Beam E Bike Rentals

My partner had a Beam account, pay monthly (they call it 'universal pass' for some reason). So I signed up to Beam as well, as the 'universal pass' is for one e-bike only for the person with the account, as others can use that account to rent the bikes, but will be charged the one-off minute by minute rental fee.
After all the time it takes to register for an account, I tried to pay for a 'universal pass'. The option did not show at all on my phone or computer app. I first phoned a support person at Beam (surprisingly, someone answered!) but they had no idea about anything and suggested I write to Beam. I think the support person is there for ebike issues/accidents etc. So I contacted Beam using their form, providing the exact details of what had happened. A few days later, they replied with 'universal pass is a great idea! Here's how you sign up for it' but it was exactly what was on their website, and still wouldn't show up for me at all. I 'reactivated' the 'solved' issue with them (so many companies are manic about declaring 'problem 123 resolved' regardless of its actual status - bloody KPI's!), and asked them again, with even more details. Weeks later, no reply. So I recently contacted them to say my partner and I were closing our Beam accounts, because I wasn't paying $1 unlock fee per usage, and .45 cents/minute. ($82 for one 3 hour ride)! So we closed the accounts. We've heard nothing more from them.
My thoughts were: 1. I think they 'disabled' the 'universal pass over the summer holidays to make more money, and it may be back now, but I'll never know. The bikes would have been used a lot in summer hols, so having a monthly fee for unlimited usage (I can't find the cost of a 'Universal pass' on their Q&A page) compared to $27 per hour plus unlock fee is FAR better. For them.
2. 'Managing' their pricing, they were much cheaper than the competition for their first few months, then, when they'd had enough 'press' about being great value, put their prices up to the same rates as everyone else. Articles on the internet don't go away, so they look like great value, and attract a lot of clicks, until you get to the Q&A or payments pages. Sounds familiar to many other traders…
Anyone else have similar experiences?