ofo, who still owes Chinese huge deposits, ran to earn Americans' money.
Chinese bike-sharing company ofo owed a huge deposit, and its founder, Dai Wei, opened a coffee shop in the United States called About Time Coffee. The coffee shop is famous for selling chilled pearl coffee, and they pack this specialty in cans for $4 per cup. For registered users, they can enjoy this specialty coffee for free.
The company ofo is known to almost everyone, and many people's deposits are also trapped here. However, as of May 16, City Boundary found that in a number of mobile phones, including Apple and Android, a search for ofo apps found nothing. Only one OnePlus mobile phone store found ofo's presence on it, and it reads in bold red font: "The app has difficulty returning deposits."
In this case, when the news about "ofo founder Dai Wei went to the United States to start a business" became a hot topic, netizens discussed more not the new coffee project, but the question of the deposit and how Dai Wei was able to go abroad. According to the risk information of Tianyancha, it shows that Dai Wei has 40 consumption restriction orders under his name, and these consumption restriction orders all involve cases of ofo-related companies.
Lawyer Wang Youyin, director of the management committee of Beijing Shengyun Law Firm, explained to City Boundary the difference between being restricted from leaving the country and being restricted from leaving the country. He pointed out that "restricted height" refers to a consumption restriction order, which is a compulsory measure, while "restricted from leaving the country" is another concept.
The range of high spending behaviors covered by the height limit order includes the following aspects, which are both more ornamental and easier to read:
- When taking transportation, the choice of aircraft, train sleeper and ship class or above is restricted.
- Limit high-value consumption activities in hotels, hotels, nightclubs, golf courses and other establishments above the star rating.
- It is forbidden to buy immovable property or to build, expand or renovate houses.
- It is forbidden to lease high-end office buildings, hotels, apartments and other places as office locations.
"Exit restriction" is a preservation measure, which refers to the restriction of exit in civil litigation in order to ensure the smooth trial of civil cases and the enforcement of effective judgments.
Netizen: Regarding the question of why Dai Wei can go abroad, lawyer Wang Youyin said, "There is no legal restriction on people with high altitude restrictions from leaving the country, so Dai Wei can purchase international air tickets to go abroad through passport endorsement information and start a business." ”
In addition, the consumption restriction order restricts the right of the person subject to enforcement to take an airplane, but there is not only an airplane as a means of transportation to go abroad (abroad).
Another 16 million people are waiting to get their deposits back
As the originator of shared bicycles, ofo has been on the street.
In 2014, Dai Wei and 4 partners founded ofo and put forward the concept of "sharing economy + intelligent hardware to solve the problem of last-mile travel", which was first promoted on the campus of Peking University, and then slowly flowed into the society.
With the innovative concept of shared mobility, ofo has received huge attention once it came out, and well-known investment institutions such as Jingwei China, GSR Venture Capital, and ZhenFund have paid for it.
In a few years, each round of financing of ofo has been hundreds of millions of dollars, and Xiaomi Group, Didi Chuxing, and Ant Group have joined the investment camp.
One of the most shocking in the industry was in March 2018, led by Alibaba, Haofeng Group, Trina Capital, Ant Financial and Junli Capital jointly completed ofo's E2-1 round of financing, which reached US$866 million, which also set a record for the single financing in the shared bicycle industry.
Under the influence of capital, ofo began rapid expansion, with total orders exceeding 10 million in 2016 and more than 20 million registered users in 2017, while expanding to Thailand, London, Sydney and other countries in an attempt to occupy overseas markets.
The turning point occurred at the end of 2017, when ofo Xiaohuang car was exposed for broken capital chains and embezzlement of user deposits. Ofo's founder, Dai Wei, moved quickly, responding urgently to the accusations and insisting it was just pure rumor.
Then something happened when users of the ofo app found that they couldn't withdraw their deposits, which led tens of millions of people to start demanding refunds.
It is understood that ofo's initial deposit was only 99 yuan. However, in June 2017, Ofo raised the deposit to $199. The deposit for old users is still 99 yuan, but once the deposit is returned, the next time you use ofo small yellow car, you need to pay a deposit of 199 yuan.
Since the end of 2018, according to the online queue list posted by users, more than 16 million people are waiting for ofo to return their deposits. The deposit is divided into two levels, 99 yuan and 199 yuan, if calculated at 99 yuan per person, this means that there is a huge pool of funds, the total amount is more than 15 billion yuan.
By October 2020, according to Chinese consumer reports, 16598377 people had applied for a refund of the deposit of ofo small yellow cars. By December, that number had become 16595549, a decrease of 2,828 in just two months, equivalent to about 46 people a day that Ofo was able to return deposits. At this rate, it would take about 988 years to refund the deposit of everyone currently waiting in line.
Some people jokingly said: "The long road is long, the deposit is a companion", "The descendants are endless", and even joked: "Who knew that the property left to his son included the deposit of ofo"...
The story takes place in June 2021, ofo Xiaohuangche affiliate was listed as the executor by the court, and the subject amount of enforcement was nearly 13.42 million yuan, but in the process of court hearing, it was found that the company had no property to enforce.
During this time, Ofo came up with the idea of turning "deposit refund" into a form of "selling something". They have specifically added a "discount mall" to the app, and all users who have not yet returned their deposit can choose to "upgrade" the deposit to coins, where 1 gold coin equals 1 yuan. An ofo insider explains: "Gold coins can be purchased in the mall at a discounted price, giving users another way to refund their deposit. However, the price of goods was much higher than the average market price, which caused strong criticism from netizens and was eventually shelved.
About Time Coffee, Dawei's new startup, there aren't many search results abroad. The new company has already raised tens of millions of dollars in financing.
"City Boundary" opened the official website of About Time Coffee and found that it introduced itself from the aspects of concept, coffee and technology. A self-proclaimed magician, About Time Coffee brings "modern sensibilities to traditional cafes," sourcing the finest specialty coffees and espresso beans, crafted using state-of-the-art espresso machines so customers can drink the perfect coffee every time without waiting.
In terms of coffee innovation, About Time Coffee said it regularly creates unexpected coffee beverage combinations, including the 100% recyclable container currently in use.