# LYFT's Power Driver Bonus SCAM



## wdg

to all lyft drivers, Been driving with them over 2 months, and first time I try to get 20% bonus, THEY TAKE ME OUT OF DRIVER MODE WITH ONLY ONE HOUR LEFT TO GET IT. I needed one more hour of the, 10 peak hours required on sunday morning, and they take me out saying I need 6 hours rest before I can drive again.....and by the way was out of driver mode at 1am est & started back at 7:45am. They are the biggest scam around!!!!! WHAT A BULLSH.. COMPANY!!!


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## DieselkW

I get the 20% every week.
I suspected they were pinging me silently to lower my accept rate, but found my bluetooth was on and my radio was turned down, so the ping was muted by highway noise.

You posted this an hour ago, you have several peak hours today get your last hour.


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## wdg

peak hours are from 8am to noon on sunday .....they took me out at 9:30am for 6 hours....peak hours will be over by the time they let me drive again....IT IS A BIG SCAM or should I say , THEY are a big scam!!!! A complete joke!


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## xxcibaoo03xx

I been with Lyft for a little bit over a year, I been doing the 20% for the past 4 weeks, go to the Lyft portal and search what's the maximum time you can drive.....in New York you can only drive 15 hours in a 24 hour day otherwise Lyft will log you out of drive mode and have you take a 6 hour mandatory break.


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## DieselkW

WDG, my calendar shows 20 peak hours a week, you only have to make half of them. I get it done by Saturday noon. If there's a problem, I have the weekend to get another peak hour, or increase my accept rate, or get that last of the 50 hours on line. 

Lyft didn't pick you out of the crowd to screw you out of your bonus, you failed to plan properly. Read your agreement, you can't drive and be safe trying to get your peak hours all at once.


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## wdg

DieselkW said:


> WDG, my calendar shows 20 peak hours a week, you only have to make half of them. I get it done by Saturday noon. If there's a problem, I have the weekend to get another peak hour, or increase my accept rate, or get that last of the 50 hours on line.
> 
> Lyft didn't pick you out of the crowd to screw you out of your bonus, you failed to plan properly. Read your agreement, you can't drive and be safe trying to get your peak hours all at once.


YOU are a total idiot.......who cares how you get the 10 peak hours....I never drove over 12.5 hours a day, they offer 4 peak hours on sunday, and cut me off with 1 hour to go.....THEY ARE A SCAM!!!! By the way, I was ONLY 2 hours in driving mode sunday before they logged me out!!!


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## A-C-Hell Fest

It's probably due to you not being logged out for 6 consecutive hours in last 24. When you are done driving for the day, take a screen shot so you are not tempted to log in to check your earnings and you'll also know exactly what time the 6 consecutive hours has passed. If you do this everyday, you won't have this issue. I had to learn this the hard way as well. It's not a scam, Lyft just follows rules and actually cares about driver and passenger safety.


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## wdg

A-C-Hell Fest said:


> It's probably due to you not being logged out for 6 consecutive hours in last 24. When you are done driving for the day, take a screen shot so you are not tempted to log in to check your earnings and you'll also know exactly what time the 6 consecutive hours has passed. If you do this everyday, you won't have this issue. I had to learn this the hard way as well. It's not a scam, Lyft just follows rules and actually cares about driver and passenger safety.


#1 I was logged out for 6 consecutive hours #2 why did they let me log back into driver mode sunday morning for over 2 hours , then suddenly take me out 1 hour prior to bonus #3 THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO PAY IT,,,,,IT IS A SCAM


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## grayspinner

I got my 20% bonus. Seems lyft wants to personally screw you, not drivers in general. 

You can only be online for so many hours out of 24. That's just the law. Plan better next week


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## BaitNSwitch

Lol that happened to me yesterday too..so my Saturday night earnings pretty much got robbed of me. It happens. you lyft and you learn.


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## BaitNSwitch

Although I'll reiterate they're not out to get you personally. I've never tried to hit the 20%, this was one of the first few weeks I did and so I ran across this problem. Now I know I cant be logged in more than 10 hours in a 24 hours or it will kick me off. It's like a maze, there's just another curveball they throw at you and you have to look out for in order to maximize your profits.

In all honesty though Lyft >>>>>>> Uber. Even though Lyft is pretty greedy too. Pick the lesser of the two evils.


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## DieselkW

wdg said:


> YOU are a total idiot.......who cares how you get the 10 peak hours....I never drove over 12.5 hours a day, they offer 4 peak hours on sunday, and cut me off with 1 hour to go.....THEY ARE A SCAM!!!! By the way, I was ONLY 2 hours in driving mode sunday before they logged me out!!!


Yeah, I'm a "total idiot" but I got my 20% bonus this week because although I'm a total idiot, I know how to get my job done and maximize my earnings.

You, on the other hand, are some kind of rare genius that blames everyone for your circumstances but yourself. Congratulations professor, here's five stars for you *****. Spend them well.


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## grayspinner

From their website:

"To keep the Lyft community safe, for every 14 hours you're in driver mode, whether they are consecutive or not, you will need to take a 6 hour break. This rule applies to most regions"

Then they list a few cities with more strict regulations. 

So, you could be online for 12 hours, offline for several hours & then back online for 2 hours & you'll have to take another 6 hours off.


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## grayspinner

In other words, if you are close to 14 hours & plan on driving again that evening, it's better to go ahead and stay online till you hit 14, then log off for 6 so you can drive again


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## BostonBarry

wdg said:


> to all lyft drivers, Been driving with them over 2 months, and first time I try to get 20% bonus, THEY TAKE ME OUT OF DRIVER MODE WITH ONLY ONE HOUR LEFT TO GET IT. I needed one more hour of the, 10 peak hours required on sunday morning, and they take me out saying I need 6 hours rest before I can drive again.....and by the way was out of driver mode at 1am est & started back at 7:45am. They are the biggest scam around!!!!! WHAT A BULLSH.. COMPANY!!!


Dude, you're doing yourself no favors by blaming the app. This is all on you. The maximum time allowed to be logged in is right in their Help Center articles and you shouldn't have left it to the last minute. I haven't paid Lyft a commission since July. I hit 50 hours every week and get back at least $200 in PDB every week. I'm 3 hours away now but hit all my Prime hours yesterday. You can choose to learn from this mistake or throw a tantrum.


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## DieselkW

Nice job Barry. While most drivers are letting Uber use them for dozens of $6 fares a day, you're utilizing Lyft to make $200 waiting for a ping!!


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## BaitNSwitch

Something very strange happened to me last night though...

I was at 49 hours and 32 minutes right on the edge of 50 hours for the week, and I get one mysterious ping from a very generic name with a driver background picture. No big deal I say, I accept it. 10 seconds later, the person cancels.

Nothing weird about that right?

So I put my phone back down and go back to looking at my books..I look at the phone screen and it says "YOU'VE MISSED A REQUEST!" That stupid box pops up.

I'm like WHAT THE ****?? I look in my sound and it had been turned off to vibrate. I 100% remember not even putting the volume down a little.

So my acceptance rating dropped below 90 (needed for the guarantees)

Over the next 10 minutes I get another request from another driver background picture and generic name...no actual address, just a street close to me. I get freaked out and log out...

In that regard, the OP of this thread isn't 100 percent looney tunes about his assertion.


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## DieselkW

If missing a ping brought you below 90%, but accepting the second ping from the "no actual address" second (audible) ping didn't bring you back over 90%, just call your wife as you drive close to home. Tell her to ping you on her app. Accept the ping, arrive, come inside and tell her to either cancel or take a ride to go get some ice cream.

Every "accept" whether the pax cancels or you wait five minutes, counts for your 90%

If I were at 85% after jumping through the other 2 hoops, I would have my wife ping cancel for as long as it took.

And, I miss pings most often when my phone is on bluetooth connected to my car stereo. I usually listen to my phone content when I'm alone, but with a pax I turn on the radio for them. (Not everyone wants to listen to my Stitcher podcasts) If I forget to switch back to bluetooth content when I'm alone again, I'll miss the next ping. With the radio on, the ping is inaudible but visible - but then I have to be looking at it.


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## denverxdriver

I noticed if I'm on the phone the pings don't come through. I've learned to log off off I'm going to make a call.


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## ATXFALCON

It's a scam because you can't do simple math? At least in Austin it's 14 max hrs in a 24 hr period. So if you needed 1 hr Sunday, but you drove 13+ hrs Sat afternoon/evening, then you don't have another full hour to drive left. Besides what about all the other peak hours available? If you would have driven one of the Sat morning hours, instead of a garbage afternoon hour, you wouldn't have needed the Sunday hour anyway. 10 months with lyft, 1300 trips. Never missed a power bonus. Hit 20% plus do a $200 in uber XL a week. If you really want a scam drive uber average hourly guarantee's. You seem like uber material


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## DieselkW

What a scam! Lyft returns 100% if you jump through 3 easy and clearly defined hoops every week. 
What a scam! Lyft enforces its own rules regarding safe driving. 
What a scam! Come to the forum looking for everyone to pat your back and say "poor poor you" but instead get good advice and cold hard facts.


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## melxjr

DieselkW said:


> WDG, my calendar shows 20 peak hours a week, you only have to make half of them. I get it done by Saturday noon. If there's a problem, I have the weekend to get another peak hour, or increase my accept rate, or get that last of the 50 hours on line.
> 
> Lyft didn't pick you out of the crowd to screw you out of your bonus, you failed to plan properly. Read your agreement, you can't drive and be safe trying to get your peak hours all at once.


Likewise, I'm able to reach their peak-hours with ease. Often it's the acceptance rating that gets you sometimes.


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## missmess77

wdg said:


> to all lyft drivers, Been driving with them over 2 months, and first time I try to get 20% bonus, THEY TAKE ME OUT OF DRIVER MODE WITH ONLY ONE HOUR LEFT TO GET IT. I needed one more hour of the, 10 peak hours required on sunday morning, and they take me out saying I need 6 hours rest before I can drive again.....and by the way was out of driver mode at 1am est & started back at 7:45am. They are the biggest scam around!!!!! WHAT A BULLSH.. COMPANY!!!


I've only been driving a bit over a month and took time to understand the "rules" with PBD, supposed guaranteed drive times and bonuses and meeting the required numbers to hit bonus-screwed me the exact same way 3 out of 5 weeks thus NEVER getting a bonus and hardly ever seeing the $5 cancel fees which was excused by Lyft as "if you weren't within 5 minutes or close proximity you do not get paid". I was in the vicinity they suggested via text which was a venue and I was snack dab in the "heat map". My ph in plain sight all bars shown for service and working fine however for almost 45 mins around the venue I got ZERO PINGS just text notification repeatedly stating I missed a ping or rider cancelled-near 20 of those! I was close to bonus and even worked several neighborhoods to ensure my ph worked. It was an oddly dead eve and cost me far more driving than I made. Then this weekend - Labor Day! Working 12am-7am I made less than a regular wknd and I was 3 pings away from 45 and 5 total peak rides away from 10% app booted me off "looks like you lost contact" AND I REBOOT EVERY SHIFT I DRIVE plus I got 3 "cancel texts" BEFORE I EVEN HAD TIME TO RESPOND (while literally holding ph waiting for ping determined to get bonus since last week I was 3 away from it and same thing happened) to the app ping. Then as my peak he time ended I got a ping for the best drive I had all wknd. Began thinking scam and seems like a program that scans continually searching for us to boot app or cause issues. Now coming here I'm clearly Not the first person to think this and have yet to successfully discuss with a legit Lyft driver - I'm guessing anyone claiming to hit these bonuses must be insiders or get paid to do so. IN ADDITION THE CODE REFERRAL SYSTEM IS WHACK BC IF YOUR REFERRAL DOESNT DIRECTLY USE LINK AND USES APP STORE (which most ppl are going to do Bc that's standard to download an app from App Store) LYFT DEFAULTS IMMEDIATELY STATING "welcome or congrats Lyft just gave you $15 for rides" and if they try to use code The app says "this is for first time users only" and no credit for u referring. That's some real BS. I also noticed the driver referral was $500 and sometime over the past 4/5 days went to $250. In LA? Weird


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## missmess77

DieselkW said:


> What a scam! Lyft returns 100% if you jump through 3 easy and clearly defined hoops every week.
> What a scam! Lyft enforces its own rules regarding safe driving.
> What a scam! Come to the forum looking for everyone to pat your back and say "poor poor you" but instead get good advice and cold hard facts.


Why are u the only person to state your claim that the PDB works? Bc u actually work within Lyft? Why r u such an advocate? If u are getting the bonus-kudos! Why so defensive in trying to convince others? If I got the bonus my lips would be sealed as I wouldn't want to be hassled for my "secrets" the simple fact remains far more people speak about the SCAM, majority rules. I'm a hard worker, smart, competitive and love a game of strategy which ride sharing provides but I'm not down for hustling my ass with nearly 100% acceptance everyday to date for peanuts, not seeing any payouts for cancellations or bonuses where they should be.


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## BostonBarry

missmess77 said:


> I've only been driving a bit over a month and took time to understand the "rules" with PBD, supposed guaranteed drive times and bonuses and meeting the required numbers to hit bonus-screwed me the exact same way 3 out of 5 weeks thus NEVER getting a bonus and hardly ever seeing the $5 cancel fees which was excused by Lyft as "if you weren't within 5 minutes or close proximity you do not get paid". I was in the vicinity they suggested via text which was a venue and I was snack dab in the "heat map". My ph in plain sight all bars shown for service and working fine however for almost 45 mins around the venue I got ZERO PINGS just text notification repeatedly stating I missed a ping or rider cancelled-near 20 of those! I was close to bonus and even worked several neighborhoods to ensure my ph worked. It was an oddly dead eve and cost me far more driving than I made. Then this weekend - Labor Day! Working 12am-7am I made less than a regular wknd and I was 3 pings away from 45 and 5 total peak rides away from 10% app booted me off "looks like you lost contact" AND I REBOOT EVERY SHIFT I DRIVE plus I got 3 "cancel texts" BEFORE I EVEN HAD TIME TO RESPOND (while literally holding ph waiting for ping determined to get bonus since last week I was 3 away from it and same thing happened) to the app ping. Then as my peak he time ended I got a ping for the best drive I had all wknd. Began thinking scam and seems like a program that scans continually searching for us to boot app or cause issues. Now coming here I'm clearly Not the first person to think this and have yet to successfully discuss with a legit Lyft driver - I'm guessing anyone claiming to hit these bonuses must be insiders or get paid to do so. IN ADDITION THE CODE REFERRAL SYSTEM IS WHACK BC IF YOUR REFERRAL DOESNT DIRECTLY USE LINK AND USES APP STORE (which most ppl are going to do Bc that's standard to download an app from App Store) LYFT DEFAULTS IMMEDIATELY STATING "welcome or congrats Lyft just gave you $15 for rides" and if they try to use code The app says "this is for first time users only" and no credit for u referring. That's some real BS. I also noticed the driver referral was $500 and sometime over the past 4/5 days went to $250. In LA? Weird


I've been driving Lyft full time since June last year, hit PDB every week I drove full time. Used to be 50 hours online to get 20%, now 75 rides. I hit the 75 in 30-40 hours, usually 35 hours. This week was a little slow and my rides were pretty long, so it took 38 hours. Easy peasey.

As for the referral code, I'm an ambassador too and if the rider's phone number has ever been attached to a Lyft account, even if they never actually ordered a ride, they will get a "back-fill" promotion where they're automatically given a certain credit and your referral code USUALLY won't work for them (sometimes it will override). I spent 3 hours signing up 50 new riders in front of BU on Sunday, a couple had the "not valid for new users" but overwhelming majority entered the code and got the $50 in credits.


missmess77 said:


> Why are u the only person to state your claim that the PDB works? Bc u actually work within Lyft? Why r u such an advocate? If u are getting the bonus-kudos! Why so defensive in trying to convince others? If I got the bonus my lips would be sealed as I wouldn't want to be hassled for my "secrets" the simple fact remains far more people speak about the SCAM, majority rules. I'm a hard worker, smart, competitive and love a game of strategy which ride sharing provides but I'm not down for hustling my ass with nearly 100% acceptance everyday to date for peanuts, not seeing any payouts for cancellations or bonuses where they should be.


He's not the only one. There have been problems with my cancellations before but not for months. I got every cancellation fee I was due this week without having to email. As for PDB, as I stated above I've never had issue or reason to suspect something nefarious. Even this week, being slow, I hit PDB Sunday night by 10pm. And 4 of my last 5 rides were matched Line rides. If they were going to scam me, wouldn't they make the Line ride un-matchable rather than giving me credit for 4 rides in 2 trips?

In my opinion, a lot of drivers are either unaware of what they're doing wrong or know what it is and are just pissed they have to actually work.


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## the rebel

Every week I have drive Lyft full time I have hit the PDB, it is really not that hard and just takes some planning to work a few different hours than you normally would to make sure you are working enough prime hours.


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## KMANDERSON

BostonBarry said:


> I've been driving Lyft full time since June last year, hit PDB every week I drove full time. Used to be 50 hours online to get 20%, now 75 rides. I hit the 75 in 30-40 hours, usually 35 hours. This week was a little slow and my rides were pretty long, so it took 38 hours. Easy peasey.
> 
> As for the referral code, I'm an ambassador too and if the rider's phone number has ever been attached to a Lyft account, even if they never actually ordered a ride, they will get a "back-fill" promotion where they're automatically given a certain credit and your referral code USUALLY won't work for them (sometimes it will override). I spent 3 hours signing up 50 new riders in front of BU on Sunday, a couple had the "not valid for new users" but overwhelming majority entered the code and got the $50 in credits.
> 
> He's not the only one. There have been problems with my cancellations before but not for months. I got every cancellation fee I was due this week without having to email. As for PDB, as I stated above I've never had issue or reason to suspect something nefarious. Even this week, being slow, I hit PDB Sunday night by 10pm. And 4 of my last 5 rides were matched Line rides. If they were going to scam me, wouldn't they make the Line ride un-matchable rather than giving me credit for 4 rides in 2 trips?
> 
> In my opinion, a lot of drivers are either unaware of what they're doing wrong or know what it is and are just pissed they have to actually work.


25 dollars in cancels nice.


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## BostonBarry

That's really high actually. Most weeks I only get 1-2 paid cancels. There were a couple parents with no car seats that canceled on me, so I guess that is the reason for this outlier.


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## Hunter420

Its seems like they do peg people out at the last few hours of PDB sometimes, I can see the staff getting off on it., but maybe not, but it wouldn't surprise me! Like...by 35 mile away trips, app turns on automatically, pings and cancels, frozen dashboard, so you can't accept pings, ex ex.. I. Have been through it all. I think their are not enough PDB hours, the week day ones are hard to get more and more, in L.A. core. Besides Traffic gridlock disaster, makes rides longer. Im lucky if I get 3 a day. Then Friday and Saturday are saturated, so its hit or miss. Why not just add more PDB hours, like an extra 5 hours a week would help, but its obvious they are Greedy and will do anything to squeeze the life out of a nickel.


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## somedriverguy

"Do not attribute to evil that which can just as easily be incompetence" my favorite restatement of a Robert Heinlien quote. Both UBER and LYFT fancy themselves technology companies. That's like a girl scout hawking cookies calling herself a french pastry master.


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## Adieu

Barry works for Lyft IMHO

I dont

I've hit around a couple dozen PDBs, but have certainly noticed that lately more hoopjumping is required, and occasionally they do manage to trip even me up

And various trip - up - requests WILL be sent your way and you MAYget depriroritized for pingage (or super prioritized just outside a peak hour you need and/or for humongous airport rides one after another if you're just short of completion - despite weeks of microshorties if you aren't)


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## somedriverguy

Im pretty certain I was deactivated for hitting the PDB for 3 months straight. One week no matter what I did my rating just tanked and they refused to even talk to me about it. Then 3 months later they sent me a glow stache for being one of their top drivers. And this was before everyone got one just for signing up.


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## Adieu

somedriverguy said:


> Im pretty certain I was deactivated for hitting the PDB for 3 months straight. One week no matter what I did my rating just tanked and they refused to even talk to me about it. Then 3 months later they sent me a glow stache for being one of their top drivers. And this was before everyone got one just for signing up.


Huh

Well i did just get fired AGAIN (and immediately rehired after a few scathing emails) right after another improbable PDB 20 reached (+30 rides / 11-some hours)

BS reason given was they "misread" a complaint that I wouldn't illegally stop at their closest most convenient soot by a location vs. The legal place ... As ATTEMPTING TO ABDUCT A PAX (refusing to let them leave, like....at all??? I guess)


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## Monster87

Here's what most likely happened: you can exit the app on your phone and still be logged in as an active driver. I've done it by accident before. That being said in 7 months here is some of the shady things I've experienced:

1) The missed request window pop up when I was staring directly at the phone with the app up. I do the stitcher bluetooth arrangement as well, but I drive mostly at night and you can't help but notice the color change on the app when a request comes in.

2) I've had weird Sunday nights when I'm at a 1:1 rides needed/hours left in week to hit the PDB, and suddenly rides start to dry up. I've used a second phone and watched other cars around me disappear (with the amount of cars remaining more or less steady to preclude drivers giving it up for the night) One of those nights, I grabbed a friend and had him request a ride when I was in the parking lot outside. The request went to a driver a half mile away, and there was no mistaking that I was closer. If you think about it from a corporate standpoint, why would you not game the algorithm to send more rides to non PDB drivers? It can't be proved, and you are increasing revenue. I'll be there's a very ambiguous clause in the T&C we all signed which vaguely allows them to do this.

3) I was at ATT stadium surrounded by 200% rides after the game ended and I received a request right next to the Uber lot. I drove him downtown, and when I dropped him off the bonus was 25%. I don't think they gamed anything against me, but their bonus system is for shit. Rides I get in a pink area end up no bonus, then a ride on a dead night shows up and it's at 75%. Totally arbitrary. Also, I had a day where I drove a guy to the store and ended ride, he came back out 15 minutes later and did another ride to his house -that ride I ended too. He went in to get ready to go downtown, and when he came back out to do another ride about 10 minutes later his app showed a 50% bonus when my app didn't show any bonus area anywhere in Dallas.

All in all, I make more from Lyft then I do Uber with less miles on my car, but I don't have this sneaking suspicion that they're screwing me over - I know they are, and they don't try to sugar coat it with this 'we're you're friend' bs.

FYI - Lyft and Uber will never merge because of antitrust concerns and because Uber doesn't need them. Honestly, I don't think either of these companies is going to be the one to build the killer rideshare app


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## tequeño

Don't worry about the PDB guys, just got this in the mail today:









I am sure it will come to every other city eventually.


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## Monster87

The moment the PDB disappears, the moment I stop driving for Lyft. Without the PDB, Uber becomes the more profitable option. Of course, Uber isn't enough either so I most likely will just stop driving. Sucks too, because this could be a decent way to earn extra money.


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## Monster87

Also, I don't think anything is in play with the # of times you hit the PDB. In roughly 28 weeks of driving, I've only missed 20% 3 or 4 weeks. 1st time was because I didn't know what it was, 2 others where the 1:1 sunday dry up happened, and 1 time I had a project in Portland I had to work. Now half those weeks were touch and go for me to get the 60 I needed until I learned not to save any to Sunday.


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## Fuber1

wdg said:


> #1 I was logged out for 6 consecutive hours #2 why did they let me log back into driver mode sunday morning for over 2 hours , then suddenly take me out 1 hour prior to bonus #3 THEY JUST DON'T WANT TO PAY IT,,,,,IT IS A SCAM


Your a re tard


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## n00ps

I get my bonus every week with Lyft. It’s all about time management. Pick the proper place and times to drive. Last week I made $1350 with 38 hours of driving in LA. I make way more with Lyft than Uber. I only use Uber now at the end of my day to take advantage of the destination mode and get a ride or two on my way home. Not sure what you’re doing but it’s not a scam. You have to plan it out!


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