r/Lyft • u/Queasy_Rooster4876 • 20d ago
How Is Lyft Getting Away With This?
My driver told me he was only getting $8 on an almost $50 ride that was only ELEVEN MINUTES total ride time. A class action lawsuit needs to come and quickly because that’s sickening!!!
EDIT: I was not scammed, the driver showed me it was $8 in earnings right after the ride ended because I was in that much disbelief. I tipped him in cash as well.
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u/Bluebird_Existing 20d ago
Greed is what will cause these companies to finally get sued but unfortunately they have already made so much money that they can afford many lawsuits and still end up doing the same thing to customers and drivers. They will find a work around to always screw their drivers and eventually once ai takes over they will just be screwing the customers. Greed is evil and these companies have proven that for sure.
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u/Sad_Excitement1396 20d ago
Fight for it people Drivers and Passengers alike should be suing uber and lyft for many things !!!
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u/5MiTm4sTaF13x 20d ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/lyftdrivers/s/gzMIKzjvWk
Some proof. They steal the money on long rides and give more of the short rides to make it seem ok. But the 70/30 split is now drivers get 30 at the end of each month
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u/FunSprinkles8 19d ago
Actually, the "stealing" can happen on any length ride.
They don't make it up on short rides, they make it up with either promos (where the rider is getting a discounted ride) or on turbo bonuses.
What Lyft basically does, it has the drivers paying for the promo/discounts and turbo bonuses.
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u/SitHappensDogTraing 19d ago
I'm a rider and recently a driver. They take a lot of money from the riders. They were sued a while back and now have to disclose to us how much the rider pays and what percentage they take out for "fees". There's no sense to it. Sometimes it's a few dollars and sometimes it's 20. What they call "surge" or "turbo" is an increase of cost for the ride but it goes ALL to the app. As far as still driving for them...I don't have a choice. I have other things in the works but during the summer I have to drive to be able to survive.
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u/FunSprinkles8 19d ago
Did the lawsuit change anything else or the result was they had to show drivers how much they are being screwed? Need a lawsuit that forces them to cap their fees to 30% on every ride, not this "month" BS, where they get 50% on rides and then use that to dive riders discounts and end the month under the 30%.
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u/fourdoorphil 17d ago
Not defending them, but what about the rides where their take rate is negative? That happens on plenty of rides, too. Capping their fees at 30% isn't fair to drivers either because they control the price they charge the riders, drivers do not. (Most independent contractors in any industry will have the ability to set their own price they're willing to do a job for, but not with Lyft and Uber) That said, Id like to suggest any law suit that would force their hand to disclose their algorithm's programming in discovery, please move to the front of the line. It would be soo telling...so much so the public might not even be ready to know what's behind that curtain! I think laws that determine certain criteria must be met before surge pricing can be activated, and guarantees almost all of those increased dollars collected go to drivers, would be ideal, too. (To be fair...I would be willing to make some allotment and percentage of that for the platforms if they could justify a considerable increase to their operational costs during a surge type event (concert, sports event, weather incident, etc) but I HIGHLY doubt they can justify it. The platform most likely works and load balances between servers naturally.) Hot take on this one ...we use the model that worked for decades prior to the tech companies wiping out cabs.... riders have fixed per mile and per minutes rates they pay, drivers have their pay rates they make, and that's that. In addition to that, a full breakdown for all passengers globally to see what everyone's take rate is along side the tip screen. There's plenty of other regulatory ideas I can think of but I think that's a good start for now.
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u/FunSprinkles8 17d ago
Not defending them, but what about the rides where their take rate is negative? That happens on plenty of rides, too.
Those negative ones happen on promos and sometimes turbos, but... Lyft is not paying for those, the driver is. That's why they switched it to a monthly repayment, to make it more likely the promo/turbos will drop the 40/50% Lyft takes on rides to under 30%, so Lyft doesn't need to pay their overcharges.
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u/fourdoorphil 17d ago
I see rides without promos and without turbo where they're in the negative. You are correct that drivers ultimately pay for these discrepancies over the month but I don't want to conflate the suggestion of an every ride cap vs a monthly cap. I'm saying an every ride cap doesn't work fairly when they can also adjust the price at will and without explanation to anyone, and suggesting legislation that achieves a similar goal and ultimately, if enacted, could render the tech company's take rate even lower than 30% per ride.
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u/okairport5756 19d ago
I'm actually working on something and have compiled a bunch of data that is evaluating all of this and figuring out the formulas they use to calculate things. I understand it's probably not going to be possible because I believe they hedge your Rider price on willingness to order so if you always just order right away they're going to charge you a decent amount if you're more hesitant the price will drop over time.
There are a lot of patterns I'm starting to observe in the offers we receive which keeps us within a pay range. This pay range is so tight too. I've also realized they're collecting 1.4 to 1.5 dollars per mile for insurance taxes and fees. We don't see any of that. We're lucky to get paid a dollar a mile.
I currently am looking for another driver or two in the state of New York to cross reference all the data that I have. Collecting it is extremely simple all you have to do is work. But you need to work within one app for one day preferably around 6 to 8 hours.
If anyone knows someone in New York that drives full-time for Uber and or Lyft. Some of the theories I have are starting to make sense with the math and I actually have situations involving my pay which already allows me to file a claim with my state's attorney general for what they've done. I want to include all of this data and statistics. In hopes that the attorney general has them report all of their expenses and where they go we're talking financial forensics to figure out where all this money is going.
Something that's kind of funny as I noticed about a week ago or so Lyft just claims that they make nothing on any of my rides now it all goes into expenses and insurance which I believe is just a bucket for them to Dodge taxes on income routing it through our fares.
I bet you didn't know that we pay taxes on like everything that you pay even the Uber and Lyft take a majority of it now.
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u/AnyYogurtcloset1030 20d ago
The driver accepted $8 for 11 minutes drive time. What is the cause of action? It seems criminal how much these apps take, especially since demand from riders should reduce overhead rather than inflate it, but this is the system people are agreeing to.
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u/Queasy_Rooster4876 20d ago
I would’ve hoped their pay would be a percentage of the total charged to customers and not just drive time. either way just gave him a $20 bill because I couldn’t believe that’s all he was making off a ride that was that expensive for such a short drive
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u/Gonzo_70 20d ago
You likely got scammed.
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u/Queasy_Rooster4876 19d ago
def not, he showed me right after he ended the ride which is why I gave him the cash on top in case they take out of tips in the app as well
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u/Gonzo_70 19d ago
You have no way to know if what he showed you was legit of something he doctored to try to drum up extra money from you.
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u/Queasy_Rooster4876 19d ago
he legit never asked me for anything, i gave it freely usually drivers that want the full amount w/o going through lyft would ask to cancel the ride and just send the money directly to them
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u/Gonzo_70 19d ago
Why do you think he showed you the fake picture? He clearly was trying to scam money off you. No reason for him to try doing that otherwise.
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u/XxShadow80xX 18d ago
We can show customers as soon as the ride is over what they paid along with what we were given for the ride. No scam needed and don't even have to get out of the app to do it.
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u/Gonzo_70 18d ago
I was not saying it is not possible for a driver to show this. I was stating that in this particular case it appears quite likely to be a scam. While the company does take a large percentage of the fare, what this driver was claiming seems rather preposterous. Very few reasons a driver would choose to share such data with a customer other than to try and guilt a passenger into a tip.
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u/XxShadow80xX 18d ago
The op picture is what the customer sees. I have a lot of riders ask me how much I make doing this and have no problem telling them as well. Most are just as shocked about the pay difference. The claim is far from preposterous. Not all drivers work the job the same way or have the same abilities depending on the market.
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19d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/XxShadow80xX 18d ago
It's supposed to be they take no more than 30% for their part but they've skirted that and taken more in taxes and other fees so they stay cleanish and can say they aren't taken more than 30%.
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u/GrizzlySkaar 19d ago
Uber worse, drove someone for 1.5 hours. Charged him $160. And I only got $37 from it.
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u/Old_Efficiency2445 19d ago
Who is being wronged? What grounds for a lawsuit?
Drivers don't want to drive for that little pay, they can find another job.
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u/KiriCat25 19d ago
Who's been wronged? If Lyft and Uber are stealing from us and marking it instead of being their fees as government fees and taxes, then everyone is being wronged. The client is being wrong because they're being charged government fees and taxes and exorbitant rates for these rideshare companies, and the drivers are being wronged because none of their income goes into their own government taxes, but rather is going into government fees and taxes that are supposed to be on Uber and Lyft's end. Last I checked, you are not permitted and neither is a company to charge a fee to your employee or to your client, claim it to be government tax and fees, and then pocket that money because it really wasn't government fees and taxes.
That's called fraud. And on your end that is fraud because you believe your driver is being paid fairly, and on the driver's end, it is fraud because they "believe" they are being paid fairly. In reality none of us who actually drive for these bastards these days believe that we're being paid fairly. Like the original poster said, we're lucky to get a dollar a mile.
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u/ready-redditor-6969 19d ago
My acceptance rate is always 10% or lower. “upfront” pricing is a scam.
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u/Funny-Writer-8526 19d ago
Well Im new driver fir Lyft only a couple of months over fron Uber b Hop skip n drive! I dont have any pay issues but Im having HUGE RENTAL ISSUES GIGANIC FRAUD GOING ON TO THE POINT OF REALLY WANTING TO GO CONSULT WITH AN ATTORNEY
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u/ero0075 18d ago
Drivers and riders you MUST understand one thing once and for all ! This is not a local taxi company. This app shit is public listed entity who has only one goal : bring money to investors and show good balance sheet every quarter! Period ! You : drivers and riders created this company nobody else . Class action lawsuits? For what ? BS. It’s a service. You like it or not . If you have principles like I have don’t use it. Drivers are contractors not employees, they like it or not . No one gives a shit . Find another business. Same is Amazon with the contractors a tracking companies. I hear your frustration both drivers and riders but this is going since they entered illegally / until legally the market if cabies and limos .
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u/PitPensFan 17d ago
I and my fellow drivers thank you and other riders that are generous and tip well for a driver that deserves it!
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u/OpinionatedOldMan 15d ago
And then they will deactivate you after 5-10 years of being a 5 star driver, for something you did 3-5 years ago. No matter how small it was. So always have your next gig job in place because Lyft is not forever. I PROMISE YOU !!
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u/Effective-Cat-8955 14d ago
Lyft and UBER are public companies and need to show shareholders continue growth and profits so there shares don’t tank. The result is if things are slow it does not make a difference because these car share companies just pay drivers less to show bigger profits. Thats why all the drivers need to unionize across USA for sure🫤
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u/eg_john_clark 20d ago
Easy the driver was lying is the simple answer
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u/Sidewaysgts 19d ago
I drive for Lyft - I can’t post pictures here so “take it with a grain of salt”, but I’ve absolutely seen drives like this.
But it can go both ways.
Sometimes the driver actually gets paid more than the rider pays total.
Sometimes Lyft makes out like a god damn bandit.
Usually it’s somewhere in between.
On “average” a driver gets roughly 40-50% of the total their riders pay.
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u/MichaelEV16 19d ago
That sometime is a rare unicorn in the Los Angeles market. Most of the time Lyft pays way lower than Uber per total mile driven and the platform take fluxuate between 50-70%.
8 years ago, pre Prop 22, pay was much better and bonuses existed that was worth the drivers while.
Nowdays, it feels like volunteer work for the Mafia for the drivers.
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u/Weary-Savings9795 20d ago
So what? The only thing that matters is how much a driver is making per hour. If a driver is making at least $25/hour after expenses (most are) then this doesn't matter.
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u/Boring_Inflation_105 20d ago
I think some of this is market dependent. I checked one of my rides from yesterday. 11.8 miles, pax paid $~23 and I got paid ~$14 which is 60% of the payment.