# Lyft cheating drivers?



## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

as u can see if im on rider mode the area is +25%
but when i log in as a driver its a no color map

is lyft charging riders 25% more while paying drivers normal fare?
ive seen this a lot of times happen

what u guys think?


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Their system really sucks trying to pinpoint areas of surge. Much smaller confined areas. In some ways it's good because they seem to single out isolated hot spots, various venues, which with the lesser amounts of traffic Lyft drivers need to chase to get fares. I just haven't had the time to dick around with Lyft much yet but plan on spending more time with it to see if it can improve my yields. The app from the drivers side is NOT as handy to use imho. And the pax are much more needy, it seems.

Don't know if I'm not paying close enough attention to the app but it's seems problematic to tell at a glance just what the surge might be on any given ping. Will just have to try to use them more. The tipping feature is awesome fwiw.


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## yellow (Sep 7, 2014)

I brought this up before. ... https://uberpeople.net/threads/phantom-prime-time.3211/#post-33992


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## CLAkid (Oct 23, 2014)

KrisThuy said:


> as u can see if im on rider mode the area is +25%
> but when i log in as a driver its a no color map
> 
> is lyft charging riders 25% more while paying drivers normal fare?
> ...


I think that if this is true, then they are just as corrupt as some of the biggest companies. I have seen no evidence of this here I'm L.A.


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

CLAkid said:


> I think that if this is true, then they are just as corrupt as some of the biggest companies. I have seen no evidence of this here I'm L.A.


im in LA also


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## Doodle (Jul 17, 2014)

I think it's just an issue where their heat maps (pink squares) don't reliably show on the driver map. You'll still get the PT even if the square is not pink. I've PT rides before from an area that I was positive was not colored when the request came in. 

I've also noted that when the PT is high (25% to 150% for example), only the high PT areas show up as pink. The lower PT areas like 25% still show blank. 

These are just my observations from looking at the driver map on my account, and comparing with my wife's passenger account map.


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

today


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## Swed (Jul 20, 2014)

Wow you can't argue with that evidence.


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## chigirlryder (Oct 22, 2014)

Im in Chicago and after this happened to me i started paying attention. This happens all the time. Also, i had a lyft driver as a passanger. He showed me that he was giving me 5 stars and a $10 tip before he left my car. Lyft only gave me $5 of that tip.


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## pUBERty SUCKS (Nov 2, 2014)

Say it isn't so !!


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## Lyft4uDC (Jul 28, 2014)

I already lost on fares from Halloween. they wont even bother trying to look into it other than just 1 ride. I stopped driving for lyft as of now. its not like I made much off lyft since I don't drive in dc, but screwing me out of 3 of 4 rides is just nonsense.


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## jmana (Sep 2, 2014)

I've started asking passengers if they get a notification regarding prime pricing, and yes, it does happen (too often) that they say they get the notification, yet I don't get any prime pay. I only gave 4 Lyft rides this weekend, and one of them the lady said she got the notification regarding 50% prime, and I got nothing. I am thinking of beginning to ask for passenger's contact info (and explain why) and then I can call and confirm that they did indeed get charged. I smell a class action lawsuit here, all we need is some proof, and a lawyer willing to look into it.


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

jmana said:


> I've started asking passengers if they get a notification regarding prime pricing, and yes, it does happen (too often) that they say they get the notification, yet I don't get any prime pay. I only gave 4 Lyft rides this weekend, and one of them the lady said she got the notification regarding 50% prime, and I got nothing. I am thinking of beginning to ask for passenger's contact info (and explain why) and then I can call and confirm that they did indeed get charged. I smell a class action lawsuit here, all we need is some proof, and a lawyer willing to look into it.


man this is probably the reason why they cant show us if its prime time on by the time we accept like uber does, so they can cheat us with this sheet


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## Uzcaliber (Aug 22, 2014)

I believe you have to pick your pax up in within a Prime area (pink square), it's like Uber Surge area. When you get the Prime Time notice, drive toward a "pink" area.


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## KrisThuy (Aug 6, 2014)

Uzcaliber said:


> I believe you have to pick your pax up in within a Prime area (pink square), it's like Uber Surge area. When you get the Prime Time notice, drive toward a "pink" area.


we all know that
read from the beginning of the thread

the problem is the rider app says prime time while on the driver mode its not a pink area


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## Uzcaliber (Aug 22, 2014)

The rider in the example above was not in a pink PM area but somehow the app said it was. Probably app issue initially and self corrected after the request. I had a PM rider and I got a PM rate with rider within a pink area.


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## CLAkid (Oct 23, 2014)

I am pretty sure that Lyft IS cheating drivers. Last night I took a new passenger for a ride and when the ride stopped he wanted me to close out the app for him. So I noticed that he was charged $21 and change. But when I looked at my driver summary a few minutes ago, it showed that the ride cost 18 and change. It was not a Lyft Line, so my figure should have matched his figure before they take out their commission. So why is there a 3 dollar gap between what he paid for the ride and what my driver summary shows the ride costs. Perhaps someone can shed some light on this.


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## Unico (Nov 5, 2014)

Alright, So I went ahead and began to document all my passengers trip cost by asking if they would be willing to share the information with me.
So here is my "data"
Out of the 15 rides I gave yesterday:
11 => Difference of $1.50 (which I know its the Trust and Safety fee)
1=> Difference of $1.59
1=> Difference of $1.98
1 => Difference of $2.28
1 => Difference of $2.50 (This one had a $4 tip)

This is in no specific order, and I have had other tips with the $1.50 fee.
Could have some to do with the new decimal fares?
Let me know what you guys think about this!


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## CLAkid (Oct 23, 2014)

Unico said:


> Alright, So I went ahead and began to document all my passengers trip cost by asking if they would be willing to share the information with me.
> So here is my "data"
> Out of the 15 rides I gave yesterday:
> 11 => Difference of $1.50 (which I know its the Trust and Safety fee)
> ...


Thanks so much for posting this data. I hope other members respond. When the fare is a solid $4, then my cut is always $3.20. it would make sense that if this gap were occurring with more drivers then we would have seen this issue on the forum already. Could it be that nobody notices this? Or is it something else? Personally, it would be a pain to have to track all of my fares like this. But it simply doesn't make sense.


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## jmana (Sep 2, 2014)

I know it's kind of annoying to ask a pax for the fare they are being charged, but I really think we should all be doing this, and explaining to the pax why so they don't down rate us. This is the only way to get to the bottom of this. I hate to say it, but it might even be good to ask for contact info, in case lawyers get involved with this (which I think they should if we have been getting skimmed all this time). If this is a systematic thing for Lyft to make more $$$ at our expense, then a lawsuit is in order and we deserve restitution.


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## Uzcaliber (Aug 22, 2014)

Sounds like a "Class Action" lawsuit. Talk to a law firm, they may be interested to investigate.


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## CLAkid (Oct 23, 2014)

jmana said:


> I know it's kind of annoying to ask a pax for the fare they are being charged, but I really think we should all be doing this, and explaining to the pax why so they don't down rate us. This is the only way to get to the bottom of this. I hate to say it, but it might even be good to ask for contact info, in case lawyers get involved with this (which I think they should if we have been getting skimmed all this time). If this is a systematic thing for Lyft to make more $$$ at our expense, then a lawsuit is in order and we deserve restitution.


Well said. I might start doing this randomly. However it would be best if more divers came forward with this.


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## UberBlackishX (Jan 11, 2015)

scrurbscrud said:


> Their system really sucks trying to pinpoint areas of surge. Much smaller confined areas. In some ways it's good because they seem to single out isolated hot spots, various venues, which with the lesser amounts of traffic Lyft drivers need to chase to get fares. I just haven't had the time to dick around with Lyft much yet but plan on spending more time with it to see if it can improve my yields. The app from the drivers side is NOT as handy to use imho. And the pax are much more needy, it seems.
> 
> Don't know if I'm not paying close enough attention to the app but it's seems problematic to tell at a glance just what the surge might be on any given ping. Will just have to try to use them more. The tipping feature is awesome fwiw.


Lyft is far better, because it's easier for people to leave tips


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## LolX (May 11, 2015)

I've been lurking on these boards for a while and registered so I could post on this thread. This site is incredible comedy and the people on here are hilarious. From the people who rage quit to those who think the leases Uber offers are good to those who still drive and cry about it 24/7. Keep it coming.

Anyways -- I drove a bit for Lyft (never for Uber) last summer into October until I was making significantly more with my regular job that I didn't want to kill my car. I think I did about 3-400 rides. I was lucky I only had one ******** group (the only Saturday night I worked) and I actually enjoyed my time there. I guess I worked with 0% commission plus a $1 bonus at the start and at the end you could get 5% on the Power Driver Bonus just driving 15 hours.

However the two things that really pissed me off-- 1. Is this thread. So many times I picked someone up in a pink spot and I wouldn't get credit for PT. The worst was I did an SFO drop off and was ready to call it a night (I lived on the peninsula at the time) but I got another ping so decided to pick the group of guys up. They were a pretty cool group of dad types that were going to Berkeley. When I picked them up it was 100% pink area and I dropped them off for a $65 ride. But I never got the PT.

The other thing that pissed me off to no end is I never got credit for a cancellation. There was a time I drove 10 minutes to pick someone up, was there and they cancelled.

How are things in SF for Lyft now? When I worked, I got ping after ping after ping at any time in the city. I don't think I waited more than 4-5 minutes unless it was really late at night. I went back to my old e-mails and saw I usually got $25-30/hr and on the one Saturday night it was $44/hr (I had a long, 200% PT ride with people who were quite high... funny group and $98 ride). From this board, it seems as though the rates have been slashed since October 2014 when I gave my last ride.


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## CLAkid (Oct 23, 2014)

LolX said:


> I've been lurking on these boards for a while and registered so I could post on this thread. This site is incredible comedy and the people on here are hilarious. From the people who rage quit to those who think the leases Uber offers are good to those who still drive and cry about it 24/7. Keep it coming.
> 
> Anyways -- I drove a bit for Lyft (never for Uber) last summer into October until I was making significantly more with my regular job that I didn't want to kill my car. I think I did about 3-400 rides. I was lucky I only had one ******** group (the only Saturday night I worked) and I actually enjoyed my time there. I guess I worked with 0% commission plus a $1 bonus at the start and at the end you could get 5% on the Power Driver Bonus just driving 15 hours.
> 
> ...


I am in L.A. and the rates have gone down here. Don't know about S.F. Also, now they have a policy where if the rider cancels after 5 minutes of requesting a ride, the cancelation fee is applied. They did not have this back in October. As for not getting paid the PT rate, I never had a problem with it. Sometimes the surge ends right before we get a ping so that we think we are still in a PT area or that the rider is.


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## LolX (May 11, 2015)

CLAkid said:


> I am in L.A. and the rates have gone down here. Don't know about S.F. Also, now they have a policy where if the rider cancels after 5 minutes of requesting a ride, the cancelation fee is applied. They did not have this back in October. As for not getting paid the PT rate, I never had a problem with it. Sometimes the surge ends right before we get a ping so that we think we are still in a PT area or that the rider is.


Maybe but the SFO drop/pick up specific time, I dropped someone off, immediately got a ping 10 seconds later with all of the airport in pink.


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## DrJeecheroo (Feb 12, 2015)

I love thread titles with the word "cheat" in them. I guess it's part of that out-law mentality that I find appealing.


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## Hon (Apr 7, 2016)

Beware of Lyft fake surge pricing to cheat drivers. Look carefully at your driving history, you can hardly find any surge charges added to the total charge.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Pink squares do not indicate Prime Time, they indicate higher demand. Now yes, more often than not there will be PT in areas where there are pink squares. I've been paid 100% PT in a suburb which never gets pink squares. Don't relate the two. Use the heat map to predict demand, be willing to take fares at base rate and allow yourself to be surprised by Prime Time.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Hon said:


> Beware of Lyft fake surge pricing to cheat drivers. Look carefully at your driving history, you can hardly find any surge charges added to the total charge.


Wrong.


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## Hon (Apr 7, 2016)

BostonBarry said:


> Pink squares do not indicate Prime Time, they indicate higher demand. Now yes, more often than not there will be PT in areas where there are pink squares. I've been paid 100% PT in a suburb which never gets pink squares. Don't relate the two. Use the heat map to predict demand, be willing to take fares at base rate and allow yourself to be surprised by Prime Time.


Look carefully at the prime time icon, it says "Prime Time 25-200% More in Red Areas, actual percentage is based on passenger pickup location." If we pickup pax in this area, it should be additional charge according to the secret PT set by Lyft and we don't know the real PT charge unless we ask the pax for their receipts and calculate what's the PT. Lyft could charge pax 200% and pay us 100% and pocket the rest that we never know! If PT never occurs in the red/pink map, it could be false advertising to misleading drivers.
It sounds like we are willing to work for minimum wages and allow yourself to be surprised by bonus!


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

In your theory it doesn't matter if the app tells you the PT before the ride or not. Uber could be charging rider 3.5 and only paying you 1.2, but I doubt it happens. It is rideshare paranoia. Because all it takes is you pulling out your friends' phone and requesting a ride at a certain PT rate with you in driver mode and getting the ping at a different PT rate. Never seen a driver share a screenshot or story of actually seeing that happening. The pink = demand, not necessarily PT. If a rider requested pickup 15 minutes ago and 3 drivers cancelled on them then PT populates around them their request is still going to cycle to drivers at normal rate not PT because it isn't their fault they were cancelled on. Whereas if they cancel the request and make a new one the PT will be applied. I've never had even one shift where I earned less than $15/hour on average and usually PT isn't a big chunk of my earnings (neither was Surge when I drove Uber).


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## Hunter420 (May 1, 2016)

I think they cherry pick riders, ex.... Some make more, some get less. Its not fair. My roommate drives, he gets all incentives, text messages too events, ex.. I get nothing! He makes double in income, lately i only get mini rides, ill be in pink. And only get non surge rides... And 60% less tips.... Its obvious they are scammers


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

YE$, but....Lyft cheats on power bonuses and guaranteed hourlies NOT on surge

i've had days of ALL surged rides and they matched rider all


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## Tnasty (Mar 23, 2016)

They are skimming and who is gonna catch them?


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

KrisThuy said:


> as u can see if im on rider mode the area is +25%
> but when i log in as a driver its a no color map
> 
> is lyft charging riders 25% more while paying drivers normal fare?
> ...


Every driver has their own algorithm. Your driver app is going to match your passenger app. The price could be higher than you're seeing, and there's a reason you're not seeing that. Lyft also fakes the pink areas on your map in order to redistribute drivers. Trust nothing.


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## ThatsKat (Jan 18, 2018)

Yes I believe lyft is scamming us. The surge zones are no longer clear. If you drive towards a pink area it almost always disappears before you get there. I was also sitting in a pink area and did not receive surge price. The premium areas are now just like winning a lottery. The party's over time to get a real job. One more thing a passenger was ranting about being quoted surge price and how she was waiting for the price to drop. Nowhere on my app did it show that there were any surges in the area. She said she was paying a premium for the ride. I was paid normal price. I was driving strictly for lyft because of their reputation for being driver friendly pffff what a load of bs i will go back to driving for evil uber as it makes no difference, at leadt you know your driving for the devil! The only difference between uber and lyft is lyft will kiss you before they screw you ...but now they dont even do that.


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## Hunter420 (May 1, 2016)

yes!!! they are taking more then 25%...........



Unico said:


> Alright, So I went ahead and began to document all my passengers trip cost by asking if they would be willing to share the information with me.
> So here is my "data"
> Out of the 15 rides I gave yesterday:
> 11 => Difference of $1.50 (which I know its the Trust and Safety fee)
> ...


save all your info, and data...for court!!


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