# The Lyft application always sends the driver to the wrong place



## SamRay (Dec 22, 2018)

I am not a Lyft customer directly, my health provider is and they provide rides for medical purposes.

It happens every time. The driver is late and then they call and when they tell me where they are I don't know the place but they are about 5 miles away. After this happening multiple times, I know what the problem is; the Lyft application says that my address is in another city (I prefer to not be specific here). At least one driver said he will leave feedback and that was more than three months ago. I reported the problem to my provider, the real customer. I even sent a message to Lyft, but I forget how I did that. I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.

For the last ride, the driver kept trying to lecture me and tell me I need to send a text message to the driver. I finally got the message across that I am not the one that makes the call, that I don't have a way to send a text message to the driver.

Whatever the problem is that causes Lyft to have bad data and to not get it fixed, it is foolish for me to try to use their service.

I know that this sounds more like a rant than a sincere attempt to fix the problem but if there is any way to report this to Lyft so they fix it then I am sincere about solving the problem.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SamRay said:


> I am not a Lyft customer directly, my health provider is and they provide rides for medical purposes.
> 
> It happens every time. The driver is late and then they call and when they tell me where they are I don't know the place but they are about 5 miles away. After this happening multiple times, I know what the problem is; the Lyft application says that my address is in another city (I prefer to not be specific here). At least one driver said he will leave feedback and that was more than three months ago. I reported the problem to my provider, the real customer. I even sent a message to Lyft, but I forget how I did that. I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.
> 
> ...


" TECHNOLOGY "!



SamRay said:


> I am not a Lyft customer directly, my health provider is and they provide rides for medical purposes.
> 
> It happens every time. The driver is late and then they call and when they tell me where they are I don't know the place but they are about 5 miles away. After this happening multiple times, I know what the problem is; the Lyft application says that my address is in another city (I prefer to not be specific here). At least one driver said he will leave feedback and that was more than three months ago. I reported the problem to my provider, the real customer. I even sent a message to Lyft, but I forget how I did that. I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.
> 
> ...


These companies are very difficult to reach and resolve ANYTHING with !

Their ENTIRE INFRASTRUCTURE is computer.

In the FUTURE 
they will have you talking to a DASHBOARD
NOT A DRIVER !

Things can ONLY GET WORSE

Welcome to the " DE EVOLUTION OF MAN "
" DEVO"
And the RISE OF THE MACHINES


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## mmn (Oct 23, 2015)

SamRay said:


> ...I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.


Not much you can do if you are not a customer. But the person who is a customer can probably get some help from lyft support. Not easy, but can be done.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

SamRay
I hate to tell you this, but it is most likely the doctors office that is causing your problem! I live near a major cancer hospital here in the Midwest and they also book the rides for their patients! I had a major fall out with one of the people at the hospital who actually books to the rides for the patient. Many times, when they book the ride for the patient, the patient is heading to the airport. From their location, it is more than a 45 minute ride! But for some reason, because it is not the actual passenger booking the ride, when the Hospital books the ride it does not show the driver that it is a 45+ minute ride. Therefore, the driver arrives, and finds out at that moment that their ride will be an hour or more! Sometimes I am driving my electric car and I purposely do not accept the 45+ minute rides because I know I cannot do them!
The point I am trying to make here, is that it is not necessarily "Lyft's app" that is causing the drivers to go to the wrong pick location!


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## Brunch (Nov 4, 2016)

You contacted your health care provider and told them of the error, correct? What did they say? As LEAFdriver mentioned, they could be entering the wrong address.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Brunch said:


> You contacted your health care provider and told them of the error, correct? What did they say?


Come in for some un needed tests so we can recoup our transportation losses 
.


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## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

SamRay said:


> I am not a Lyft customer directly, my health provider is and they provide rides for medical purposes.
> 
> It happens every time. The driver is late and then they call and when they tell me where they are I don't know the place but they are about 5 miles away. After this happening multiple times, I know what the problem is; the Lyft application says that my address is in another city (I prefer to not be specific here). At least one driver said he will leave feedback and that was more than three months ago. I reported the problem to my provider, the real customer. I even sent a message to Lyft, but I forget how I did that. I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.
> 
> ...


Let me guess the health service provider 'forgot' to tip as well


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## William Fenton (Jan 1, 2018)

This is why I don't take rides with a pickup at a hospital or large medical center. They are all third party bookings, the pax feels entitled the booking party does not care about us or the pax.


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## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

You can always tell these rides because they are sent with a txt something stupid like “VIP” client is named blah blah....how bout you VIP tip me for the last three rides lol - I avoid all these rides.


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## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Jay Dean said:


> You can always tell these rides because they are sent with a txt something stupid like "VIP" client is named blah blah....how bout you VIP tip me for the last three rides lol - I avoid all these rides.


....or in all CAPITAL letters.

AND they are ALWAYS perfect 5 star ratings AND if you check their profile they just recently set up the account.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

It doesn't always send me to the wrong place, but when it does I can usually figure it out.


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

Why would the driver want to fix this? It's a $5 cancel fee every time.


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## SamRay (Dec 22, 2018)

LEAFdriver said:


> SamRay
> The point I am trying to make here, is that it is not necessarily "Lyft's app" that is causing the drivers to go to the wrong pick location!


In this case it is. Did you read the part where I said a driver said he was going to report it? He said it was the application. And the same thing happens every time.



Brunch said:


> You contacted your health care provider and told them of the error, correct? What did they say? As LEAFdriver mentioned, they could be entering the wrong address.


Yes, I reported it. I said in my initial post here that I reported it to them. The second time I reported it I also gave very clear directions so they could find the correct location and that is the woman that tried to lecture me about what I should have done. If she had just read my instructions then she would not have had a problem.



welikecamping said:


> It doesn't always send me to the wrong place, but when it does I can usually figure it out.


All the drivers I have had have not figure it out, they called me and said they were lost. They obviously don't know how to use Google Maps.



peteyvavs said:


> It doesn't take much effort to correct this, but I'm guessing you consider yourself too important.


I don't understand what you are saying. And if you feel I am being vague then that is how I feel.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

Google maps is not the end-all, be-all. It can be wrong and frequently is. If your address is that out of whack, then I'm gonna say there is more than likely a problem entering the address and it has to be qualified with the city as well. We have streets that extend through several cities in the greater regional area and an address in one city can be the same as another, with only the city differentiating it.


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## SamRay (Dec 22, 2018)

welikecamping said:


> Google maps is not the end-all, be-all. It can be wrong and frequently is.


Yes, there are many errors in Google Maps. Much of it is people putting stuff in that does not belong. But Google makes mistakes too. I have submitted many updates of Google Maps. I am not disagreeing with that.


welikecamping said:


> If your address is that out of whack, then I'm gonna say there is more than likely a problem entering the address and it has to be qualified with the city as well. We have streets that extend through several cities in the greater regional area and an address in one city can be the same as another, with only the city differentiating it.


No, there is no reasonable explanation. Here in the City of Los Angeles we have communities that are called cities but they are actually all the City of Los Angeles. In this case I am in one such community and the other community is another. Technically it is all the City of Los Angeles. The relevant street names and street numbers are consistent, there is absolutely no reason for a driver to go to the wrong area. It is bizarre. The application should reject our address as being that other "city"; it is an impossibility. The only explanation is sloppy programming, such as a programmer that does not understand the specifications and that does not check for errors. Ignoring errors is something programmers like to do that can cause real problems.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

I don't know where you live or if it's a house or building but try using an address across the street.


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## MHR (Jul 23, 2017)

Your provider is the one that puts in your pick up address.

Your provider is the one contracting with Lyft.

Your provider needs to contact Lyft.

Drivers don’t have time to correct your provider’s and Lyft’s problems.

Lyft doesn’t listen to drivers anyways.

Sorry, you are dealing with a crappy situation but we are not the people you need to be complaining to. We are drivers, we are not tech support nor Lyft programmers.


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## SamRay (Dec 22, 2018)

MHR said:


> Sorry, you are dealing with a crappy situation but we are not the people you need to be complaining to. We are drivers, we are not tech support nor Lyft programmers.


I am not complaining. At least it is unfortunate that you feel that way. There are other ways to interpret what I said.

What you could say is that unfortunately there is nothing you know of that any of us can do.



Kodyhead said:


> I don't know where you live or if it's a house or building but try using an address across the street.


Obviously you are speculating. Across the street is a big facility that occupies about two blocks. Even if it was a house the driver would still need to (know to) contact me and if they contact me then I can give them the correct information. And I will be very surprised if the address across the street does not have the same problem.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

MHR nailed it. Essentially, we share your frustration.


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## DieselkW (Jul 21, 2015)

You want to know what will help? Your health care provider NEVER authorizes a tip. The best, more experienced drivers know this and refuse the ride request. So you end up with one of the newbies driving to the wrong location. You can tell they're new because they actually try to find you instead of sitting there for 5 minutes and collecting $5 instead of wasting gas coming to get you. That's what newbies do. They haven't the necessary experience to avoid this time wasting money wasting non tipping situation. And yes, I remember who doesn't tip and they can wait for the next driver because I'm not picking up KNOWN cheap non-tippers. Tell your health care provider that.

Please inform your provider that it is possible to drop a pin on the correct location, making the address mixup irrelevant. Or, how about they include a ZIP code? Obviously the transport arrangements are being made by people that don't give a rat's pattootie if you get picked up, they can't figure out how to best use the passenger app to service their patients. (First, set destination. On the page that pops up simply change "Current Location" to a pin "Set on Map". Then they can drop a pin on their (correct) front door.

Please understand a pickup at the hospital, medical center, doctor's office, clinic, whatever fills me with dread..."Am I picking up someone with a contagious condition?"

It's a legitimate worry.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

SamRay said:


> I am not complaining. At least it is unfortunate that you feel that way. There are other ways to interpret what I said.
> 
> What you could say is that unfortunately there is nothing you know of that any of us can do.
> 
> Obviously you are speculating. Across the street is a big facility that occupies about two blocks. Even if it was a house the driver would still need to (know to) contact me and if they contact me then I can give them the correct information. And I will be very surprised if the address across the street does not have the same problem.


It fixed problems for some customers that live around me


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

You know, SamRay, it seems like most people are trying to help. Very much like most drivers want to make your ride pleasant and successful and do their best to make it happen. It doesn't always work out that way, there are things outside the sphere of control - we are essentially following the directions provided to us and even knowing they may be wrong, I would think that most drivers would rely on the passenger to provide more accurate directions. I ask passengers all the time if they have a suggestion for a better route. I figure they know their neighborhood far better than I or the app. I have found some great shortcuts, and got great route tips from people this way. 

It sucks that you seem to think it is the driver at fault.


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## Brunch (Nov 4, 2016)

SamRay said:


> Yes, I reported it. I said in my initial post here that I reported it to them. The second time I reported it I also gave very clear directions so they could find the correct location and that is the woman that tried to lecture me about what I should have done. If she had just read my instructions then she would not have had a problem.


Your health care provider was lecturing you? What did they say? There is nothing you or your driver could have done to remedy the problem of being dispatched to the wrong address. The only solution is to reorder the ride with the correct address. The system will ping a driver who is closer to your location.

How do you eventually get a ride? You talk to the driver from 5 miles away, give them the correct address, and they find you? I think most drivers would collect a cancellation fee if you're that far away from what the app says.

If your health care provider can't figure it out and you don't want to download the Lyft app, you should probably ask your health care provider for a different transportation method.

What did Lyft say when you contacted them? You said you couldn't find how to contact them again, so this is how to do it:

1. Go to Lyft(dot)com
2. Click HELP towards the bottom of the page.
3. Towards the bottom of that page press CONTACT SUPPORT.

Or, here is the direct link: https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=724707


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## SamRay (Dec 22, 2018)

Brunch said:


> Your health care provider was lecturing you?


I said _the driver kept trying to lecture me_. You are misquoting me.



Brunch said:


> There is nothing you or your driver could have done to remedy the problem of being dispatched to the wrong address.


You are misquoting me again. The address has always been the correct address.



Brunch said:


> How do you eventually get a ride? You talk to the driver from 5 miles away, give them the correct address, and they find you?


They already have the correct address but I give them directions for getting here.



Brunch said:


> this is how to do it:
> 
> 1. Go to {this forum won't let me post that}
> 2. Click HELP towards the bottom of the page.
> ...


Thank you for that. I did try to find that. I have submitted feedback to Lyft using that. All the other criticism from you and the other members are unnecessary.



welikecamping said:


> It sucks that you seem to think it is the driver at fault.


I never said that, I did not even imply it. I did say that at least one driver tried to help.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

welikecamping said:


> It sucks that you seem to think it is the driver at fault.


If it happens everytime it can't be the drivers fault everytime, its some kind of glitch

the problem here also is he doesn't want to listen to anyones advice until he hears whatever he wants to hear


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## Brunch (Nov 4, 2016)

Kodyhead said:


> If it happens everytime it can't be the drivers fault everytime, its some kind of glitch
> 
> the problem here also is he doesn't want to listen to anyones advice until he hears whatever he wants to hear


Yup, there are definitely glitches in the system. There have been a few instances where I've pushed 'navigate' on both Lyft and Uber apps and that process of opening Google Maps took me to the wrong location. It's never been 5 miles off like the OP, but maybe 1 mile. I ended up having to enter the address manually into the Google Maps app for it to work properly. If the address, including the city, is correct in the app, I'd call or text the driver right after they accepted the ride and ask them to manually enter the address into their navigation app if this is the problem. It's been a long time since I've had a VIP ride or whatever it is called for medical appointments, but I remember once I got a text from them and they left instructions not to arrive early. I'm not sure, but it would be worth checking on if a personalized message could appear in that automatic text message that goes out to the driver to let them know of the GPS issue.

Or like you mentioned, putting in a different address might fix the problem. One passenger I had a few times was having problems with a business in a huge cul-de-sac. Not a problem for me because I never picked him up from there and he directed me as we were driving. Manually putting the address worked fine, but he said both on Uber and Lyft it never worked. I made a suggestion to use a different address outside of that cul-de-sac to see if that fixes the issue. I never took him again, so I'm not sure if he was able to fix the problem.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

Brunch said:


> Yup, there are definitely glitches in the system. There have been a few instances where I've pushed 'navigate' on both Lyft and Uber apps and that process of opening Google Maps took me to the wrong location. It's never been 5 miles off like the OP, but maybe 1 mile. I ended up having to enter the address manually into the Google Maps app for it to work properly. If the address, including the city, is correct in the app, I'd call or text the driver right after they accepted the ride and ask them to manually enter the address into their navigation app if this is the problem. It's been a long time since I've had a VIP ride or whatever it is called for medical appointments, but I remember once I got a text from them and they left instructions not to arrive early. I'm not sure, but it would be worth checking on if a personalized message could appear in that automatic text message that goes out to the driver to let them know of the GPS issue.
> 
> Or like you mentioned, putting in a different address might fix the problem. One passenger I had a few times was having problems with a business in a huge cul-de-sac. Not a problem for me because I never picked him up from there and he directed me as we were driving. Manually putting the address worked fine, but he said both on Uber and Lyft it never worked. I made a suggestion to use a different address outside of that cul-de-sac to see if that fixes the issue. I never took him again, so I'm not sure if he was able to fix the problem.


I disagree


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## Brunch (Nov 4, 2016)

Kodyhead said:


> I disagree
> View attachment 284709


I meant they were never off more than a mile for me personally. Now that you posted that screenshot, I remember getting something like that when I had a passenger on Uber. It showed a 45+ minute long distance destination ping and it was only for a 5 mile ride. They wanted me to drop the passenger off in the UK.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

Brunch said:


> I meant they were never off more than a mile for me personally. Now that you posted that screenshot, I remember getting something like that when I had a passenger on Uber. It showed a 45+ minute ping and it was only about 5 miles. They wanted me to drop the passenger off in the UK.


Apparently the ivory coast is less than 45 mins away from Miami


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## KK2929 (Feb 9, 2017)

SamRay said:


> I am not a Lyft customer directly, my health provider is and they provide rides for medical purposes.
> 
> It happens every time. The driver is late and then they call and when they tell me where they are I don't know the place but they are about 5 miles away. After this happening multiple times, I know what the problem is; the Lyft application says that my address is in another city (I prefer to not be specific here). At least one driver said he will leave feedback and that was more than three months ago. I reported the problem to my provider, the real customer. I even sent a message to Lyft, but I forget how I did that. I do not have the Lyft application installed and I don't want to install it.
> 
> ...


--------------------------
The problem is in the programming of your health provider. When a request comes into the insurance office, they enter a preset name and the driving instructions & destinations are entered automatically. That is why the error is repeated. See if you can contact the driver via phone and give them the correct address. Do it soon after the ride is accepted. Don't wait until they have arrived and cannot find you. The more experienced drivers will understand the problem and know what to do. I have many problems when I do insurance planned pickups. It seems to be a common problem. I spoke to an agent in one of the insurance offices that does the pickup bookings. He explained how it works on his end. Nothing like what a paxs does to call for a car. Good luck !!


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## jazzapt (May 16, 2016)

The issue here is probably not a Lyft issue. It is probably where the global pin is for that address. I have had situations before where I have picked up pax who had to call me to give me directions because no matter what platform they use (Uber/Lyft) or what GPS driver is using (Google Maps/Waze/Uber), or whether they drop a PIN or enter the address manually, the drivers always show up at the wrong place.

If this happens all the time and the health provider is entering the correct address, then something about where the global positioning systems have pinned that address.


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