# Lyft is having us drive an Half an hour to pick up pax? - Toledo



## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Toledo I got a request to pick up a pax that Lyft said was only 24 min away. Google said it was an half an hour away. Dude I don't like picking up pax for a 7 dollar fare and a 3 dollar tip. Its insane, and not worth it, why is the app always off with time estimates, this guy shouldn't have even been able to request me but he was. What made it even better is I looked on the app and there was someone closer to the highway than me and he/she should have taken it.

But if I want my bonus I have to accept, bc we dont get many lyft fares here. Idk part of me wants to turn off the app but if I do that then I lose out on good potential fares, so idk what to do. And if we leve the app on then we have the potential to be screwed. Its messed up if u ask me. Lol

Also on a note here in Toledo everything is spread out so we do have to drive a little bit, but typically fares are pretty decent. 

But driving an half hour is bs if u ask me.


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## urdead (Jul 15, 2015)

Im a driver is san francisco. I swear I think lyft might be doing this on purpose just to make sure you dont make your weekly bonus. Same situation happens to me a few days a week. Now i dont even bother with the weekly bonus anymore.


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## AshyLarry81 (Mar 2, 2015)

This is why I always call to confirm ride and find out destination first. If it's too far, most passengers will cancel if you ask them to. On the occasion that they refuse, that's when you cancel on your own. If you're lucky, they'll cancel on their own. Afterwards, turn off your app for the next 30 minutes or so. That way, they'll likely either find another ride or give up completely. I find that this method will maximize your acceptance rate while keeping the long distance pickups down.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

In San Diego they send us 15 min pings. I don't do 15 min pings.
If you pass a Lyft ping they lower your star rating. 
I don't turn on Lyft anymore.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

RockinEZ said:


> In San Diego they send us 15 min pings. I don't do 15 min pings.
> If you pass a Lyft ping they lower your star rating.
> I don't turn on Lyft anymore.


I know it seems like if you miss one request they ding your rating really hard. I can do math and the math that they are doing doesn't add up when it comes to our ratings so that means they must be penalizing us for not taking certain pings and etc.


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## Mr_Frenchie (Jul 13, 2015)

pbracing33b said:


> I know it seems like if you miss one request they ding your rating really hard. I can do math and the math that they are doing doesn't add up when it comes to our ratings so that means they must be penalizing us for not taking certain pings and etc.


Oh really! I did not know that! so if don't take a ping your rating goes down? So, how much per one request?

I was thinking why my rating is so low! LOL


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Mr_Frenchie said:


> Oh really! I did not know that! so if don't take a ping your rating goes down? So, how much per one request?
> 
> I was thinking why my rating is so low! LOL


I was thinking of my acceptance rating, I'm not sure how that relates to our driver rating, although, so far I have seen some strange things with this company. But it does fill the dead time.


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## Oh My (Dec 26, 2014)

pbracing33b said:


> Toledo I got a request to pick up a pax that Lyft said was only 24 min away. Google said it was an half an hour away. Dude I don't like picking up pax for a 7 dollar fare and a 3 dollar tip. Its insane, and not worth it, why is the app always off with time estimates, this guy shouldn't have even been able to request me but he was. What made it even better is I looked on the app and there was someone closer to the highway than me and he/she should have taken it.
> 
> But if I want my bonus I have to accept, bc we dont get many lyft fares here. Idk part of me wants to turn off the app but if I do that then I lose out on good potential fares, so idk what to do. And if we leve the app on then we have the potential to be screwed. Its messed up if u ask me. Lol
> 
> ...


In my own personal experience with Lyft, it wasn't worth chasing those bonuses unless you were in dire need of cash that upcoming week. It was really a wash with the extra gas and miles in your car keeping that acceptance rate up. Again, unless your car was about to get repossed that week you're just spending all that extra money on gas, not to mention the time amd miles/repairs on your car in the near future.

Their ultimate game is to keep you exclusive to them with those bonuses.


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## Oh My (Dec 26, 2014)

AshyLarry81 said:


> This is why I always call to confirm ride and find out destination first. If it's too far, most passengers will cancel if you ask them to. On the occasion that they refuse, that's when you cancel on your own. If you're lucky, they'll cancel on their own. Afterwards, turn off your app for the next 30 minutes or so. That way, they'll likely either find another ride or give up completely. I find that this method will maximize your acceptance rate while keeping the long distance pickups down.


You also have to be online 50 minutes of each one of those guarantee hours with Lyft to qualify. If you're only going for the "Power Driver" bonus to keep all the fares you have to clock 50 hours/week which you're not going to do by going offline for 30 mins here and there.


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## AshyLarry81 (Mar 2, 2015)

Oh My said:


> You also have to be online 50 minutes of each one of those guarantee hours with Lyft to qualify. If you're only going for the "Power Driver" bonus to keep all the fares you have to clock 50 hours/week which you're not going to do by going offline for 30 mins here and there.


That may be true, but I only aim for the 90% instead of 100%. Don't have the time for that.


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## Oh My (Dec 26, 2014)

AshyLarry81 said:


> That may be true, but I only aim for the 90% instead of 100%. Don't have the time for that.


Cool. So you still have to drive the 30 (or maybe 40 hours?) for that 90% bonus which throws the whole "flexibility - drive whenever you want" BS right out the window. It also keeps you committed to Lyft and Lyft only. They gotcha by.the balls.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Oh My said:


> Cool. So you still have to drive the 30 (or maybe 40 hours?) for that 90% bonus which throws the whole "flexibility - drive whenever you want" BS right out the window. It also keeps you committed to Lyft and Lyft only. They gotcha by.the balls.


I actually drive for both and put in a ton of hours. But I like it, so I can't complain, I did get the bonus last week so it wasn't that bad, tbh.


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## CaliforniaRideSharing139 (Jul 31, 2015)

Im here in Southern California and tonight late, i got a ride request that was 25 minutes away..and there was a couple drivers must closer to this passengers location...i was like...no thank you.


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## MiddleClassedOut (Jun 11, 2015)

You only need 30 hours to get the 10%. I just leave it on at home in the suburbs where I won't get many pings. Usually by Sunday I'm good to go, and I'll do a run if I have to leaving it on Sunday afternoons. If you do enough rides, you can reject the far ones...My acceptance is at 96% for this week since I haven't had to reject much. Or call them and ask them to cancel, they will usually oblige.

The guarantee hours are the real gotcha. I have to decide on the fly if chasing an Uber surge is better than hitting my guarantee. Frankly, the way weekend nights have been in Philly, I'm leaning toward the guarantee now.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

CaliforniaRideSharing139 said:


> Im here in Southern California and tonight late, i got a ride request that was 25 minutes away..and there was a couple drivers must closer to this passengers location...i was like...no thank you.


I had the exact same thing happen to me the other day, idk y they aren't getting the request.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Ok last night this happened again, I am not getting my cancellation fee after 5 mins of driving to the riders pickup destination. Can someone confirm that we are suppose to get a cancellation fee after 5 mins of driving and the rider cancels?

Bc I think I am losing out on multiple cancellations and Lyft ISN'T charging the customer, I don't want to be driving around for free, u know.


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## Richard Cranium (Jun 25, 2015)

pbracing33b said:


> Toledo I got a request to pick up a pax that Lyft said was only 24 min away. Google said it was an half an hour away. Dude I don't like picking up pax for a 7 dollar fare and a 3 dollar tip. Its insane, and not worth it, why is the app always off with time estimates, this guy shouldn't have even been able to request me but he was. What made it even better is I looked on the app and there was someone closer to the highway than me and he/she should have taken it.
> 
> But if I want my bonus I have to accept, bc we dont get many lyft fares here. Idk part of me wants to turn off the app but if I do that then I lose out on good potential fares, so idk what to do. And if we leve the app on then we have the potential to be screwed. Its messed up if u ask me. Lol
> 
> ...


Maybe this would work...drive slow and maybe the Pax will cancel.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Also I wonder if it is practical to take screen shot of every request I get from Lyft then use the text (as it gives time and dates) to use as proof, bc the last time Lyft told me that I didn't qualify even though I should of clearly qualified for a $5 cancellation fee. I figure if I have proof then there would be no way for them not to give me my cancellation fee.


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## Oh My (Dec 26, 2014)

pbracing33b said:


> Ok last night this happened again, I am not getting my cancellation fee after 5 mins of driving to the riders pickup destination. Can someone confirm that we are suppose to get a cancellation fee after 5 mins of driving and the rider cancels?
> 
> Bc I think I am losing out on multiple cancellations and Lyft ISN'T charging the customer, I don't want to be driving around for free, u know.


There's another "stipulation" in that rule that you have to be more than 50% into.the pick-up ETA or something like that. All I know is that in Chicago rush hour if they were more than 5 blocks away it wasn't worth even heading their way because they'll cancel and jump on the bus and you're out the fee.


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Ok after rereading Lyft policies it states this:









So if I understand this correctly I could drive 15 minutes to pick up a pax and never get any fee for my time at all. This is bs if you ask me.

Had to edit bc I had the wrong pic up.


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## McGillicutty (Jan 12, 2015)

Lyft has some peculiarities making you have to modify your driving behavior. If you want to earn their avg hourly guarantees, you do have to meet the stipulations - 50min of each guaranteed hour/90% accept rate ALL WEEK/1 ride per guaranteed hour. That accept rate is the zinger, and they use it as a noose around your neck for the entire week.

All the above being said, if you want the guarantees, you need to decide the MAX distance you are willing to drive to a pick up. Then TEXT each pax over 5 minutes away but still within you allowable distance and say:

"It's John/Mary w/ Lyft. Can you confirm your pick up address is XXX main street? My ETA is XX min away, are you OK with that?" 
If they don't answer, CALL them and say the same thing. For pax that are OVER your allowable distance, text them with the following statement:

"It's John/Mary with Lyft. For some reason Lyft pinged me from XX min away. I recommend you cancel this trip at no charge and request a Lyft closer to your pick up address." 
If they don't respond, call them, say the same thing and FORCE them to cancel. Be very forceful in your tone and short with your words. Don't have a conversation with them. Just say it over and over again and they will cancel. 1 in 100 will try to push you to come, because they are cheap as F%&$, they're using a free ride promo code, and they've already had other Lyft drivers cancel on them. That is the 1 time in 100 you should cancel on your end.


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## Mr_Frenchie (Jul 13, 2015)

The problem with this is that once they cancel and send a request again. It’s going to be YOU! LOL


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## McGillicutty (Jan 12, 2015)

Mr_Frenchie said:


> The problem with this is that once they cancel and send a request again. It's going to be YOU! LOL


That's a good point. If you feel there is that possibility, tell the pax they have to re-request immediately and go offline for 2 min after the trip is cancelled.


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## Mr_Frenchie (Jul 13, 2015)

It happen to me last week. I was at Newark airport and wanted to do an airport run. I get a ping outside the airport in Bayonne. I tell the guy to cancel because I’m at the airport and can’t get to him. He said cool. 

Guess what? Yup same dude. I was going for the bonus that week the reason I needed to take all rides.


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## bbbrideshare (Aug 31, 2015)

Here's my first drive with Lyft. I was sitting at home with the app on and it pinged a 25 mile ride. I decided to take it because I wanted to try out the app, and kinda hoped it would be a long ride. Well, he had me go to a Dollar General down the street so he could pick up some canned foods, and then take him back home. Was a $7 ride. So I went home, kept the app off, and drank a bunch of beers.
'


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

pbracing33b said:


> Toledo I got a request to pick up a pax that Lyft said was only 24 min away. Google said it was an half an hour away. Dude I don't like picking up pax for a 7 dollar fare and a 3 dollar tip. Its insane, and not worth it, why is the app always off with time estimates, this guy shouldn't have even been able to request me but he was. What made it even better is I looked on the app and there was someone closer to the highway than me and he/she should have taken it.
> 
> But if I want my bonus I have to accept, bc we dont get many lyft fares here. Idk part of me wants to turn off the app but if I do that then I lose out on good potential fares, so idk what to do. And if we leve the app on then we have the potential to be screwed. Its messed up if u ask me. Lol
> 
> ...


Don't drive Lyft, they suck. Taking a score hit for cxl is over the top. 
They just cut fares by 10% in San Diego.

That and Lyft has some bad pax. Their marketing must be focused on young, self entitled *holes.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

pbracing33b said:


> I know it seems like if you miss one request they ding your rating really hard. I can do math and the math that they are doing doesn't add up when it comes to our ratings so that means they must be penalizing us for not taking certain pings and etc.


They tell you about the hit you take if you skip a ping or cxl. I got an email from them stating that no driver should cxl unless it was an emergency. 27 min ping is an emergency to my wallet.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

Richard Cranium said:


> Maybe this would work...drive slow and maybe the Pax will cancel.


Drive the other direction, they always cxl.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I tell long distance pings that I can see on my special and very different from theirs driver app that someone really close to them just became available, I can see the car on my driver app right near their pickup location. If they cancel right away, they can grab that driver that just became available. He's just a few minutes away. Grab him, quick, before he gets another rider.
When I get the cancel, I go immediately to airplane mode. That looks to Lyft like a technical glitch. Wait a few minutes, and then go back to wifi.



RockinEZ said:


> Drive the other direction, they always cxl.


When I had an Uber rider in the car, and forgot to turn Lyft off, I got a ping in the general direction of the Uber drop off.... took the Lyft passenger a while to cancel, but he eventually got the message I was not coming towards him anymore.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I tell long distance pings that I can see on my special and very different from theirs driver app that someone really close to them just became available, I can see the car on my driver app right near their pickup location. If they cancel right away, they can grab that driver that just became available. He's just a few minutes away. Grab him, quick, before he gets another rider.
When I get the cancel, I go immediately to airplane mode. That looks to Lyft like a technical glitch. Wait a few minutes, and then go back to wifi.



RockinEZ said:


> Drive the other direction, they always cxl.


When I had an Uber rider in the car, and forgot to turn Lyft off, I got a ping in the general direction of the Uber drop off.... took the Lyft passenger a while to cancel, but he eventually got the message I was not coming towards him anymore.


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## Scott.Sul (Sep 9, 2015)

I'm new to Lyft. 
Already had a 27 minute request I ignored. After reading this thread, it was probably more like 35+ minutes. 
Later that day, another ping, drove 10 minutes, after 2 minutes of waiting, I called and they said they tried to cancel a few times and couldn't. So I did. Lesson learned, I think they played me. Next time I wait 5+ minutes and cancel driver no-show. Or better yet, no more calling them. I wait 5+ minutes for all pickups and cancel if no-show. 
Someone on this thread also mentioned texting a rider. Where? never saw that option with Lyft.
I also haven't been able to see my star rating. Not sure I really want to but can someone tell me where to find it? 
Thanks


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## pbracing33b (May 18, 2015)

Scott.Sul said:


> I'm new to Lyft.
> Already had a 27 minute request I ignored. After reading this thread, it was probably more like 35+ minutes.
> Later that day, another ping, drove 10 minutes, after 2 minutes of waiting, I called and they said they tried to cancel a few times and couldn't. So I did. Lesson learned, I think they played me. Next time I wait 5+ minutes and cancel driver no-show. Or better yet, no more calling them. I wait 5+ minutes for all pickups and cancel if no-show.
> Someone on this thread also mentioned texting a rider. Where? never saw that option with Lyft.
> ...


You still have to call if you don't call u won't get ur $5 Idk why we have to call, but I feel like we have to always jump through hoops to collect money with lyft.


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

Joke Lyft, they are desperate.


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## fiyawalker (Nov 23, 2015)

pbracing33b said:


> Toledo I got a request to pick up a pax that Lyft said was only 24 min away. Google said it was an half an hour away. Dude I don't like picking up pax for a 7 dollar fare and a 3 dollar tip. Its insane, and not worth it, why is the app always off with time estimates, this guy shouldn't have even been able to request me but he was. What made it even better is I looked on the app and there was someone closer to the highway than me and he/she should have taken it.
> 
> But if I want my bonus I have to accept, bc we dont get many lyft fares here. Idk part of me wants to turn off the app but if I do that then I lose out on good potential fares, so idk what to do. And if we leve the app on then we have the potential to be screwed. Its messed up if u ask me. Lol
> 
> ...


Forget that bonus crap! Anyone further than 10 minutes away, I reject.


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## the ferryman (Jun 7, 2016)

you have to be "on schedule" to p/u the passenger according to Lyft's estimate, which is a joke. they estimate based on straight line, not a real road estimate of how long to get there.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

urdead said:


> Im a driver is san francisco. I swear I think lyft might be doing this on purpose just to make sure you dont make your weekly bonus. Same situation happens to me a few days a week. *Now i dont even bother with the weekly bonus anymore*.


Smart decision, urdead. When you're working a Lyft Power Bonus, or Guarantee, they're placing a prize directly in front of you, but asking for way too much sacrifice, in order to get that prize.

For some drivers, the prize is worth the sacrifice. But for me, it was a huge reduction of stress and regaining of personal dignity, when I decided to run MY business MY WAY. Now, I freely accept/ignore ride requests, based on the environment and my feelings at that moment.


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## JimS (Aug 18, 2015)

Holy thread resurrection...


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## Jon H. SFBay (Oct 29, 2015)

On Sunday I had about 10 pings before the sf marathon after dropping a PAX off at the Oakland airport.

Because I was trying to hit the PDB Bonus I had to accept them and wait for them to cancel or call them and request that they cancel.


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## vesolehome (Aug 2, 2015)

It's a shame Lyft won't work better for the drivers. I won't even turn on the app unless I'm working a guaranteed hour because of the 30 minute requests. We have a ton of those here in Detroit. Some drivers will tell you to call the Pax, and I do, but some 30 minute PAX say they don't mind waiting. Since I could get jammed driving 30 mins to drive someone for $4, I won't turn on the app in non-guaranttes. I'm not going to screw up my 90% acceptance and it makes no fiscal sense to drive 30 minutes for anyone, even if the rides is a $10 or $15 ride.


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## Daniel Harbin (Sep 23, 2015)

In Vegas, most pings are 5 min or so with one I took at 23 min. And yes I usually get the 20% bonus and yes it is worth it. An extra 100 to 200 bucks makes up for the long rides to the pax.

For the peeps who have gotten the 20 min plus rides, it may because of the hours you were on or the area of town you were in. I know the 4AM to 6AM are prone to be the ones far out. Not many drivers up an about those hours. Get to know the hot spots and times. In Vegas its 24/7 on the strip and a crap shoot everywhere else.


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## JimS (Aug 18, 2015)

Switch to Rider mode. Find where the cars are. Don't be an outlier. Set yourself right in the middle of the mess and you shouldn't get the long pings.


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