, delivery drivers, construction, etc). Most people use public transport to commute to and from work. Many bike share schemes have been tried, but are not popular in Melbourne because trams are free and bicycles require helmets by law.
    - megablast 8y ago
      > Cars are allowed in the city center, but they are mostly commercial vehicles This is not true at all, a ridiculous number of people drive to work and park in the city. Over 60% of all traffic is private cars.
    - keir-rex 8y ago
      They also get dumped every where. The oBikes look awful too. Ofo bikes are of a reasonable quality but obikes on the other hand have never tempted me to use them.
    - 8y ago

by llampx 8y ago

angerman 8y ago

Bike sharing company in Singapore. Initially collected a S$49 to use its service. With the deposit paid you were entitled to rent their bikes at S$0.5/15min. Bike were almost everywhere. Initially they had lots of free ride promotions. A few days ago, they claimed that they ceased operations due to newly imposed government restrictions. (To prevent bikes from lying/standing around just about everywhere and have them be rented/returned at designated parking areas) A while ago I think they dropped the deposit requirement, as other competitors did not have the deposit requirement. You could ask for your deposit to be returned. This would take up to 30days, but apparently took much longer, according to some comments on Facebook. They also offered a VIP subscription for 3years or so for S$49, which would entitle you to a certain amount of free rides per month, I think. All in all, I don’t know how I feel about my deposit. I’m pretty sure it’s gone. On the other hand I’ve used the bikes a few times with all the “free”/promotional rides, without giving them any additional money. After all I got some value for the S$49. Did I ride for 25hs in total? I doubt it. I guess the ICO stuff is just trying to draw a parallel defrauding scheme?

Cthulhu_ 8y ago
S$49 is I guess not that big a loss for a bicycle, buying one yourself is probably more expensive. What happens to the bikes then? I can imagine they're being stored left and right now.
- mhueni 8y ago
  Here's an idea - "upcycling" https://mobile.twitter.com/tamberg/status/1013085708234485760 https://mobile.twitter.com/tamberg/status/101308570823448576...
- Tepix 8y ago
  S$49 is around 30€. German c't magazine did a review of various rental bikes in Germany and found OBike to be the worst by far. They also got their hands on an offer for their bikes. Apparently these bikes cost 69€ (S$112) if you buy 1000 of them.
- johannes1234321 8y ago
  I haven't tried oBike as I am already customer of two other bike rental schemes in my town (Munich) but from what I see when looking at those and from reports they are really bad in quality and comfort. As an example here a (German) video comparing oBike and a "normal" bike rolling down a small hill: https://youtu.be/9bTnwJc5gzc https://youtu.be/9bTnwJc5gzc There are probably better ways to spend those bucks.
jsemrau 8y ago
One of the problem was that they automatically and without customer consent converted the deposits to VIP subscriptions. [Edit] Also this whole concept of dockless bikes is very unsightly. Singapore has changed the law to have the companies pay for the bike removal.
CaptainZapp 8y ago
Bike sharing company in Singapore. Initially collected a S$49 to use its service. In Zurich they initially charged a deposit of CHF 150 (later halved). That comes to S$206 and is probably three times the amount of what those atrocities are worth.
- JoeAltmaier 8y ago
  Right! A bike was cheaper than that 'service'. It made no sense.

paradite 8y ago

oBike stops operations in Singapore, cites difficulties meeting new LTA regulations: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/obike-stops-operations-singapore-difficulties-lta-regulations-10466736 https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/obike-stops-o... They seem to be working on refund now: https://www.facebook.com/oBikeSG/photos/a.1940572166174921.1073741829.1886923821539756/2204552426443559/?type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/oBikeSG/photos/a.1940572166174921.1...

guidedlight 8y ago

They were notorious for dumping bikes all over Melbourne, Australia. A city that takes its liveability seriously. Eventually the government told oBike they would be given a $3,000 fine for every bike in violation, which is obviously far more than the small cost of the bike itself. They left soon afterwards. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-12/obike-dockless-bicycle-scheme-to-leave-melbourne/9860314 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-06-12/obike-dockless-bicycle...

konschubert 8y ago
Looking at aerial photography of Melbourne, it there are an awful lot of cars for a city that takes its liveability seriously. I can't imagine that bikes were taking MORE space than the cars?
- guidedlight 8y ago
  Melbourne has the world's largest tram network. It has a massive train 869km train network too, plus current construction of a new $10 billion tunnel in the city center. Cars are allowed in the city center, but they are mostly commercial vehicles (taxis, delivery drivers, construction, etc). Most people use public transport to commute to and from work. Many bike share schemes have been tried, but are not popular in Melbourne because trams are free and bicycles require helmets by law.
  - megablast 8y ago
    > Cars are allowed in the city center, but they are mostly commercial vehicles This is not true at all, a ridiculous number of people drive to work and park in the city. Over 60% of all traffic is private cars.
  - keir-rex 8y ago
    They also get dumped every where. The oBikes look awful too. Ofo bikes are of a reasonable quality but obikes on the other hand have never tempted me to use them.
  - 8y ago