Comments on Advance Indiana™: Hidden Fees Leave Indy Bikeshare Riders Disappointed

Worried about dodging bullets

2015-03-20T17:07:39.591-05:00

Worried about dodging bullets

The structure is going to stay as it works great f...

2014-08-11T22:01:48.139-05:00

The structure is going to stay as it works great for what they are trying to provide. I've used these in both Denver and DC and if your downtown trying to get from mass ave to fountain square it's much cheaper and easier then a cab or walking or trying to find parking etc.

Let's see how much longer the 30-minute rule s...

2014-08-07T18:20:04.388-05:00

Let's see how much longer the 30-minute rule stays in effect. I'll lay odds that the pricing structure will be changed real soon based upon the negative feedback the pricing structure is getting.

I figured it out "tryexcept" - the criti...

2014-08-07T15:26:39.470-05:00

I figured it out "tryexcept" - the critics simply cannot read!

JJ: Only in a crime syndicate would this predator...

2014-08-07T14:15:57.741-05:00

JJ: Only in a crime syndicate would this predatory scheme be considered a "best practice."

It's sleazy business; the stuff we ask AG's to investigate when phone companies do it.

Boy, if there were only a way to know how much thi...

2014-08-07T13:09:15.804-05:00

Boy, if there were only a way to know how much this cost that was posted where the rider can see it...
http://imgur.com/xQ5Go4p

4 miles!?! Jesus, where are you riding into fount...

2014-08-06T19:39:03.076-05:00

4 miles!?! Jesus, where are you riding into fountain square from? The circle is 1.5 miles from fountain square. There are at least 4 share stations in that general direction, providing at least 25 - 30 bikes on average at any given time within that stretch. Fir the first time in 3 months for me tonight, there were no mikes in FS. DARN, I has to walk to the hinge to get a bike...actuall, that's where I was going anyway. Quick check, there are 9 bikes waiting on me to leave. You guys are grievance mongers. Go volunteer your time for a good cause instead if spending it here.

I'd compare this scam to the "Buy Here-Pa...

2014-08-06T18:04:34.376-05:00

I'd compare this scam to the "Buy Here-Pay Here" car lots that also have fine print that "your weekly payment is due by Friday at 4:00 p.m. and no late payments are accepted. If not paid by 4:00 p.m. in our office, you lose all money paid for the car and it is repossessed and sold" over and over again.

I can also see another problem with this lame-o ch...

2014-08-06T15:28:25.560-05:00

I can also see another problem with this lame-o check the bike in every 30 minutes. You rent a bike for three hours since you plan to go to fountain square to have dinner and a beverage with friends. You ride 4 miles on your rented bike, put it in the rack to check it in, eat dinner, then come outside and discover that every available bike was rented leaving you stuck 4 miles from your starting point.

"I am well aware of the "catch" as ...

2014-08-06T15:06:58.804-05:00

"I am well aware of the "catch" as you call it. It's just the way the system works."

That's not a "system;" it's a scam and needs to be shut down immediately by Curry as fraud. If the scam has a license with the City, City Legal should cancel it.

Plain language controls in contracts. When you rent a bike for an hour, that's plain language, and no further qualification is allowed.

This is a scam, and these fraudulent profits need to be disgorged.

Its so "ABSOLUTELY CLEAR" that refunds a...

2014-08-06T13:12:09.740-05:00

Its so "ABSOLUTELY CLEAR" that refunds are being given by the program; users are willingly incurring $150.00 in charges and depsite the pricing being so "ABSOLUTELY CLEAR".

"It's just the way the system works"...

2014-08-06T12:02:07.410-05:00

"It's just the way the system works". The system is already broken.

I just walked by the bike share kiosk in Fountain ...

2014-08-06T11:57:36.780-05:00

I just walked by the bike share kiosk in Fountain Square. It is ABSOLUTELY CLEAR how the program works by reading two simple sentences. There is even an example of how it works and how much it would cost in the example.

On the argument about the program's parameters and its partnership with the cultural trail, the trail isn't a bike-only experience. I don't see what is wrong with encouraging people to bike from one point to another, then to continue their exploration on foot. Or if you want to continue biking, check in an out and you're on your way. There are a ton of share points along the way.

I just don't see how this is a scam. The rules are clearly stated, the concept is clearly stated (whether you agree with it or not), and the stations are generously planted along the cultural trail. If folks want more than that, perhaps they *should* rent a bike for a day (not sure that we have that program here) or better yet, BYO!

Your blog post is a bait and switch. The fees are...

2014-08-06T09:08:11.170-05:00

Your blog post is a bait and switch. The fees aren't hidden. I have a yearly membership, and I am well aware of the "catch" as you call it. It's just the way the system works.

How many commenters have used bikeshare? It works really well for what it is - a way to head from place to place on short trips without worrying about how you're going to get back or parking or driving or whatever. It isn't supposed to be a rental program where you can take the bike home for a day. If that's what you're after, go buy a $20 garage sale bike (it disposable at that price!) and go to town riding all over! Heck, for that price you don't even have to lock it up!

I love the bike share, the idea of it, and there's no use condemning it because people can't or don't take the time and effort to understand what it is. This post should have been focused on how people need to be more responsible for their own actions.

First, let it be clear that this writer is an avid...

2014-08-06T08:38:08.590-05:00

First, let it be clear that this writer is an avid bicyclist and endorses the use of bikes and access to bikes. However, the real scam is the way the bike share program has been described, particularly in conjuction with the cultural trail, i.e. rent a bike, enjoy the trail. Who in their right mind would knowlingly rent a bike for 29:59 minutes, turn it in, ride another 29:59 minutes and so on. Even if you understand the "pricing", which I defy anyone to read one or two times and completley understand, who would bring the family, say a family of 5, downtown for an outing along the trail or other sites. (this has to be the market focus, certainly on weekends when the downtown business persons would not use the bikes and there is little market for business persons to use the bike during the week) First you must pay $8 to simply access a bike ( 5 x$8 = 40) and then tell the wife and kids, you have to turn the bike in before 29:59 minutes elaspes and get another bike. When I contacted the program, I was bluntly told that the program is not a bike rental program, just a bike share program. Why market the program in conjunction with the cultural trail, unless the intention is to dupe, even the most astute, into paying $8 simply to access the bike for an intial 29:59 minutes and don't use it for more that 29:59 without checking it in an back out or pay a hefty additional amount. How impractical and frankly deceptive. But I will bet a large sum nothing will change, the program will will dodge the concerns, say it is run like other bike share programs in big cities and suggest that its the riders fault as he or she did not read the "pricing", which is nearly incomphrehensible

We really need to get rid of the stupid bike lane ...

2014-08-06T08:13:54.971-05:00

We really need to get rid of the stupid bike lane in Broad Ripple and make 62nd St. four lanes, again.

Have cities become unproductive places where bad liberal/progressivist ideas drive everyone to the suburbs?

No bike lanes in Carmel.

The 30 minute check in is bogus. Anyone renting ...

2014-08-06T06:52:05.850-05:00

The 30 minute check in is bogus. Anyone renting a bike is already paying for the bike rental, getting hit with a fine that is either 6 or 12 times the rental fee is not about making sure that the bike is being used, it is just another way of pumping up revenue.

just flat out greed again, the downtown mafia sets up something that sounds good in a soundbite, yet their buddies make out like moneychangers in a temple.

IndyDem: LOL! Those people paid their fees to ha...

2014-08-06T06:28:29.783-05:00

IndyDem: LOL! Those people paid their fees to have the bike for the day or the year. The fine print was a theft, or at least a deception, in my opinion.

The program is a FAILURE!!!

How's that electric car thing downtown working out for us? -Same "fine print"???

Outrageous ideas...that are NOT wanted.

Hey Mayor Ballard: Why don't you add more bike lanes in Broad Ripple to make the traffic flow even worse?

ID: Emphasis apparently on "program," w...

2014-08-06T06:09:53.813-05:00

ID: Emphasis apparently on "program," where value & service are connected, free market ideas; not predatory.

The reason for the 30 min check in is so that the ...

2014-08-06T05:32:32.231-05:00

The reason for the 30 min check in is so that the bikes get cycled in and out and everyone can use them. If all the bikes are out and no one is cycling them, then you'd have to have a lot more bikes. I understand why they do it, but 30 min is really not enough time. That's my complaint. It can take about 10 min to walk to a docking station so you lose 10 min just walking to the station. It be more practical if it was an hour. But the program wouldn't work if you could keep the bike all day for a 24 hour pass.

I thought it was a ridiculous program even when it...

2014-08-05T19:56:57.875-05:00

I thought it was a ridiculous program even when it was cheap. Welcome to Indianapolis, where you can rent a bike for $194 a day.

"Bikes, even with a 24-hour pass or an $80 an...

2014-08-05T19:14:58.874-05:00

"Bikes, even with a 24-hour pass or an $80 annual membership, still must be checked in at a station every 30 minutes."

What? Who approved this? What use is a bike you have to "check in" every half hour?

Fee trapping or slamming people is bad government-...

2014-08-05T18:30:44.145-05:00

Fee trapping or slamming people is bad government- we've got too much of that!