BIXI: Stay far away

This post is entirely irrelevant to most of you so you may disregard it. This post is about a bad experience I had with a bike sharing program, and its purpose is to warn others so they don't make the same mistake I did.

There is a bike sharing program near where I live called BIXI. There are bike docks around the city where you can take out bikes. You pay with a credit card, and the fee is $5 a day. What I didn't realize is there are ADDITIONAL fees of $4 for 60-90 minutes and an ADDITIONAL $8 for every half hour above that. I naively rented my "$5 a day" bike and proceeded to have a marvelous time biking throughout the town for 7 hours. I returned the bike carefully and went on with my day. Two weeks later, I get a credit card charge for $35. The lady on the phone politely informed me that my 7 hours really costs 115 and some-odd dollars, and they had graciously bumped it down to $35 because it was my first time, and they understood I probably did not intend to spend a king's ransom on a stupid bike.

I am very annoyed that not only was I charged a lot more than I had anticipated, but that BIXI was so expensive and I would probably never have the opportunity to rent from them again. $115 for 7 hours, are you freaking kidding me? Below is the email I sent the company. I will update this post when I get a response from the company.

I rented a BIXI bike a few weeks ago. I was under the impression that a 24 hour rental period was only $5. I was shocked to see my credit card statement this morning showing a fee of $35.65. I called BIXI customer service, and the friendly representative informed me that I had taken the bike for 7 hours, and the $5 daily fee only included the first half hour, and there were additional fees for longer usage. I am very upset that I was charged so much more than I expected, and I'm even more upset that BIXI's pricing system is so - frankly - outrageous. I had very much enjoyed my BIXI experience up until that point, and I had commented positively on my BIXI experience to the many passerby who noticed my BIXI bike and commented about it. I had recommended BIXI to many family and friends, because I thought it was a fun, enjoyable, and most of all affordable experience. Now that I realize a few hours costs $40-50 and a full 24 hour period costs something approaching thousands of dollars I will be sure to inform all my friends and family to stay far away from BIXI. I am a student, and live on a very tight budget. I barely have money to put food on the table, and if I had hundreds of dollars to blow on a bike, it certainly wouldn't be on a rented bike for mere hours.

I am very disappointed that I was charged so much more than I expected, and equally as disappointed to realize how out of reach BIXI is for myself and many others like me who earn less than six-figure salaries, and may find the promising BIXI experience hopelessly out of reach for them and their cohorts not living on the Bridle Path. I demand not only a full refund but a precise explanation for why BIXI bikes are so atrociously expensive, and what I should tell all the people who are sure to ask me what I think of BIXI. Should I tell them it's only good if you need it for an hour or so? And to watch out if you need it for longer because you will be charged an arm and a leg?

I am personally devastated to know that I will no longer be able to rent BIXI bikes or recommend them to friends. I was hoping to go on a biking trip for a few hours with my girlfriend next weekend. It will cost close to a hundred dollars with BIXI, so that is no longer an option. Who uses a bike for 30 minutes or less, or even an hour or two? If I have a bike I want to be able to use it for a few hours and enjoy the sun. That will no longer be an option for me with BIXI, as 4 hours costs $50 AND IT GOES UP BY $8 EVERY HALF HOUR AFTER THAT. What am I renting already, DIAMONDS?????!!!!!!!!