According to data gathered from more than 150 global app stores, Bird and Lime were tied as the highest-rated micromobility platforms in September, each with a score of 4.84/5. This latest movement represents a reversion to July, when both companies were in a dead heat. Bird led slightly in August.

Fueled by a remarkable .8 improvement in the Google Playstore, Voi improved its rating the most last month, leaping a total of 1.3% points into a very close second place (4.83/5) overall.

In the newly opened and hotly contested UK market, Voi and Lime are the most highly rated apps (4.9/5), followed by Tier (4.8/5).

Average App Store Rating: 4.78/5

Last month the total number of app store reviews was 108% higher than in August. Lime saw the largest growth in activity (380%), followed by Dott (187%).

Overall five operators, Lime, Bird, Spin, Grin, and Voi, accounted for more than 90% of all international app store reviews last month. Lime accounted for an outright majority (57.2%).

Lime was also the most-reviewed app in several key markets, including the US, Germany, France, and Spain. Voi had the highest review activity in its home country, Sweden, with a massive lead of 57.7%. In France, Tier reviews increased from 2.5% to 5.8% of the total share last month.

Nearly all the operators received more reviews last month than they did in January, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Maintaining a steady recovery, in September Lime surpassed its January baseline for the first time in eight months—up 251%. The total number of reviews for Voi and Bird were up 96% and 48%, respectively. But Tier and Beam recovered the most, ending September with 372% and 600% more reviews than they received in January, respectively. Grin’s app store reviews are still down by 98%, ending last on the list. Grin will likely continue to stay at these levels until there is significant improvement in the current COVID-19 situation in South America. 

Net Promoter Score

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a scoring system for quantifying customer loyalty. Companies generally calculate NPS by asking customers to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10. 

In a similar manner, app stores ask their users to rate their level of satisfaction on a scale of 1 to 5.

Typically, on a 0 to 10, those who respond 9 or 10 are considered “promoters,” or enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others; those who respond 7-8 are considered “passives,” customers who are satisfied but not overly enthusiastic; and those who respond 6 or less are considered “detractors,” or unhappy customers who could hurt the brand through negative reviews. 

To calculate NPS for the scooter apps, I applied the following method, trying to replicate the classic scoring system. 

• Promoters (5)
• Passives (4)
• Detractors (1-3)

Click here to read more on the methodology.

Average NPS Score: 89

In September, as in previous months, Lime maintained the highest NPS score, 91.72, followed by Bird, 89.97, then Beam, 88.28.

Although Lime ranked the best globally, in some key European markets, local players scored higher. In Germany, France, and Italy, for example, Voi had a higher NPS than Lime. On the contrary, in Sweden, both Bird and Lime scored higher than their European rivals. Lime led in the US (94), Spain (88), Portugal (90), New Zealand (92), South Korea (87), as well as Australia (93). In Australia, South Korea, and New Zealand, regional player Beam is closing in on Lime with an NPS score of 91, 86 and 91, respectively. In the nascent UK market, Lime is the early leader (93), followed by Voi (92).

User Reported Issues

Going through all user-reported issues from 150+ app stores, most comments from September fall into one of the following categories:

• App Issue
• Scooter Issue
• Overcharging
• Cost
• Unable to Start Ride
• Unable to End Ride
• Customer Support

App Issue – 55%: Similar to the previous months, apps problems were the most frequently reported user error, with a massive increase from 34% in August to 55% in September. Users reported trouble with signup flow, payment setup, and incessant notifications, among other things. Here are some of illustrative or interesting user comments:

My lime app will not unlock any of the lime scooters. The lime app continuously crashes every time I try to unlock a scooter. There are lots of lime scooters around me and I cannot unlock a single one to ride home. I have tried restarting the app as well as uninstalling and reinstalling the app again and the app still does not work.

Many Lime, Voi, Beam, and Spin users wrote they had issues related to ID verification. It is interesting to note that some micromobility operators now verify users, indicating a new level of maturity in the market. Micromobility services started by allowing users to quickly hop on an e-scooter without spending much time on registration. In the last six months, we’ve observed that operators have started prioritizing successful payments by applying a temporary hold on the credit cards before a ride. Now, operators have moved onto the next level, trying to verify customers’ age, license etc. Here are some comments related to ID Verification.

All reviews already left are accurate. Couldn't ride due to your poor age verification... couldn't scan or input manually, and customer service couldn't even help! Poor process! Everything I use to sign in and pay already verifies your age. Bird is 100 times better!

Wouldn't accept my IL Driver's license barcode as ID. No "Add later" or "send photo" option, so sign-on would not proceed. Now they are writing me about "adding my credit card", but i could never get that far on app. Tried to load "state id" instead of IL DL at home, then tried both again on 2nd smartphone. Multiple fails & a waste of time. No app cust. service report/ reach-out options in app. Not a good experience. Lack of pricing info and deposit info in app notes is Predatory.

First of the app took ages to process my drivers license, so I uninstalled the app and reinstalled it, after reinstalling it wouldn't show my location or any scooters near by even after manually zooming in on the map.

Foreigners with a drivers license from their home country cannot sign up, so therefore cannot use the scooter in South Korea

Even after few months of issues related to its day and month passes, Lime has not resolved the problem.

Don't use it!!! Bought monthly pass which dont work. Please use different company for scooters as Lime support is useless.

Many users reported the Spin app on Android had an unusual issue that causes the screen of their phone to turn black.

Spin app sits at a black screen and never actually opens. Good luck to android users

Similarly, Tier users reported receiving an error message related to internet connection, although they claimed their devices had a stable internet connection.

The App suddenly crashed and since then it says that I have no Internet connection but obviously I have a stable connection with the Internet. Reinstalled the app same problem. Since it is unusable 1 Star.

Scooter Issue – 12%: The number of hardware problems reported by users declined from August (17%), but they were still the second-largest source of comments. Here are some reviews:

Scooters that are broken down still show up on the map and are still bookable. So you walk around for ages between broken down scooters, and possibly you will be charged for reservations. Makes the app useless if you're in a hurry. I missed an appointment because of this.

Nothing works, I came across 12 lime bike's, and the were either not showing up on the app or the had no battery life. Useless bike system.

A Spin user reported trouble with the brakes on their scooter.

Horrible.  Issues. The brakes were broke on 1 scooter. When returning the 2 scooters when we were done it would not go through. We were charged more because of that. Trying to get help with these issues even worse. 1 star is too good to give but u have to at least give 1 so. Yeah I would go for another scooter.

A Voi user reported their vehicle entered lock mode after a brief pause during an ongoing ride. Voi seems to have a protection mechanism to prevent users from being charged while they idle. In this case, it worked against the user.

I got a Voi scooter for a day yesterday. I was driving from one Voi area to another and stopped to take a few pictures. I was NOT ending my ride and when I got back on it, it had turned off. I could not end the ride nor could I resume it. I had to contact customer service (by email!) and when I finally got an answer, I got these "you cannot end you ride in no no-zone & you cannot pause in a no-zone". I stopped for a few minutes and had to CARRY the scoot to a Voi zone to be able to go forward..

A few Tier users reported an error with GPS positioning.

Bug. Kept telling me I'm in no parking area even though i wasn't. Delayed 10 minutes on a 10 minute trip (+100%). Plus billed for it. Disaster.

Overcharging – 11%: Overcharging by operators was the third-most commonly reported issue in September.

Lime subscribers reported being charged for individual rides, despite having month or day passes.

Do not use this company!! They charged me $150.00 for a 2km ride and would not even entertain a refund!! I had even bought and paid for their so called "day pass" Absolute thieves!! Steer clear. Use any other company but this one!!

In an strange episode, Tier user claimed to have purchased a deal in the app where they were granted 9,999 ride minutes that expired in 24 hours.

hey! I purchased a deal that says 9999mins and unlimited unlocks but why is it expiring in 24hrs/a day after??? with 9999mins I can use it for 6days I feel like Im scammed . I pay 99kroner, this is not good.

Unable Start/End Ride – 14%: Many users reported being unable to start or end their rides in the app. Here are some comments:

Just tried to unlock anyone of the four bikes I found in my area. None of them would unlock because they were offline, even though the app showed me where they were located and the bikes was fully charged.

When I tried to finish my ride the application didn't let lock the bike despite I was within the service zone. I tried to refresh and log in again into the application but I lost my session , so I can't even see my ride history. I wrote to support, but their answer wasn't helpful as I did everything they suggested and it didn't work. I have to leave it because I can't wait the whole evening for somebody to get back to me ( I was already waiting 2 hours)

Horrible. Would not work. I tried on 3 different occasions and 2 different scooters. Each time we followed directions, pressed the button and waited for the light to turn blue, which it never did. I was charged 3 times, over $7 total for rides that never happened. Uninstalling the app and disputing the $20 i had to load to begin with to get my money back. Will never use this product again, maybe will consider Lime, which my fiance said worked seamlessly for him and my son to ride.

Customer Support, Cost – 8%: In September fewer people complained that the scooter service they used was, compared to previous months. Here are some of the comments:

The Lime Pass looks like good value but is not. Normally when there is an issue with the scooter (brake or throttle not working for example) you get an instant refund for your aborted ride. With the Lime Pass you get your ride credit deducted upon unlocking even though your scooter didn't work and you ended your ride after 10 sec. And sadly this happens often... Fix this please.

4.37 ron / km in Brașov. More expensive than a taxi or an uber. The prices charged are aberrantly high. A very expensive walk! The same trip if I did it with my personal car on gasoline cost me 15 RON and in a much shorter time. The application withdrew 65 RON from my account, so that the next day it would send me 30 RON. And the outing was made with my wife so I doubled the costs. In a month I buy my own electric scooter with what money I pay Lime. Disappointed with the lime experience. Uninstall.

A Voi user wrote a comment, expressing disappointment over the price of a monthly pass

59 euros a month for a pass? Over 700 euros a year? Was looking forward to the pass but looks like i'll stick to public transport which only costs a tiny fraction of that price, shame, i thought the prices would be competitive with local transport

Note: Data gathered from 150+ Apple and Google app stores across the globe. If interested in more insights on the data collected, do send me a message!

Prabin Joel Jones is the CTO of BOND Mobility, a premium speed e-bike sharing operator based in Zurich.