Lyft drivers and passengers have many reasons why they may want to cancel rides. For passengers, it could be that the driver is taking longer than anticipated to arrive, or their plans may abruptly change. Drivers may cancel due to safety concerns, bad passenger behavior, technical issues, traffic conditions, or personal problems.
If you need to cancel a Lyft ride as a Lyft Driver or passenger, you’re in the right place. This article will explain how to do this and what happens when a ride is canceled.
How a Lyft Passenger Can Cancel a Booked Ride
Lyft passengers can cancel a ride by following these steps:
- Launch the Lyft app and select “Edit Ride” from the bottom left corner.
- A list of ride editing options will open.
- Select “Cancel Ride.”
If a Lyft passenger cancels a ride under certain conditions (for instance, if you wait 30 seconds or longer after a driver accepts the job), they may be charged a cancellation fee.
How a Lyft Passenger Can Cancel a Scheduled Ride
Scheduled rides are in a different section of the Lyft app. Here are the steps to cancel scheduled rides.
- Go to the “Calendar” on the top right of the screen in the Lyft app.
- Find and tap on “Cancel Ride.”
- Confirm the cancelation.
Passengers won’t have to pay a fee if the ride is canceled at least an hour before the scheduled pickup.
How a Lyft Driver Can Cancel a Ride
Follow these steps to cancel a ride as a Lyft Driver:
- Launch the Lyft Driver app.
- Select the ride that needs to be canceled.
- Tap on the “Cancel Ride” button.
- Choose a reason for canceling from the provided options.
- Confirm by selecting “Yes, Cancel Ride.”
Lyft’s Ride Cancellation Policy
Specific conditions and terms are applied when a passenger cancels a Lyft ride. Lyft charges no-show and cancellation fees to ensure all drivers get paid for their effort and time. If a Lyft passenger cancels a ride for specific reasons that meet Lyft’s cancellation terms and conditions, they won’t be charged a fee.
If a passenger cancels a Lyft ride after the driver has started driving or received the driver’s arrival time, they will be charged a $2 cancellation fee. If a passenger is not at a pickup location within five or more minutes, the ride is automatically canceled, and the passenger is charged a cancellation fee.
How Does Lyft’s Cancellation Fee Work?
Lyft applies fees if you cancel based on the following criterion:
- If more than 30 seconds have passed since a Lyft driver accepted your ride
- When a Lyft driver has arrived within five minutes of the posted arrival time
- If you cancel three or more rides within 15 minutes
A passenger may cancel a ride within five minutes of pick up if a person other than them takes the ride or if there’s a different issue.
Lyft applies cancellation fees for scheduled rides if:
- The ride is canceled within an hour of the pickup time, and the passenger has already been matched with a driver
- The Lyft driver is already on their way to pick a passenger up
- A driver is scheduled to arrive within the pickup window
Cancellation fees for no-shows are charged based on the following:
- If your Lyft driver arrived at the correct time to pick you up
- The driver waited a long time
- When the driver attempted to contact you, or you contacted the driver
Lyft’s Refund Policy
Lyft will only charge your chosen payment method once you have reached your destination. This ensures you won’t need to request a full refund for a canceled ride or a driver no-show. You won’t have to pay a fee if you’ve accessed “Edit Ride” in the Lyft app and canceled your ride within the cancellation window.
A small cancellation fee will be charged if a ride is canceled within five minutes of arrival time or outside of the cancellation window.
Lyft Refunds
If a passenger contacts Lyft customer service to request an adjustment to a ride, they can receive an account credit or cashback.
Cash Back
Lyft issues full-fare cashback refunds to credit, prepaid, debit, or store-value cards used to pay for rides. This option can’t be used if you paid for the ride with Lyft Cash.
Account Credit
If you’ve contacted Lyft customer service and they have refunded you an account credit, you can use this refund on any future rides.
How to Request a Refund
If passengers feel they’ve been unfairly charged for a canceled ride, they can request a refund following these steps.
- Launch the Lyft app and go to “Menu.”|
- Find your “Ride History,” then select and open the fare you’d like to dispute.
- From the bottom of your screen, choose “Get help.”
- Select one of the available dispute options.
- Tap on either “Dispute Fare” or “Charge” next to the issue you’re disputing.
Lyft will send you an email notification, and you can reply to the email detailing your issue regarding the cancellation and charge. You should receive a response from Lyft within 72 hours, but Lyft reserves the right to withhold a refund.
Lyft’s Refund Time Frame for Canceled Rides
The timeframe for refunding canceled rides on Lyft depends on the time and reason for the cancellation. Lyft won’t charge for rides unless the ride was completed and marked as complete by the driver. If a passenger is erroneously charged for a ride they didn’t take, it could take longer than a week for Lyft to investigate the situation and issue a refund.
Reasons Lyft May Approve a Refund Request
There are some legitimate reasons why Lyft would consider refunding a passenger or not charging them for cancelations.
Lyft Driver Cancels the Ride
Here are possible reasons why a Lyft driver may cancel a ride.
- The driver realizes that the passenger’s location is too far.
- The passenger’s not responding to the driver’s calls or texts.
- A more profitable ride popped up.
- Personal reasons prevented the driver from completing the ride.
When a Lyft Driver cancels a ride, the passenger won’t have to pay a cancelation fee, and their card won’t be charged.
Lyft Driver Didn’t Show Up
If a Lyft Driver doesn’t show up, Lyft doesn’t charge the passenger, as the app will show that the ride hasn’t started. But in some cases, a different passenger may take their ride, and the original passenger can contact customer support to request a refund.
Lyft Driver Got Lost or Took a Bad Route
If a Lyft Driver takes unnecessary detours or gets lost while driving a passenger to their destination, Lyft may overcharge them. This occasionally happens with new drivers. In such a situation, a passenger can contact Lyft customer support and request a fare adjustment.
An Unprofessional Driver
There have been several newspaper accounts of misconduct by ridesharing drivers. If a Lyft passenger experiences unprofessional behavior from a driver, they can contact customer services to report them and request a refund.
Cancel Your Lyft
As mentioned above, there are easy steps to cancel a Lyft ride within the app. And if a ride’s been canceled within the cancellation period, no fee will be charged. If a passenger has been charged a cancellation fee but feels they weren’t in the wrong, they can apply for a refund via the app’s settings. Refunds from Lyft are given as cash backs or account credits which passengers can use to book future rides.
Have you had any issues with canceling Lyft rides or receiving refunds? Let us know in the comments section below.
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