# How do you handle pings from over 30 minutes away



## EzTripp (Aug 9, 2015)

30 minutes to an hour away seem to be about all I get from LYFT which is strange because there seems to be a lot of drivers on the passenger app but some how they get skipped and I get the call. They almost always cancel before I get there and it is becoming a serious waste of time.

How do you handle these calls? I know everyone doesn't drive over an hour round trip for a $5 ride/

I tried cancelling one and got a notice that that effects my acceptance rating. I then just let it run down with out accepting and I got a notice that not accepting pings effected my acceptance rating and if I didn't want to accept them to go off line.

There has to be a way to not accept a ride that is 2 or 3 cities and an hour or more away. How far do they expect us to go to lose money??


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## merkurfan (Jul 20, 2015)

I'd cancel before i even rolled. 30 minutes away? no. Your chances of making money on the run are worse than your chances of winning the power ball.


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## EzTripp (Aug 9, 2015)

But the question was "How do you cancel a trip without getting in trouble?" There doesn't seem to be any way a driver can pass up and a trip 1000 miles away if they decide to send it to your phone. You either accept it and do it or you are in trouble. They don't give you an option to pass on a long distance pick up.


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## merkurfan (Jul 20, 2015)

EzTripp said:


> But the question was "How do you cancel a trip without getting in trouble?" There doesn't seem to be any way a driver can pass up and a trip 1000 miles away if they decide to send it to your phone. You either accept it and do it or you are in trouble. They don't give you an option to pass on a long distance pick up.


It is what it is. Do you run your business or do they? if you are turning a ton of runs down that are 30 minutes away you are either in the wrong spot or they don't have crap for riders.. If they ***** tell them you run your show and you are not driving 30 minutes to a fair that could be a base fare.

You would be money aheady not even logging in to the app at this point


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## EzTripp (Aug 9, 2015)

Thanks for your opinion and I agree 100% BUT that doesn't answer the question either. I am looking to find how people don't run those type of calls and not get in trouble.


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## merkurfan (Jul 20, 2015)

EzTripp said:


> Thanks for your opinion and I agree 100% BUT that doesn't answer the question either. I am looking to find how people don't run those type of calls and not get in trouble.


They decline them and move on.

You are a contractor. Legally you can not get in trouble for turning down work that costs you money. Uber/Lyft contract be damned.


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## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

When the ping comes in, go into airplane mode.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

With Uber, cancel within 15 seconds. Sooner if possible.

I had one at 18 minutes, looked at the map, no f'in way. Right after got another at 15 min out, thought it was the same person, but no. In a way I wished I didn't take it but knew if it was short it would set me up better for the trip home. Which it did.


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## Where is West Hills? (Sep 27, 2015)

I just ignore and let the acceptance rating go down. It doesn't affect my diver rating 4.95, and I've been doing this for over a year without issue. The acceptance rating does not mean anything...


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## Tommy Tours (Sep 19, 2014)

I wrote to Lyft a couple of weeks ago about this problem and also the names of towns not showing up just street names (Everybody knows how many Washington ST their are).
Last night request from 60 (2) from 69 and ny favorite 223 minutes.
I let them ring through rating is 4.92 don't care about acceptance rate.


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## Robert G (Nov 15, 2014)

EzTripp said:


> 30 minutes to an hour away seem to be about all I get from LYFT which is strange because there seems to be a lot of drivers on the passenger app but some how they get skipped and I get the call. They almost always cancel before I get there and it is becoming a serious waste of time.
> 
> How do you handle these calls? I know everyone doesn't drive over an hour round trip for a $5 ride/
> 
> ...


I accept the trip and then text them and say that I'm more than 30 minutes away and that there is probably another driver closer. They will cancel the trip


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## EzTripp (Aug 9, 2015)

How do you text them my only options are call or cancel??


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## McGillicutty (Jan 12, 2015)

1) Don't accept it - Lyft doesn't police acceptance rates like Uber. You won't get in "trouble." 2) Accept and cancel. 3) Accept, and call the pax and tell them to cancel because Lyft shouldn't make them wait 30min for a ride. If they say "I don't mind!" like some do, tell them they need to cancel before they get charged. If they still don't cancel, then hang up and cancel and turn your app off for 5min so someone else gets their next request.


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## McGillicutty (Jan 12, 2015)

EzTripp said:


> How do you text them my only options are call or cancel??


When you choose the option to call them, that number that gets dialed is your "Lyft" number. Save it in your contacts as "Lyft Pax." It's the same number used every time you are in an active trip. You can send a text to the same number that gets dialed when you call them.


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## Uberdog (Aug 3, 2015)

Shut the app before your 15 secs are up. It will not show as a missed ride. Works for me all the time.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

If you are working full time, and want to get your 20% bonus, you have to accept 90% of your requests, so you can cancel 10% of your pings. Be careful which ones, and don't do what I do - leave the phone plugged in and then go in another room and miss a ping. Then I HAVE to accept a few to keep my 90%.

Lyft pings are not frequent like Uber, but Lyft rides, on average, pay twice as much as a single Uber ping. 

When you get a distant ping you have choices. I usually text the pax and say: "I'm far away, can you wait?"
I don't leave until I get a response. The app doesn't care if you run out the door or not. Be calm.

Now the pax has a choice, respond or cancel. If they cancel, cool beans, I'm off the hook - no "trouble" for a pax cancellation, and it just boosted my acceptance rate.
If they respond: "I can wait" then I will call. "Where are we going? I'm on my way"
If they say "I need to be at the airport in an hour" I will take that ride, it's $50 plus tip.
If they say "I just need to go to Walmart" I will ask them to cancel, tell them I see on my driver app there's another driver real close to them just became available. (I know, but they don't) Then I turn the app off as soon as I see the cancel. Wait 15 minutes, and go back online. (Oops, that guy must have gotten another ride)


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## MiddleClassedOut (Jun 11, 2015)

What do you use to quickly kill the app uberdog? I know there's Advanced Task Killer for android, but unless I can make a shortcut to kill that app, I'm not sure it will work.

Sounds like a great tip.

I myself use the Call/Apologize/Look for Another Driver in a few minutes method - Let's call it CAL for short. If they don't want to cancel I will start demanding a $7 pick-up fee.


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## Uberdog (Aug 3, 2015)

I just slide the app close before the time is up. It is like being disconnected before a call goes through. I use an IPhone, so I just slide the app closed. It has never shown up as missed....


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

What if you accept and just drive the other way, they have to cancel at some point.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

They will cancel when they see you driving the wrong way, or slow rolling. Then they will get a screen asking why they canceled. The obvious choice for them will be "took too long to pickup".

Get a few of those in your Lyft data folder and you'll be stuck with Uber.


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## Coffeekeepsmedriving (Oct 2, 2015)

When you accept a trip that's all you have to do. Afterwards you have many options to cancel that wont affect you cancellation rates.
There could be an accident, you have car trouble, had to go to bathroom etc. don't worry be happy


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## dallas_female_driver (Jun 1, 2015)

I've had rides show 15 minutes away that I accept and these locations are well over an hour away. I call the customer, add they can see where I'm actually located. I've had all cancel but one, who's phone didn't ring. 
However the info in closing the application may be golden advice. 
I do work on keeping my acceptance rate at 90 to get power driver bonus. 
I have cancels, but will drive longer to get my 90% if I cancel to many.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I run Uber and Lyft at the same time on occasion. If I'm "on the way to" an Uber pax, and Lyft pings, I cancel Uber. The drop down menu includes: "rider requested cancel" Just choose that one and it won't count against you.
Once you pick up an Uber pax, you should turn Lyft off.

Never turn Uber on during Lyft peak hours.


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## dallas_female_driver (Jun 1, 2015)

Unsure why you'd run both platforms, accept uber and continue to run lyft. If I do run both, I turn off the application that doesn't have a current request. 

However since uber has now stopped charging Dallas pax for cancelation fees, you could do this with no charges. 

Lyft is busy enough for me to opt no uber when getting needed hours for Lyft. 
Just because uber doesn't have integrity doesn't mean I'd risk losing the option to run both.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I prefer Lyft pax over Uber pax every time. Lyft pays more, Lyft obviously tips better, and I dislike Uber. (3 main reasons: $0 cancel fee and no tipping and $2.10 "trust and safety" fee)


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## stuber (Jun 30, 2014)

Text them. "I'm sorry, this UBER is a robot car in test mode. We are not currently available for customer service. Please check back in 15 years".


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## Jimmy D (Jul 4, 2015)

EzTripp said:


> 30 minutes to an hour away seem to be about all I get from LYFT which is strange because there seems to be a lot of drivers on the passenger app but some how they get skipped and I get the call. They almost always cancel before I get there and it is becoming a serious waste of time.
> 
> How do you handle these calls? I know everyone doesn't drive over an hour round trip for a $5 ride/
> 
> ...


I have one way. Any call over 10 minutes away, I call and tell them that "This is a courtesy call. My GPS says that you will be required to wait xxx minutes for me to arrive. The purpose for the call is to let you know that there is a "no cancellation charge" if you cancel in the first 5 minutes. Pleases tell me what you decide?" 99% say they will cancel and thank me for the call. And if they tell me that they will wait, then they will be there.

Another way is to say you've arrived and drop off the rider instantly for a $4 charge. It's cheaper for them then a cancelation fee. And if the charge is challenged, then it is taken off their record. Bottom line, you keep your 100% no-cancellation record.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

Jimmy D said:


> Another way is to say you've arrived and drop off the rider instantly for a $4 charge.


Be sure you have lots and lots of rides before doing this, because if you arrive and drop off, the rider can give you as many stars as he/she wants. Myself, I would rather have a 97% no-cancellation rate than to have to try and absorb a 1* rating.


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## Uber Driver 007 (Jun 17, 2014)

Chicago-uber said:


> When the ping comes in, go into airplane mode.





Uberdog said:


> Shut the app before your 15 secs are up. It will not show as a missed ride. Works for me all the time.


Does this work for the Uber app / acceptance rate too?


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