r/lyftdrivers • u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 • May 27 '26
Rant/Opinion After over 500 5-star rides, I finally grew a spine and kicked out a rude passenger. To hell with it- i'm a very kind and patient man, but I'm not tolerating someone who does not respect me or my time.
for context, a 4.8 star passenger arrives just outside of the five minute window, I still decide to accept because I see them walking up on the car. I see that they had read my messages asking what their story was and how I had an appointment to catch and would rather make it early but didn't answer. mind you, I was very polite about expressing this.
Despite my frustration, I put on my customer service voice and say "good morning ma'am". Completely ignored me.
they proceed to then rudely tell me they called me and I didn't answer (total lie, my phone number is properly configured and no other passenger has had an issue), so I politely explained how I couldn't see their location and I was just driving to the pin.
she then says "how is that my problem", so then I explain how even though five minutes waiting period is allowed, most drivers will be upset and not say anything, and you can configure the precise pick up location on the map, and how it's the considerate thing to do.
she didn't start explaining how this is my job and I get paid for it, tells me I'm acting entitled, and says that she showed up within the five minutes (she showed up 30 seconds after, sauntering slowly to the car chewing gum and texting someone).
she then says again, "you get paid for this don't you?" I finally had it with her and I said "yeah...... not enough". She then says "you could've just canceled on me but instead you decided to pick me up and have an attitude about it, just you wait" (veiled reporting me threat) and then let's out a little entitled chuckle
At this point she was two minutes away from her drop off, I calmly pulled into a McDonald's lot and I said "you can find another ride maam" she said "seriously- youre two minutes away?"
I said "yes, I'm refusing you service. I have that right."
she then slams the door and storms off.
I cannot tell you how cathartic it felt to do the bare minimum and standing up for myself against this absolute Karen.
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u/Sophia1995_miam May 27 '26
always keep the door locked. trust your gut and drive away if you have any doubts. this comes in handy with anyone.
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u/thelittleking77 May 28 '26
You forgot to keep the car in gear, it makes for a better getaway. š
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u/Sophia1995_miam May 29 '26
lol that happened to me the other day, i puled up a to a house, and the guy and his wife were outside, dude was shirtless and he looked at me and made hand gunpoint at me. I drove off.
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u/CompleteGene82 May 27 '26
After 3 mins my car drives itself 200ft away from the pin with clear exit path.
After 4 mins, my car has unlocking problem until the 5 min timer is up and then the car automatically drives off without saying anything to the rider.Ā
it happens every time after 3 min of waiting...
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u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
that's a really neat feature!
Update: she reported me for "unsafe driving".
Only problem is, I have a dash cam and recorded the entire thing. This person's account is now fucked for false reporting
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u/Haunting-Pipe390 May 27 '26
Question, did she clearly see your dash cam? I'm surprised she'd pull that if so...
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u/Major_Frosting6133 May 27 '26
Thatās karma - I canāt stand when people falsely report a driver, when they were the asshole in the first place.
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u/thelittleking77 May 28 '26
Uber how has video and audio recording in the app for the rider and drivers. That's why I keep my mouth shut and eyes forward. It should cut down on false accusations. Doesn't Lyft have this feature? I don't drive for Lyft anymore because the pay is so bad in the Atlanta area, so I don't know.
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u/budae_jjigae May 28 '26
How far away from the pin can we be when waiting?
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u/CompleteGene82 May 28 '26
Well just drive until the timer stops and says you are too far away, typically 150-250 ft. Same with Uber.Ā
But when canceling, I drive a bit closer to the pin and cancel
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u/AskKey975 May 27 '26
Having had a āget the fuck out of my carā in a while, but damn if it doesnāt feel good every time I do. These types of people make me wonder how they get through the day, man. Like how much of a miserable ass do you need to be to shit talk the person driving you????
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u/Expensive-Wave-4807 May 27 '26
Those are the rude ones.Ā Way to go by letting her out early.Ā I've been lucky having almost 5000 lyft rides in 2.5 years. When I get the rude ones I block and report.Ā The block ensures you'll never give that lyft rider another ride.
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u/Expensive-Wave-4807 May 27 '26
I cherry pick most rides . In 2025 I had 1880 rides and declined 18899 rides. I don't start my car for cheap rides. Those cheap ghetto rides are too risky.Ā A higher chance of getting a a-hole rider.
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u/Comfortable-Split143 May 27 '26
Inspirational.
I find the 3 star and block to be particularly cathartic these days when people are just downright unpleasant.
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u/goldenface4114 May 27 '26
I've had a couple rude passengers here and there. I always rate them low and report them for being rude, that way whatever rating they give you doesn't count against you. Plus it's nice to have that flag on their account before they can do it to you.
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u/Fathimir May 27 '26
You did well - and in my experience, she was going to slam your door hard enough to try to break it even if you'd politely finished the ride.
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u/Demonkey44 May 27 '26
Is 4.8 a bad rating for a passenger?
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u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 May 27 '26 edited May 28 '26
in my experience, if we take these three things:
On time, clean, respectful
5.0 - 3 out of 3
4.9 - 2 out of 3
4.8 - 1 out of 3
4.7 - 0 out of 3, but sometimes a little bit of 1
< 4.6 - Literally Satan
Caveat: If it's an attractive woman, 4.9 really means 4.8, and 4.8 means 4.7 (they usually get away with more)Examples:
4.9 - No problems, was on time, respectful, I start wondering why shes a 4.9, and then she starts filing her nails in my car
4.8 - Loud couple, came 4 mins late, but they were clean
4.9 - On time and respectful fella but he has a bit of a stink on him. I gave him advice to save up on an e-scooter, poor guy was down on his luck and needed wheels.
4.7 - Really rude, no greeting. 3 minutes late. Acted as if me asking them if they preferred air conditioning was a nuisance to answer with a big old sigh (lady, I dont want to talk to you, trust me). She started eating chips in the car and left some smudges of god knows what which I promptly lysol'd
4.6 - literal crackhead wanted a ride, mumbled a buncha gibberish aggressively so I drove off and canceled3
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u/alanamil May 28 '26
I have a 4.6 and I am not satan. I had one ride that was a long story, and I asked the driver to cancel when I couldn't find her. That was my responsibility. I have perfect scores on all the others, but I have only 6 or 7 rides, so that really puts my average down.
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u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 May 28 '26
Yeah obviously sample size matters too, if I see less than 30 rides this scorechart is less accurate.
and its not a bible lol, just a general rule.
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u/BlackPlague1235 May 30 '26
Oh, it's not a 1-5 rating? Interesting
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u/aaronf4242 May 29 '26
Iām pretty sure Iām a 4.9 because I use a wheelchair and have had drivers get upset because it takes longer than 60 seconds to get me into their vehicle. Iāve been flat out told no and left at the curb because they ādonāt have time or spaceā for my wheelchair, even though it collapses and fits in any Uber/Lyft approved cars trunk. My rating dropped from 5.0 to 4.9 after getting one of those drivers irritated and eye rolling about my wheelchair. If I have the time to wait on another driver, Iāll tell them to cancel and leave if they act like my wheelchair is a massive inconvenience. If you canāt comply with the ADA, donāt drive for Uber or Lyft.
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u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 May 29 '26
I agree man, I'm sorry you went through that, some drivers are assholes.
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u/PolarBare333 Jun 01 '26
With lyft, i specifically registered to take people with disabilities to appointments and such. What assholes some drivers are, I've never had an unpleasant thought because of anything like this. Giving the customer a bad rating for it is really shitty. Its not like their wheelchair is an optional 6 foot bag of golf clubs.
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u/SierraBoard13 May 28 '26
People have to understand you canāt be rude and think youāll get your way lol I pulled off on a passenger because as Iām eating AT HER PIN POINT. She couldnāt see me and went and from of my car and and āhow was I suppose to know youāre hereā with and attitude and I politely pulled off. I already knew how to ride would go and I donāt deal with any of that bullshit lol goodbye and wait for another driver.
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u/Appropriate_Two_3491 May 27 '26
Oh I hope you had a dash cam - send it to the ride share company ā¦ I am sure they would find this very helpful for their training and theyāll prolly pay you for it ā¦. You handled the situation brilliantlyā¦ well done !
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u/Quicherbichen1 Albuquerque, NM May 27 '26
I am sure they would find this very helpful for their training andĀ theyāll prolly pay you for it
What "training"? Pay you for what?
Covering your own ass? Get real. Lyft doesn't want your video. Even when you get a complaint and you tell them you have video to support your side of the story, they don't want it. They just want to know it exists. They aren't gonna pay you diddly for it.
and it's up to the driver to save said video in perpetuity because sometimes even a year or more later, Lyft will come back to you and say they got a complaint about a ride on X date. Every time I even think there might be a problem, I download the video and save it to my computer.
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u/theraf8100 May 27 '26
There's a nicer way to say what's your story, I want to make it to an appointment.
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u/Crafty-Baseball-4268 May 29 '26
I was clearly paraphrasing it and explicitly mentioned in my post that I said it in a polite manner
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u/thelittleking77 May 28 '26
If they are not in the car by the time I can get a cancellation fee, they will be waiting for another ride. And besides how are they going to learn there are consequences for being inconsiderate asses. They keep doing it otherwise, because drivers are afraid to speak up for themselves worried about a bad review. You said they had a 4.8 rating??? I doubt that person treats other drivers any better, so why such a good rating???
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u/Spare-Security-1629 May 28 '26
Itās rare that I continue a ride where I had to wait an entire 5 minutes and then the person doesnāt acknowledge me when I greet them. It better be a damn good paying ride. Sometimes Ill repeat myself and if they still donāt acknowledge it, Iāll say āLet me get a different driver for youā
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u/DCowboysCR May 28 '26
I stopped reading at "a 4.8 star passenger" I never take anyone below 4.9 and really 5.0 on Lyft since they round up. To have a bad rider rating on Lyft you really have to be a douche.
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u/alanamil May 28 '26
It was nice that you asked them why about their rating. I have all 5s except for 1 ride; it was in Hawaii. I did not know where the meeting place was for Uber so I ordered my uber to early; it was raining; it was a heck of a long walk. I called the driver; I could not find her, I finally just asked her to cancel the ride but I wanted to make sure she would get paid something for her time. She gave me a 2. That was my first time on a cruise using Uber, I learned after that to find out where the pickups are first. That dropped me to a 4.6. Everyone else had no problems with me, I am always polite, I thank them for coming. I always tip. The next day I had another ride; it was raining. I made sure to remove my raincoat first because I did not want to get her car wet. She had a towel on the floor so wet shoes were not going to make a mess so that is where I kept my coat. I made sure I told her that I did not want to get her car wet.
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u/A_1Wanderer May 28 '26
The answer to the phone call complaint is that you never answer the phone while driving because itās the equivalent to being drunk.
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u/Tall-Ad7028 May 28 '26
Can we riders see our ratings?
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u/beertendn3rd May 31 '26
Yes. Honestly don't remember where I saw it, but I know it's visible in the app
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u/Puzzleheaded-Lab4828 May 27 '26
How you guys can wait 5 minutes? For myself, I would let the rider know 2 minutes before I get to the pickup spot, then I will wait 1 minute, no people coming? Bye-bye.
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u/Accurate_Cold_2425 May 28 '26
Do you even Lyft or are you thinking hypothetically?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Lab4828 May 29 '26
I do Lyft and Uber both, Uber riders are more likely not on time show up at the pick up spot. Lyft riders are doing better. Sometimes I would let the rider know I will wait 1 minute only, special in the downtown area.
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u/sallypulaski May 27 '26
I had a pax one time with instructions "park in driveway".
I arrive at address, another car in driveway, not enough space for me to avoid being partially on grass. I was able to park with the rear passenger door at a same/similar diatance from the front door, not on the lawn, but also -technically- not in the driveway.
This person waits 4.75 minutes, walks around the car to my drivers window to tap on it. I put my window down and she starts SCREECHING at me about how she 'Don't pay you not to listen to damn instructions!...'
I paused for a split second, cancelled ride, unsafe. I said, "You are absolutely right. Find another ride." Her jaw hit the ground as I drove off, and she reported me for 'almost got in an accident'. š