# Getting the Unaccompanied Minor Fee without Driving to the School



## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

I've done this successfully a few times now.
After I accept the ping, I look at a satellite shot of the pickup location on Google Maps, this usually takes about 1 minute. If it's a middle school or high school, I take a screen shot of the trip and the satellite picture of the school. Then I drive toward the school for ~1 minute. After about 1 minute I stop and send this text (I use a keyboard shortcut so I don't have to type it out):










Then I wait for another minute, usually I'll get this message:










Since two minutes have elapsed, *and* I've made progress toward the pickup, I'll typically get the cancellation fee automatically. If they don't cancel on their own, I'll have to drive to the school and get the cancellation fee the hard way. If Lyft doesn't pay the pax cancellation automatically, I have the screen shots to indicate that the pax cancelled because they read the text and were a minor.










I think the key is that the text I send is worded to make it seem like it's an official text from Lyft (or Uber). It's at least good enough to fool a kid. It's an easy $5 for 3 minutes of time and maybe a mile of driving. I also report every cancellation of this type, in part to cover my butt, but mostly because I hate kids.


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## Working4peanuts (Jan 16, 2018)

Great idea!


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Love it! I've already copied it and can't wait to try it out tomorrow! Please remember to report the underage pax when they cancel though! Otherwise, you will be deactivated for texting and subsequently the pax cancelling. 

(I know....because I also tried being proactive when picking up at the local theme park here last summer....and I got deactivated for too many pax cancellations!)


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

LEAFdriver said:


> Love it! I've already copied it and can't wait to try it out tomorrow! Please remember to report the underage pax when they cancel though! Otherwise, you will be deactivated for texting and subsequently the pax cancelling.
> 
> (I know....because I also tried being proactive when picking up at the local theme park here last summer....and I got deactivated for too many pax cancellations!)


Absolutely! I report every one and keep the emails in a special subfolder entitled either "Lyft Deactivation" or "Uber Deactivation". It's never really a matter of if, but when, isn't it?


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## Eugene73 (Jun 29, 2017)

whats the shortcut to save and send the same text many times?


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## Certain Judgment (Dec 2, 2016)

dctcmn said:


> I've done this successfully a few times now.
> After I accept the ping, I look at a satellite shot of the pickup location on Google Maps, this usually takes about 1 minute. If it's a middle school or high school, I take a screen shot of the trip and the satellite picture of the school. Then I drive toward the school for ~1 minute. After about 1 minute I stop and send this text (I use a keyboard shortcut so I don't have to type it out):
> 
> View attachment 207594
> ...


Brilliant!


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

Eugene73 said:


> whats the shortcut to save and send the same text many times?


on iOS, it's Settings>General>Keyboards>Text Replacement>+
Then enter the message under 'Phrase' and assign a shortcut. My shortcuts are always something I wouldn't ever naturally type and is easy to remember, like "qqqq".



PickEmUp said:


> Lyft stopped forwarding my messages to pax and they will probably do the same for anyone sending this type of message.


Interesting. I send texts like this all of the time for the airport, because our pickup zone is not well signed and is nowhere near baggage claim, so pax have a hard time finding it.

What kind of texts were you sending and how often were you sending them?


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

PickEmUp said:


> Involuntary rematches and pickup distances longer than stated by Lyft.


Were you asking the pax to cancel on their end? Did you use the word 'cancel' in your text?


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## Adieu (Feb 21, 2016)

dctcmn said:


> Were you asking the pax to cancel on their end? Did you use the word 'cancel' in your text?


"Reorder"


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## Eugene73 (Jun 29, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> on iOS, it's Settings>General>Keyboards>Text Replacement>+
> Then enter the message under 'Phrase' and assign a shortcut. My shortcuts are always something I wouldn't ever naturally type and is easy to remember, like "qqqq".
> 
> thanks bud !


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## Working4peanuts (Jan 16, 2018)

dctcmn said:


> on iOS, it's Settings>General>Keyboards>Text Replacement>+
> Then enter the message under 'Phrase' and assign a shortcut. My shortcuts are always something I wouldn't ever naturally type and is easy to remember, like "qqqq".
> 
> Interesting. I send texts like this all of the time for the airport, because our pickup zone is not well signed and is nowhere near baggage claim, so pax have a hard time finding it.
> ...


I took this great tip one step forward. Copied it to my non uber phone. Will send it from there instead of from uber phone.


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## 7Miles (Dec 17, 2014)

How about instead send them a link to Uber/Lyft underage policy ?

https://help.uber.com/h/43b84de6-758b-489e-b088-7ee69c749ccd


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## Pawtism (Aug 22, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> I've done this successfully a few times now.
> After I accept the ping, I look at a satellite shot of the pickup location on Google Maps, this usually takes about 1 minute. If it's a middle school or high school, I take a screen shot of the trip and the satellite picture of the school. Then I drive toward the school for ~1 minute. After about 1 minute I stop and send this text (I use a keyboard shortcut so I don't have to type it out):
> 
> View attachment 207594
> ...


I love this idea!


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## DrivingForYou (Aug 6, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> on iOS, it's Settings>General>Keyboards>Text Replacement>+
> Then enter the message under 'Phrase' and assign a shortcut. My shortcuts are always something I wouldn't ever naturally type and is easy to remember, like "qqqq".
> 
> ?


OMG brilliant, never thought of that. I have a bunch of texts for airports and various situations, this makes it amazingly easy!!!

Now it will be AAAAA for LAX pickups at A, BBBBB for the B pickups etc.

THANKS!!


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## Ardery (May 26, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> I've done this successfully a few times now.
> After I accept the ping, I look at a satellite shot of the pickup location on Google Maps, this usually takes about 1 minute. If it's a middle school or high school, I take a screen shot of the trip and the satellite picture of the school. Then I drive toward the school for ~1 minute. After about 1 minute I stop and send this text (I use a keyboard shortcut so I don't have to type it out):
> 
> View attachment 207594
> ...


you bang right on. I send out a similar post when I suspect it's a school student.


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## Drivemode916 (Oct 13, 2017)

Lol


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

I was 2/2 this week using this text. One guy called me and said he ordered it for his little brother and didn't know the age restriction and apologized for any inconvenience. The second person had her ID ready for me when I pulled up. I think she was a student teacher, because she was 20.

There was a deleted post in this thread that said I was misrepresenting myself as Lyft in the text and that may be a fair criticism. So I've changed the language from "_We've instructed your driver to verify the age of the passenger(s) via state issued ID_" to "_Your driver has been instructed to verify the age of the passenger(s) via state issued ID_".

I want to give the impression the text is from Lyft or Uber, but I don't want any explicit language stating that.


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## Big Wig !!! (Sep 16, 2016)

I got a request from a High School yesterday, and canceled when I realized it. When I tried to look up the ride to explain why I canceled, the ride was marked "Admin Canceled". Never seen that before. Does that mean Lyft knew?


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

Big Wig !!! said:


> I got a request from a High School yesterday, and canceled when I realized it. When I tried to look up the ride to explain why I canceled, the ride was marked "Admin Canceled". Never seen that before. Does that mean Lyft knew?


Could be. I've only seen the "Dispatch Cancelled" for a scheduled pick up that they switched to another driver and I got a $10 cancel fee for that. Did you get paid?


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## Big Wig !!! (Sep 16, 2016)

dctcmn said:


> Could be. I've only seen the "Dispatch Cancelled" for a scheduled pick up that they switched to another driver and I got a $10 cancel fee for that. Did you get paid?


$0.00


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## Watup (Jan 24, 2017)

Yet this is fkn completely fine by lyft :-


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## Pawtism (Aug 22, 2017)

Watup said:


> Yet this is fkn completely fine by lyft :-


What's wrong with that one? They told us they were going to start taking the doctor appointment rides. I mean, it's not a very likely tip, but then most Lyft pax don't tip anyway.

At least you know you're probably going to a medical complex and not some sketchy neighborhood hehe.


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

Pawtism said:


> What's wrong with that one? They told us they were going to start taking the doctor appointment rides. I mean, it's not a very likely tip, but then most Lyft pax don't tip anyway.
> 
> At least you know you're probably going to a medical complex and not some sketchy neighborhood hehe.


It's a 10 minute no-show wait and not a 5 minute one, for starters. Second, I don't have any training to properly assist a wheelchair bound person. Third, if I get injured while servicing the ride, I'm paying the medical bills out of my own pocket.

I can go on for a while...


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## Pawtism (Aug 22, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> It's a 10 minute no-show wait and not a 5 minute one, for starters. Second, I don't have any training to properly assist a wheelchair bound person. Third, if I get injured while servicing the ride, I'm paying the medical bills out of my own pocket.
> 
> I can go on for a while...


Why would it be a 10 minute no show? at 5, I'm gone (I don't discriminate, I leave at 5:01 for everyone, equally) hehe. Just because they are in a wheel chair doesn't mean they have no mobility at all. Most people who use wheelchairs that can go in an Uber have at least some mobility and can get themselves into the car. In fact, for liability reasons (you getting injured or accidentally injuring them), you shouldn't do much to actually help them in/out, without proper training. Simple stuff like hold the door for them if they request it, etc, but don't do any lifting of them or anything. They would have already have thought about that (or they would have ordered a para-transit instead of an Uber). All you'd have to do is fold up the wheelchair and put it in the trunk. If they were straight up quadriplegic or whatever, they'd be in a power chair (which can't possibly go in a normal uber).

If it turns out they can't get themselves in, well, that's reason to cancel (and collect your fee, no legit passenger). People who have to use things like wheelchairs (or service dogs) tend to think ahead about stuff like that because we have to (I even have a wheelchair that I use on occasion, although only rarely need it, like 3 or 4 times a year max). No one wants to get stuck some where because they were unprepared. So called "normal" people don't typically have to think about stuff like that (although they really should), because they don't run into the same kind of problems daily that we do.

Now, is it going to take 2 minutes for them to get in vs the standard 30 seconds or whatever? Probably, but then we've all had people keep us waiting while they finish their drink, say goodbye to their spouse, whatever. As long as they are in, or getting in, my car by the 5 minute mark, they're good.

Here are some videos on how to collapse the chair:
https://www.uber.com/drive/resources/wheelchairs-and-scooters/


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

Pawtism said:


> Why would it be a 10 minute no show?


Because Lyft's policy is a 10 minute wait for non-emergency medical rides...


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## Pawtism (Aug 22, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> Because Lyft's policy is a 10 minute wait for non-emergency medical rides...
> 
> View attachment 212514


Huh, I don't see that in the policies. Neither the driver nor the passenger ones. Am I missing it somewhere?

https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012922847

https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012922687-Cancellation-policy-for-passengers

Unless they have it in a policy, they're gonna pay me my fee, even if they do it as a "bonus" instead of the normal one.


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## dctcmn (Sep 21, 2017)

Pawtism said:


> Huh, I don't see that in the policies. Neither the driver nor the passenger ones. Am I missing it somewhere?
> 
> https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012922847
> 
> https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012922687-Cancellation-policy-for-passengers


Do you find it hard to believe that Lyft would implement a new policy and not offer any communication or guidance about that policy? It's their SOP.


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## Pawtism (Aug 22, 2017)

dctcmn said:


> Do you find it hard to believe that Lyft would implement a new policy and not offer any communication or guidance about that policy? It's their SOP.
> 
> View attachment 212518


Well, not my problem then. 5 minutes is what they get until or unless a policy is updated. You know how it is, you contact them enough and someone will give you it as a bonus to shut you up anyway heh. One of the few actual plus sides to Lyft. I almost never do Lyft rides because there are far more down sides to up sides. Plus, around here, the ghetto people tend to use Lyft, so that's another reason to avoid it.

Just so I'm clear, I'm talking about actual no shows.. I'm not about to just drive off while someone in a wheel chair is rolling out the door because of a few seconds. I'm strict, but I'm not heartless.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

I used the OP's text again today and it worked great! 
Just wanted to post in order bump this thread back up to the top so other drivers will start doing the same thing!


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