# Lyft's "5 minute rule" is going to get someone hurt



## LyftUberFuwabolewa (Feb 7, 2019)

Left has a rule that you have to arrive and remain at the pick up location for at least five minutes before cancelling to receive a cancellation fee no matter what the reason for the cancellation is. Sometimes you have to cancel because of an issue which presents itself after making contact with the rider. Having to remain at the pick up location for the whole five minutes after you've canceled on a rider can put the driver in jeopardy.

I've had reasons to cancel rides after making contact. Some cancellations were due to the rider having infant passenger(s) with no car seat. Another was moving from one apartment to the other and had more cargo than I could fit in my minivan. In those cases I made contact with the rider, discovered the problematic issue, determined that I could not accommodate the passenger and informed them that I would cancel and I cancelled. I then contacted Lyft support to get my cancellation fee it was told that I didn't wait the five minutes so no cancellation fee for me.

So recently I had a pick up where the writer had two infant children and no car seat. I told her that I could not take them. She was irate and said she was not going to pay the cancellation fee I would have to cancel. She wouldn't get out of my vehicle till I cancelled. She stood outside my vehicle but positioned her body inside the vehicle so I could not shut the automatic sliding doors on my minivan. I immediately called 911 and spoke with the dispatcher and explained that I had a rider who would not get out of my vehicle and I needed police assistance. The dispatcher told me he could send someone but it would take a while. As they say regarding situations when you need police assistance, "when seconds count the police are only minutes away" meaning when stuff goes down you're your only self protection. At this point I informed the rider that the police were on their way. She said she didn't care that I had to cancel and she wasn't paying any cancellation fee. There was a large group of people next to her on the street. I don't know if they were friends or family or what but they were clearly taking her side in the issue. At one point a man who seemed to have a personal interest stuck his upper body into my minivan and asked what's going on and why I called the police. I explained that I couldn't take the kids and the woman wouldn't get out of my car. Finally the man left and the woman turned away from me to face the crowd to talk to them and while she wasn't looking I hit the button to close the door. The door started closing and someone exclaimed to her "he's closing the door" but at that point it was too late, the door closed and I locked it. I drove away slowly so that they couldn't say I was driving dangerously and also I needed to remain in the area for the final 30 seconds to get my cancellation fee. When the full five minutes had expired I canceled the ride and just got my cancellation fee.

I then called Lyft support and told them that the five-minute rule makes perfect sense for no-show cancellations, but it is pointless for cancellations where there is a valid reason to cancel the ride after you've made contact with the rider. What reason is there for the driver to have to finish waiting the five minutes after it's determined the rider can't be accommodated? The situation isn't going to change in five minutes. The only thing that's accomplished by forcing the driver to remain at the pick up location for five minutes before canceling is the driver is put at risk.

Sure, we could just cancel, drive away and not get a cancellation fee but that stinks that the reason you won't get the cancellation fee is because you didn't wait 5 minutes.


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## William Fenton (Jan 1, 2018)

You have some issues wrong. If you make contact with your pax at the pickup point you don't have to wait 5 mins. If you are cx for no infant car seat or too much luggage (or other crap) or too many passengers you will get your cx fee. Just make sure you let Lyft know you were at the pickup point and you had face to face contact.


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## LyftUberFuwabolewa (Feb 7, 2019)

William Fenton said:


> You have some issues wrong. If you make contact with your pax at the pickup point you don't have to wait 5 mins. If you are cx for no infant car seat or too much luggage (or other crap) or too many passengers you will get your cx fee. Just make sure you let Lyft know you were at the pickup point and you had face to face contact.


No, you don't understand. I'm not talking about my abstract understanding of Lyft's policies. I'm saying I've had two situations (no car seat, rider had too much cargo to fit in my vehicle and didn't want the ride) and when I called Lyft support and explained the situation and asked for a cancellation fee. I was told "I'm sorry, you weren't at the pickup location for five minutes. The system won't allow me to give you a cancellation fee. If I go ahead and do it, the system will just cancel it.". Those are their words. I asked them what waiting five minutes would have changed and they said "I understand sir but that's how the system operates". I was told this two times.


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## SubaruLegacy (Jan 17, 2018)

The system doesn't care if you move after hitting I've arrived. If you drove a block or 2 away and then waited the 5 minutes, you'll get your cancel fee. Now if the passenger isn't exiting that's a different story. I've never had that happen. Usually you can convince support to give you the fee via email/phone. Sometimes its just a matter of who answers the phone, and always remember to be nice to customer support. Also support is weird about technical terms. They'll tell you they can't give you a cancel fee, 100%, but then they'll just give you a "one time" $5 bonus for your trouble instead and act likes its completely different. Especially the overseas support, tends to get confused with this.


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## horse guy (Feb 6, 2019)

SubaruLegacy said:


> The system doesn't care if you move after hitting I've arrived. If you drove a block or 2 away and then waited the 5 minutes, you'll get your cancel fee. Now if the passenger isn't exiting that's a different story. I've never had that happen. Usually you can convince support to give you the fee via email/phone. Sometimes its just a matter of who answers the phone, and always remember to be nice to customer support. Also support is weird about technical terms. They'll tell you they can't give you a cancel fee, 100%, but then they'll just give you a "one time" $5 bonus for your trouble instead and act likes its completely different. Especially the overseas support, tends to get confused with this.


Phone? Lyft? What you talking about willis?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Isnt your Life worth more
Than a Cancellation fee ?


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## horse guy (Feb 6, 2019)

tohunt4me said:


> Isnt your Life worth more
> Than a Cancellation fee ?


The reason I drive strapped. I carry at least two pistols, I have a fully auto MP-5 under my seat, and I wear a bullet proof vest under my shirt. I leave nothing to chance. I also wear an adult diaper and occasionally a foley catheter to get through long drives.


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## Pax Collector (Feb 18, 2018)

That's why you keep your doors locked until you've assessed the situation. You don't open your doors when you see someone approach with an infant, rather, you roll the window down and speak to them. 

As far as waiting in the same area for cancellation, once the timer starts to count down, you can cancel the ride anywhere.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> Isnt your Life worth more
> Than a Cancellation fee ?


It's not about the money, it's about making mortal enemies


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

What kind of canned goods do you keep in your bomb shelter?


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## horse guy (Feb 6, 2019)

Kodyhead said:


> What kind of canned goods do you keep in your bomb shelter?


I'm no prepper. Those people are crazy.
LOL


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

Pax Collector said:


> As far as waiting in the same area for cancellation, once the timer starts to count down, you can cancel the ride anywhere


Au contraire. I have had a few times where they refused to give me a cancellation fee because I was too far from the pin when I cancelled.

I did double Shuffles as Lyft's penance and recompense.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

horsesemen said:


> The reason I drive strapped. I carry at least two pistols, I have a fully auto MP-5 under my seat, and I wear a bullet proof vest under my shirt. I leave nothing to chance. I also wear an adult diaper and occasionally a foley catheter to get through long drives.


Wow I could never fit a fully auto MP-5 under my seat, even if I did manage to wedge it under there some how I doubt I could pull it out and use it.


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## horse guy (Feb 6, 2019)

FLKeys said:


> Wow I could never fit a fully auto MP-5 under my seat, even if I did manage to wedge it under there some how I doubt I could pull it out and use it.


It's either me or them.


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## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

William Fenton said:


> You have some issues wrong. If you make contact with your pax at the pickup point you don't have to wait 5 mins. If you are cx for no infant car seat or too much luggage (or other crap) or too many passengers you will get your cx fee. Just make sure you let Lyft know you were at the pickup point and you had face to face contact.


Are you saying you get cancel fee's for driver cancel (or any reason other than pass not there after calling)??

I have a hard time believing that you are getting cancel fees for no car seats.


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## kingcorey321 (May 20, 2018)

how you handled the situation i think your a bone head.
next time cancel that ride do not charge rider. after you drive off call lyft support tell lyft the pax told you theywould not get out of the car so on. tell lyft you want the 5 dollars no issues. to wait and fight with a pax over 5 bucks holy crap.


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## William Fenton (Jan 1, 2018)

NOXDriver said:


> Are you saying you get cancel fee's for driver cancel (or any reason other than pass not there after calling)??
> 
> I have a hard time believing that you are getting cancel fees for no car seats.


Both lyft and uber tell passengers when they sign up that they are responsible for infant or booster car seats. If you cx a ride for this you will get paid.
BTW you can get a booster seat at target for $20. They do come in handy


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## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

LyftUberFuwabolewa said:


> Left has a rule that you have to arrive and remain at the pick up location for at least five minutes before cancelling to receive a cancellation fee no matter what the reason for the cancellation is. Sometimes you have to cancel because of an issue which presents itself after making contact with the rider. Having to remain at the pick up location for the whole five minutes after you've canceled on a rider can put the driver in jeopardy.
> 
> I've had reasons to cancel rides after making contact. Some cancellations were due to the rider having infant passenger(s) with no car seat. Another was moving from one apartment to the other and had more cargo than I could fit in my minivan. In those cases I made contact with the rider, discovered the problematic issue, determined that I could not accommodate the passenger and informed them that I would cancel and I cancelled. I then contacted Lyft support to get my cancellation fee it was told that I didn't wait the five minutes so no cancellation fee for me.
> 
> ...


I have a method in place for dealing with this that works quite well.

While hanging around until the 5 minutes have passed, if I am being watched by the pax then I pick the phone up from its holder and make like I'm making a phone call. If they come over to the car and ask me to cancel then it goes like this:

-"Hey, can you cancel the ride? I shouldn't have to pay for this cancellation if you won't take me"

-"I'm just on the phone to Lyft. They've changed the system - now all "do not charge passenger" cancellations have to be approved by Lyft. They've got me on hold; it won't take more than a couple of minutes"

[pushback]

-"As I said, I'm waiting for approval from Lyft to process the "no charge" cancellation. I could cancel the trip right now, or you could cancel on your end, but you would be charged the $5. But I don't want to do that because this clearly is not your fault. It'll only be another couple of minutes"

[5:00 is reached]

-"Ok! Lyft has confirmed the "no charge" cancellation. Your Lyft app will update in 20 - 30 seconds and you will be able to rerequest a ride. I must be going now, have a great day!

[Start rolling. Once clear, cancel the ride as a no show]

I did once have a _very_ persistent pax who wanted me to show him my phone to prove that the ride had been cancelled. I just turned the screen off and told him that I had turned the phone off and was going home. Once clear it was just a simple matter of turning the screen back on and no showing him.


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## smithers54 (Jan 7, 2019)

So you called the cops and your worried about 5 bucks.... it's easier to walk away to deescalate a situation... honestly makes no sense to me. I would un*** as fast as I could


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## LyftUberFuwabolewa (Feb 7, 2019)

Thanks everyone one posted helpful comments! I learned a lot. Forums are a beautiful thing when the members are helpful and knowledgeable, as you guys are! I like the idea about driving a short distance and cancelling and also faking a phone call to Lyft/Uber to "get the rider a no fee cancellation". I normally keep my doors locked when I see the rider might be problematic but in this case the adult pax approached the car sans kids so I opened the door, then the munchkins approached and boarded.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

LyftUberFuwabolewa said:


> Left has a rule that you have to arrive and remain at the pick up location for at least five minutes before cancelling to receive a cancellation fee no matter what the reason for the cancellation is. Sometimes you have to cancel because of an issue which presents itself after making contact with the rider. Having to remain at the pick up location for the whole five minutes after you've canceled on a rider can put the driver in jeopardy.
> 
> I've had reasons to cancel rides after making contact. Some cancellations were due to the rider having infant passenger(s) with no car seat. Another was moving from one apartment to the other and had more cargo than I could fit in my minivan. In those cases I made contact with the rider, discovered the problematic issue, determined that I could not accommodate the passenger and informed them that I would cancel and I cancelled. I then contacted Lyft support to get my cancellation fee it was told that I didn't wait the five minutes so no cancellation fee for me.
> 
> ...


Only a fool would jeopardize their welfare and the welfare others for 5 bucks. It was easier just to cancel and move on, no sympathy from me, you created the confrontation for 5 bucks.


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## Antman69 (Nov 13, 2018)

William Fenton said:


> Both lyft and uber tell passengers when they sign up that they are responsible for infant or booster car seats. If you cx a ride for this you will get paid.
> BTW you can get a booster seat at target for $20. They do come in handy


The parents should have a seat not the driver who is childless cause being good parent.


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

Would anyone pay a $5 subscription to a phone service that pretended to be Uber/Lyft support? A number you would call and the person on the other end pretended to be customer support? Put them on speaker phone so customer can hear?

"Yes sir, weve refunded the customer and issued a $25 credit to their account" then unleash the customer rage on the real uber support as they demand their $25 credit, lol.


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## nouberipo (Jul 24, 2018)

NOXDriver said:


> Are you saying you get cancel fee's for driver cancel (or any reason other than pass not there after calling)??
> 
> I have a hard time believing that you are getting cancel fees for no car seats.


Of course we get cancel fees for passengers with no car seats for children who require them. In the US the laws concerning car seats are in place for a reason and if parents want to ignore them maybe they should stop having them. As for my wasting my resources to go pick up pax who clearly could care less about the law nor about my wasting of time/money to fetch them, you better believe they are paying the cancel fee.

The TOS makes it clear what is expected of the passengers (and so do many laws). I spend my time and money to go pick them up they will pay if the ride needs to cancel due to their thinking that laws/TOS don't apply to them. If pax want to take Uber with kids they need to bring their own car seats and they know this and if they will learn quickly each time they have to pay the cancellation fee.


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## 68350 (May 24, 2017)

I had an ignorant young mother complaining last week that drivers should all have car seats. I remind her, that would mean carrying 2 or 3 versions to fit all ages/sizes of kids. And who's going to buy them? And what about the car load of riders going to the airport with a buttload of luggage? She of course had no intelligent response, just wanted everyone else to be responsible.


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> Isnt your Life worth more
> Than a Cancellation fee ?


Exactly this!!! If you're not comfortable with the situation forget the stupid $5 and move on.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

I think some would take a bullet before giving up the $5 shuffle. Screw that, if I ever feel unsafe I am out of there.


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## JohnnyBravo836 (Dec 5, 2018)

horsesemen said:


> Phone? Lyft? What you talking about willis?


I'm sorry, but that should be "Whut chu talkin' 'bout, Willis?"


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## Ubergaldrivet (Feb 6, 2019)

horse guy said:


> It's either me or them.


Do most drivers carry?


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## RideshareSpectrum (May 12, 2017)

New2This said:


> Au contraire. I have had a few times where they refused to give me a cancellation fee because I was too far from the pin when I cancelled.
> 
> I did double Shuffles as Lyft's penance and recompense.


The rule according to Lyft is you need to be 'as close to the pin as possible', and don't drive away before you cancel for no shows. Screenshots matter.


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## Kris150303 (Aug 1, 2018)

Drive around the block


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