Applicants to Denver's e-bike rebate program suffered a frustrating morning, as the website and application process temporarily couldn't withstand the heavy usage.
Some aspiring participants were plagued with error messages. Others were stuck trying to verify their email addresses.
"Due to a high volume of interest this morning, many users were stuck in the email verification process," explained Winna MacLaren, a spokesperson for the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency, in a statement. "Our rebate administrator's system limited the number of email verifications that could be sent every 30 minutes. This left people unknowingly waiting up to two hours for a verification code. Users then requested a new one that invalidated the old verification code, and had to unknowingly wait another hour or so for another code."
Here's what's at stake.
The city offers $400 for regular e-bikes, $1,200 for income-qualifying residents, and an additional $500 for cargo e-bikes. In round two, 2,000 rebates are up for grabs.
For income-restricted applicants, the $1,200 rebate is enough to nearly pay for many e-bikes.
Those bikes must be purchased at local bike stores, including. SloHi, FattE Bikes, and Crowley Cycles.
A few hours after round two launched, the city announced that the only people who can still apply for the rebate are those who are income qualified.
For those who are not income qualified but managed to apply this morning, their applications are still in the mix.
"We apologize for this frustration, and we will honor the application of any user who attempted to verify their email but were unable to do so," MacLaren wrote. "No action is needed from any user who attempted to verify their email this morning. Our rebate administrator will be reaching out to those users to complete the application process. If you have any outstanding questions or concerns, please contact [email protected]."
The next rounds open up on:
Monday, August 1
Tuesday, September 6
Monday, October 3
Monday, November 7
Monday, December 5
For more information about the program, go here. To be notified about the details for upcoming rounds, sign up here.
