# Lyft and prime time when accepting a ride



## Kerplunkenstein (Sep 3, 2015)

Pardon me, I'm a Lyft newbie. I'm used to Uber and when I get a ping on uber I can see if there is Surge pricing and if so-how much the Surge pricing is.

On Lyft, can you see it? Or does that not display?


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Does not display on request. We only know after the fact when we complete a drop off.

Yep..horrible.


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## Kerplunkenstein (Sep 3, 2015)

oh wow, that might be a deal breaker for me. Thanks for the info.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

It's worse for plus drivers as you don't know if it's a plus request or not.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Actually the Plus request has been fixed in LA. Don't know what was wrong with it before but it's back after weeks of absence. 

Now if they would bring back the primetime showing on requests, it'll be nice.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

macchiato said:


> Actually the Plus request has been fixed in LA. Don't know what was wrong with it before but it's back after weeks of absence.
> 
> Now if they would bring back the primetime showing on requests, it'll be nice.


How does it show up? It could be there and I'm just not seeing it, never have seen it. Nor have I ever seen prime time show up in the request like it does on Uber's app, clearly.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

The top portion says Plus like before. This is a screenshot of the top after hitting 'arrived.'

It's the same top portion when I get a Plus request.

The primetime percent showed a few months ago and they took it down a week later. No idea why they took it down other than some people were saying drivers were picking and choosing rides.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

macchiato said:


> The top portion says Plus like before. This is a screenshot of the top after hitting 'arrived.'
> 
> It's the same top portion when I get a Plus request.
> 
> The primetime percent showed a few months ago and they took it down a week later. No idea why they took it down other than some people were saying drivers were picking and choosing rides.


I swear I've never seen the PLUS there before. Will have to pay closer attention next time. I've also never seen the prime time %, ever.


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

Primetime will likely never display on Lyft. It makes for terrible user experience as drivers will cherry pick rides and cause a non primetime request to go unanswered over and over. Doesn't matter as much with Uber because they are so saturated that someome will always accept.


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## melxjr (Sep 10, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> Primetime will likely never display on Lyft. It makes for terrible user experience as drivers will cherry pick rides and cause a non primetime request to go unanswered over and over. Doesn't matter as much with Uber because they are so saturated that someome will always accept.


He's correct, It's just that primetime won't display ever, not a likely contingency it might, it never does. It's to deter greedy drivers waiting for the prime request near a prime area, that may get a closer request just outside that zone.


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## undertoad (Oct 10, 2015)

melxjr said:


> He's correct, It's just that primetime won't display ever, not a likely contingency it might, it never does. It's to deter greedy drivers waiting for the prime request near a prime area, that may get a closer request just outside that zone.


Cherry-picking fares based on whether they are PT or not is not greedy. It's intelligent. And repeatedly turning down non-PT work should be our right as independent contractors. The interests of Lyft and its "user experience" are at odds with the interests of the drivers during PT times. When it's surging hard, I turn off Lyft and take only Uber surge requests, and for this very reason.

This is all just a game with rules set by Uber and Lyft, and those august companies can change the rules at any time, and usually these changes work against the drivers. Because of this, drivers need to play the game to win, and to win without remorse. Neither Uber nor Lyft nor the passengers of same give a shit about the drivers, so the drivers should only give a shit when their interests coincide with those of the companies and their passengers. This is how the world works.


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## Wyatt (Apr 17, 2014)

Undertoad with the mic drop! Lol. A game indeed.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

Prime was displayed in SF for like 2 weeks back in late summer. It was great. 

If you are going for the power bonus, you don't have the luxury of cherry picking. 

Lyft sucks. Even if you pick up a pax in the prime zone, it doesn't guarantee you will get the prime. And getting reimbursed isn't likely. I've had the same experience of not getting paid for surge with Uber though. 

Once power bonus is gone, I won't bother with lyft. 

To the newbs, all the NYE threads are coming soon. Don't bother with lyft. It only tops out at 350%. I once saw 450%, but it was a different event. 

Stick with uber 10x!


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## BostonBarry (Aug 31, 2015)

undertoad said:


> Cherry-picking fares based on whether they are PT or not is not greedy. It's intelligent. And repeatedly turning down non-PT work should be our right as independent contractors. The interests of Lyft and its "user experience" are at odds with the interests of the drivers during PT times. When it's surging hard, I turn off Lyft and take only Uber surge requests, and for this very reason.
> 
> This is all just a game with rules set by Uber and Lyft, and those august companies can change the rules at any time, and usually these changes work against the drivers. Because of this, drivers need to play the game to win, and to win without remorse. Neither Uber nor Lyft nor the passengers of same give a shit about the drivers, so the drivers should only give a shit when their interests coincide with those of the companies and their passengers. This is how the world works.


This attitude is why drivers typically fail to be successful. Look at it this way: a Travel Agency provides a package which includes shuttle bus to airport. Shuttle driver doesn't show up. Nearest one is 20 minutes away, but now you may miss your flight. In the future are you going to stop using the shuttle company, or stop using the travel agency.

Riders, whether Lyft or Uber or other, are your customers just as much as they are the TNC company's. When you burn that bridge, your burning a client you could have earned future fares from. You also decrease reliability when the ETA for that rider goes from 2 minutes to 10, if accepted at all.

If the TNC brand you take leads from does poorly, you will get less frequent requests and be back here complaining about how ridership is down and your market is oversaturated. Not to mention you can sit there declining non-surge ride after non-surge ride or being canceled on by riders who decided they don't want to pay the surge, all the while the surge just keeps getting smaller and smaller until it is gone. Then you accept the regular rate fare. At that point how many regular fares could you have earned that you decided weren't worth your time? And then you'll be here complaining about only making $9/hour.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

Then you take a $4 fare because they don't tell you what the primetime rate was after a concert where the whole area is covered at 200% pt. 

And you can get back in time to pickup other passengers because traffic is backed up for minutes. 

This recently happened to me and I had 3 canceled rides after the $4 fare. Totally a waste of time and money for me. 

This is a business. If they can't entice me to work busy times where passengers are requesting, why bother?


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## ATL2SD (Aug 16, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> Doesn't matter as much with Uber because they are so saturated that someome will always accept.


Lol...Funny but very sad & true.


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## undertoad (Oct 10, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> This attitude is why drivers typically fail to be successful. Look at it this way: a Travel Agency provides a package which includes shuttle bus to airport. Shuttle driver doesn't show up. Nearest one is 20 minutes away, but now you may miss your flight. In the future are you going to stop using the shuttle company, or stop using the travel agency.
> 
> Riders, whether Lyft or Uber or other, are your customers just as much as they are the TNC company's. When you burn that bridge, your burning a client you could have earned future fares from. You also decrease reliability when the ETA for that rider goes from 2 minutes to 10, if accepted at all.
> 
> If the TNC brand you take leads from does poorly, you will get less frequent requests and be back here complaining about how ridership is down and your market is oversaturated. Not to mention you can sit there declining non-surge ride after non-surge ride or being canceled on by riders who decided they don't want to pay the surge, all the while the surge just keeps getting smaller and smaller until it is gone. Then you accept the regular rate fare. At that point how many regular fares could you have earned that you decided weren't worth your time? And then you'll be here complaining about only making $9/hour.


We'll just have to agree to disagree on just about everything you have said.

The TNC companies set the rules and can change them anytime they like, and they will not change them to your advantage. Bank on that. You are disposable. You do not matter to them. Take as much as you can get for as long as it makes sense to you, and feel no remorse about doing whatever it takes to get that. Certainly, Travis K will feel no remorse for using you and your car up and tossing you aside as cavalierly as he tosses a tissue into the porcelain god after wiping his ass on it. This is not sustainable farming that Travis K has set up; it's slash-and-burn agriculture. You can play sustainable if you want, but that will just get you slashed and burned. Open your eyes and see this game for what it is. Be Omar Little. "It's all in the game, yo!"

I predict you will hear no crying from me. By maximizing what I make right now, I will ensure that I have enough money to walk away when they inevitably cut the rates for drivers again. I averaged over $50/hr. tonight, for example, snagging just over $225 for 4 hours, quitting early, at about 8:30 and foregoing the bar rush. If I had chosen to work until 2:30, I probably would have topped $400. I also made about $100 in 3 hours this morning.

When Uber lowers rates again, I will decide whether it still makes sense to keep driving my paid-off cheap but in excellent condition 2007 Prius that I do all the maintenance on for Uber/Lyft, or not. My eyes are wide open. Can you say the same?

As for the surge, what you talk about happens, but only the first few times you try it, unless you're an idiot. You have to develop the discipline and the instincts for striking just one step below peak surge, so you have a chance to recover if a passenger cancels. It's quite a rush, actually, and if we all did it, we'd all snag more surges and we would all make more money off these cheap-ass Mr. Pinks that ride Uber.

You have to turn off the app until you see the surge getting pink. That's then you turn it on, and watch the multiplier. Let it build. You can just see these cheap-ass mofos getting desperate for their ride to work or their ride home to momma as you turn down 1.2x, 1.3x, 1.5x, 1.7x, until it gets into the 2s. That's when I start to get interested, but if I had taken that 1.2x, I would be unable to see it build. It's like hunting a trophy elk. If you shoot the first one you see, you will never know what could have been. You can choose to believe me on this, or not. Your belief in me will have no bearing on how much I make "playing the game, yo."


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## Agent99 (Nov 4, 2015)

Undertoad (and others who want to join in),

I am getting the impression that most drivers just keep the driver app on (stay online) the whole time. They don't go offline to study the build up of the surge multiplier in the passenger app. (Maybe they don't even have the passenger app on their smartphone). Are these your perceptions also?


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## KekeLo (Aug 26, 2015)

undertoad said:


> Cherry-picking fares based on whether they are PT or not is not greedy. It's intelligent. And repeatedly turning down non-PT work should be our right as independent contractors. The interests of Lyft and its "user experience" are at odds with the interests of the drivers during PT times. When it's surging hard, I turn off Lyft and take only Uber surge requests, and for this very reason.
> 
> This is all just a game with rules set by Uber and Lyft, and those august companies can change the rules at any time, and usually these changes work against the drivers. Because of this, drivers need to play the game to win, and to win without remorse. Neither Uber nor Lyft nor the passengers of same give a shit about the drivers, so the drivers should only give a shit when their interests coincide with those of the companies and their passengers. This is how the world works.


 Perfect


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## undertoad (Oct 10, 2015)

Agent99 said:


> Undertoad (and others who want to join in),
> 
> I am getting the impression that most drivers just keep the driver app on (stay online) the whole time. They don't go offline to study the build up of the surge multiplier in the passenger app. (Maybe they don't even have the passenger app on their smartphone). Are these your perceptions also?


I don't really know what most drivers do. I suspect that what you describe is what most do, though.

Look, if the collective "you" want to slog through all the slow hours making minimum wage and wearing out your car for the benefit of an evil tycoon and his customer base of entitled Mr. Pinks, go ahead and do it. But I'm telling you that all you are doing is being pawns in a cynical plan and training even more Mr. Pinks to act even more entitled and cheap.

Your time is your life and it contains all the opportunities you need to be successful, so long as you do not waste either or both. By driving for Uber at non-surge rates, you are wasting both your time and your opportunities for making money other ways, not to mention the opportunity for spending time with your family and friends. Worse yet, you are doing all this for the exclusive benefit of Travis K-the evil tycoon-and for the passengers whom he is using to become a billionaire while training them to be as cheap as he is. Further, if you don't care about yourself enough to stop being used by Travis for minimum wage, realize also that Trav's evil plan is not good for America or for the Mr. Pinks, and his plan most damn definitely works against your interests.

Be the hunter, not the hunted. Despite what so many non- or anti-hunters think, good hunters don't just go out tripping around the woods like Elmer Fudd. Hunters must work around the open seasons, of course, but the good ones know the areas in which their chances for success are maximum, and they stay out of those prime areas until the conditions are as favorable as possible. When they go in to those areas, they go in with a plan and are prepared to take every opportunity that presents itself.

Here's how to do that for Uber: Do not drive set hours. Drive only when demand is almost sure to return fair value for your time and the wear on your car. Learn the areas where surge is most likely to occur. Park near or better yet in those areas (always be watching for "backwater" parking lots and such as you are driving around). After learning what areas are best and how high they will surge, keep the app off until it gets in the sweet spot. To get to that point, learn what the peaks are likely to be in that area by "wasting" a few days watching how high they go. This is how to learn that: Turn on the app at the first pink. Pings will likely come in. They'll start at 1.2x, and most likely they will build. Learn how high they will build. This gets addicting but when you can't stand it any longer, take a surge ping before it goes away. Or better yet, keep watching the surge rise and subside. Here in Seattle, there are often 3-4 peak surge times that run 2.5-4x during both the morning and evening commute hours and go way higher near bar time, especially on weekends.

The time you are sitting there is opportunity. Maximize your return for giving up that opportunity. Be patient and take only the pings that prove they will pay fairly by the 2.0-plus-x shown when they come in, so that you do not care so much if you get dragged by the passenger way outside the surge zone or across a toll bridge or whatever. For me, that criteria starts at 2-ish-x. Sometimes, it will be a short ride, and sometimes it will be a long ride to the airport. You won't really care either way because you are getting fair return on your time and the wear on your car.

This may take 2-3 cycles for you to get right, but once you do get it right, three things will happen: 1) You will make 2-3x more money per hour worked; 2) the number of miles driven on your car will drop as your dollar return per mile skyrockets; and 3) your acceptance rate will drop, but so long as your passenger rating remains high they won't deactivate you.

If all that isn't enough, you will notice one more benefit (that also benefits Trav and his Mr. Pink brigade): You will have a smile on your face as the passenger enters your car! Why? Because you feel you are being fairly compensated, and this elevated mood will be reflected in your level of service and then in your passenger rating.

If we all did this, we'd all notice another benefit: More and longer surges.

And then we'd all go home to our families with smiles on our faces to enjoy the fruits of our labor and share it with others. That's what any healthy person wants. It's what you should want. It's what I do nearly every time I sally forth to drive in service of the evil genius. Realize that this is not what Travis K. wants for you-and you can prove that to yourself quite easily by even cursorily examining his actions. He calls you a "partner" but then he beats you and your car like rented mules. (And if you were truly a partner, you'd get free or reduced-rate access to the services of the company, wouldn't you?) Caring about the interests of Trav and his customers-and make no mistake, they are his customers, not yours-in return is therefore not rational.

Or you could be the hunted rabbit and hide in the comforting hole of this forum while complaining and waiting and hoping that Uber will raise the rates so you can make some money. It's really your call. As for me, I'm counting on Uber being Uber and doing the opposite of raising the rates, so I keep the app off until it's surging and make as much as I can as quickly as I can and do so without remorse.

I'll say it once again: This is all just a game played by rules that you not only do not control but that can be changed at any time by the evil genius. If you play it like I'm advising, you can make a living wage, at least for now. If you just slog along without a plan, Trav will reward you with a starvation wage and give you a bonus of a worn-out car.

Driving for Lyft is the same game but with some clever gaming of your own you can come out far better on non-surge times, and this is the right way to fill out all those non-surge hours that you want to work or need to work to make your weekly nut.

You have to ask yourself this: Do I want to win this game or be eaten up by it? Choose to win, or most assuredly, you will lose.


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## KekeLo (Aug 26, 2015)

undertoad said:


> I don't really know what most drivers do. I suspect that what you describe is what most do, though.
> 
> Look, if the collective "you" want to slog through all the slow hours making minimum wage and wearing out your car for the benefit of an evil tycoon and his customer base of entitled Mr. Pinks, go ahead and do it. But I'm telling you that all you are doing is being pawns in a cynical plan and training even more Mr. Pinks to act even more entitled and cheap.
> 
> ...


Excellence Analysis !!!!


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

I hadn't pulled a real night shift for quite some time. The last couple of times I tried it with Lyft was only because of the guarantees. And I got hosed on a couple of hours of dead time and it pissed me off, so I went home early.

Last night thought I'd give it the full run. Worked 7.5 hours. Slow, but at least hit the 1 fare per hour mark and quite a few of the fares were surge, so exceeded what the hourly guarantees were. Kept the app on til 3a.m. but the last 1/2 hour was travel home time. Got stuck in an outlying area and didn't want to bother going back to hot spot that late. Put about 110 total miles on and sat around way too much. If I could take Lyft's platform and Uber's volume of pings it would be much better all around, mainly because of the tip feature. Last year it was pretty easy to hit $40-60 an hour on either platform. So I did it continually. For $29, uh, maybe not soo much. I can usually pull $22-26 during the week and daylight. Much better all around.

When all the dust settled I netted $175 after Lyft's cut and with tips. Really wasn't all that bad. Grossed about $29 an hour, net $23. Nothing to write home about compared to a year ago, but marginally acceptable to get outta bed. May do it again tonight just for kicks if I can get a mid afternoon nap in. Those late night hours wring my a** out the next day. Not to mention the intensive babysitting required for drunks, which I had more than enough of last nite. dramadramadrama

And YES, the little "PLUS" sign DOES show up in the upper left hand corner of the app. That damn thing could have been there prior for a long time. I just wasn't paying attention. Wouldn't be the first time I missed some detail on the app. 
*
So thanks to the poster with the screen shot!*


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## MiddleClassedOut (Jun 11, 2015)

As I said in another threat, frontload your acceptance rate to greater than 95% early in the week.

On the weekend, spend it down cancelling requests that you know aren't coming from surge areas. You have to know your market, and know where the highest Lyft surges are. Then cancel on the crap that isn't in those zones. It works for me.


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## MikesUber (Oct 23, 2015)

undertoad said:


> I don't really know what most drivers do. I suspect that what you describe is what most do, though.
> 
> Look, if the collective "you" want to slog through all the slow hours making minimum wage and wearing out your car for the benefit of an evil tycoon and his customer base of entitled Mr. Pinks, go ahead and do it. But I'm telling you that all you are doing is being pawns in a cynical plan and training even more Mr. Pinks to act even more entitled and cheap.
> 
> ...


1,161 words
2 pages (in Microsoft Word) single spaced

Damn son -__- we need a TL;DR lol


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## Agent99 (Nov 4, 2015)

undertoad said:


> We'll just have to agree to disagree on just about everything you have said.
> 
> The TNC companies set the rules and can change them anytime they like, and they will not change them to your advantage. Bank on that. You are disposable. You do not matter to them. Take as much as you can get for as long as it makes sense to you, and feel no remorse about doing whatever it takes to get that. Certainly, Travis K will feel no remorse for using you and your car up and tossing you aside as cavalierly as he tosses a tissue into the porcelain god after wiping his ass on it. This is not sustainable farming that Travis K has set up; it's slash-and-burn agriculture. You can play sustainable if you want, but that will just get you slashed and burned. Open your eyes and see this game for what it is. Be Omar Little. "It's all in the game, yo!"
> 
> ...


This posting by Undertoad is so good I am reposting it for him. About the only thing I would add to it is that I don't see the need to be online on the driver app and turn down a bunch of lower multiplier surge requests when you can instead watch the build up of the surge multiplier in the passenger app. This would keep your ride acceptance rate from falling any more than is necessary. (Also, with the recent glitches in the driver app, the best source of surge information is the passenger app.)


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## ATL2SD (Aug 16, 2015)

undertoad said:


> I don't really know what most drivers do. I suspect that what you describe is what most do, though.
> 
> Look, if the collective "you" want to slog through all the slow hours making minimum wage and wearing out your car for the benefit of an evil tycoon and his customer base of entitled Mr. Pinks, go ahead and do it. But I'm telling you that all you are doing is being pawns in a cynical plan and training even more Mr. Pinks to act even more entitled and cheap.
> 
> ...


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## ATL2SD (Aug 16, 2015)

MikesUber said:


> 1,161 words
> 2 pages (in Microsoft Word) single spaced
> 
> Damn son -__- we need a TL;DR lol


Shid, he did well. That was a helluva post! A lot of that stuff I already do, but more drivers need to be educated on how to be profitable out here.


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## MikesUber (Oct 23, 2015)

ATL2SD said:


> Shid, he did well. That was a helluva post! A lot of that stuff I already do, but more drivers need to be educated on how to be profitable out here.


I hear ya, kudos for OP for posting something of substance. And yes some of it is repetitive for some of us but I know I was clueless when first even thinking about this stuff. There's still so much to learn (have to tackle taxes next ugh)


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

Yeah this is a joke. The prime tine areas are so small, I've had several rides appear to me as prime time from what I see only to be disappointed when I see the fare.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

BostonBarry said:


> This attitude is why drivers typically fail to be successful. Look at it this way: a Travel Agency provides a package which includes shuttle bus to airport. Shuttle driver doesn't show up. Nearest one is 20 minutes away, but now you may miss your flight. In the future are you going to stop using the shuttle company, or stop using the travel agency.


I have to say it, this is a stupid analogy, but maybe you can clarify it for me.

Is the Shuttle Driver employed or an IC? Does they own this shuttle? Do they pay for all the expenses for the shuttle including payment? fuel? repairs? maintenance? Do they get to set their own price? Does they get to keep all the income derived from this shuttle business?

My guess Is this shuttle driver is an employee and is EMPLOYED. They receive an hourly wage they agreed to and they have no business expenses. If anything this shuttle business is a franchise for which that makes them self employed where they pay a set franchise fee regardless of how many pickups they do (so yes they will pick up everyone on time to build THEIR business.) Neither of these are remotely the same as rideshare driver who cannot BUILD THEIR BUSINESS, they are dependent on the PING and must re-invent the wheel each and every day.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Skinny1 said:


> Yeah this is a joke. The prime tine areas are so small, I've had several rides appear to me as prime time from what I see only to be disappointed when I see the fare.


The Lyft supposed Prime Time is a joke. It might show up, it might not. A driver has no clue. And they'll often put Prime Time in hot drop off areas, as if that does any good. What good does it do for a driver to put Prime Time color around a sports stadium where pax are delivered? It doesn't. But they do it all the time. And the Prime Time areas constantly rotate and move and change shades. Again, pointless to try to chase them or go where there is supposed activity because THERE IS NONE. It's just a moving target to manipulate the ignorant drivers.

I've lost count of the number of requests I get on the Lyft platform when I'm sitting in a supposed Prime Time busy area that send me across the city 4-6 miles, OUT of Prime Time (supposed) areas, in rush hour and bad road conditions.

What the hell are they thinking?! Hell no I'm not doing that. For $4? Kiss my a**!


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

5 of 6 pax tipped last night....only thing that keeps me coming back. Lyft on....


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Base fare to base fare LYFT...no doubt
Surge to surge Uber...no doubt

Lyft APP suks, deliberately keeping driver in the dark. They can easily pocket surge (and probably do) to cover power driver bonuses.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

XUberMike said:


> Base fare to base fare LYFT...no doubt
> Surge to surge Uber...no doubt
> 
> Lyft APP suks, deliberately keeping driver in the dark. They can easily pocket surge (and probably do) to cover power driver bonuses.


So I'm not paranoid? This bullsh1t happens to other people?


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Tncluber said:


> So I'm not paranoid? This bullsh1t happens to other people?


LYFT has to skim, you can't pay 90/100% to drivers and live off the the SRF and survive as a company (especially limited ping LYFT.) Why do you think the APP says PAX has 24 hours to pay. LYFT delays the ebill until PAX are far from your car so you can't see PAX expense.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

XUberMike said:


> LYFT has to skim, you can't pay 90/100% to drivers and live off the the SRF and survive as a company (especially limited ping LYFT.) Why do you think the APP says PAX has 24 hours to pay. LYFT delays the ebill until PAX are far from your car so you can't see PAX expense.


I had a pax that couldn't stop looking at his fare yesterday. The who city of sf was on prime.

Do you think I received the prime? Fuuuuuuuuccck noo....

Fckn lyft.


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## KekeLo (Aug 26, 2015)

Tncluber said:


> So I'm not paranoid? This bullsh1t happens to other people?


Yesterday, I was in deep burgundy into Lyft's SO CALL PRIMETIME, and all I got was regular fares, and the same with Uber.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

KekeLo said:


> Yesterday, I was in deep burgundy into Lyft's SO CALL PRIMETIME, and all I got was regular fares, and the same with Uber.


 I want these fckrs to face criminal charges so bad.

I drive in sf, so I get pax that work at headquarters. I got one the other day. I toyed with him like a cat has a mouse. He looked so scared. He should though. He knows they steal money. Piece of sh1t.....


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## Agent99 (Nov 4, 2015)

XUberMike said:


> LYFT has to skim, you can't pay 90/100% to drivers and live off the the SRF and survive as a company (especially limited ping LYFT.) Why do you think the APP says PAX has 24 hours to pay. LYFT delays the ebill until PAX are far from your car so you can't see PAX expense.


Most Lyft drivers are part time and don't qualify for the 10 or 20% bonuses. Only a small percentage do sufficient number of hours in a week to qualify for the 10% bonus, and still fewer qualify for the 20% bonus. That is not a threat to Lyft's survival.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

Agent99 said:


> Most Lyft drivers are part time and don't qualify for the 10 or 20% bonuses. Only a small percentage do sufficient number of hours in a week to qualify for the 10% bonus, and still fewer qualify for the 20% bonus. That is not a threat to Lyft's survival.


You think they like giving back that bonus?

They like it so much they changed the rules so the app decides how many rides you get per week.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Agent99 said:


> Most Lyft drivers are part time and don't qualify for the 10 or 20% bonuses. Only a small percentage do sufficient number of hours in a week to qualify for the 10% bonus, and still fewer qualify for the 20% bonus. That is not a threat to Lyft's survival.


Could not disagree more 20% of the drivers take 80% of the fares, I think it definitely makes a difference


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## MiddleClassedOut (Jun 11, 2015)

I've had two of these deceptive Prime Times this week again.

Here's what we should do - every time you get a request that's in a Prime Time zone that doesn't result in the Prime Time fare shown or a lower one, write to support. Overwhelm them with support requests citing an error. They need to know we won't stand for this. 

Once I did actually get a Prime Time fare credited - without even asking! They just wrote and said they corrected one. So the system is obviously buggy.

I did this for my 2am surge last night. It was clearly in a 100% Prime Time zone and all I got was 25%. 

After February I'm probably done anyway once the bonus changes go through...It will be impossible to hit those ride numbers. 

And in the meantime, I am merciless with cancels. Made $25 last night on cancels. You drunk and can't see my car with flashers on brah, eat cancel! And I do call everytime - I give it 5 rings. I am just not putting up with any shit any more.


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

Just pissed some folks off. They wanted to leave my city and were in a primetime zone. 25%-100% but without me knowing I told them I had to cancel the ride. It was too far and I'm also in a nice suv
No way I'm doing it for $1-1.5 a mile. 

Wow they were pissed. Pax seem to think we know the destination before hand. They didn't want me to explain it. Oh well, waiting.to hear from lyft after they go off on me to them.


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

This is why not knowing the primetime rate is stupid.


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## Tncluber (Sep 6, 2015)

Skinny1 said:


> Just pissed some folks off. They wanted to leave my city and were in a primetime zone. 25%-100% but without me knowing I told them I had to cancel the ride. It was too far and I'm also in a nice suv
> No way I'm doing it for $1-1.5 a mile.
> 
> Wow they were pissed. Pax seem to think we know the destination before hand. They didn't want me to explain it. Oh well, waiting.to hear from lyft after they go off on me to them.


Stand your ground.


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

macchiato said:


> This is why not knowing the primetime rate is stupid.


Yep 200% and the chance at a tip I may have been just fine to do the haul....not knowing I drew the line.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Skinny1 said:


> Just pissed some folks off. They wanted to leave my city and were in a primetime zone. 25%-100% but without me knowing I told them I had to cancel the ride. It was too far and I'm also in a nice suv
> No way I'm doing it for $1-1.5 a mile.
> 
> Wow they were pissed. Pax seem to think we know the destination before hand. They didn't want me to explain it. Oh well, waiting.to hear from lyft after they go off on me to them.


I've turned down several long hauls with guaranteed deal mile returns. The numbers do not work for me, period, and I'm just not interested. Sorry. Tell it to Lyft or Uber. It's not my problem that there is insufficient pay to justify such fares. I'm simply not driving equal paid to dead miles because the results are pathetic, financially, for drivers. I'll be damned if I'll do this job for nothing, and that is what long hauls with equal dead miles mean at std. Lyft or Uber rates. A prius can maybe make it work for them, but in a Plus, for me, it's impossible to justify such duty for what they pay.


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

Well said, if I run into it on surge on XL I don't generally complain. Here in Seattle the long trips are 15 miles or so, but you make sense.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Skinny1 said:


> Well said, if I run into it on surge on XL I don't generally complain. Here in Seattle the long trips are 15 miles or so, but you make sense.


I have no issues with long haul guaranteed dead mile returns with XL or Plus. I also don't turn down anything within the city/metro or immediately adjoining areas, which covers a very large travel area.

I'm talking about trips far out of town that might run 50-100+ miles outside of metro perimeters, one way, and I do get those in my driving area.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

I have never gotten cheated by Lyft, only Uber. If I pick up a passenger in prime time, I get paid prime rates.

I have OFTEN picked up a passenger in a surge zone, only to find the surge "ended" between ping and acceptance apparently.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

DieselkW said:


> I have never gotten cheated by Lyft, only Uber. If I pick up a passenger in prime time, I get paid prime rates.
> 
> I have OFTEN picked up a passenger in a surge zone, only to find the surge "ended" between ping and acceptance apparently.


I honestly haven't been shorted by Uber for any fare. If there was any glitch, they always correctly adjusted.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Lyft skims surges
Uber skims pool fares


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## Skinny1 (Sep 24, 2015)

Good point on skimming, without telling us the prime rate there is no clarity on what's charged.
Sounds like something the union needs.to clear up


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## Idunno (Nov 1, 2015)

Here's my take. Thanksgiving Sunday Uber was down or something, no cars available anywhere in the city. Do an airport run on Lyft at 200%.....sweet almost $100 and the rider admitted they waited 2 hours for a ride, so obviously high demand. Run back to the airport to get another big fare. I'm 15 miles from the airport, turn the app on, only car available, get pinged immediately. Come to find out the rider admitted he kept declining the surge price and somehow got a base fare. WTF! 
I wouldn't have driven to the airport if not for the high demand and prime time rates. LYFT OFF, UBER ON


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## macchiato (Sep 29, 2015)

This sounds like a 1 star customer.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

melxjr said:


> He's correct, It's just that primetime won't display ever, not a likely contingency it might, it never does. It's to deter greedy drivers waiting for the prime request near a prime area, that may get a closer request just outside that zone.


They did trial it for a few days in San Francisco a few months ago - any Prime Time multiple would be displayed on the ping screen. But they soon withdrew it. Which is stupid, because if Uber is surging, I Lyft off and Uber on as I know with Uber what rate I get before I do each piece of work. So Lyft loses drivers to Uber when it needs them most. Dumb, dumb, dumb.


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## driveflydrive (Aug 17, 2015)

DieselkW said:


> I have never gotten cheated by Lyft, only Uber. If I pick up a passenger in prime time, I get paid prime rates.
> 
> I have OFTEN picked up a passenger in a surge zone, only to find the surge "ended" between ping and acceptance apparently.


Next time: Take a snapshot of the ping showing the surge, email uber and they'll pay it.


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## uberpa (Nov 12, 2015)

elelegido said:


> They did trial it for a few days in San Francisco a few months ago - any Prime Time multiple would be displayed on the ping screen. But they soon withdrew it. Which is stupid, because if Uber is surging, I Lyft off and Uber on as I know with Uber what rate I get before I do each piece of work. So Lyft loses drivers to Uber when it needs them most. Dumb, dumb, dumb.


Exactly. lyft surge changes so fast you never know if you get it or not! I turn lyft off as soon as there's a uber surge shown.


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