Scam? I requested a Lyft the other day, and the driver saw me, and drove away. The app registered that he had "arrived" and I was charged a "no show" fee.

One of the many problems with the type of drivers in the servic of Uber and Lyft is that they are essentialy unprofessional and have little experience with either how to maximize their income and provide good service.

While it is true that a driver may be genuinely wary of no stopping zones and bus stops, a driver who scams passengers by collecting cancellation fees is not a driver you want to drive you anywhere.

The reality of this job is no different than that of the taxi industry which is that you only make money by turning on the application (or the taxi meter) as often as possible. Inevitably there are longer fares and shorter fares and that is what keeps the job interesting. It is a sad fact but the job of both a taxi driver and ride share driver seems to attract people who think the job is "easy" and that they can make money without really working for it.

For a driver to cancel because they think you are going too far, which is completely unethical and illegal for either a t…

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One of the many problems with the type of drivers in the servic of Uber and Lyft is that they are essentialy unprofessional and have little experience with either how to maximize their income and provide good service.

While it is true that a driver may be genuinely wary of no stopping zones and bus stops, a driver who scams passengers by collecting cancellation fees is not a driver you want to drive you anywhere.

The reality of this job is no different than that of the taxi industry which is that you only make money by turning on the application (or the taxi meter) as often as possible. Inevitably there are longer fares and shorter fares and that is what keeps the job interesting. It is a sad fact but the job of both a taxi driver and ride share driver seems to attract people who think the job is "easy" and that they can make money without really working for it.

For a driver to cancel because they think you are going too far, which is completely unethical and illegal for either a taxi driver or a ride share driver. Never having been a passenger, but a driver for over six years of Uber and Lyft, I concur that their customer and driver assistance leaves much to be desired and that unless you are a squeaky wheel and make a lot of noise, you may not be noticed.

The internet has spawned an era of companies thinking they can fob off the need of personalized customer service on a few pages of FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), lists that often do not include the very thing you are trying to figure out!

I do have the sense that Uber has of late been making more efforts towards dealing with the long list of justified grievances against them due to their incredibly amatuerish and arrogant origins as a company, so I have hopes that they may yet prevail by becoming what it is people really want.

Lyft at times seems to lag behind, in that their website seems harder to navigate and it is harder to get a response from a person.

Both companies are in a race to the bottom to see who can undercut the other with cheaper fares, which results in drivers making less and less and being more and more willing to cut corners and cheat.

When the companies show they respect the drivers by paying them what they deserve in order to propersly maintain their vehicles and to make a living wage, they will get more responsible drivers.

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Did the driver know that you were the one that ordered the ride?  Did you wave or motion to him to you?  Was the area that you were summoning him to a bus lane or other no stopping zone?  Did you try to contact him via phone or text before he drove away?  Do you frequently take Uber short distances?  Had you ever ridden with that driver before? 

This morning I had a rider text me because her Uber app said I was "on the wrong street."  I texted her back with a picture of the building number.  (The picture showed her standing there...*sigh*) 

A few days ago I had a rider call me to his location.  I told him that the street he was on is BUSSES ONLY, and if I dared to even turn onto that street, I'd get a ticket.  He threw a temper tantrum claiming that I was trying to scam him.  His pickup timed out and I collected the no show fee.  His fault, not mine. 

It's not unheard of for drivers to drive by to set off the pic…

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Did the driver know that you were the one that ordered the ride?  Did you wave or motion to him to you?  Was the area that you were summoning him to a bus lane or other no stopping zone?  Did you try to contact him via phone or text before he drove away?  Do you frequently take Uber short distances?  Had you ever ridden with that driver before? 

This morning I had a rider text me because her Uber app said I was "on the wrong street."  I texted her back with a picture of the building number.  (The picture showed her standing there...*sigh*) 

A few days ago I had a rider call me to his location.  I told him that the street he was on is BUSSES ONLY, and if I dared to even turn onto that street, I'd get a ticket.  He threw a temper tantrum claiming that I was trying to scam him.  His pickup timed out and I collected the no show fee.  His fault, not mine. 

It's not unheard of for drivers to drive by to set off the pickup timer to just collect the no show fee, but that usually only occurs if they know that you're a unprofitable ride.  They can pick you up, get stuck in traffic and burn 20 minutes to make $5, or they can drive by, burn 5 mnutes off the clock and collect $3 - $4.  A lot of it comes down to how you use rideshare.  If you take short trips and never tip, your passenger rating will bottom out and nobody will accept you ride requests.  Take care of your drivers and they'll take care of you. 

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