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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Thomas Deacon

Nextbike in cash giveaway after Cardiff bike shortage sees emergency team sent out

Frustrated users of Nextbike across Cardiff are continuing to face problems with a low number of bikes available across the city.

The scheme has been hit with a number of technical and mechanical issues in recent weeks.

Now Nextbike said commuters may have to wait until the end of November before the scheme is back to normal.

The company said it is "desperately disappointing" that users are facing the problems.

nextbike have apologised for the problems (Peter Bolter)

The scheme works by people hiring out bikes across 81 stations in the Welsh capital via a mobile phone app.

People have complained for weeks that the app is showing stations have none available - despite them being full of bikes when they show up.

The problem is the latest issue for Nextbike in the capital, which recently revealed that more than three bikes are reported and vandalised every day .

And in October users were also left unable to rent out some bikes  due to a global issue affecting the company.

Nextbike has a 10-strong emergency team of engineers and mechanics on the ground to resolve the issues, some flown in from Germany, with at least four more people joining this week to get increase the number of bikes available.

How to use a nextbike

Nextbike MD Krysia Solheim said: “We would like to apologise sincerely to our loyal Cardiff community for the issues the scheme is currently facing.

“The scheme is temporarily running with low active bike numbers due to a range of technical and mechanical issues with the fleet.

“We’ve got a 10-strong emergency team of expert engineers and mechanics on the ground working around the clock to resolve the issues, with at least four more people joining us next week to get the fleet back to full strength as soon as possible. The teams will be working in shifts until the problems have been resolved.  

“We’re hoping the scheme will be back to normal by the end of November. Until then, some docked bikes will remain unavailable to rent until our teams are able to reach them."

The company are giving all Cardiff customers £10 credit to their account to apologise.

To receive the £10 credit, nextbike will contact its Cardiff customers via email with a code they will need to redeem.

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