Lime-E Bike issues

[cvcalhoun]

Is there anyone here from LimeBike?

I took out one of the Lime-E bikes. I couldn’t find a map online of where it was allowed to go, and I know they are allowed in at least some parts of Montgomery County. So I checked the app, and it doesn’t show the boundaries, either. So I figured it would be like Jump, which dings at me when I get near the border. No dings, so I just kept going (and noticed another e-bike in downtown Bethesda as I passed).

When I got home, I figured it would at least tell me if I tried to park in a place that was not allowed. Nope, just the usual “Congratulations on your ride” message.

Then I thought maybe I’d get an email from LimeBike if I was outside of the area. Nope, nothing.

However, I discovered that if I tapped on where I was on the Lime app, it said, “Unsupported area. Do not park here.” Okay, a bit late for that (and I found that only by tapping, which meant that I never would have seen it if I hadn’t been searching). But I saw that the bike was supposed to have 9 miles left, and it was only 4.5 miles to the DC border, so I headed back to return the bike.

Halfway there, I stopped to pick up something at CVS, and locked the bike so no one would take it while I was inside. I came out to take it the rest of the way to DC, and got a message that the charge was too low (even though it should now have 7 miles left), so I couldn’t unlock it.

So, two questions: Is there a map somewhere that says where they are allowed to go? And what do I do now, having left a bike I had no way to move in downtown Bethesda?

Topic

[n18]

According to their FAQ “Why does Lime ask for camera access?”:

“The Lime app uses your camera to enable vehicle unlocking via QR code. We also request that some riders submit a photo of their vehicle after a ride to ensure that it is parked correctly.”

Contact number at the bottom of the page:

Call: 1 (888)-LIME-345 (1-888-546-3345)
Text: 1 (888)-546-3345

[cvcalhoun]

@n18 184205 wrote:

According to their FAQ “Why does Lime ask for camera access?”:

“The Lime app uses your camera to enable vehicle unlocking via QR code. We also request that some riders submit a photo of their vehicle after a ride to ensure that it is parked correctly.”

Contact number at the bottom of the page:

Call: 1 (888)-LIME-345 (1-888-546-3345)
Text: 1 (888)-546-3345

Okay, I texted them. Still not sure what they (or I) can do about it, though. And it would be nice if they would make the boundaries clearer.

[n18]

In Google Maps, you can type a county or city name, and see its boundaries. Here is Montgomery County boundary.

They have both Montgomery County and Washington, DC listed in their location page, so it’s their fault if the supported area is smaller.

[cvcalhoun]

@n18 184210 wrote:

In Google Maps, you can type a county or city name, and see its boundaries. Here is Montgomery County boundary.

They have both Montgomery County and Washington, DC listed in their location page, so it’s their fault if the supported area is smaller.

Yeah, they just really make it hard to tell. The good news is, they don’t seem to be very concerned about it being outside the boundary. We had several back and forth on texts before they figured out that I was not trying to complain about the fact their bike ran out of juice, but only to make sure they got it back. And at that point, they just said that their field rep would come and get it.

[dbehrend]

I saw the dockless Lime bikes end up in some far-flung and weird locations. I got the impression they were okay with people taking them out of the jurisdictions Lime operated in. Maybe they’ll be more concerned about keeping track of their ebikes. If so, you sound much more conscientious than other users, so it’d be in their interest to set up their systems to better notify users of the approved service area

[cvcalhoun]

@dbehrend 184215 wrote:

I saw the dockless Lime bikes end up in some far-flung and weird locations. I got the impression they were okay with people taking them out of the jurisdictions Lime operated in. Maybe they’ll be more concerned about keeping track of their ebikes. If so, you sound much more conscientious than other users, so it’d be in their interest to set up their systems to better notify users of the approved service area

Yep, I can understand their not being too concerned about the regular bikes being outside of their jurisdiction. I mean, they don’t really care whether someone rents a regular bike in DC, Bethesda, or even Reston. But you’d think they’d be more careful with the ebikes, given that they have to find and charge those at regular intervals.

[dbehrend]

@cvcalhoun 184216 wrote:

But you’d think they’d be more careful with the ebikes, given that they have to find and charge those at regular intervals.

Agreed. Since they rely on contract labor to charge and maintain their scooters and bikes, maybe they’re not concerned enough to provide clear information to riders as long as some “juicier” is willing to go get the bike.

[cvcalhoun]

Oh, this just gets better and better! I checked the LimeBike app from my office (right in the middle of DC) today. If you tap on a space on the app’s map near here, it also says, “Unserviced Area.” I have no idea where Lime thinks it is serviced.

[TwoWheelsDC]

Boundaries seem clearly delineated in the app, no?

[cvcalhoun]

@TwoWheelsDC 184273 wrote:

Boundaries seem clearly delineated in the app, no?

They are if you zoom way out. It was a lot less clear at street level, which is what I was using. Those colors aren’t there at the street level to tell you whether you’re in the area or out of it.

The areas are also a bit bizarre. North of me is permissible, south of me is permissible, but to get from one to the other requires going through an impermissible area. Given the unpredictability of when it will run out of battery, that seems… odd.

And unlike Jump, they appear to have no stated penalties for being out of the area. As shown below, there are a couple floating around my (impermissible) area right now. And when I texted them to say that I had left one outside of their service area, they seemed totally unconcerned.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]18691[/ATTACH]

[Author]

Replies