Everyone knows ride-share drivers are in it for the money—but nobody expects to get kicked out of the car if the driver thinks he isn’t making enough.
Apparently, ride-share drivers have the legal right to dump passengers at any random address whenever they feel like it.
That’s exactly what happened to Darryl, a pilot for a major airline who called a Lyft car to take him to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), KTLA reported.
Darryl (who doesn’t want his name full publicized) needed to be at LAX at 7:30 on the morning of Thursday, April 5. As usual, he called for a Lyft.
The first driver to respond, declined, saying he was too far away from Darryl’s location in Hermosa Beach, California, about ten miles south of the airport down State Road 1.
The next driver had just dropped off a passenger at LAX. When that driver arrived, Darryl loaded his luggage and hopped into the back seat, only to hear the driver start complaining.
“He … picked me up, I loaded the bag and we started to leave, and then I guess he looked at—the destination popped up on his phone at that time, and then he got very frustrated,” Darryl told KTLA. “He did not want to go back to LAX.”
The driver did the math and calculated that the trip would only net him about $6.
At first the driver showed his frustration by driving too fast and running stop signs, Darryl reported.
“Normally I would have said something but at that point I needed to be at work.” he explained. ”So I just thought, ‘I’ll go along for the ride and see what happens.’”
In the couple of minutes it took to reach North Sepulveda Boulevard, the driver reached a decision. He told Darryl that the trip wasn’t worth it and he’d be dropped off at the Trader Joe’s grocery store in Hermosa—seven miles from LAX.
It was around this point in the conversation that Darryl figured he’d better start collecting evidence, so he started recording with his phone.
The video starts with Darryl saying to the driver, “Say why you’re doing this again—I’ve done nothing wrong and you’re kicking me out of the car?”
The driver tries to explain that the approximately one-hour trip would only net him $6.
“That doesn’t sound right to me,” the driver said.
Darryl was amazed at what he was hearing. “Dude. I used the app to get a driver. You came and picked me up. And now you’re just dropping me off in a parking lot?”
The driver stopped the car, unlocked the doors and told Darryl to get out—even though he knew he was being recorded.
“It’s fine that you recorded it.” the driver said. “But I’m sorry, man, I can’t make $6 an hour.”
Darryl, left in a parking lot, was left with no choice but to call another Lyft. He got to work 15 minutes late—no word on whether any flights were delayed.
Darryl piloted a passenger jet to Miami, and when he got there, informed Lyft of what happened.
He got a form letter explaining how important his business was and how seriously Lyft would take the matter.
Lyft also assured Darryl that they would never dispatch that particular driver to transport him again.
“The driver—I hope he doesn’t work for that company again. I couldn’t believe that you would abandon somebody in the parking lot.” Darryl said. “That’s crazy.”
Lyft has so far yet to comment on the matter.
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