During the Lunar New Year holidays, a friend and I recently took a short but sweet bicycle trip from Guandu MRT station to Danshui. We rented Ubikes near Guandu MRT station and had a really nice ride along the riverside – enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.
Once we got to Danshui, we found a spot to return our Ubikes and set off in search of food and drink. It was incredibly busy – packed with swarms of people. We found a nice spot to sit and relax while watching the sunset.
After the sun went down, we decided to check for rental scooters. The MRT looked incredibly busy, so I opened up my GoShare app and we proceeded to walk toward the nearest GoShare.
Once we got to the location on the map, I pressed the 'rent' button on the app as usual, and we were good to go.
We rode the scooter all the way back to central Taipei safely (about an hour away from Danshui). But when we wanted to park the rental scooter, we found that we were unable to return it. I couldn’t figure out what the problem was. I was in a legal parking area, but I still wasn’t allowed to return the scooter.
After about 20 minutes of shuffling the bike into different parking spots, and still no luck, we had no choice but to call the GoShare customer helpline.
There are some areas that come up as ‘high risk’ parking, not in suitable or easy to reach parking areas – but these zones were all legal. I was frustrated and looking for a solution, fast. After another 20 minutes or so on the phone with customer support at GoShare, and they told me that I had rented a GoShare DOTS, and could not return it anywhere in central Taipei. I would need to return it to one of the DOTS locations – all of which are located along the northern coastline. The closest was in Danshui, all the way back to where we had come from.
The other alternative would be to leave the scooter where it was and I would have to pay a hefty fine – over NT$1200 to relocate the scooter. I had no idea that this GoShare was any different, and felt quite annoyed by this silly mess.
This is a friendly heads-up to those who haven’t come across these dotted GoShares before. You can see in the picture that there is very little that separates them from regular GoShares. Besides the few dots on the body, they can be difficult to identify if you have never seen them before – especially at night!
Also, If you are planning on riding a GoShare from somewhere near the north coast, make sure that these particular dotted GoShares remain in the north. They also need to be parked in specific parking bays.
I hope this story helps, so you don’t have to go through the same trouble of having to return your dotty GoShare, or have to pay a steep fine.
