# Mentor invite



## frndthDuvel (Aug 31, 2014)

I was invited today to be a Lyft Mentor today. Is it all about the $35 or are there other benefits?


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## Former Yellow Driver (Sep 5, 2014)

You'll gain access to the exclusive Lyft Mentor Club which is comprised of other Lyft Mentors that just take the $35 Mentor fee and rarely (if ever) actually take Lyft fares.


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## driveLA (Aug 15, 2014)

Is there an amount of rides you have to do or rating one has to have before an invite? 

Or is it just random?


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

I just applied to drive for Lyft last week. My mentor drive was very short, less then 30 minutes. The mentor I had stated that he had been driving only for 2 months. I forgot to ask him what his rating was. He did state that he was an active driver and when we were done, he accepted a ping as we were leaving the parking lot. Because I'm new - I am not sure if it's typical that a mentor doesn't drive that often.

I asked about becoming a mentor prior since I did driver training many years ago and thought it would be something to take up addition time before I can go back to work full time in the IT field. I'm still waiting on a real response since I think it's market dependent (number of drivers in market, length of service, rating, etc..)

I don't think it's that difficult to become a mentor - I thought there would be a bit more to "mentoring" other then taking some pictures, check the car out, make sure the person can handle driving, etc...


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## SuperDuperUber (Sep 25, 2014)

Being a Lyft mentor means basically being the field staff for them on occasion, something that Uber has offices and staff for. Speaking for myself, with the rates being cut so low it's not worth my time or car to drive for them unless it's a prime time situation. I'll get paid more money mentoring for that amount of time than driving.


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

I just got an invite too. Thinking about it. I don't want to hang around with kool-aid drinkers.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

You guys should accept the invitation. Nothing better than getting $35.00 for and hour or so and not having to move and incur expenses. You don't have to accept a mentor request if you are busy and would prefer to just keep taking regular fares. Most requests come in during times that are not that busy for regular fares or when traffic sucks anyway. Better to be sitting and teaching for that $35.00.

If you do accept, please be a good mentor. Take the time and do a good job. I am getting sick of hearing about new applicants having such terrible mentor experiences.


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

I accepted this afternoon. Finished the "training" and I guess I'm ready to go if that's the end of it. I promise not to suck. My "mentor" assured my disinterest in ever partying with those guys. Maybe the others are better. I dunno.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

I've had four mentor requests so far and I've accepted all four. Turned off my Uber and Sidecar apps, parked my car and requested the "mentee" to drive out to me and so far not a single one has. All four mentor jobs ended up canceled. A big waste of time for me so far.


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

Well, my approval for driving was fast. I applied Monday, as I stated above I completed my mentor (welcome) drive Friday. I was approved to drive by 4pm today. I expected as much since the last speeding ticket I got was 21 years ago and my last accident was just a bumper tap about 11 or 12 years ago.

From what I can remember, Monday through Wednesday are slow days - but I'm thinking of going out to just get used to being back on the road tonight.


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## Swed (Jul 20, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> I've had four mentor requests so far and I've accepted all four. Turned off my Uber and Sidecar apps, parked my car and requested the "mentee" to drive out to me and so far not a single one has. All four mentor jobs ended up canceled. A big waste of time for me so far.


I had and sometimes still have that problem. I try to call soon after I accept. You have to understand that it is a strange experience for a new potential driver to go through. I have mentored about 10 people and have easily twice as many cancel.


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

Swed said:


> I had and sometimes still have that problem. I try to call soon after I accept. You have to understand that it is a strange experience for a new potential driver to go through. I have mentored about 10 people and have easily twice as many cancel.


This is very similar to driver training I did many years ago. The class was only 9 hours total over 3 days. All drivers were contractors, but were paid for the class. First day, I would get 10 or 12. Second day, 6. Last day 4 or 5. You needed to attend all 3 days to get compensated.

I always took bets on who would stay to the last day. Driving isn't for everyone, especially when they couldn't figure out where North was  This was also pre-GPS. Paper maps, map books, guides, etc...


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> I've had four mentor requests so far and I've accepted all four. Turned off my Uber and Sidecar apps, parked my car and requested the "mentee" to drive out to me and so far not a single one has. All four mentor jobs ended up canceled. A big waste of time for me so far.


Best to call immediately and make contact. Confirm that they are ready for the session with you and not trying to get matched up with their Lyft Recruiter or someone else that their recruiter has set them up with. That way you don't waste much time.


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## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

DjTim said:


> I just applied to drive for Lyft last week. My mentor drive was very short, less then 30 minutes. The mentor I had stated that he had been driving only for 2 months. I forgot to ask him what his rating was. He did state that he was an active driver and when we were done, he accepted a ping as we were leaving the parking lot. Because I'm new - I am not sure if it's typical that a mentor doesn't drive that often.
> 
> I asked about becoming a mentor prior since I did driver training many years ago and thought it would be something to take up addition time before I can go back to work full time in the IT field. I'm still waiting on a real response since I think it's market dependent (number of drivers in market, length of service, rating, etc..)
> 
> I don't think it's that difficult to become a mentor - I thought there would be a bit more to "mentoring" other then taking some pictures, check the car out, make sure the person can handle driving, etc...


30 minutes is actually pretty long. Mine was 2 minutes (thank God) but I did lie for him on the survey and said it was over 20 minutes. Don't want to throw the guy under the bus after he did me a favor


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

OldTownSean said:


> 30 minutes is actually pretty long. Mine was 2 minutes (thank God) but I did lie for him on the survey and said it was over 20 minutes. Don't want to throw the guy under the bus after he did me a favor


My Lyft mentor said that Lyft was now monitoring the mentor test rides for the mandatory 10 minute app/active requirement, so we ended up shooting the crap and killed about an hour including the 10 min. ride.


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## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

Former Yellow Driver said:


> You'll gain access to the exclusive Lyft Mentor Club which is comprised of other Lyft Mentors that just take the $35 Mentor fee and rarely (if ever) actually take Lyft fares.


Exclusive huh? Sounds fancy!!


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## Former Yellow Driver (Sep 5, 2014)

OldTownSean said:


> Exclusive huh? Sounds fancy!!


It is SPECIAL!


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

Got my first mentor session today. Finished the whole thing without a hitch until I hit submit. Got a message saying they were experiencing problems with their server and to try again later. App is completely locked up. Couldn't even get back into driving mode. Closed the app and guess what? Ended the whole session as a cancellation. FML.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

I accepted my 5th request to mentor someone. Immediately parked my car, requested a ride and finally it was accepted! Said he would meet me in 8 minutes! Alright! $35 coming my way finally! Wait just a minute.....why does it say the guy coming has a 4.8 rating? Wtf? Yes that's correct, I called the guy and it wasn't a mentee. Somehow a normal driver accepted my request while I was in mentor mode. Lyft is screwed up. Anyway, more wasted time. I have no idea if I'll ever get to mentor someone.


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

OldTownSean said:


> 30 minutes is actually pretty long. Mine was 2 minutes (thank God) but I did lie for him on the survey and said it was over 20 minutes. Don't want to throw the guy under the bus after he did me a favor


Really it took about 15 minutes to take the pictures, the mentor's phone was not playing nice. 5 to round the block quick, the last 10 just talking - so 30 isn't bad in the sense that I think he was a good mentor.

Truthfully, I think that there should be a bit more time in the car checking the drivers ability to navigate using a GPS and drive at the same time. I will never ever say I'm a perfect driver - but some folks are way to distracted or become easily distracted when trying to concentrate between phone and road. Lyft attracts the non-professional (non-taxi, non-limo, non-commercial) drivers in droves and I would hate for the remaining lyfters get a bad taste in their mouth and stop using the service.

I drove commercially 17 years ago, before I moved into IT and not much has changed - just GPS vs paper maps.

I guess the question is - should mentors be tougher? Or because Lyft is more of a "casual" experience, should it be more lenient? I mean, $35 bucks for a mentor session - I'm sure 99% are just chasing it for the extra cash vs. trying to weed out a bad driver.


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## OldTownSean (Aug 14, 2014)

Do they get the 35$ even if they fail the driver?


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## Swed (Jul 20, 2014)

OldTownSean said:


> Do they get the 35$ even if they fail the driver?


Yes


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

Update: I still got paid for yesterday's failed mentor submission. w00t! I had to ding the guy for bald tires. I couldn't even a fudge a little... the first rainy day will see this guy in a ditch.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

UberRey said:


> Update: I still got paid for yesterday's failed mentor submission. w00t! I had to ding the guy for bald tires. I couldn't even a fudge a little... the first rainy day will see this guy in a ditch.


Glad you got paid. I thought you probably would. I had heard of many having the same problem that you had and everything went through and they got paid.

Also, thank you for being honest on the tires. I think it is important to be 100% honest, both with the vehicle inspection as well as your honest gut feeling about the driver and their abilities.

When I first started I was lenient for sure. After taking several Uber and Lyft rides as a pax I realized just how many bad drivers there are and how dirty many of the cars are. I tightened things up after that and if I wouldn't like riding with them as a paying customer I am honest about it.


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

LookyLou said:


> Glad you got paid. I thought you probably would. I had heard of many having the same problem that you had and everything went through and they got paid.
> 
> Also, thank you for being honest on the tires. I think it is important to be 100% honest, both with the vehicle inspection as well as your honest gut feeling about the driver and their abilities.
> 
> When I first started I was lenient for sure. After taking several Uber and Lyft rides as a pax I realized just how many bad drivers there are and how dirty many of the cars are. I tightened things up after that and if I wouldn't like riding with them as a paying customer I am honest about it.


I had an immediate picture in my mind of this guy crashing with a car full of pax and the lyft insurance folks coming after ME for passing the inspection. It was more self preservation than anything else.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

I've now accepted 8 mentor requests with not a single mentee actually accepting a ride request. Unfortunately, unless they accept my ride request, I have no way to contact them. The time I put aside to park and wait on the mentees is now costing me downtime/money. I'm considering having Lyft take me off of the mentor list.


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## DjTim (Oct 18, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> I've now accepted 8 mentor requests with not a single mentee actually accepting a ride request. Unfortunately, unless they accept my ride request, I have no way to contact them. The time I put aside to park and wait on the mentees is now costing me downtime/money. I'm considering having Lyft take me off of the mentor list.


So with this comment, I'm assuming that mentoring is a separate function compared to waiting for a fare? That then makes the effort not worth becoming a mentor. If it was just apart of a normal function like, "fare, fare, mentor, fare, mentor" and you don't have to just sit waiting for a new mentor session then it's worth every penny.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> I've now accepted 8 mentor requests with not a single mentee actually accepting a ride request. Unfortunately, unless they accept my ride request, I have no way to contact them. The time I put aside to park and wait on the mentees is now costing me downtime/money. I'm considering having Lyft take me off of the mentor list.


I know the recent app update has eliminated the call button once you accept the mentor request. But you can still call them using the same number you use to call a pax after accepting a regular ride request. So if you have that number saved in your contacts (which you should), just open your contacts and call them immediately. This will cut down on your time waiting for them to accept the request or cancel on you.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

LookyLou said:


> I know the recent app update has eliminated the call button once you accept the mentor request. But you can still call them using the same number you use to call a pax after accepting a regular ride request. So if you have that number saved in your contacts (which you should), just open your contacts and call them immediately. This will cut down on your time waiting for them to accept the request or cancel on you.


Thanks for making me aware of that LL. I was able to make a call to a mentee today but alas, she did not answer her phone. About 5 minutes after she accepted the lyft request, the cancel popup came. So, I'm at nine tries now without having met a single live person. Not much I can do about it.


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## Grace A. (Jun 30, 2014)

Odds are they are probably trying to meet their recruiter anyway.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

The system is not working then, not for me anyway. I was kind of excited to have the opportunity to make $35 a head on an obviously expanding base of potential drivers but not only have I made zero money, it has in fact cost me money. I don't want to keep harping on the negativity so I won't keep repeating myself. I'll post here if anything changes.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> The system is not working then, not for me anyway. I was kind of excited to have the opportunity to make $35 a head on an obviously expanding base of potential drivers but not only have I made zero money, it has in fact cost me money. I don't want to keep harping on the negativity so I won't keep repeating myself. I'll post here if anything changes.


Let us know when you get a live one and how it goes. Sounds like you are getting a lot of requests. I would think that you should be able to get at least half of them.


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

I'm 2 for 3 on Mentor requests. Guess it's better to be lucky than good. I'm getting good people too.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

The 10th mentor request was the charm. Finally!


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

Paradigm shift! Two in a row.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver said:


> Paradigm shift! Two in a row.


Your average is now moving in the right direction.


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

So, I'm assuming the mentoring procedure will be ending or at least being scaled back here in DC due to the new law requiring the cars to be inspected by licensed mechanics? Any ideas?


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## DC_Uber_Lyft_Driver (Sep 2, 2014)

I don't know what was going on in the beginning but I've now done three completed mentor rides in a row.


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