Bluegogo not the only one falling apart—Coolqi users waiting for deposits in front of company’s office

It’s been a bad day for bike rental schemes in China. After Bluegogo’s devastating disintegration, the bike rental company that made its fame with “tuhao” gold bicycles Coolqi has its head office surrounded by users (in Chinese) unable to withdraw deposits from their mobile phone app. Coolqi has set up an offline refund office which is guarded by security personnel in Beijing’s Tongzhou District.

According to the report, one university student has come all the way from Hebei province in order to queue in front of Coolqi’s office, spending RMB 130 in order to get back his RMB 298 refund. The student stated that he has used the service since September but in October saw news reports on Coolqi. However, since the app was not responding, the student took a day off to come all the way to Beijing for his deposit. The RMB 160 that he will receive is enough to cover half a month of his living expenses at school so the treck was worthwhile, he said.

Coolqi’s trouble started in September when users first started gathering in front of its Tongzhou office. At the time Coolqi founder and CEO Gao Weiwei told TechNode’s Chinese sister site that the company is not bankrupt, but that he has been removed as CEO (in Chinese). The company’s WeChat payments have been frozen and it is seeking the guidance and support of the government while it is talking with another company for a potential RMB 1 billion acquisition.

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