What does the Front Street Coffee report on Dai Wei's US coffee store say?

Dai Wei, founder of the bike-sharing brand ofo, has started a coffee business in the United States called About Time Coffee, based in New York. The chain serves iced boba coffee in cans at $4 a cup and gives a free drink to each new user who downloads and registers on its app. About Time Coffee opened its first Manhattan locations in April 2022 and now runs five New York stores, reportedly valued at $200 million.

The news trended on Weibo on May 16, and most replies demanded refunds of ofo deposits rather than discussing the coffee. More than 1.5 billion yuan in deposits remains unpaid from the bike-sharing collapse. Commenters noted that the free-cup signup offer repeats the growth tactic ofo used in China, drawing a direct line between the new coffee store and the old deposits.

Remember ofo, the little yellow bike? That once ubiquitous bike-sharing brand is still nowhere near refunding deposits, and its founder Dai Wei has reportedly started a new venture in the US — this time in the coffee sector. It is said that Dai Wei founded About Time Coffee in New York, featuring iced boba coffee, with new users getting a free cup upon signing up — a marketing playbook identical to that of ofo back in the day. As soon as the news broke, netizens flooded social media demanding their money back. Front Street Coffee takes you through the whole story.

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Do you still remember ofo, the little yellow bike? Perhaps the deposit you paid back then has yet to arrive. Yes, over 1.5 billion yuan in deposits remains unrefunded, and founder Dai Wei was revealed yesterday to have gone to the US to start a new venture — this time targeting the coffee industry! ☕️☕️☕️

On May 16, the hashtag #ofo founder Dai Wei starts a new venture# shot to the top of Weibo's trending list. Once the news broke, netizens could not sit still, flooding the trending post with comments: Refund our money!!! Give us our money back!!!!!

It is understood that ofo founder Dai Wei has opened a coffee shop in the US called About Time Coffee, whose signature product is iced boba coffee, sold in cans for $4 a cup. Multiple media outlets reported that the company opened 3 coffee stores in Manhattan, New York as early as April 2022, and has 5 stores in New York to date, with a market valuation of $200 million (about 1.34 billion yuan).

Interestingly, to attract customers, About Time Coffee offers a free cup of coffee to any new user who downloads and registers on its app. Hmm... doesn't this "trick" feel a bit familiar? That's right — it's exactly the same as how ofo's app recruited new users in China back in the day 🤯 ???

Seeing About Time Coffee use free coffee for new registrations as its marketing hook, one netizen pointed out bluntly: "Doesn't that roughly mean the coffee Americans are drinking now is all paid for with the deposits Chinese users never got back..."

When it comes to ofo, many people in China have heard of it — it can be called the originator of bike-sharing. But some friends may not be too clear on its development history, so let's briefly sort it out ~⬇️

In 2015, Dai Wei's OFO shared bikes began appearing on the Peking University campus. Within 10 days of launch, average daily orders exceeded 1,500. As it developed steadily, OFO shared bikes gradually moved from campus to society. In 2016, ofo began rapid expansion, with total orders surpassing 10 million in just one year; by 2017, registered users exceeded 20 million.

In the second half of 2017, ofo introduced a new rule: charging deposits. At the time, ofo officially announced that deposits would be refunded to users' accounts within 90 days via the original payment channel, and if not refunded within that period, users could contact ofo customer service for handling.

It is understood that existing users with enough accumulated credit points needed to pay a 99 yuan deposit, while new users needed to pay 199 yuan. Many people, without giving much thought to the convenience of bike-sharing, paid that hundred-odd yuan with the mindset of "whatever, I'll pay it — it'll be refunded anyway."

But by the end of 2017, ofo began to be exposed for a broken capital chain and misappropriation of user deposits. Founder Dai Wei stepped in to "put out the fire," responding: "It's pure rumor-mongering"!!! Not long after the denial, users discovered that the ofo app started having trouble withdrawing deposits, and from then on, the campaign by tens of thousands of people to demand deposit refunds began.

In September 2018, due to a series of issues including being induced to spend money when requesting deposit refunds and repeatedly extended refund periods, ofo officially ceased operations!

Until February this year, the ofo client was completely inaccessible, the WeChat mini-program was unusable, and the official phone line could not be reached — it really packed up and ran away ~

Now that the news of ofo founder Dai Wei's new venture has hit the trending list, what netizens care about most is not his coffee startup, but rather calling on him to refund and return their money, questioning how the deposit issue will be resolved, and wondering — wasn't Dai Wei subject to a high-consumption restriction? So how could he still go abroad?!‍‍‍‍‍‍

One netizen said: "Refund the deposits first," "Geneva David · Refund the money"...

Other netizens sighed: ⬇️

"He really knows how to spend other people's money"

"Using our deposits to start a business?!"

"So this is someone under a high-consumption restriction — and a restricted person can still run off to America, with a startup valued at hundreds of millions?!!"...

Another netizen expressed confusion: "Can he even board a plane? Did he swim to America?!"...

According to the Tianyancha app, the latest consumption restriction order against Dai Wei, legal representative of Beijing Bike Lock Technology Co., Ltd., is dated February 2, 2023.

The restrictions roughly include the following: may not take planes, soft sleeper trains, or ship cabins above second class; may not engage in high consumption at star-rated hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, and similar venues; may not purchase real estate or build, expand, or lavishly renovate homes, etc.

But as for how Dai Wei managed to get to the US, it mainly depends on how the court responds. Regarding the high-consumption restriction — as long as the person subject to the restriction applies to the court for the previously prohibited consumption activities out of necessity for daily life or business operations, they may proceed only after approval.

In this regard, some media contacted the Shenzhen Luohu District People's Court and the Beijing Haidian District Court, which issued the "consumption restriction order" against Dai Wei and his company, but as of press time, no response had been received.

It seems the deposit refunds really are nowhere in sight — it's all been spent treating Americans to free coffee!!! By the way, have you gotten your "little yellow bike" deposit back yet?!!!

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.