Lyft driver reviews!
Welcome to episode 1 of Lyft driver reviews! When I need a ride somewhere, I always choose Lyft because they promote their rides as “riding with friends” and throwing out stats such as “9 out of 10 rides end in 5 stars”. Since I’m a sucker for foolish advertising, I’m all in.
Friday – We had an early morning rehearsal which left us with the entire afternoon and evening off – a rare treat on a tour like this. So, after a few marco polo messages back and forth, Z and I decide to meet at noon for lunch and a trip to some local breweries. Off we go, to Jimmy John’s to pick up some sammies before calling Otilia to come pick us up. I should note that while walking to the JJ, we had to get past the CostCo gas pumps first and we found no less than 40 cars waiting in line for gas. I don’t care how cheap the gas, that is ridiculous! When I fired up my Lyft app to summon our ride, I was not surprised to see Otilia’s car in what seemed to be the Costco gas line, after joking with Z about how long it would take to get through that line. She wasn’t… and was at our doorstep in her white Honda CRV ready to take us to our drinking paradise. She was friendly with a thick Spanish accent. She seemed a bit lost, even though her phone was barking out instructions, she still kept asking us where to take her. But, we made it there, she was friendly and her car was clean. Thanks, Ofilia. 5 stars!
Next, we needed a ride from J. Riley Distillery to Jamba Juice. Poor Francisco was about to be tortured. Tortured? It’s not that he wasn’t paid. So, here’s what happened. J joined us somewhere along the line and so the three of us jumped in his [i don’t remember what kind of car] and headed to JJ. Unfortunately I was sitting in the front seat and the back seat had all of the candy that Z and J were munching on the whole way. NO LOVE FOR ME! We arrived a JJ to find it was closed 🙁 but the one that happened to be down the street from our previous location was still open …. so, Francisco whisked us back across town and dumped us at our destination. It was in his car that I learned Lyft drivers are urged to give all of their passengers 5 star ratings! And if they don’t, they get a call from Lyft HQ and have to explain why they didn’t give 5 stars. I’m thinking this is where the 9 of out 10 rides end in 5 stars comes from …. hmmmmm.. anyways, Francisco was nice, his car was clean and full of candy so …. 5 stars!
Oh, and our ride back to the hotel. Thanks Luis in his White Nissan Versa Note. I don’t remember much about him. Maybe he was the one with candy. Oh yea, he was. It was his first night and we were his fourth riders ever. Also his first group. 5 stars.
Today I needed a ride to check out downtown Redlands. So, I called Alicia. She picked me up in no time with music blaring in her White Ford Fusion and off we go. She was nice, didn’t really know anything about the area but bless her heart for acting like she knew. My destination was the State Street Winery and she was sure that was the place I could get wine and a massage.. nope. Definitely not the place, but she did have some good recommendations even though she hadn’t been to any of the places. Seriously? How do you recommend a place you’ve never been to? But, her car was super clean – her fiance is in the Air National Guard and she only made two illegal U-turns. 5 stars!
Finally, I needed to get back to campus for our concert. Let’s call Brian, he’ll come get me. And he was just around the corner from the coffee shop when I needed a ride so it only took him 2 minutes to get me. Now, I’m a front seat rider because I would never ride in the back seat if my friend was driving me somewhere, so I could tell when I jumped in the front seat that Brian was bothered by that. But, at that point, too late, I was committed. He shrugged and moved his giant jar of peanuts or whatever they were over to make room for me. Other than that, his car was super clean. Pretty much brand new. The sound system, playing classic White Snake was bumping. I was friendly, and he was having nothing of it. So, the awkward 4 minute and 51 second ride to campus felt like an eternity. I tried. Brian, you let me down. 4 stars.
Until next time, Lyft. 🙂