Lyft

Use it once, and honestly i felt i was cheating on Über so i stopped. When i like a company i stick with it, yes im a creature of habits. I liked that the driver had my account up when i entered the car so it would void the confussion of picking up the wrong person. It was ok, not sure if i would use them again becuase, again i feel i would be cheating on the other company i use on a regular basis.

My first experience with Lyft was not a good one. Applied to be a driver and drive all the way from Needham to Medford for a «mentor» interview. The Lyft app I downloaded didn’t work and the mentor had no way to fix the issue. Sorry she said and drove off. A complete waste of my time.

Excellent source to quickly get around for those who need a quick and cheap ride, yet don’t want to deal with taxis and nonsense. Furthermore, excellent source of income for those looking for a flexible full time or part time job. You work at your leisure and convenience. No boss nagging you, you control your hours. Right now there’s a promotion for a $ 1000 bonus for new drivers! You have to give 50 rides within 30 days of signing up. This is the most lucrative offer I’ve ever seen lyft implement, definitely worth taking advantage of. Use promo code CHAFIK3 when signing up, or just follow the link below.
For those just interested in trying the service and getting a free first ride, also use promo code CHAFIK3.
Cheers and happy holidays :-)

Great price. I have used a $ 20 first ride promo and will use Lift again. It was new and comfortable car and the driver was friendly. Would highly recommend.
The only concern — driver was almost 15 minutes late.

There was no notification on screen– maybe the notification works most of the time but it didn’t for me or for a few others who have reviewed here. There has been no answer from you people except «oh there’s a notification!». THERE WAS NO NOTIFICATION.

I tried Lyft for 45 days in Boston and I found most of their marketing promises of bonuses, referral payouts to be misleading and buried in a mountain of fine prints. Getting 8 to 10 dollars for rides is not worth doing. There is low demand in the service is the suburbs and even in the Boston Downtown area you will find yourself driving in circles and riders canceling last minute.
I did not like driving for Lyft for couple of reasons:
1– They refused to deliver the sign up bonus they promised when I signed up, even though I met all the requirements and their pretext was I did not use a referral code from another driver which was easy for me to do but did not want to reward a random driver who did not referral me to Lyft. There are plenty of people who list their codes online. Lyft failed to make that clear during the sign-​up.
2– While I loved the application, Lyft has a low demand in the area and you will be driving for hours fishing for riders, they won’t give you an exact location of the demand. Instead, a whole city may go red but you won’t know where the riders are until you are within a small distance of them. While the application has the option for tips, your riders won’t tip no matter how nice you are to them. So to drive in Boston area and deal with traffic, stop and go and riders not tipping, you will be driving for gas money and nothing else.
This ride-​sharing idea will not make you a lot of money if you live in Boston MA, because of the cost of living. It will be nice if Lyft delivered on their bonuses but often this is the case of the horse and the carrot. They lure you in with these bonuses just to find out that they are impossible to get or have a ton of fine prints behind them. I am hanging up the Lyft line, because they are liars and don’t deliver what they promise to their partners.

Wow — See that the reviews here are all over the map — hard to get a good read given it includes both driver and rider experiences.
My 2 cents. I have gotten rides with both Über and Lyft, and prefer Lyft. My Reasons:
— Most of the time, the rides cost a little less than Über
— I am given the option of given Lyft folks a tip — Über says a tip is included, but have been told by Über drivers that is not the case.
— I have never had any hassles if I put in a discount code.
— Lyft can pick me up from Logan, whereas Über is much more limited in this.
— Pick Up Time — very reliable with Lyft
I know that the fare is a combination of time and mileage — no secret in that, so surprised that some are saying this is a rip off… its how it works… time is $$.

I originally wrote this review on September 29, 2015. I guess the people at Lyft took notice and didn’t like what I had to say. The next day they commented on my review here on Unilocal asking me to get in contact with them. Whoever that was hadn’t done their due diligence because they should’ve known that I’d already been in contact with them, and they have all of the information they need to get back in touch with me and to contact the «Mentor» who is mentioned. Haven’t heard back from anyone directly yet. I wonder why. Anyway, I don’t know how to access the comment but below is my initial review that they didn’t take too kindly to:
I will no longer use Lyft!
There is NO customer service! I applied through the app to be a driver and for two weeks I was not able to schedule a Mentor Session. When I finally did get the session scheduled I had to travel 18 miles to meet Joe, the «Mentor», in Avon (which is where he had all of the new drivers meet him at). He failed to communicate this with everyone who was waiting and tried to handle everyone at his convenience, very much unlike what Lyft says the experience is supposed to be like. They say that the Mentor is supposed to come to you, but after waiting two weeks I just wanted to get it over with. This was not professional at all.
To add insult to injury, this guy only took photos and did not bother to ask me if I’d had any questions. I waited for 2 weeks! You wouldn’t think I’d have any questions? Plus! I didn’t even do a short ride with him, which was required by Lyft. This was absolutely no help at all and a complete waste of my time! I went through all of this just to receive an email which denied me as a driver less than 10 minutes after the session was over. I wasted two weeks and drove a total of 36 miles all to find out that I would be denied.
My experiences as a passenger weren’t much different. Every time I’ve requested a driver they always get lost and I end up waiting even longer (I don’t have this problem with Über). All I can suggest is that you get it together and have actual people who customers and drivers can call and speak to over the phone.

Excellent service. Great price. Use this code for a free ride. Cars are new and comfortable and the drivers are always friendly. Would highly recommend.
ANDREW10805

I’m undecided between a 1 & 2… On vacation, and this has been our first experience with using Lyft.
Is it an interesting concept… Yes… Is it a great service? Yes. But it stops there. I do not feel they have the customer service to back any of it up after reading reviews and based on my experiences. It’s a shame and hopefully they can find a way to improve on this.
If I’m being drove around aimlessly without my driver acknowledging or even speaking to me, I should have someone to call so that I feel safe.
We have used Lyft 4x now. The first time was not a great experience. However, the driver, who got lost several times on our trip back to the hotel, made up for it by having and offering great customer service. She was apologetic and sincere and she even refused to charge us.
My second two experiences changed my mind about the service even more as both drivers were very knowledgeable and friendly and got us where we needed to be without any issues.
Then came tonight. Went to dinner, called for a ride home and looked forward to getting back quickly. A driver named Natnael came to pick us up and unfortunately a nice experience ended when we got in the car. All of the other drivers turned the air on which is a common courtesy I would think being that it is summer. Not this time. But fine whatever, i wasn’t going to complain. Then a 2 mile trip turned into an hr drive almost and I don’t even know how many miles as I didn’t know this would happen. Around in circles, back and forth, completely lost. I complained, asked what was going on, expressed I wasn’t happy or feeling safe any longer. Our driver… He said absolutely nothing!!! No explanation, no apology of any kind. He didn’t say anything to us about it at all! I was so happy when we finally got to our hotel so I could get out of that car as quickly as possible! Its disturbing to me to think he was ok with doing that to customers/​people, to treat someone so disrespectfully and then to charge for his incompetence. After this I do not think I will be using this service again!
Updatte– thankfully last night’s trip was refunded. The issue I think is they have so many drivers that are so new they have no idea what they r doing or where they r going. It’s just not right that we are charged for that.

There’s a reason why Über has a higher preference than Lyft. Here’s my story:
On a TUESDAY night, I requested a Lyft using a promo code for first time riders. I was given a $ 20 credit and figured going from the south end in Boston to Allston/​Brighton should definitely not cost more than $ 15 (it’s literally a 6mi distance). I checked on Über prior to requesting Lyft and they gave me an estimate of $ 11-​$ 14 so I was safe to assume my Lyft ride would be free.
The drive: my driver took the Masspike, which is a tolled route, and asked me if I rather pay for it or include it in the tip — I chose to pay the toll myself (btw, there are 10 different FREE ways to get to Allston from the South End and my driver decided to take the only tolled route… whatever, I paid for it for not speaking up). She also took multiple wrong turns and took the longest route possible to get to my destination, thereby increasing the distance and time.
Cut to 30min later: I get home and see that the ride was $ 14.59. I figured since I have a $ 20 credit, I’ll tip this woman $ 5 making the total $ 19.59 (FREE, I thought). I check my e-​mail and realized that Lyft had charged my PayPal for that amount. but wait, I thought it was free! Well, here’s the breakdown:
Ride 7.2 mi & 26 min:
$ 18.31
Prime Time*:
$ 13.73
Trust & Safety Fee:
$ 1.55
Toll: Mass Pike 23 (Arlington St.) to Mass Pike 20 (Brighton/​Cambridge) West:
$ 1.00
Tip:
$ 5.00
Lyft Credits:
-$ 20.00
Total paid by PayPal:
$ 19.59
What is this Prime Time bullshit charge?! I requested Lyft on a TUESDAY at 8pm in one of the most populated area in Boston — it’s not a weekend and I wasn’t in the middle of the suburbs, why is there a «Prime Time» fee?! Oh and remember that toll I paid for, my driver charged me for that too.
Let’s do the math — the total fare for this trip is a whopping $ 39.59!!!
I’ve left an e-​mail for them to review this pricing and I am really hoping they give me a full refund.

I really enjoy taking Lyft because the drivers are friendly and down-​to-​earth, but the app always says «no connectivity» when I try to use it anywhere in Boston. I usually then end up using big über.

I moved to the Boston area a couple of days ago and used the Lyft service for the first time. Their website stated that inputting the code APPSTORE would get you the first ride free. The driver was a very friendly lady who accommodated all my luggage in her car and had a great personality. The problem was when I paid for the ride after she dropped me off. The app didn’t allow me to enter the code during the payment process and when I tried to do it afterwards, it wouldn’t accept it because I had already paid. If it’s not a scam to get customers, I’m not sure what it is. I emailed the company and no one has responded and I was still charged. Not a good first impression of a company at all.
Update:
After being contacted by a Lyft customer service rep, I was credited with the amount of money the promotional code was good for. Glad they made it right.

I’ve taken it about thirty times now, particularly for a couple month time period that I could not drive. Reviews of drivers were accurate, drivers pleasant, and it works great. I love that you can see where the car is, so superior to counting on a lying dispatcher to say when they will arrive. Also average price a reasonable $ 25 to the airport with big tip, compared to average $ 43 from perennially late and rude taxis.
I got charged twice by mistake on two occasions because my fault I hit the wrong button to hail Lyft a second time. I emailed them and they took it off the bill immediately, no trouble even though it was my fault.
Ignore the reviews with moustache comments, they dropped that stuff from what I see.

Original:
Scammed (?)
I was picked up at Logan and told by the driver I needed to pay him in tip or cash for $ 3.50 toll. Seemed reasonable… Got home to find not one, but three tolls on the bill tolls for tunnels through which I did not travel… No phone number for Lyft — have to fill out a web form. Still haven’t heard back. Not sure if the driver was scamming me or what was going on. Now my credit card has eaten the bogus $ 9 in toll charges until I hear back from Lyft. If I don’t hear back this review stays. If I do, I’ll adjust
Update:
I did hear back and they’re making it right. It’s tough when the first experience you have is negative but perhaps worth a second shot.

I think Lyft is a life saver. I use them once or twice a month and I have always had a good ride.
I use to take cabs, but they were always sleazy when I’m by myself. Asking for cash and refusing to take plastic. With Lyft, I do t have to worry about that. I can pay them electronically and rate my driver as well.

This review is for Howard a lyft driver.
I had left my phone in his car today. Literally was up s*** creek without a paddle and unable to call or do anything about it and had a flight two hrs later.
After two hrs of frantically trying to find a way to reach him I managed to make it happen.
He then drove back to return it to me.
I am now on may way home, happy and like it never happened.
Thanks Howard!

Be very wary.
I signed up a little over a week ago because I am sick of Über’s shenanigans and was enticed by the offer of 2 weeks of free rides (up to $ 20). What with the weather and the MBTA being so terrible this month, I’ve basically tried to use one of these free rides whenever I can.
First of all, the rides are NOT free. Whatever tip you leave the driver is charged to your credit card. Secondly, it’s much easier than you think to go over that $ 20 limit: The way they surcharge is very confusing. Tonight’s «free ride» home from work cost me $ 9.04 because I didn’t understand that «100% of your fare will go to the driver» meant «This ride will cost double what it would normally cost, plus tip and ‘Trust & Safety Fee’.» And Lyft offers no way to estimate how much your ride is going to cost, like Über does. I never would have requested a Lyft tonight if I thought I’d have to pay for it. That ride would have been almost $ 30 if I hadn’t had the $ 20 credit, which is in itself ridiculous for 8 PM on a Friday evening from Back Bay to Somerville. It’s about a $ 13 journey when Über and Lyft aren’t surcharging.
It seems like they’re almost ALWAYS surcharging because there are not enough drivers to meet the demand. In fact, several times I’ve been unable to get a Lyft at all: The app will tell you that it’s «busy» and that there are no drivers available.
I’ve also found that their GPS is inaccurate, so I have to call the drivers to tell them exactly where I am, and the app is never correct about the time I have to wait for a driver to arrive.
While I have had a few very good drivers (Yves, you’re awesome!), I’m unimpressed with the quality of the app. When my «free rides» are used up, I imagine I’ll only be using Lyft as a last resort when an Über or regular cab would cost too much.

Lyft’s customer service is atrocious– in fact it does not exist. If you have a complaint or dispute a fare, you are able to send a dispute claim via email. However, if your claim is denied you will have no recourse. There is no phone number to contact. Here was my situation:
I called a Lyft to take me from the South End (500 Harrison Ave) to my hotel on Broad Street in Downtown Boston. My driver was prompt and his car was clean. We took 93 north but when entering the tunnel the driver’s Google Maps app lost connection and he mistakenly took 90 towards the airport. He apologized profusely but did not turn his Lyft fare off until we returned to the tunnel to downtown boston.
As a result, I ended up paying much more than what I should have and to add insult to injury I was forced to pay two $ 3 tolls to leave and return to downtown Boston. Please beware when taking Lyft. In addition to their lack of customer support, I question Lyft’s company ethics. Lyft is a just a front run by developers that passes all responsibility to the driver. Think twice!

Nope. I wasn’t impressed at all. Not one bit. In fact, I was DE-​pressed. I got 2 former Boston cab drivers in their personal vehicles, and one guy showed up in a car that I hesitated to get into because it looked as though two 3 year olds were food fighting with Ritz crackers. I hesitated upon getting in, he saw me hesitiate, and never acknowledged the uncleanliness of his ride. The last guy didn’t even know what a silly little «fistbump» WAS! My ride to the airport was supposed to be free. I was banking on that free to get some breakfast. It wasn’t free. I got charged. Then, got in the Starbucks line, and couldn’t even get a coffee and sandwich– my card got declined. Geesh. I wrote to let Lyft know, they credited me back in like 3 – 4 days, but that sure didn’t help my grumbling, rumbling stomach on that flight home.
Boooooo to Lyft! YUCK!