# Complained to Lyft about them taking rides from drivers; Lyft responds with nonsense



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

Lyft obviously responded with BS answers, but I think the more people who write in to inform them that their taking rides from drivers and giving them to closer drivers is a special kind of D-baggery, the better. Lyft should stop this, or concede that if they can take rides from a driver at will and don't honor their offer of the ride to that driver after he's accepted it, then the same goes for drivers - we are free to cancel and let them have the ride back after we've accepted it if a better/closer Uber ride comes up. One or the other, not both.

Me:









Lyft:









Me:









Lyft:









Me:


----------



## surlywynch (Jun 22, 2017)

Well, the only good thing I see in that entire exchange is, it appears that a real person, is actually reading and responding to your request. Not some auto-bot auto-responder that doesn't even address the question at hand.


----------



## Pinapple Man (Aug 8, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Lyft obviously responded with BS answers, but I think the more people who write in to inform them that their taking rides from drivers and giving them to closer drivers is a special kind of D-baggery, the better. Lyft should stop this, or concede that if they can take rides from a driver at will and don't honor their offer of the ride to that driver after he's accepted it, then the same goes for drivers - we are free to cancel and let them have the ride back after we've accepted it if a better/closer Uber ride comes up. One or the other, not both.
> 
> Me:
> View attachment 189339
> ...


I already cancel if they switch me up!! Parameters 1. If about same distance OK. 2. Look at name of rider. If sounds like a name of someone who should be on the bus or a housekeeper in a hotel, CANCEL!!!


----------



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

Pinapple Man said:


> I already cancel if they switch me up!! Parameters 1. If about same distance OK. 2. Look at name of rider. If sounds like a name of someone who should be on the bus or a housekeeper in a hotel, CANCEL!!!


This isn't about switching. This is about when Lyft takes the ride from the driver and just returns them to the regular "online" screen that's displayed when you're waiting for a ride.

Switching's a problem as well. If Lyft switches my ride I force close the app and wait for the pax to give up and cancel.


----------



## Pinapple Man (Aug 8, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> This isn't about switching. This is about when Lyft takes the ride from the driver and just returns them to the regular "online" screen that's displayed when you're waiting for a ride.
> 
> Switching's a problem as well. If Lyft switches my ride I force close the app and wait for the pax to give up and cancel.


I was within 200 yards from a pickup, and they nailed me. I got stuck at a long signal. CSR stated that the satatlite watches for cars not moving for 3 minutes.


----------



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

Pinapple Man said:


> CSR stated that the satellite watches for cars not moving for 3 minutes.


Lol, Lyft doesn't have any satellites. Some of the stuff these CSRs make up is quite entertaining; they've got great imaginations.


----------



## LEAFdriver (Dec 28, 2014)

Pinapple Man said:


> I was within 200 yards from a pickup, and they nailed me. I got stuck at a long signal. CSR stated that the satellite watches for cars not moving for 3 minutes.


Yeah....I had that happen too! Still made it to the pick up before the driver they switched it to!

Also, just a few weeks ago....I was in the 'non-turning' lane as I passed the local mall. I got a ping from a restaurant barely 100 yds away.....but since I could NOT switch into the left turn lane when the light turned green.....I was forced to continue STRAIGHT and planned to turn around at the next intersection a mile ahead. I KNEW Lyft would take the trip from me....and sure enough....right as I arrived at the pick up....the ride disappeared from my screen. The pax, not knowing the ride was switched on them yet....started walking towards my car. I told them they would have to cancel the driver that LYFT switched them to...and re-request. (The new driver was still 7 minutes away!) 

They gladly did....got me again.... brought them to their destination AND got a TIP.


----------



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

LEAFdriver said:


> Yeah....I had that happen too! Still made it to the pick up before the driver they switched it to!
> 
> Also, just a few weeks ago....I was in the 'non-turning' lane as I passed the local mall. I got a ping from a restaurant barely 100 yds away.....but since I could NOT switch into the left turn lane when the light turned green.....I was forced to continue STRAIGHT and planned to turn around at the next intersection a mile ahead. I KNEW Lyft would take the trip from me....and sure enough....right as I arrived at the pick up....the ride disappeared from my screen. The pax, not knowing the ride was switched on them yet....started walking towards my car. I told them they would have to cancel the driver that LYFT switched them to...and re-request. (The new driver was still 7 minutes away!)
> 
> They gladly did....got me...and I brought them to their destination AND got a TIP.


They're clearly looking for a solution to the problem of the driver accepting a ride and then refusing to do it, but this latest trick of taking rides from drivers isn't going to make drivers more inclined to do the trips. It's going to have the opposite effect now that we know what we may lose a Lyft trip at any time between accepting the ping and arriving at the pickup.

A lot of this is Lyft's fault. It is very easy to accept a Lyft ping by accident if you're already doing something else on the phone. Uber's app flashes briefly before it brings up the ping screen, giving you a heads up to stop touching the screen in order to see what they're offering. Lyft's technique of instantly switching to the ping screen with no notice means I accept a lot of pings that I have would have no intention of accepting or doing.

The best advice I could give them would be to make Lyft rides more attractive to drivers (higher pay) than Uber's and therefore make drivers less inclined to dump the Lyft ride when the better Uber ride comes up.


----------



## PickEmUp (Jul 19, 2017)

Connectivity issues work both ways. Just sayin.


----------



## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

surlywynch said:


> Well, the only good thing I see in that entire exchange is, it appears that a real person, is actually reading and responding to your request. Not some auto-bot auto-responder that doesn't even address the question at hand.


Seriously! They always reply to my emails with a congratulatory review of my rating, followed by a perfunctory, generic apology of sorts, which doesn't even identify the nature of my issue. I could be talking about heart failure, and they'll thank me for my number of rides.

This rep actually referenced specific "wording." They must be a newer driver. I feel like if you've been doing it for years, Lyft doesn't even want to hear from you anymore - that's when you get a bot.



The Gift of Fish said:


> This isn't about switching. This is about when Lyft takes the ride from the driver and just returns them to the regular "online" screen that's displayed when you're waiting for a ride.
> 
> Switching's a problem as well. If Lyft switches my ride I force close the app and wait for the pax to give up and cancel.


If the call drops, demand a cancellation fee from support. I always do, and they always give it. That's your time, gas, and wear. I don't care if it's 2 minutes of driving, demand it. And if they switch out your call for a lessor one, don't cancel the call, just force close the app and let it auto-cancel/let the pax cancel. You'll likely get a cancellation fee, anyway, if you exceed the five minute mark.


----------



## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

The Gift of Fish said:


> They're clearly looking for a solution to the problem of the driver accepting a ride and then refusing to do it, but this latest trick of taking rides from drivers isn't going to make drivers more inclined to do the trips. It's going to have the opposite effect now that we know what we may lose a Lyft trip at any time between accepting the ping and arriving at the pickup.


This has nothing to do with drivers not moving toward a rider, or getting stuck at a traffic light. This is a Lyft program called re-dispatch, which is designed to improve pickup times caused by Lyft's lack of both riders and drivers. Few riders + few drivers = long distances/times between the two.

So Lyft arbitrarily cancels your ride and gives it to another driver who just came online closer to your rider. You are screwed. Too bad, so sad. But theoretically, the rider gets a faster pickup.

The takeaway is this:

*No Lyft ride request is offered to you in good faith.* All Lyft ride requests you accept are *tentativ*e -- and you'll actually only DO the ride if Lyft can't find another driver closer.
You'd have to be a complete moron to go offline with Uber when accepting a Lyft ride request. Stay online. Don't miss REAL rides.


----------



## rickasmith98 (Sep 26, 2016)

surlywynch said:


> Well, the only good thing I see in that entire exchange is, it appears that a real person, is actually reading and responding to your request. Not some auto-bot auto-responder that doesn't even address the question at hand.


Yes, I agree...didn't think Lyft or Uber ever had an answer that was written so you could tell a real person read it. This clearly was read and responded to by a human. Kudos on that even though I don't believe the response either.

What would be better is if Lyft takes the ride from the farther driver, gives it to the closer driver, but AT LEAST gives the 1st acceptance driver another ride. Seems like this is how Uber does it. When Uber redispatches a driver, there's always a replacement trip in the queue so you get some compensation. Most of the time I am on the road driving when Lyft cancels and no trip to replace it with. So now, I don't even attempt to put on my shoes until about 3 or so minutes into the wait period.

Someone also on here thought that Lyft dispatches ride requests simultaneously to multiple drivers. So I accept and start to move but then get an immediate cancel. It seems way too fast for the rider to be able to do the three clicks to get from top screen to cancel screen so makes me think there is something to multiple pings.


----------



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

JimKE said:


> The takeaway is this:
> 
> *No Lyft ride request is offered to you in good faith.* All Lyft ride requests you accept are *tentativ*e -- and you'll actually only DO the ride if Lyft can't find another driver closer.
> You'd have to be a complete moron to go offline with Uber when accepting a Lyft ride request. Stay online. Don't miss REAL rides.


Yes, Lyft ride offers are now just potential, non-binding offers of a ride for the driver and consequently for the pax too. A closer driver may come up, in which case Lyft takes the ride back, or a closer/better Uber ride for the driver may come up, in which case the driver force closes Lyft and does the Uber ride.


----------



## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

rickasmith98 said:


> Yes, I agree...didn't think Lyft or Uber ever had an answer that was written so you could tell a real person read it. This clearly was read and responded to by a human. Kudos on that even though I don't believe the response either.
> 
> What would be better is if Lyft takes the ride from the farther driver, gives it to the closer driver, but AT LEAST gives the 1st acceptance driver another ride. Seems like this is how Uber does it. When Uber redispatches a driver, there's always a replacement trip in the queue so you get some compensation. Most of the time I am on the road driving when Lyft cancels and no trip to replace it with. So now, I don't even attempt to put on my shoes until about 3 or so minutes into the wait period.
> 
> Someone also on here thought that Lyft dispatches ride requests simultaneously to multiple drivers. So I accept and start to move but then get an immediate cancel. It seems way too fast for the rider to be able to do the three clicks to get from top screen to cancel screen so makes me think there is something to multiple pings.


I had a pax in my backseat the other week who had too many passengers on a Pool. They had to re-request, the screen said "contacting 3 drivers," and they were matched with someone else. So I can tell you that "multiple dispatch" is a certainty, in addition to a passenger being matched with a driver who isn't the closest, but this isn't my first post about either topic, either.


----------



## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Trump Economics said:


> I had a pax in my backseat the other week who had too many passengers on a Pool. They had to re-request, the screen said "contacting 3 drivers," and they were matched with someone else. So I can tell you that "multiple dispatch" is a certainty, in addition to a passenger being matched with a driver who isn't the closest, but this isn't my first post about either topic, either.


They contact them one by one. This was to show the pax not to worry. In my original Sacramento market, the number of drivers matched the number of ants on the rider app. Usually 8.


----------



## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

"Lyft responds with nonsense."

The only reason that this is news is that *Gr*yft actually responded.


----------



## pvtandrewmalone (Oct 2, 2016)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Lyft's technique of instantly switching to the ping screen with no notice means I accept a lot of pings that I have would have no intention of accepting or doing.


This got so annoying for me I started to use screen pinning anytime Lyft is active and I'm using my phone for something else... With screen pinning active you still get a notice when a ping comes in, but it prevents Lyft from switching and accepting without your consent.

Screen pinning is a built-in feature in the Android OS. Go to Settings--> Security--> Screen Pinning to enable it.


----------



## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

Sacto Burbs said:


> They contact them one by one. This was to show the pax not to worry. In my original Sacramento market, the number of drivers matched the number of ants on the rider app. Usually 8.


Really? That doesn't make much sense to me. Why wait 15 seconds, another 15 seconds, another 15 seconds, another 15 seconds - accepted, when you can ping multiple drivers and cancel/flip calls at the drop of a dime. Hmm.


----------



## Ravedancer (Apr 22, 2017)

The only times Lyft steals my rides is when they're a high PT.
I cancel the ride every time and then call Lyft and have the cancel removed and receive $5 one time for $10. All I say is your breaking the law and you're own TOS and they don't fight me on it. 
Actually I only do this when they switch rides on me, which are PT rides for base rides (every single time!). All I say is I NEVER ACCEPTED that ride and you have no right or power to assign me a ride. They crumble every time and apologize. 
Please everyone do this!


----------



## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Ravedancer said:


> The only times Lyft steals my rides is when they're a high PT.
> I cancel the ride every time and then call Lyft and have the cancel removed and receive $5 one time for $10. All I say is your breaking the law and you're own TOS and they don't fight me on it.
> Actually I only do this when they switch rides on me, which are PT rides for base rides (every single time!). All I say is I NEVER ACCEPTED that ride and you have no right or power to assign me a ride. They crumble every time and apologize.
> Please everyone do this!


Not clear. Can you repeat step by step for dummies style?


----------



## the ferryman (Jun 7, 2016)

I accepted a nice long ride the other day and then less than 10 seconds later the text message came thru: canceled not by so & so rider, but by Lyft! P off, Lyft!


----------



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

This week I've been sitting at home cherry picking surge/PT rides, with it being so quiet in the "dead zone" between Xmas and New Year's. 

It seems to be that what Lyft is doing now is giving drivers 2 minutes to start moving before they "Cancelled by Lyft" you. Some rides I have made it to the car and got away quickly enough; others I have got to the car and started it up when the cancellation comes through. 

Not really complaining though, going down and up the stairs from/to my house is good exercise.


----------



## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

BAILOUT. all that Lyft cares about is pickup times. They are trying to hit a 3-5 minutes in their given markets. They are doing it by breach of contract and violating the TOS. The only way around this is make your states AG office aware.

Stacked pings are also a violation of TOS as they are slamming drivers with pings and not allowing them to agree to enter in to a contract to provide the service. Take that up with your Dept of Labor in your state. You are instant employees when they dont allow you to be "independant" You become an employee. If you cancel that ride you run the risk of not being allowed to continue to do this work.

Governments are completely clueless how this works and what is going on. I am providing evidence to the AG with the help of my local rep. It was explained what I needed to do.

I strongly encourage any driver who is articulate and understands what is being done to get in contact with the AG's office and help them. The Congressional rep. stated: Make it stupid proof, we are legislators afterall..." we had a laugh as I ldelivered them to their next event.

I keep on holding out hope we can get these companies to pull their headsout of their a$$es.


----------



## Skorpio (Oct 17, 2017)

Lyft has a map coverage problem. Pax need to wait longer for the driver to arrive. It can only get worse fighting with Uber.


----------



## DrivingForYou (Aug 6, 2017)

JJS said:


> BAILOUT. all that Lyft cares about is pickup times. They are trying to hit a 3-5 minutes in their given markets. They are doing it by breach of contract and violating the TOS. The only way around this is make your states AG office aware.
> 
> Stacked pings are also a violation of TOS as they are slamming drivers with pings and not allowing them to agree to enter in to a contract to provide the service. Take that up with your Dept of Labor in your state. You are instant employees when they dont allow you to be "independant" You become an employee. If you cancel that ride you run the risk of not being allowed to continue to do this work.
> 
> ...


Attorney general? Breach of contract is a civil matter, not criminal. It's a class action kind of suit, involving a private law firm. And since most drivers did not opt out of arbitration, they are excluded (note the recent ruling on the same issue regarding the UBER class action).


----------



## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

I have suggested to both of these companies to put the ants on the drivers app and watch the ants spread themselves out naturally with out the enticement of VC Cash. These companies are run by complete idiots. Human nature...The rider app in my market is more valuable to me for my businbess then the driver app. Routing and positioning will do more for keeping butts in seats and cars moving. Get some surge along the way great. Overtime in regular job world.


----------



## z289sec (Apr 6, 2016)

JJS said:


> BAILOUT. all that Lyft cares about is pickup times. They are trying to hit a 3-5 minutes in their given markets. They are doing it by breach of contract and violating the TOS. The only way around this is make your states AG office aware.
> 
> Stacked pings are also a violation of TOS as they are slamming drivers with pings and not allowing them to agree to enter in to a contract to provide the service. Take that up with your Dept of Labor in your state. You are instant employees when they dont allow you to be "independant" You become an employee. If you cancel that ride you run the risk of not being allowed to continue to do this work.
> 
> ...


3 to 5 minute pickup times? How in the blue hell they gonna pull that off. Nearly every Lyft ride I get is at least 12 minutes away.


----------



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

JJS said:


> They are doing it by breach of contract and violating the TOS.


Agreed.


> Stacked pings are also a violation of TOS as they are slamming drivers with pings and not allowing them to agree to enter in to a contract to provide the service.


Agreed.


> You are instant employees when they dont allow you to be "independant" You become an employee. If you cancel that ride you run the risk of not being allowed to continue to do this work.


Agreed.

All good points and correct. In California, though, Lyft recently settled a lawsuit with drivers in which drivers claimed they were being treated like employees and Lyft claimed that they were treated like independent contractors. The judge bought Lyft's story, and Lyft agreed to make some changes and also a token payment to drivers (which we have not received).

Conclusion: going to the authorities to enforce good conduct by these rideshare app companies doesn't work. That doesn't mean that Lyft wins, though. If drivers (1) simply force closed the app when Lyft tries ride swapping them then Lyft would quickly see that swapped rides are not acceptable to drivers and will not be completed. Likewise, if all drivers sat for 3 - 4 minutes before moving after accepting a ping, Lyft would "cancel by Lyft" repeatedly and rides would go from driver to driver to driver without anyone doing them. Lyft would soon realise that "Cancelled by Lyft", too, is unacceptable.

Lyft (and Uber) only gets away with its D-baggery because drivers allow it. What we need is some form of collectivisation rather than counting on the courts or legislators to back us up, IMO.


----------



## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

AG's office in our state handles all kinds of issues not just criminal law. You are not going to sue uber and Lyft. Government regulators look at business practices. Labor and industries looks at work conditions and employment issues. 

This is where the action has the most potential. 

Don't take the advice and the time to do the research.

Desparation in the ranks will not cause cohesion. Their is a screen full of ants willing to eat the sugar. 

In WA, we are getting treated like employes with the forced stacked pings. It's a slow process and collecting the data is a slow process. A simple no thanks button after reviewing the request voila issue solved. 

3-5 minues yeah good luck with that....But that is a stated goal....More bailouts are coming I take the long pick ups just to record the bailout.


----------



## cratter (Sep 16, 2017)

Tell them well I hope I never have to wait for a train on the way to pick up a pax!


----------



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

JJS said:


> AG's office in our state handles all kinds of issues not just criminal law. You are not going to sue uber and Lyft. Government regulators look at business practices. Labor and industries looks at work conditions and employment issues.
> 
> This is where the action has the most potential.
> 
> ...


I think we should have some kind of collectivisation, not necessarily that it will happen. As you say, there are many ants who don't know any better and will just vacuum up whatever crumbs Lyft throws down for them.

Maybe legislators will step up and put these companies in their place. So far legislators have only given themselves callouses on their ankles from grabbing them so hard when Uber/Lyft come up from behind, but we'll see.


----------



## JJS (Jan 5, 2016)

As mine said make it stupid proof. There are several ways to skin the cat. This is the "knife" i'm using!. The other is through the media either investigative or your local reporter who does investigations. The evidence needs to be there and broadcast loud enough that these companies feel the heat. 

Other then that I got little else. Looking for a job....Love me the flexibility I have though and I do it smart and scratch out enough for me and the kids. Little else. Winter is tough....


----------



## Jennyma (Jul 16, 2016)

Pinapple Man said:


> I already cancel if they switch me up!! Parameters 1. If about same distance OK. 2. Look at name of rider. If sounds like a name of someone who should be on the bus or a housekeeper in a hotel, CANCEL!!!


Number 2 sounds a bit racist.


----------



## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

JJS said:


> BAILOUT. all that Lyft cares about is pickup times. They are trying to hit a 3-5 minutes in their given markets. They are doing it by breach of contract and violating the TOS. The only way around this is make your states AG office aware.
> 
> Stacked pings are also a violation of TOS as they are slamming drivers with pings and not allowing them to agree to enter in to a contract to provide the service. Take that up with your Dept of Labor in your state. You are instant employees when they dont allow you to be "independant" You become an employee. If you cancel that ride you run the risk of not being allowed to continue to do this work.
> 
> ...


Easily eliminate stacked pings by waiting until after your rider is in the car and you have hit pickup
then hit online. Like magic, last ride appears - no stacked pings.


----------



## Woohaa (Jan 15, 2017)

ME: Hey Lyft, I'd like you to explain why you take & switch rides from drivers.

LYFT: I said a hip....hop, a hippy to the hippity hip hop and duh ya don't stop rockin to tha bang bang boogie said up jump tha boogie to the rhythm of the boogity beat....


----------



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

Sacto Burbs said:


> Easily eliminate stacked pings by waiting until after your rider is in the car and you have hit pickup
> then hit online. Like magic, last ride appears - no stacked pings.


This is like having a car stereo that may decide to blast "YMCA" by the Village People full volume at you on a random basis when you stop at traffic lights. You could press the "No Village People"button on the stereo at any point before each red light in order to prevent the risk of the stereo blasting you at the next stop, but the button would reset every time the light turned green. Clearly, the obvious solution would be to press the button each time you accelerate away from a traffic light and problem solved. 

However, you are right in the fact that the finger tap-fest that is a Lyft pickup has had another step added - after you've done all the various arrive/confirm arrive/pick up/confirm pickup taps then the final extra two are: tap Online/Confirm go offline. Each pickup is now 6 taps instead of 4.

Uber used to use a similar D-bag trick in its app in the the way you'd have to go offline - it was a two step process where you'd tap the slider to go offline, and then tap once more to clear the _"Are you sure you want to go offline?! You're only $3 away from earning $20!"_ annoyance pop-up and finally go offline. Thankfully they eventually got rid of that irritation. Uber seemed to have realised that drivers want it to be easier to use the app and have the app do what we tell it to do, rather than putting irritating stumbling blocks in the way. Lyft is always a bit behind Uber and it takes a while for them to copy them, but I hope they do soon with this.

That still leaves the problem of ride switching - going offline after each ride does not solve this problem.


----------



## beezlewaxin (Feb 10, 2015)

Just hit arrived if you get the ping but are too late to make the turn and feel you are gonna be redispatched. Then immediately call the pax and ask them exactly where they are. Problem solved, for short distances anyway... This is also useful when the pax is opposite direction of their pin. Or if you catch a long signal light..


----------



## Koolbreze (Feb 13, 2017)

Pinapple Man said:


> I already cancel if they switch me up!! Parameters 1. If about same distance OK. 2. Look at name of rider. If sounds like a name of someone who should be on the bus or a housekeeper in a hotel, CANCEL!!!


Now you are profiling.


----------



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

Koolbreze said:


> Now you are profiling.


Nothing wrong with that. The guy who pings me at 3am dressed like a gansgta hoodrat may in fact be the most charming young man I will never meet, and I'll never know.


----------



## Ubernomics (Nov 11, 2015)

pvtandrewmalone said:


> This got so annoying for me I started to use screen pinning anytime Lyft is active and I'm using my phone for something else... With screen pinning active you still get a notice when a ping comes in, but it prevents Lyft from switching and accepting without your consent.
> 
> Screen pinning is a built-in feature in the Android OS. Go to Settings--> Security--> Screen Pinning to enable it.


What does screen pinning do exactly? How does it make your screen appear to you?


----------



## pvtandrewmalone (Oct 2, 2016)

Screen pinning basically leaves your active app on top of the screen. It prevents Lyft (or any other app) from overtaking to your screen unless you allow it by unpinning the active app.

For example, if you're typing on UberPeople, you would pin Google Chrome. When a Lyft ping comes in, you still hear it and see a notification, but it doesn't automatically switch apps and therefore your finger on the screen doesn't register acceptance. This gives you the opportunity to manually switch to Lyft, look at the Ping, and make a decision.

To enable screen pinning on Android, go to settings --> security--> screen pinning.


----------

