jollystomper
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2012
- Messages
- 6,188
A few weeks ago DW and I were in Boston, helping one of her elderly relatives. At one point DW had to make a trip a little distance away, requiring either I drive her (she was in a walking boot at the time recovering from a fractured ankle and could not drive), or she take a Lyft ride (She uses Lyft since, when visiting her mother in Florida, it is the best option for her mothers area, and several of the Lyft drivers know her mother and are very helpful). Since I was in the middle of installing security cameras for the relative, and her round trip errand would take a couple of hours, we decided a Lyft would be best. I am *not* a big fan of these personal ride hailing outfits, but in this situation I agreed.
She requests a ride, and gets several drivers all pricing the ride around $25. She selects one, and in ten minutes the driver arrives. Clean car, nothing seems unusual. I take a video of the car, driver, and license plate, and the driver sees me as DW gets into the car.
They leave, I go back to my work. less than 10 minutes later, I get a text from DW: "I am coming back to the house, to get a different ride". I run out to meet her a couple of blocks away, knowing she cannot walk very fast.
What happened? According to DW, a couple of minutes into the ride, the driver stated oops, I accidentally canceled the ride while trying to confirm the pickup, can you to request a ride again, just select my name. So DW does that - but now it states the ride will be $45, not $25. Say what?
DW asked him why is this now $45 and not $25, the driver claimed he does not know. DW said fine, cancel the ride, I am getting out. At first the drivers says there will be a cancellation fee. DW told him she is getting out and there better not be a cancellation fee, she will make sure feedback and Lyft will find out all about this, and reminds him that I have video of him. At this point she said the driver became very apologetic and stated there would not be a fee. He offered to bring her back to where she had been picked up, but she still recognized where they were and opted to get out there.
DW rescheduled the ride, again the options were around $25, and this time she received a 2nd driver that did not give her any trouble (this driver was very helpful, he offered to wait while she took care of several things and drive her back for a discount, we gave him a good tip and great feedback).
My spidey sense is not perfect, but I feel strongly that the 1st driver was trying to scam DW. Being female, being incapacitated in a walking boot, being soft spoken and assuming she would not raise a fuss (he does not know my DW
), may have had something to do with this. Or maybe nothing.
We followed up with Lyft, they assured us that we would not be charged a cancellation fee, and we were not.
So... I do not know if others have had a similar experience. If not, it is something to be area of and warned about. I am glad that, if it had to happen, it happened in a city, during the day, where she could easily get out, and not in a more rural or isolated area.
She requests a ride, and gets several drivers all pricing the ride around $25. She selects one, and in ten minutes the driver arrives. Clean car, nothing seems unusual. I take a video of the car, driver, and license plate, and the driver sees me as DW gets into the car.
They leave, I go back to my work. less than 10 minutes later, I get a text from DW: "I am coming back to the house, to get a different ride". I run out to meet her a couple of blocks away, knowing she cannot walk very fast.
What happened? According to DW, a couple of minutes into the ride, the driver stated oops, I accidentally canceled the ride while trying to confirm the pickup, can you to request a ride again, just select my name. So DW does that - but now it states the ride will be $45, not $25. Say what?
DW asked him why is this now $45 and not $25, the driver claimed he does not know. DW said fine, cancel the ride, I am getting out. At first the drivers says there will be a cancellation fee. DW told him she is getting out and there better not be a cancellation fee, she will make sure feedback and Lyft will find out all about this, and reminds him that I have video of him. At this point she said the driver became very apologetic and stated there would not be a fee. He offered to bring her back to where she had been picked up, but she still recognized where they were and opted to get out there.
DW rescheduled the ride, again the options were around $25, and this time she received a 2nd driver that did not give her any trouble (this driver was very helpful, he offered to wait while she took care of several things and drive her back for a discount, we gave him a good tip and great feedback).
My spidey sense is not perfect, but I feel strongly that the 1st driver was trying to scam DW. Being female, being incapacitated in a walking boot, being soft spoken and assuming she would not raise a fuss (he does not know my DW
), may have had something to do with this. Or maybe nothing.We followed up with Lyft, they assured us that we would not be charged a cancellation fee, and we were not.
So... I do not know if others have had a similar experience. If not, it is something to be area of and warned about. I am glad that, if it had to happen, it happened in a city, during the day, where she could easily get out, and not in a more rural or isolated area.
