# Lyft's new, toned-down passive-aggressive notes. A driver's critique



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

It was raining and I wanted to go home, but not before breaking the $200 barrier. And this rematch ride at the airport would do it. I phoned the pax to tell him that there was traffic entering the terminals and that it would take me 10 minutes to reach him. I did this not as a courtesy, of course, but so that he would be less likely to cancel. But instead of saying "ok, thanks" or even just "ok", the guy started to give me pushback:

Pax - "But there are no cars where I'm standing"
Me - "But you're not standing where I am, are you? _I_ am where I am, and I can tell you that there is traffic here. Which is why I phoned you to let you know. OK?"
[Pax hangs up]

Obviously at that point I should have no showed this idiot. But... it was an airport rematch that would take me over my goal and allow me to fork off home. So I picked the guy up. When I approached he blanked me and just got in the car. About 30 minutes after I dropped him off, this came through:










Now, I have to say that this is a _slight_ improvement on the way they used to do this. They used to say, "we have received a concerning report". Now it's just, "I am following up on feedback". It's still a fail, though, by saying, "This is a violation...". Very passive aggressive - how can an allegation be a violation of anything.

Lyft goes on to say that, "as I know, safety is Lyft's highest priority". Do I, though? Do I know that? No, I don't. If safety were Lyft's highest priority then they would, for example, insist on fingerprinting all of their drivers to try to ensure that felons are not driving for them. But they don't. Instead they fight authorities' efforts to impose fingerprint checks as hard as they can. So... I would have to say that I know that safety is not Lyft's highest priority. It looks to me like profit is.

Overall, Lyft is making tiny little baby steps towards stopping acting like a passive aggressive R-sole. But they've got quite a way to go yet.


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## JLaw1719 (Apr 11, 2017)

I know the focus here is how Lyft handles such feedback, but man what a scumbag passenger. Whatever his reasons for having such a despicable attitude to begin with, to take the time after the ride is over to make up all that is just subhuman.

Plus how do you supposedly almost hit a passenger in a crosswalk....wouldn’t they be called pedestrians lol.


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

JLaw1719 said:


> I know the focus here is how Lyft handles such feedback, but man what a scumbag passenger. Whatever his reasons for having such a despicable attitude to begin with, to take the time after the ride is over to make up all that is just subhuman.
> 
> Plus how do you supposedly almost hit a passenger in a crosswalk....wouldn't they be called pedestrians lol.


Lol, yeah, I asked Lyft what a passenger was doing in a crosswalk. Crosswalks don't have passengers; they have pedestrians. No response on that from Lyft so it will remain a mystery.


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## kcdrvr15 (Jan 10, 2017)

any pushback, cancel, pax calls and asks where youre at, cancel, pax complains about the wait, other drivers, ect, cancel trip, don't put up with any siht from these pax holes.


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## El Jefe de Hialeah (Jun 11, 2018)

Hopefully you 1 starred him


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## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

I believe it is the same trust and safety message vs the report department (whichever that would be), in terms of the email from 2015,it doesn’t look much different.

Same crap as a false report, it was just a lyft driver trying to get drivers deactivated when times were competitive and the money was good.
————

Here is an email I got from Lyft Trust and Saftery in 2015 

I am following up on feedback that we have received from a member of our community regarding your driving safety. 

It was reported that you allegedly ran two red lights and almost hit a pedestrian. It is also alleged that you were speeding. Can you tell me more about this? 

As you know, safety is Lyft's highest priority, so we take reports of this nature extremely seriously. Please always be aware, cautious, and conscientious when driving.

Please respond to this email in order to acknowledge that you've read and understood this message. To ensure that I receive your response, please reply directly to this email.


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

Jay Dean said:


> I believe it is the same trust and safety message vs the report department (whichever that would be), in terms of the email from 2015,it doesn't look much different.
> 
> Same crap as a false report, it was just a lyft driver trying to get drivers deactivated when times were competitive and the money was good.
> ----
> ...


I think the error that the false reporters make is that they go overboard. Their reports always contain too many allegations i.e. "my driver ran red lights _and_ stop signs _and_ nearly hit a pedestrian _and_ was speeding _and_ was swerving all over the road and to top it all off he was wearing socks with sandals.

It always seems to be at least a trio of things - the last false report before this one claimed road rage, speeding and blowing stop signs.



kcdrvr15 said:


> any pushback, cancel, pax calls and asks where youre at, cancel, pax complains about the wait, other drivers, ect, cancel trip, don't put up with any siht from these pax holes.


Yeah, that's one of the golden rules. I knew going into this ride that I'd be trading an airport fare for a 1* from this idiot, and I got a free false report thrown into the deal at no extra charge.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

If Lyft really cared about safety, they would insist that passengers provide actual photo's of themselves. They would also actually deactivate passengers that break the rules, i.e. sending their kids unaccompanied anywhere, or without proper safety gear. They would also provide faster and better support for drivers.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

From what I understand if you put in a concern about a rider first it carries more weight. 

If I have the slightest inkling that they're going to be a problem I call in before ending the ride and savage them for making racist/homophobic/anti-Semitic comments and making fun of my speech impediment.


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

Most of the time, I cannot even rate a passenger after dropping them off, despite that there is a button for that. I have to go into the history and rate them later.


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

New2This said:


> From what I understand if you put in a concern about a rider first it carries more weight.
> 
> If I have the slightest inkling that they're going to be a problem I call in before ending the ride and savage them for making racist/homophobic/anti-Semitic comments and making fun of my speech impediment.


Absolutely. It's a case of go big or go home. The pax was drunk, threatened violence and insulted my service animal.


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## TXqwi3812 (Oct 31, 2018)

I get wood when I receive them no joke


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

TXqwi3812 said:


> I get wood when I receive them no joke


Try not to get any splinters in your hand.


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## TheDevilisaParttimer (Jan 2, 2019)

TXqwi3812 said:


> I get wood when I receive them no joke


Nothing like the taste of LYFT tears early in the morning.


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## Trek Shuffler (Feb 13, 2019)

I get feelings when I disappoint the Lyft "community"


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

Yeah, it's a hoot that they think a driver's priority is "the community"


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## NOXDriver (Aug 12, 2018)

Wow that's incredibly nice of them to remind you how you are failing the 'Lyft Community':laugh:

I really don't feel anything when I ignore that 22 mile away pickup.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

TXqwi3812 said:


> I get wood when I receive them no joke


That's a Lyft badge


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## 240BIGWINO (Jul 1, 2018)

A classic I read on here was pax was passing gas in the back and giggling each time, they cursed me out when I cracked a window. One time I put that on a Lyft one star and Lyft gave me $5.


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## Bigtimeboo (Dec 23, 2018)

I usually one star most passengers... they’re generally cheap ass complaining *****es


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## Jo3030 (Jan 2, 2016)

Just cancel on them.
It's the principle.
My principle trumps all quests, prime time, promotions or foot massages.


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## Cdub2k (Nov 22, 2017)

Jo3030 said:


> Just cancel on them.
> It's the principle.
> My principle trumps all quests, prime time, promotions or foot massages.


I would have canceled as well. The guy seemed like an illogical dumbass on the phone. That is an instant cancel even with the rematch. I'd rather sit in the que for an hour to get a normal PAX then take an idiot on a 30 minute awkward ride


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## B - uberlyftdriver (Jun 6, 2017)

LMAO

decline
decline
decline
decline

alright i'll take that one


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## Confused23 (Jul 9, 2018)

Yesterday a 13 year old girl tried to get in my car and I told her you have to be 18 and drove away and waited for the timer to expire. She sent me a text message saying.....”You need to cancel my ride. Or I’m filing a complaint.”

I canceled after 5 minutes. She got charged 5 bucks (I mean her parents got charged). 

God, I love doing that.


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## IndyUL (Jan 21, 2019)

I can't cancel a ride after 5 minutes without first calling the pax, if I want the cancel fee. Kind of a pain in the a$$


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## Confused23 (Jul 9, 2018)

IndyUL said:


> I can't cancel a ride after 5 minutes without first calling the pax, if I want the cancel fee. Kind of a pain in the a$$


Just call the pax and quickly hang up. I do it all the time. You'll get the passenger no-show scene pop up.


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## IndyUL (Jan 21, 2019)

I usually use my tab for the app, which means I have to get the app up on my phone, then the timer starts over... Not exactly ideal. I guess I just have to keep the app open on my phone too..


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## welikecamping (Nov 27, 2018)

That's how I do it. ^^^^


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## Pax Collector (Feb 18, 2018)

TXqwi3812 said:


> I get wood when I receive them no joke


Friggin masochists lol


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## RideShareJUNKIE (Jun 23, 2017)

The Gift of Fish said:


> Lol, yeah, I asked Lyft what a passenger was doing in a crosswalk. Crosswalks don't have passengers; they have pedestrians. No response on that from Lyft so it will remain a mystery.


Having had the pleasure for receiving many of these reports consistently, I can tell you this, the verbage after "it was alleged that you ........."
Is cut and paste from the pax complaint.
Its funny when I got the first one of these with this wording, I always assumed that "member of the community" meants some random person in public that i pissed off or cut off another driver, and they reported it. One time I noticed the verbage said something that was odd, the word "jerkily". IT was then i knew it was from pax report in.
Slimy Foks.



The Gift of Fish said:


> I think the error that the false reporters make is that they go overboard. Their reports always contain too many allegations i.e. "my driver ran red lights _and_ stop signs _and_ nearly hit a pedestrian _and_ was speeding _and_ was swerving all over the road and to top it all off he was wearing socks with sandals.


Sometime in early 2018, I had a pax that gave a false report (shared ride), and just attempted to throw me under the bus. I was so motivated, I was able to pin a $250 damage fee to the pax for some interior trim pieces, (it was alleged that the pax shoe caught onto and ripped and snapped out while they stormed out of the vehicle. They also exited the vehicle on the traffic side without care or caution, topped off by a nice loud door slam, in royal fashion. Her hasty actions and sudden exit even got the attention of the other pax in the car and they even asked what was going on with that other pax. I told them I have no idea. Also to verify your theory, it too contained 3 elements of falsification which was obvious how they were being greedy with their complaint (clearly an inexperienced paxhole).
Observation worth noting, this is also the same time i concluded that damage fees are not always charged to the pax, unlike clean up fees. I also verified this with another method/situation a few months later.

Lately ive been getting reports of making derogatory comments, which never happened, but i must admit i do talk to other drivers in somewhat playful yet heated fashion while im driving sometimes. I think its fun to break the silence (ice) with a reaction like that.  
I equate this report from lyft as an equivalent to a professionalism badge from Uber. cowards.


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## SubaruLegacy (Jan 17, 2018)

How do you know for sure it was the airport pax and not a different pax?


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## YouEvenLyftBruh (Feb 10, 2018)

Wow! You got a personalized letter?!

I've had to tone it down myself. Apparently 'California Stops' a valid strategy in LA, are actually not a thing here in Georgia.


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