Onvo, one of the sub-brands under Nio, is facing customer backlash after several customers complained that their order deposits were non-refundable following changes in conditions.
The information first appeared in multiple posts on ‘黑猫投诉’ (‘Black Cat Complaint’), a customer complaint platform launched by Sina Corporation in 2019.
According to the posts, the 5,000-yuan ($703) deposit paid at the time of ordering was meant to be refundable under certain conditions, such as if a loan application was rejected.
However, one customer who placed an order for the Onvo L90 in early August was not granted the refund after he did not meet the conditions for the financing.
Onvo staff told the buyer that once the order is locked, the deposit cannot be refunded.
The customer claimed he hadn’t been informed of the rule before.
Other customers note on the same platform that their orders had been locked before loan approval.
One consumer said, “The normal process should be: pay the deposit, wait for bank loan approval, and only then lock the car.”
“But they violated this process and induced us to lock the car before the bank loan was approved,” the customer added.
Regarding L90 orders, another potential customer alleged on the ‘Black Cat Complaint’ platform that the order was locked against their will after they paid the 5,000 yuan deposit.
“At the time, we explicitly told the salesperson that the configuration was not finalized and not to confirm the order,” the customer said, adding that “the salesperson stated that the deposit was refundable and that the configuration could still be modified.”
The consumer complained that the salesperson failed to inform that the deposit would lock the order.
A similar situation happened to a customer ordering the refreshed L60, as the new iteration was released in mid-September.
Upon paying the 2,000 yuan ($300) order deposit to reserve a unit of the model, the staff granted that the vehicle would be delivered by mid-October.
According to the customer, the salesperson further added that, if that did not happen, the deposit would be refunded.
Despite this, after the Onvo system informed the customer of a waiting time of up to three months, the staff stated that a refund could not be processed immediately when it was requested.
He later received a notification from the brand, stating that the order would expire and that he would not get a refund.
Onvo unveiled its second model, the three-row L90, in early July. The official launch event took place later that month.
By then, the company said that customers could reserve the L90 by paying a 2,000 yuan deposit, which would entitle them to a 5,000 yuan discount on the final payment and 5,000 yuan more in extras.
Earlier this year, Onvo‘s former chief Alan Ai — replaced by Fei Shen in April — admitted that the company saw “accelerated” order cancellations in December, as the company wouldn’t be able to deliver the vehicles before the end of the year.
Up until December 31, 2024, customers could qualify for a 15,000-yuan government EV subsidy.
Consumers opting for electric vehicles up until the end of 2025 can benefit from a purchase tax exemption, which will be reinstated from 2026.
To avoid order cancellations and as the company ramps up production of its three-row Onvo L90 and Nio ES8, it has introduced several incentives for its most recent models.
According to Nio, each ES8 order locked in before December 31 will be granted a voucher covering any additional purchase tax incurred if invoicing and delivery slip into 2026 due to production or logistics delays.
For the L60 and L90, the EV maker introduced a ‘Waiting Points’ program: if the vehicle isn’t delivered within 28 days of the order lock, customers accrue 500 points per day from day 29.
