Your Most Bizarre Uber/Lyft ride?

[Hisgirl]

I was super curious if anyone else had had a weird uber/lyft and wanted to hear your tales.

I have had two. One was funny and one a bit disconcerting.

The funny one was, I was up in Louisville KY and my driver was from a country in Africa. I found this fascinating and was asking him questions about the culture, his family...basically what life was like in his homeland.

He seemed to be enjoying the banter, but then....He began getting excited and saying that I could come with him back to his country!

I had to explain that, um, my husband probably would like that.

My disconcerting ride was just this week.

As soon as I opened the car door, I was knocked back by the intense smell of cigarettes. The driver had a vibe about him that made me nervous. Our state has a 'hands free' phone law where it can't be touching your body at all. He held his phone in his hand the whole time, looking down at it, trying to follow the GPS. His driving scared me and halfway there, he turned and said, "SO. Are you going to be tipping me??"

OMG. Are you kidding me??

Not the best uber ride.

 

[Christy702]

I take uber/lyft a lot and thankfully I've only had one questionable experience.
I was leaving a football game at our college with my 2 roommates. We waited at a gas station across from the stadium and called the uber. I got a text from the woman and she said Hey I have a car seat in my backseat is that okay? and there were only 3 of us so I said yeah that's fine we'll still fit. So it takes this woman FOREVER to come pick us up, over 15 minutes because she kept making wrong turns (you can see where the car is on the app). So i was already kinda annoyed. Finally she finds us and we get in the car, and sure enough there's a car seat in there, WITH A BABY IN IT. Honestly, this probably wasn't a super big deal and I would have looked past it, however, my roommate drives for uber and this is highly against their policy. So she's driving us home and her child (who can't be older than 3) is CUSSING at us. Like I can't even say the phrases he was saying on here. And he kept whining the whole time because he wanted to go home and didn't understand that she had to drop us off first. We got home and I reported the driver and got a refund lol, and uber apologized profusely! Now looking back it's funny but what the heck!

My roommate who drives for uber always comes home with the funniest stories. My favorite is when she picked up this really drunk girl and when she brought her back to her house she went inside and brought her back out an entire pie and insisted she take it as her tip. She ended up just throwing it away when she got home!

 

[OhMari]

We used Uber a lot in June when we were in Long Island City for our sons wedding. There was a lot of back and forth between his apartment and our hotel. We got an email from Uber the day we left, that we would receive a free ride an upgrade. We had to go out to LaGuardia to fly home and we used our certificate for Uber. It took a while but someone finally connected with us. When we got in, he laughed and told us he wanted to ask us how we received the free ride and upgrade. I think we got it since there are so many different modes of transportation in NYC they thanked us for using Uber.

My sister and bil went into NYC for a day before the wedding to tour around. They got a local from Queens, and they drove in from Long Island City to Manhattan and my sister said he was a tour guide the whole 30 minutes, telling them about everything.

 

[CarolAnn856]

I got an Uber to the airport from home and the driver ended up being related to a neighbor. That's not unusual, as we both live in the suburbs and there aren't a ton of drivers out here. The weird part was how he went on and on about some pseudo-psychology he was becoming an expert in and that he was becoming an expert in hypnotism ("becoming an expert" = "watching YouTube videos").

Oh, and we had a Russian driver in the UK who started off great, we had an interesting discussion about languages, and then randomly denied that 9/11 happened. We shut right down.

 

[amberpi]

I have been not driving off and on for a bit due to some lingering (and annoying) health issues, so I take a metric boat of Uber/Lyft rides, and if my DH thinks he's having more than 1 glass of wine, we Uber if we're going out of the neighborhood, so even more rides that I'm in...I've had some doozies.

I received a 1 star rating and a complaint from someone who had an accident while I was in the car. How was that my fault?

On a very early date, DH and I got picked up at his house and were going for a nice meal in another part of town about 30 minutes away. We get in and the guy is super nice but has a thick accent... apparently, its french, but Haitian french and he and my DH start trying to understand each other (parisian vs. haitian I'm told is very disparate, I have no idea), then he tells us how he practices his native religion and tells us all kinds of spooky stuff about each other and our partnership, thinking we're married. By the time we got to the restaurant we were both a little weirded out, but in a pleasant way, I think. It was very coincidental to get a french speaking driver in middle TN and then for him to seem to know so much about us both. Some of which the other person did not, at this time, know. We still talk about it.

My third story is creepy in a different way and started about a year and a few months ago. I ordered an Uber to physical therapy; I have coffee with me. I get in and I'm just enjoying my coffee. The guy asks why my husband isn't taking me to my destination. Weird, but whatever, I say, I'm divorced, and then he asks about my BF, dad, etc. *Ok, this is weird, in my head* I keep enjoying my coffee. He asks if its good. I'm staying with my folks at this point (so he picked me up from their house) as I didn't need to be living on my own right then due to mobility issues, so I explain how they have a great coffee setup, I'm going to get one just like it when I'm living at my house full time again and the coffee is wonderful. Then he asks where my house is. Finally, the light goes on. I lie about a random neighborhood. Then he asks if he can have some of my coffee. Ah, what? I tell him "ah, no dude, and that's weird that you asked." I'm on defense. He explains that he wants the coffee from my mouth. I said "Sir, did you just ask for coffee out of MY MOUTH?" He says yes and that he wants to take me on a date. I get my firm/taking care of business client voice on and tell him that's grossly inappropriate and I'll be reporting him. We're a quarter of a mile away now. He's going on about how he just wants to go out with me (he has to be my father's age) and how I need a man to take care of me. We're pulling in and he says he'll wait for me. I tell him that if he's there in 15 minutes, I'm calling the cops. Get in and tell my PT therapist (a burly looking dude, you wouldn't want to mess with). He goes out and speaks to the guy...he pulls off.

I contact Uber, and they were fantastic! I spoke to a CSR, gave my story and a manager followed up, said he'd been booted from Uber, and that 2 other women had complained about him within the few days he'd been a driver. Uber was so responsive, I was pleased the issue was over. It wasn't. FF a couple of months. I'm out with a gf, still not driving, and need to Uber home - to my actual home. Order one and it's a young African American woman. Great, not an older middle eastern man. I'm waiting and see the car pull up - right one. I wait for the window to roll down to confirm its the woman on the picture...it's most certainly not. It's the creepy dude from before. I ask why he's driving under someone else's Uber account. He starts yelling about how I got his Uber privileges taken away. I go back inside. Contact Uber, have a cocktail, and hit up Lyft - dude is working that one too, under his own name, but with the car from Uber. I contact Lyft. They were both great. Haven't seen him since. I was super impressed with Uber and Lyft's responsiveness to the complaint. He was gone in less than 24 hours each time I contacted them. I've never sent any other complaints, just FTR.

 

[Julylady]

My story isn't as creepy as some of the others, but here goes. We call for a car in downtown Chicago and ask to be dropped off at one of the museums. A driver picks us up and immediately starts talking about how he has another ride he needs to pick up and that we might make him late. (?? Then why did you pick us up in the first place?) After about 3 blocks he pulls over, gets out, and hails a cab. He then instructs us to get out of his car and take the cab instead. We just shrugged our shoulders and got in the cab.

 

[gillep]

I take Uber and Lyft quite a bit and there are only two times that I was ever uncomfortable.

1. I was taking Uber back to the dealership to grab my car because I was too impatient to wait for the shuttle. I was chatting with the driver, as usual, and he asked if I was married and had kids. Once I told him that my husband and I had been married for a while but didn't have kids he totally changed his tune. He insisted that nothing in my life could possibly be more important than having kids, and that I was basically a giant failure of a woman. This lecturing went on for the rest of the trip, which was thankfully only about 10 min, I was happy to be out of his car.

2. I was taking Uber from the airport to my hotel in Houston and we were getting re-routed a lot due to evening construction, which was fine. I was chatting with the driver and he got very excited to tell me about his life, which is usually no problem. However, he was entirely unable to have a conversation about himself and follow the directions at the same time. He kept missing exits and at one point he stopped at a stop sign as if it were a red light until I pointed it out, and some of the places we were going were not in areas I prefer to be at night. What should have been a 20 min max ride ended up taking over 45 min, I was happy to get out of that car too.

 

[Hisgirl]

Wow...some of these are crazy! I wonder if people have these same issues with taxi drivers, or is it mainly Uber/Lyft because these folks are kinda just sorta professional drivers?

A few years back, the thought of getting in a random car with a strange man, would have made me laugh. I know Uber/Lyft are suppose to do background checks, but somehow creepers keep getting through. There have been some sexual assaults that made the news. Not sure what the safest way is, but my first try is always going to be asking if a friend can drop me off for some gas money.

 

[gillep]

Wow...some of these are crazy! I wonder if people have these same issues with taxi drivers, or is it mainly Uber/Lyft because these folks are kinda just sorta professional drivers?

A few years back, the thought of getting in a random car with a strange man, would have made me laugh. I know Uber/Lyft are suppose to do background checks, but somehow creepers keep getting through. There have been some sexual assaults that made the news. Not sure what the safest way is, but my first try is always going to be asking if a friend can drop me off for some gas money.

I have had more issues with taxis than I have had with Uber/Lyft and I have taken far fewer taxis in my life, I now avoid them if at all possible, but I am sure others have had different experiences.

 

[Dis_Fan]

One quirky ride I have had.

About two years ago we order a Uber to pick us up to take us to the airport for our Disney trip.

We get a call from the driver saying he was going to be a few minutes late because he was getting gas. No problem.

Being the first time we ever used Uber we were tracking him on the app for fun. He does not go near a gas station but does go near a Jenny Craig location.

Driver comes and we start our trip and the driver asks if we can stop at his house because he (paraphrasing) "had been holding all these groceries in his car all day and wanted to drop them off". He said he would knock some money off the bill.

We had no problem with it and drove to his house where he took a bunch of Jenny Craig bags from his car and took them inside.

He was very nice and polite and got us to the airport just fine, and gave us the discount.

If he called and said he was going to Jenny Craig we probably would of let him do the stop off anyway. It is funny to us that he had to lie about it for no reason.

 

[gotomu212]

I have had more issues with taxis than I have had with Uber/Lyft and I have taken far fewer taxis in my life, I now avoid them if at all possible, but I am sure others have had different experiences.

This. I have been in an accident with a drunk-driving cab driver, had one miss my exit and drive to a creepy field at midnight while telling me I should have more children, had one operating a gambling ring from the front seat taking calls and running numbers while driving through rush hour DC traffic, and can’t tell you the number of cabs that don’t have working seat belts.

The fact that you can rate Uber drivers from your phone as soon as your ride is over cuts out a lot of the crap drivers do in taxis. In taxis it’s a big ordeal to get the cab number, call the complaint number, and even then they don’t usually seem to care.

 

[amberpi]

I have had more issues with taxis than I have had with Uber/Lyft and I have taken far fewer taxis in my life, I now avoid them if at all possible, but I am sure others have had different experiences.

I've never had a cab with an issue like the one butthole above, but I don't let one bad apple ruin the bunch; and that one was nutty as all get out. I find Uber/Lyft overall a much more pleasant experience, but it's certainly less consistent. The cars are consistently cleaner though and I can't say that for cabs.

 

[gillep]

I've never had a cab with an issue like the one butthole above, but I don't let one bad apple ruin the bunch; and that one was nutty as all get out. I find Uber/Lyft overall a much more pleasant experience, but it's certainly less consistent. The cars are consistently cleaner though and I can't say that for cabs.

I think I may just be really unlucky when it comes to the taxi industry, I don't know what it is about me, but I seem to primarily attract the bad apples. One guy would not let me out of his car until I paid him in cash, even though I had asked at the taxi stand and the attendant and I both verified with this driver that he took cards and it was working, until we got to the hotel that is, when without even trying or glancing at it his reader didn't work. Thankfully, we were at a hotel and the attendants told him he needed to open the door and encouraged him to try my card which obviously worked.

 

[amberpi]

I think I may just be really unlucky when it comes to the taxi industry, I don't know what it is about me, but I seem to primarily attract the bad apples. One guy would not let me out of his car until I paid him in cash, even though I had asked at the taxi stand and the attendant and I both verified with this driver that he took cards and it was working, until we got to the hotel that is, when without even trying or glancing at it his reader didn't work. Thankfully, we were at a hotel and the attendants told him he needed to open the door and encouraged him to try my card which obviously worked.

It's a crap shoot isn't it? Even when you drive yourself, you have to worry about other crazies. And paying in cash? Nope, not if we'd already agreed on a card. Also, don't if you were traveling for business, but cash receipts were always more of a PITA on expense reports.

 

[gillep]

It's a crap shoot isn't it? Even when you drive yourself, you have to worry about other crazies. And paying in cash? Nope, not if we'd already agreed on a card. Also, don't if you were traveling for business, but cash receipts were always more of a PITA on expense reports.

Exactly on all accounts! I own an older car that doesn't automatically lock the doors when you start to move, and I always make it a point to lock them when I get in, it makes me feel just the smallest amount safer, I like that the newer cars I am looking at all do this for me! The most unsafe I have felt has actually been at a gas station in broad daylight when driving my own car, so you just never know.

 

[RainbowBrite]

I take Uber and Lyft quite a bit and there are only two times that I was ever uncomfortable.

1. I was taking Uber back to the dealership to grab my car because I was too impatient to wait for the shuttle. I was chatting with the driver, as usual, and he asked if I was married and had kids. Once I told him that my husband and I had been married for a while but didn't have kids he totally changed his tune. He insisted that nothing in my life could possibly be more important than having kids, and that I was basically a giant failure of a woman. This lecturing went on for the rest of the trip, which was thankfully only about 10 min, I was happy to be out of his car.

What is it with Lyft/Uber drivers and kids? I've had at least 5 different drivers try to convince me that I HAD to have kids.

 

[kimblebee]

Uber and Lyft won’t come to my city (they would have to pay extra for a specific kind of insurance and they don’t want to) but we do have a few services like them. The one I use is called TappCar. I once waited over half an hour for my cab request just to be accepted so I decided to try the app and haven’t called a cab since. I don’t have any weird stories to share, thankfully.