# How can I tell if I'm being offered a Surge ride?



## CIncinnatiDriver (Dec 17, 2015)

I've been driving Uber for a while...but it can be misery.
So I wanted to try Lyft...but Surge seems broken or something ??

It's a Saturday night, I'm in the middle of a HUGE Lyft surge area
I keep getting pings...but NONE of them indicate whether they are actual surge rides.
I accepted some, but even then, it didn't indicate it was a surge ride (or whatever they're called on Lyft).

I THOUGHT I would be only getting surge offers...but none of the rides indicated surge.

Sadly...because Uber is such a lying company, I couldn't trust Lyft....maybe these actually WERE surge rides, but maybe not..??

So....BOTTOM LINE QUESTION:
If I am offered a Lyft surge ride, does the ping actually indicate that? 

(on uber, there is a lightning bolt)

Thx for any info


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Nope..you only know after the fact.


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## CIncinnatiDriver (Dec 17, 2015)

Crap.

So, do you find out right away, after the dripoff ?

Also ..what about pax ? Do they know from the get-go that it's a surge fare ?


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## Thatendedbadly (Feb 8, 2016)

Use the Uber rider app, it quotes the pax surge rate and minimum fare. Free download. You'll notice that the rider app allows the pax to get a text notification when the surge disappears, many pax will simply wait for the lower fare, actually had a pax tell me they do that the other day, apparently anything above .30/.30 was too expensive. She didn't tip, of course.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Op is talking about Lyft surge (primetime). 

Right after you dropoff on the rating screen, you'll know if it was a PT (primetime) ride.


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## ADX (Nov 22, 2015)

I drove a guy who's friends with Director of Product at Lyft.
I asked him to ask his friend how he would feel if John Zimmerman told him he could make 100k a year and give him 50k after he's done the work.

But yes, Lyft is just as bad as Uber.


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## CIncinnatiDriver (Dec 17, 2015)

macchiato said:


> Op is talking about Lyft surge (primetime).
> 
> Right after you dropoff on the rating screen, you'll know if it was a PT (primetime) ride.


Thanks for all this.

So, does the rider knew, definitively, if it is prune time?

(i.E. , could I just call the rider to find out if it's PT?)

THAT would be great, so I could find out if it's a competitive fare.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

The riders know whether or not it is PT or not. I would not recommend calling the passenger and asking them if it is a PT request. That's just not professional. On top of that, if you find out it isn't and you cancel, they could report you to Lyft for cherry picking rides.

(Edited spelling)


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## CIncinnatiDriver (Dec 17, 2015)

macchiato said:


> The rider know whether or not it is PT or not. I would not recommend calling the passenger and asking them if it is a PT request. That's just not professional. On top of that, if you find out it isn't and you cancel, they could report you to Lyft for cherry picking rides.


I'm ok with it. Thanks for the advice....it is a rough spot we're in.

I actually think it's unprofessional to not let me know up front what the fare is going to be. The way I'll do it, which has worked for me in the past, is to simply say. ...."I'm sorry, the app isn't telling me (or, isn't doing) what it's supposed to. Is it showing up as prime time on your end? "

I can't really agree to something if I don't know the terms!! , after all.

I dint think they'll report me. Too much trouble, and they'll be too busy looking for their next ride.

I'll have to try this to see if I get in trouble.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

No I completely agree that Lyft should tell us whether or not a ride is PT or not. It's not just professionalism on their part but as a company that offers a contractual job. It's the only independent contracting job I've heard of that doesn't fully disclose the rates to us drivers and yet we are forced to accept every ride or face deactivation.


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## kideyse (Oct 22, 2015)

I have been doing Lyft since April and Uber for over a yr. I was really disappointed with the rate cuts at Uber so I am using Lyft exclusively now.
That being said, I do like the Uber Partner interface better.
It's not just the prime time obfuscation, did you all also notice they never list the city of pickup or dropoff, just the street address.
Being that the rates have been the same for both TNCs for the limited time I have used them, do you all anticipate a similar fare cut by Lyft?


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## CIncinnatiDriver (Dec 17, 2015)

I actually think that's where this whole thing falls apart. If we don't know the terms of an agreement, then we haven't really agreed to an unknown term. Its not really fair to penalize us for rejecting something once we know the terms. As independent contractors, I thought it was a right to accept or reject the deal that was offered to us. Obviously, imo, when we tap "accept", we're not really accepting anything since we don't yet know the terms. We're just saying that we might, once we know all the terms. 

Do you think it would be would be better to tell the prospective passenger that we cannot take the deal, and have them cancel? Maybe that would get us out of being penalized for canceling a request that we "accepted".


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

CIncinnatiDriver said:


> I actually think that's where this whole thing falls apart. If we don't know the terms of an agreement, then we haven't really agreed to an unknown term. Its not really fair to penalize us for rejecting something once we know the terms. ".


That brings up a good question, CIncinnatiDriver. Have any of us actually read the Lyft Driver Agreement that we electronically signed? I think it was like 5 pages, in small font type. I didn't read it in Nov2015... but now maybe I'll see if it's online and read it over.


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