# Lyft Driver Question?



## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

I applied to be a Lyft driver. I'm already an Uber driver. I received an email a couple of weeks later saying that I was approved and go through the app to meet my mentor. I clicked on the app and it said I wasn't in a Lyft area but many areas are being added. So, am I done as a Lyft driver until Lyft moves north one exit or should I drive south one exit and try again? Thank you for the help.


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

julianashusband said:


> I applied to be a Lyft driver. I'm already an Uber driver. I received an email a couple of weeks later saying that I was approved and go through the app to meet my mentor. I clicked on the app and it said I wasn't in a Lyft area but many areas are being added. So, am I done as a Lyft driver until Lyft moves north one exit or should I drive south one exit and try again? Thank you for the help.


Just drive into the service area and try again.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

If you are that close to the edge of the service area, you might have to drive more into the heart of the service area in order to get a mentor. If you try just inside the service area it might be hard to get a mentor to respond.


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## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

Is it worth making the drive deep into the service area if I don't really want to drive deep into the service area to get rides?


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## TrafficSlayer (Aug 16, 2014)

julianashusband said:


> Is it worth making the drive deep into the service area if I don't really want to drive deep into the service area to get rides?


You only need to do one mentor ride to get started, once you're in, you're in, so it's all up to you.


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

For the one time mentor ride just turn on the app
request a mentor and start driving in the direction of a "hot zone".
Sooner or later you will get a match.

Note you can only get customer pings if you are in the service area.
If you are out of the service area it will never ping, even if the customer is nearby.


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## LookyLou (Apr 28, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> For the one time mentor ride just turn on the app
> request a mentor and start driving in the direction of a "hot zone".
> Sooner or later you will get a match.
> 
> ...


So, if you want to start out at your house you will need to get an Uber ride. Then if it takes you onto the service area, turn on both and take the first ping.


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## Baron VonStudley (Jun 20, 2014)

The mentor ride is a job interview are you going to tell your prospective boss oh sorry I can't drive to your building to interview I kind of don't wanna work there. Take it seriously and prepare your car clean fresh. Good luck the flexibility of both is to your benefit.


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## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

Baron VonStudley said:


> The mentor ride is a job interview are you going to tell your prospective boss oh sorry I can't drive to your building to interview I kind of don't wanna work there. Take it seriously and prepare your car clean fresh. Good luck the flexibility of both is to your benefit.


That's a good point. I was trying to make the point that Uber allows me to have the app on at home and receive ride requests from there so my first trip of the day is paid for. If Lyft won't allow that, I'm not sure I'll be using Lyft too much. It was just part of the discernment process.


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## Doodle (Jul 17, 2014)

Baron VonStudley said:


> The mentor ride is a job interview are you going to tell your prospective boss oh sorry I can't drive to your building to interview I kind of don't wanna work there. Take it seriously and prepare your car clean fresh. Good luck the flexibility of both is to your benefit.


I echo this point. Lately, I have been getting mentee requests that have been just plain rude & not respectful of my time. Just yesterday, I took a Lyft ride (as a passenger) from my day job to my car to do a bit of driving before I went home for the day. After the Lyft driver gets to my car and ended the ride, we chatted for a bit. Then, I see that she got a Mentor ping request. I told her I better go and let her do that. She said nah it's probably a joke and then took the request and I got out of her car.

As I was getting ready in my car, she pulls up and rolls down her window and told me the mentee request was indeed a joke. The guys said he was still at his work and can't drive. I laughed it off and wished her good luck. 2 mins later, I get into driver mode and lo and behold I get a mentor request from the same dude. Already wary, I accepted it and thought what the heck. I called him. No answer. I texted him and texted me back saying that he is driving. I said, ok meet at this address and accept my ride request. No answer. I gave him 5 mins and saw that he was driving further away from me.

I gave him another 5 mins, but at that point I was ready to fail him if he showed up regardless of how good/bad of a candidate he is. Lucky for him, he didn't show. I cancelled and moved on.


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## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

Doodle, I don't have a holder for my iPhone in my car. I have a built in navigation system that came with the car, but I prefer the Google maps in my headset rather than Ford's navigation system. Do I need to get a holder for my phone before I do my mentor ride (job interview)? Does Lyft care when navigation system I use? Thank you for advice before I fail my first job interview in 8 years .


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## Doodle (Jul 17, 2014)

Hi julianashusband,

LookyLou posted some great tips in the link below. I've copied and pasted them below for reference. All credit goes to him.
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https://uberpeople.net/threads/lyft-mentor-session-tips.1267/

Here are a some tips for preparing for your Lyft Mentor session:


Make sure your car is as clean as possible. Trunk or cargo area should be empty and clean too. Your Mentor will be photographing your car for your Lyft profile.
Self inspect your car. Check to make sure all lights are working as well as your wipers, heater, air conditioner etc. Make sure your tires pass the penny test. Place a penny head first into the tread of each tire. You should not be able to see the top of Washington's head or your tires are too worn. Make sure that all of your doors operate properly including locks and windows. Check that all seat belts work properly. All glass should be in good condition without any cracks or dings that have not been repaired.
Dress casual but neat and clean. Be yourself, but look your best. Your Mentor will be taking your photograph for your Lyft profile.
Be sure to bring the car you registered with for Lyft for your session. Make sure you bring your drivers license and current insurance card. Everything needs to match up as far as your name, plate numbers, expiration dates etc.
Have your phone mounted in a holder in your car. You will be taking a practice Lyft ride and will need to go through all of the procedures of a normal ride including using the navigation on your phone.
Relax, smile a lot and ask a lot of questions to try to get as much out of the session as possible.

Good luck with your Mentor sessions and Happy Lyfting my friends. 
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I'll add a few comments. If you don't have a phone mount, make it a point to tell your mentor that you ordered one and it's on its way. Note that after my first 30 rides, Lyft sent me a phone mount along with the mustache. It may vary by office but just FYI.

Also Lyft does not care what navigation system you use, they do ask the mentor's to rate whether or not you are comfortable using GPS. So I recommend it for the mentor ride if your mentor gives you an address. Sometimes they might just tell you to drive around a bit and come back to their car. The only benefit for using a NAV on your phone is that it syncs up to the Lyft app and you don't have to type it in twice if the rider already provided a destination through the app.

Here's how the mentor session typically goes:
1) You go into driver mode and initiate the session.
2) A mentor accepts the request. After that just hang tight, the mentor is probably on the road and finding a place to park where they won't get towed or ticketed.
3) The mentor will request a ride from you. Accept it and drive to their location.
4) Hit Tap to Arrive on your Lyft app when you get there. This is essentially what you do on a normal ride.
4) The mentor will hop into your car. Take pictures of your license and insurance.
5) Both would hop out of the car so that the mentor can take a picture of you and your car.
6) Get back in your car. Lyft asks the mentor to check things like lights, horn and windshield wipers are working.
7) Either the mentor will give you a destination to punch in, or you guys are just going to drive for 10 to 15 mins. 
8) Typically you will take the mentor back to his/her car so that they can continue driving. Last chance to ask any questions. 
9) Lyft will ask the mentor to predict what your lifetime rating would be and whether or not you will be a good fit for Lyft. 
10) You should usually hear back from Lyft 1-2 days after the mentor session.

Lastly, just remember that mentors are people and other drivers too. Just be respectful and ask them a lot of questions =).


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## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

Doodle and LookyLou thank you! I had read the tips before, but this is great to have them all in one spot. Funny that you mention ordering a car mount, because I ordered mine today! Now to find a time to drive downtown (my least favorite part of the city) to request my mentor ride.


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## Doodle (Jul 17, 2014)

Never been to Houston, so I can't comment about the service areas there, but good luck!


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## u_no_me (Jun 27, 2014)

Houston service coverage area and rates:

https://www.lyft.com/cities/houston


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## julianashusband (Aug 6, 2014)

u_no_me said:


> Houston service coverage area and rates:
> 
> https://www.lyft.com/cities/houston


And I am one exit north and therefore out of the service area.


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