Fix Your Bike website crashes due to massive demand – but first 50,000 vouchers snapped up in hours

The Fix Your Bike website, through which people can obtain vouchers worth £50 towards the cost of repairing a long-neglected bike, crashed as soon as it opened yesterday evening – but even so, the first 50,000 vouchers were snapped up quickly.

A message on the scheme’s website this morning reads: “Thank you for your interest in the Fix Your Bike Voucher Scheme. There are no vouchers available right now.

“Vouchers are being released gradually to reflect the capacity of the bike repairers signed up to the scheme. More vouchers will be made available as soon as possible.”

> Fix Your Bike voucher scheme opens to public – here’s how to get one and what to do with it

In all, 500,000 vouchers are due to be released to people in England, with a limit of two per household, and the vouchers are being distributed in stages both to avoid overwhelming bike retailers and repairers as well as to assess public enthusiasm for the scheme.

There’s no doubting the latter, with the Fix Your Bike website – hosted by the Energy Saving Trust – unable to cope with demand when it went live at 2345 hours yesterday evening.

According to posts on social media, it wasn’t until around 4am that people were able to start registering for vouchers – and it appears that within a few hours, all of the first 50,000 to be released had gone.

Adding to some people’s frustration is that the way the scheme operates with some bike repair service providers – including Halfords, the UK’s biggest bike retailer – means that they had booked their bikes in for assessment before obtaining a voucher.

That means, in the event they were unsuccessful, they go ahead and get the bike repaired without benefiting from the discount, or they face a lengthy wait and possibly more frustration when the next batch of vouchers is released.

In the meantime, many would-be punters took to Twitter to vent their frustration.

When applying for a @Conservatives financial scheme is as difficult as getting #Glastonbury tickets.

Just like a scam if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. #FixYourBike (I would if I could) pic.twitter.com/kMHjSRMKzS

— Luke Agnew (@Lukeagnew11) July 29, 2020

I think someone needs to give @GOVUK a fix your site voucher and quick! #fixyourbike #FixYourBikeVoucherScheme https://t.co/py7fANXtbv

— Matt Travis (@Yakus) July 29, 2020

Fix your bike scheme. A story in 4 parts. #FixYourBikeScheme #fixyourbike pic.twitter.com/MAMGJEftXC

— Kev Payne (@HugsfromDad) July 29, 2020

It wasn’t just people hoping to get their hands on a voucher who were frustrated, either – this independent bike shop waiting for the scheme to launch wasn’t too happy either.

The moment the entire UK bike industry’s been waiting for 😑#FixYourBike pic.twitter.com/PT9dHLkbJ7

— Butternut Bikes (@ButternutBikes) July 28, 2020

If you’re 1 of the lucky people who managed to get a #FixYourBikeScheme #FixYourBike #FixYourBikeVoucherScheme voucher we are open for business & are ready to take appointments.
Contact us to book an appointment for a free, fair appraisal with no oversell. 07884422391 pic.twitter.com/dozzacOnkC

— cycleogist (@cycleogist) July 29, 2020

If you did miss out on a voucher, here’s a reminder that you can always use the Dr Bike pop-up service – Google “Dr Bike” and your location to find out when and where there is a session near you.

@WeAreCyclingUK are offering a grant of up to £3,000 to organisations who'd like to take part in their pop-up Dr Bike events which will focus on providing basic bike repairs and safety checks in communities.#BigBikeRevival

More info: https://t.co/l6Xu7Vlpf1 pic.twitter.com/ShUhbtvQPM

— GM Moving (@GmMoving) July 29, 2020