# Lyft Destination Mode Issue: Can Anyone Help?



## UnknownMortal (Nov 16, 2017)

Has anyone else experienced an issue with Destination Mode pairing you with passengers who are not also headed to your marked destination? 

So I caught a ride a couple towns out from my city, and then caught a 45 mile+ trip, which I took down into CT. I then set Destination Mode to my home city, Worcester MA. I got the text that I was in Destination Mode. A couple minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to pop a rider and a 45 mile + one at that. I drove about 10 minutes out of my way to pick her up, and it turns out she is headed the complete opposite direction. I explained that I was going the opposite way and was only supposed to get riders who were headed where I was going, and she was really cool about it. But, it put her out and also put me 20 minutes out from getting home. 

I re-entered the same information in Destination Mode again, and I got the confirmation text again. Not two minutes later, it pops me a request from the same rider, which I of course didn't take. 

This happened to me twice tonight, and I am a pretty new driver and really can't afford the hit to my acceptance rate. I don't think I am screwing this up, but could I be wrong? Otherwise, is there a wider issue I should be aware of?


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## fairsailing (May 16, 2016)

Lyft doesn't text you when you are in destination mode, only after it automatically turns off at 15 minutes, to tell you that they didn't match you. If that was a text message, from that point on, you were not in DF mode, or you have some new beta test version which is broken.


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## UnknownMortal (Nov 16, 2017)

Lyft did text me, twice, to tell me I was in Destination mode. The text says "You're now in Destination Mode. Expect fewer Lyft rides while we match you with someone going your way. For more requests, turn off Destination Mode". Despite that, it paired me twice with a rider going an hour in the opposite direction.


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## fairsailing (May 16, 2016)

You apparently have a new version that isn't working. Hopefully they will update you soon. Support can't really help, been there, done that.


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## Rickshaw (Jun 30, 2017)

Just assume Lyft does not have DF because it does not work.


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## Cndragon (Dec 8, 2016)

I always get that text...but havnt received any destination rides. They always time out after 15m and I get another text saying they could not find any rides then log me out completely. I only just started with Lyft about a month ago, so know not if its new or not, but if old DF actually worked, I wish theyd go back to that.


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## DidIDoThat (Jan 9, 2017)

The other issue might have been that you were the only one around to take the ride, so regardless of DF Lyft will send you the request. Their concern is capturing the ride and the $$ from the ride so they will do what they can to try and get a driver to take it (regardless of the cost/expense of the driver).


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## UnknownMortal (Nov 16, 2017)

DidIDoThat said:


> The other issue might have been that you were the only one around to take the ride, so regardless of DF Lyft will send you the request. Their concern is capturing the ride and the $$ from the ride so they will do what they can to try and get a driver to take it (regardless of the cost/expense of the driver).


Yes, that's almost certainly what happened. I was kind of in the middle of nowhere. It sucks, but I guess I just can't use DM in that circumstance.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

UnknownMortal said:


> Has anyone else experienced an issue with Destination Mode pairing you with passengers who are not also headed to your marked destination?
> 
> So I caught a ride a couple towns out from my city, and then caught a 45 mile+ trip, which I took down into CT. I then set Destination Mode to my home city, Worcester MA. I got the text that I was in Destination Mode. A couple minutes later, I was pleasantly surprised to pop a rider and a 45 mile + one at that. I drove about 10 minutes out of my way to pick her up, and it turns out she is headed the complete opposite direction. I explained that I was going the opposite way and was only supposed to get riders who were headed where I was going, and she was really cool about it. But, it put her out and also put me 20 minutes out from getting home.
> 
> ...


Lyft has several versions of his driver app running in different markets at any one time.

Apparently you have one that does not like drivers in your Market to use destination mode.

I use it here in Chicago every day. In fact, 90% of my rides are using the destination filter. Works great, just as advertised. I just wish that it did not restrict us to only 6 uses per day.


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## Goduckies (Mar 23, 2017)

It depends if there are enough drivers if so, in af it works well but if i am in the east bay a lot od times it will send me the other direction... lyft is shady and doesn't care about you. But 45 mins the other way, that is really bad.


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## UnknownMortal (Nov 16, 2017)

So just as an update, I was out in Boston for my day job and rather than sit in traffic driving home, I picked up a couple rides in and around Boston. When I left, I tried Destination Mode again because I could risk taking what would probably be a short drive out of my way if it didn't work. It did work, I got no pax, and 15 minutes later it timed out. It does seem that as mentioned above, if you are the only driver around it will ping you regardless. Good for me to know as I decide when to use it, and maybe for others too.


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## IndyTim (Nov 20, 2017)

I've been driving Lyft since March, but just started also driving Uber. Lyft always boots me shortly after going into destination mode because "there are no available pickups on the way", which could still be a half hour from my destination, so how do they know? Uber almost always finds a rider on my way, but also adds the time (of which the earliest is an hour from the time you enter destination mode) to allow a ride within your time request. Lyft needs to upgrade this feature as it is not worth having the way they have it is designed currently. Now when I head for home, I'll only use the Uber destination mode.


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## chitown73 (Jul 18, 2017)

UnknownMortal said:


> So just as an update, I was out in Boston for my day job and rather than sit in traffic driving home, I picked up a couple rides in and around Boston. When I left, I tried Destination Mode again because I could risk taking what would probably be a short drive out of my way if it didn't work. It did work, I got no pax, and 15 minutes later it timed out. It does seem that as mentioned above, if you are the only driver around it will ping you regardless. Good for me to know as I decide when to use it, and maybe for others too.


Lyft's DF mode has never worked right. I've only used it about a dozen times and EVERY single trip has ended up going in the exact OPPOSITE direction. To make matters worse, Lyft tries to route what it thinks will be the fastest route to your destination, even if that means starting your trip going 5 miles in the opposite direction just to get to the expressway which means they will give you trip requests going the wrong way 100% of the time. Just an FYI - it does NOT matter if your the only car in the area. There could be 100+ cars available and they will still do everything in their power to screw you over and send you on the wrong direction.


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