I found an Ofo (hire) bike at the end of my road this morning abandoned and littering the area. Our part of London is a long way from the Ofo operating area. The bike is fine and still works, but had no numbers or anything on it apart from a barcode on the side.
I have it at home in my garage where it is cluttering the place up, but can’t seem to find a phone number to report it. I emailed customer service to arrange for collection – or find out the best place to leave it – but nobody has replied. Annoyingly, that does not stop them from asking me “how did we do?” KS, London SE9
Supposedly an environmentally friendly alternative to driving, the concept of the “dockless bike” has actually led to stolen or damaged bikes littering public spaces and private property, with homeowners like you bemoaning the firms’ tardiness in clearing up the mess.
The bright yellow Ofo bicycles have even been referred to as a “yellow plague” by one local authority. Ofo says: “Our team works hard to resolve all queries that come to us in the best way possible.” We are tempted to add, in the traditional spirit of Christmas pantomimes, “Oh no you don’t.”
We really think the company needs to take more responsibility for abandoned bikes, regardless of where they are.
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