Heybike App Tracking - Can Previous Owner Track My Location?

[MountainsAndMud]

Hi Everyone,

Backstory:
I just bought a used Heybike Tyson from the original owner from Facebook Marketplace. He was honestly a strange guy, and it got very sketchy towards the end of the sale. As I loaded the bike up he went back to his car and yelled out loud in the parking lot, "Noooooo!!! My biiiiikkke!" and as I looked back at him in astounishment he calmly said, "No...it's cool man". I got the heck out of there.

Recently:
I went to link my Heybike Tyson up to the app on the phone so I can access diagnostics / parameter features. As I linked up to the bike it said it was still registered to the previous owner and said I need to have him unregister the bike. Strangely, it gave me his email address as well. I emailed him asking politely asking him to remove his name from my bike, but to my dismay he replied to me stating that it would cost me $50 for him to unregister it from the app!! What?! I messaged Heybike customer service about this, but they wanted me to ask him for his original order number in order to help me. I sent them all our conversations about the sale, and of the $50 request, but still nothing.

I tried to factory reset the bike, unsure if that would even help, but that is also locked behind the app! Further, upon more research, I learned that the previous owner can lock / unlock my bike at any time, and track my location through their 4G app service. This is crazy! He can both see where I am, and access my bike!

I found the app information here:
https://www.heybike.com/blogs/heybi...ERv8DAcXjbYhU_48pP4FvraWOgF1fds4L5BKfD8ytWHDQ
Does anyone have any ideas what I can do here?! I both don't feel safe with him being crazy, and that he can easily have access to my bike data. I currently have the battery disconnected hoping that is enough to stop current tracking, although I bet it would still show the last known location. Yikes!

I am thinking about buying a new display, or a new controller, in an attempt to clear the data like a factory reset in the hopes I can then link to the bike and be rid of this mess. I won't ever buy another Heybike just because of this mess! Thoughts?!

Much appreciated!

 

[Anton]

If the previous owner is still paying for the 4G plan, then possibly he can track you. The $50 to unregister could be due to a mobile carrier lock, it's hard to say. I can't find any terms & conditions about the Heybike 4G plan, so I can't be sure. Here's a link to the Heybike Connect 4G Data Plan that Heybike offers here: https://www.heybike.com/products/heybike-connect-4g-data-plan

This is really unfortunate, I think your only other option is to buy a new controller, and then see if you can create a new account using the new controller. If the Heybike Connect 4G Data Plan is a security feature to avoid ebike theft, then I wonder if changing the display will bypass this security? That doesn't sound very secure to me, but I suppose you can always give it a try.

 

[Annieolnie]

Do you have a signed receipt for the bike? If you have that and the serial number (which according to Google, is on the underside of the bike near the crank) I would think Heybike could help you. A legal bill of sale is a legal bill of sale. They need to have a plan for this.