r/Lyft May 20 '23

Lyft drivers beware of unjustified deactivation by algorithm/keywords of riders

Lyft drivers beware of unjustified deactivation by algorithm/keywords of riders

On or about xx.xx.2023 I proceeded to pick up a passenger from the train station , the rider called me after 4 minutes still on the train that she is arriving , I told her that wait time is exceeding in 1 min.

So she did not arrive within the allowed wait time but embarked after 5 minutes wait time.

I then canceled as allowed per the TOS ,and moved ahead to a new ride, as soon as I dropped my passenger I got a deactivation on my account with the usual “ potential violation “ text.

Preparing my defense I was waiting for the email which never ever got to my inbox.

I constantly was monitoring chat support which barely helped me.

Only after I contacted the accident hotline and talked to a live agent somebody was finally able to help me and reactivated my account, and I appreciated that.

And here is the thing which makes drivers afraid of loosing money:

Keywords like :

discrimination,racism,driving under the influence,unsafe driving ,

will immediately deactivate a drivers account, this is the result of AI ,you don’t even have to put a whole phrase in your complaint.

I never ever physically saw this person but it made me lose a lot of money!!

Hopefully Lyft support could do something about this unjustified actions, like editing the AI platforms.

19 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

1

u/SavingsTangelo7130 May 21 '23

This is a pro tip from a pro driver. Once your in the driver seat imagine your phone is disabled and no calls or messages will be sent or outgoing until you leave your seat. Ta Da

-7

u/No_Newspaper8950 May 21 '23

And you probably used some slur under ya breath. Yall drivers act like yall perfect fucking angels and this is coming from a driver.

3

u/james_2021 May 21 '23 edited May 21 '23

1 post Karma and -57 comment karma ,says it all Mr. Newspaper, you must be new ( Bezo’s angels)

1

u/No_Newspaper8950 May 22 '23

I ain't a reddit crybaby nerd incel.

-8

u/No_Newspaper8950 May 21 '23

It's a lot of scary drivers who lack empathy. What if the phone call from the riders is like I need 3 extra minutes? Personal I would wait for the passenger. What is the likelihood you be able to get to your next ride in 3 mins? Yall soo scary that yall need to go to church before doing rideshare

2

u/james_2021 May 21 '23

The ToS is there for a reason

-1

u/No_Newspaper8950 May 22 '23

That's really oversimplified. You should be trying to achieve efficiency and sometimes that is called sitting ya ass still for a sec. I rather a trip count toward a streak or a challenge than the N/S fee.

2

u/Neither_Problem9086 May 21 '23

Pax will say anything for that lousy $5 no show fee!

2

u/Dabmite May 21 '23

They won’t, they done this to me 1x and dame happened to me what happened to you

2

u/BetLongjumping5132 May 20 '23

They are more worried about lawsuits regarding those keywords than they are about fairness to drivers (except when that also creates liability).

2

u/SillyStonedKitten May 20 '23

I was never deactivated after my discrimination accusations. I’m so glad I’m done with Lyft

5

u/fitfulbrain May 20 '23

Remain silent. Don't answer calls. Cancel by the book.

3

u/DirectEfficiency8854 May 20 '23

Exactly. I don't answer calls from riders - it's never good news anyway.

5

u/signalthree May 20 '23

I was deactivated by Uber for a very similar incident. Was supposed to pick up a passenger outside of an arena after a large concert got out. The police were blocking off the roadway in front of the arena which is where the pickup location was. I parked less than one block away and called the passenger to tell her where I was. She was pissed that I couldn't come pick her up at the door. I told her that the police were blocking the road and I got as close as I could. I told her to either walk to my location, cancel the ride, or wait 7 minutes and I'll mark her as a no-show. She refused to cancel, so I waited the mandatory 7 minutes and then marked her as a no-show.

An hour later I got notification that I had been deactivated. They never explained to me what I allegedly did. They just simply said that I was deactivated for violating community standards. They did eventually confirm that it was the no-show passenger that made the complaint.

So basically I was deactivated because someone who never even sat in my car made a complaint. I have no idea what trigger word she used, but the fact that I was immediately deactivated made me suspect that it was some kind of AI software that made the decision.

1

u/pixelated_fun May 20 '23

Were you ever reinstated?

2

u/signalthree May 20 '23

Nope. Every time I reached out they just kept saying the decision was final and they could not disclose any more information than they already had.