Doesn’t work
I downloaded the app made an account, went to login the next day wouldn’t let me login. Wouldn’t let me change password. I tried to call customer service. She said it’s because my phone isn’t French. so maybe if you’re not from France don’t try to use it. Or you’ll have to download Google Chrome and get on your laptop and spend like 15 minutes trying to get it to work and then in the end it doesn’t work anyways
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Appalling, do not use
Useless, could not unlock bike. Terrible app.
App Works Well!
I think most of the reviews below are fake reviews from bots, maybe from competitor companies. I registered on the website first and then bought a 24 hour pass. I then used my code + PIN on normal (not electric) bikes all day and was able to check a bike out and in easily. One bike had issues, so I re-docked it and reported it. You can use the app to view bike locations and quantity. You will see US competitor bikes across Paris but they’re expensive compared to Velib. Apple should clean up the reviews here - the misspelled rubbish posted makes it obvious. App was flawless for me!
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App broken for tourists - workaround here
If you have a US phone number, app cannot register you - sms will fail you. As of July servers have been failing for weeks anyway so hard to tell what's broken on purpose vs by accident.
Instead:
- get a navigo easy card from any metro machine, 2 euro
- ignore this app. download the Ile de France Mobilites app (the official transit one, you can use it for metro tickets/reloads anyway)
- in there: Buy > other partner services > Velib. pick the day pass, choose your navigo card as the unlock
- at the bike press the green V, hold the card on the little screen, it unlocks. thats it, no app no codes
You might also be able to use the 'codes sent to email' path in the IDF app if you don't want to deal with the card.
When you dock it back WAIT for the STOP symbol on the bike screen and pull on the bike to check its locked. Otherwise the ride stays open and you become one of the other reviews here.
Some bikes are actually good. Leave seats backwards on ones that aren’t. 5 euro day pass. Signup is totally broken however.
Instead:
- get a navigo easy card from any metro machine, 2 euro
- ignore this app. download the Ile de France Mobilites app (the official transit one, you can use it for metro tickets/reloads anyway)
- in there: Buy > other partner services > Velib. pick the day pass, choose your navigo card as the unlock
- at the bike press the green V, hold the card on the little screen, it unlocks. thats it, no app no codes
You might also be able to use the 'codes sent to email' path in the IDF app if you don't want to deal with the card.
When you dock it back WAIT for the STOP symbol on the bike screen and pull on the bike to check its locked. Otherwise the ride stays open and you become one of the other reviews here.
Some bikes are actually good. Leave seats backwards on ones that aren’t. 5 euro day pass. Signup is totally broken however.
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It sucks!!!!
I just spent the last hour trying to get the bike to accept my code so that I could ride the bike. I never got the bike to read my code within the Apple wallet but it took me for my money. And now I need to contact my credit card to make sure I won’t be charged for the service I never received.
Want to be pickpocketed in Paris? Just use this service.
Couldn’t agree more with samwell’s review. DO NOT use this service or app. They claimed I didn’t return a bike properly after I did and charged me €38 euros for a 24 hour day of rental when I wasn’t even using the bike. I then tried starting a new rental period, got charged, and then couldn’t retrieve any bikes. That’s another €10. I contacted customer service and they of course said it’s my fault even though somehow the bike never moved from the station dock for the last 24 hours since I returned it.
This is a scam pure and simple. Going to be initiating charge backs and warning everyone else I can to never ever ever use them.
This is a scam pure and simple. Going to be initiating charge backs and warning everyone else I can to never ever ever use them.
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Worst for hire bikes ever
I’ve lived in many countries, I’ve never seen a worse bike system ever. Not only is it so hard to find a bike, but when you do find it it either doesn’t work or you can’t return it cause the station is full. After failing to find a bike for an hour, I’ve asked for a rerun and they refused. Worst system.
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Not fit for purpose
I bought a €10 24 hour pass and nothing I did with any of the bikes would release the bike. I spent 40 minutes in the middle of a heatwave with my cousin who came from England and didn’t have any suncream on. She wanted to put cream on but we needed to hire a bike first. Thanks to Vélib she got a little burnt on the nose and forehead.
Anyway, luckily we were having a late lunch and hadn’t made a reservation so we weren’t in too much of a hurry to get to the canal Saint Martin for a dip to cool off. I bumped into a friend while I was trying to release the bike who asked me “don’t you have your own bike?” Bingo!, I thought… I actually do but I’d forgotten. So I went back home to get my own bike and I had to use that. I now need to spend time to get in touch to get my tenner back. Or maybe I won’t bother and just forget about it. But seriously. Just don’t use this service. It’s really annoying and impossible to work out how to use it.
Anyway, luckily we were having a late lunch and hadn’t made a reservation so we weren’t in too much of a hurry to get to the canal Saint Martin for a dip to cool off. I bumped into a friend while I was trying to release the bike who asked me “don’t you have your own bike?” Bingo!, I thought… I actually do but I’d forgotten. So I went back home to get my own bike and I had to use that. I now need to spend time to get in touch to get my tenner back. Or maybe I won’t bother and just forget about it. But seriously. Just don’t use this service. It’s really annoying and impossible to work out how to use it.
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Horrible
Every bike is broken
1 star is too high.
Spent 30 minutes getting a ticket and then no bikes worked. Truly awful design
Vélib ruined my marriage
Have you ever been held down, tied to a cold bench, and forced to pay someone 1 euro every few minutes? Thats exactly what it’s like using Vélib. I can’t tell you the torture these bikes have put me through. I had to work 2 jobs just to pay off the debt this company put on me. My starving children cried every night because we were so poor as a result of Vélib and their services. I was forced to explain to my landlord how my salary had been sacrificed to a bicycle. My accountant looked at my statement, and said, “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” My family stopped asking how my day was and just asked, “how much did Vélib take this time?” I could’ve bought 37 bikes by now. Christmas is officially cancelled untill I financially recover from one bike ride. If financial ruin had a mascot, it would be those damn green bicycles. Take this as a warning to never, I mean NEVER use Vélib! (It ruined my life)
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Would rather be waterboarded than use velib.
Wow. Where do I start, for one half the bikes don’t work. When it does, it’s an enjoyable journey, until you lock it up at a velib station. You do everything right and still these scammers charge you 90 euro and tell you the bike is still out and you can’t do anything about it. Even after you prove to their terrible customer service that you did everything right they will tell you that you messed up and they can’t help you. On multiple occasions it didn’t register that I put the bike up and it wouldnt let me get a new one. I call customer service and they tell me I did something wrong. I prove to them on FaceTime that it is correctly docked and they say thank you I will end your trip, but they won’t refund my money. There is certainly a fiery castle in hell for those people. Save yourself your time and money and don’t use velib.
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sucksss
doesnt work at ALL and all the bikes are broken. it takes like 20 hours to figure out how to do it and even then it sucks. i payed and then my bike was broken so i tried to change it but obviously it didnt work so i took a taxi so i genuinely lost my 4 euros + the taxi ride. i would put 0 stars if i could.
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Fake extra charges
Would give zero stars, bike dock malfunction after locking it and charged me for an extra day, support did nothing to help
Gute Idee, schlecht Unsetzung
Die Idee von Vélib’ ist eigentlich super: Viele Stationen in ganz Paris, normale Fahrräder und E-Bikes sowie ein gutes 3-Tage-Ticket.
Leider scheitert es an der Umsetzung. E-Bikes lassen sich oft nicht freischalten, sind leer oder defekt. Normale Fahrräder funktionieren zwar meist besser, aber häufig sind Stationen leer oder bei der Rückgabe komplett voll.
Besonders ärgerlich war ein technisches Problem mit dem Pausenmodus am Fahrrad. Wir konnten die Fahrt nicht richtig beenden und bekamen vom Kundenservice nur die Auskunft, dass wir entweder 8 € für einen Techniker zahlen oder das Fahrrad weiter berechnet bekommen.
Insgesamt eine tolle Idee, aber technisch sehr unzuverlässig und mit schlechtem Kundenservice. Daher leider nicht zu empfehlen.
Auch die App hat ein par Biggs in sich
Leider scheitert es an der Umsetzung. E-Bikes lassen sich oft nicht freischalten, sind leer oder defekt. Normale Fahrräder funktionieren zwar meist besser, aber häufig sind Stationen leer oder bei der Rückgabe komplett voll.
Besonders ärgerlich war ein technisches Problem mit dem Pausenmodus am Fahrrad. Wir konnten die Fahrt nicht richtig beenden und bekamen vom Kundenservice nur die Auskunft, dass wir entweder 8 € für einen Techniker zahlen oder das Fahrrad weiter berechnet bekommen.
Insgesamt eine tolle Idee, aber technisch sehr unzuverlässig und mit schlechtem Kundenservice. Daher leider nicht zu empfehlen.
Auch die App hat ein par Biggs in sich
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A travesty
An excuse for an application. All the developers are those that deserve to be replaced by AI. Never worked, never delivered. UI is awful as well. Avoid at all costs and consider yourself lucky to have avoided such a disaster.
Wow
Nothing works
Bad app
Your servers always seem to be down. I can’t create an account the bikes look like they might be OK but the app is trash.
Worst app ever
This is by far the worst app I have ever used. You get codes that you can’t retrieve (requiring a screenshot?) to save them. It doesn’t integrate with the bikes well (had to buy 3 passes). Terrible terrible terrible. Would swear if I could.
worst bike service on planet earth
basically a fraud bike service that steals your money. do not use.
