In this review, I intend on exploring the topic of passengers canceling rides midway and how a professional Rideshare driver should handle it. Has any one ever bought a sandwich from a fast food restaurant, started to eat it and then realized that something was wrong with it? Maybe it wasn’t cooked thoroughly enough or had a little bug in it lol. But by the time you realized something was wrong with it, half of the sandwich had already been eaten? I’ve had friends who’ve done this before while at dinner. So don’t beat yourself up lol. That being said, take this example into account when a passenger decides to cancel a ride mid trip, while the ride is being completed. Yep, passengers will cancel the ride sometimes for whatever reason before the driver reaches their drop off destination. Majority of the time without saying a word. I’ll get into those reasons for a passenger canceling a ride in a sec.
Now I want you to imagine cutting someone’s grass. You’re now halfway thru cutting their grass and you happened to realize the customer approaching you. They then proceed to tell you that they’ve just realized they don’t have the money to pay you! But you just cut their grass, which can’t be uncut now because of their late realization! How would that make you feel? What if nothing was wrong with the service you were providing? What if you actually did an excellent job cutting that person’s grass. I think this example relates more closely to what happens on a daily basis with Rideshare drivers. The job or service has already been completed or almost completed as far as the miles that were driven and the time that the driver invested and all of a sudden boom, the passenger cancels!
That being said, this article is going to be all about Rideshare drivers picking up passengers who take it upon themselves to cancel in the middle of a ride, before reaching they’re drop off destination. It’s more common than you think! Within my past 6 years of driving for Rideshare companies, at least 10 passengers have canceled on me while in the midst of me trying to complete their ride. Here at #1RideShareDoc, I’m all about sharing my story and personal experiences with you. I wouldn’t dare let those precious moments go to waste lol, especially since a lot of it could be learned from.
I created #1RideShareDoc to make the public aware of what these Rideshare companies like Uber, Lyft, Via, and Sidecar aren’t wanting or caring to talk about. I feel as though everyone needs to have a place to go when needing to vent or relate. We all pretty much experience the same things! We just aren’t aware of it yet which is what my platform aims to change. I want everyone to know what goes on in these Rideshare drivers cars while the public is being served. Let’s bring those common thoughts together! Please allow my experiences and lessons to become your blessings..
This review will be divided into the following sections, for better absorption and clearer understanding purposes:
Introduction
What Does Canceling In The Middle Of A Ride Mean?
What Hints Might A Passenger Give Off Before Canceling In The Middle Of A Ride?
Reasons Why A Passenger Might Decide To Cancel On Their Driver In The Middle Of A Ride?
What To Do As A Professional Rideshare Driver When A Passenger Cancels In The Middle Of A Ride?
When Rides Are Canceled Prematurely, Do Rideshare Companies Still Compensate The Driver?
My Professional Conclusion For Passengers Canceling Mid Trip
What Does Canceling In The Middle Of A Ride Mean?
The meaning behind this statement, actually speaks for itself. But I’ll elaborate further on what it means when a passenger cancels in the middle of a ride. Canceling a ride mid-trip basically is when a passenger decides to cancel the ride, after the driver has started the trip on his or her app. So canceling a ride 5 minutes after the driver has already started driving could in my opinion be considered as the passenger canceling in the middle of a ride. Either way the ride was ordered, received and picked up by the driver. The ride was just never completed. It has absolutely nothing to do with the driver canceling the ride.
What Hints Might A Passenger Give Off Before Canceling In The Middle Of A Ride?
Passengers give off hints to drivers all the time! Passengers give off hints that they’re doing good, doing bad, their single or in a relationship, having money problems or just hit the lottery, hungry and everything else you can imagine. Sometimes these hints are thrown at us directly after we greet them. All we wanted to know was how they were doing lol! So for example, I might ask a passenger how they’re doing today as they’re getting in my car and their response to that simple question might be bad, hungry, tired or needing some damn money lol.
But all I did was greet you, nothing more! Sometimes passengers take a driver greeting them completely out of context. Especially if they’re going through a lot at that particular moment. With that being said, if you greet a passenger and their response to your greeting is them complaining about how much the ride cost them, then it could be a slight chance that they might try to cancel the ride or do something else to try and get over on you. Or even worse, try to rob you! So when your passenger is giving off these kinds of vibes, don’t ignore it.
As a matter of fact as a professional driver, I would ask them if they still want to continue the ride. Especially if they keep talking about their money issues and complaining about how much the ride costs! If their response to that question is something like, “it’s okay because we’ve already started the ride”, then I wouldn’t worry. But if their response to your question is nothing or something like I don’t know, then I would let them know that we could just end the ride now. You have to make sure you get paid.
Reasons Why A Passenger Might Decide To Cancel On Their Driver In The Middle Of A Ride?
The biggest reason why I feel as though a passenger might decide to cancel on their driver in the middle of a ride, should be pretty obvious by now. Regardless of the reason or excuse, each excuse has something to do with the passenger not having enough money. I came up with a few examples, excuses or reasons why passengers might decide to cancel in the middle of a ride. I also came up with ways a passenger could prevent this from happening (all personal advice!). That being said, some reasons why a passenger might cancel in the middle of a ride being completed might include:
1.) The passengers might have realized at the last minute that they don’t have enough money for something else: Being conscious of how much money you have to your name by creating a budget, could always help keep you ahead of the game when it comes to your spending habits. Even if you have to write these numbers down, always be sure to set a budget and stay within it. Count every dollar so every dollar counts!
2.) The passengers didn’t realize how much money they had until that overdraft text message from their Bank came thru: It shouldn’t take a text message from your bank for you to realize that you have overdrafted your savings or checking account. As a matter of fact, knowing how much money you have in your bank account before you order your ride should be a part of your overall budget, like I mentioned in the first example. Count every dollar so every dollar counts!
3.) An unexpected event could have taken place during the ride, which could make the customer feel the need to cancel the ride early: Unexpected events occur on a daily basis with absolutely no time schedule. It’s a part of us being adults right? That being said, this might be the only reason why I can understand a passenger canceling on a driver in the middle of a ride. I’ll give you an example to clear up my point. Your passenger gets in your car and everything is going smoothly as far as the ride is concerned. Then the passenger gets a terrifying phone call from a family member stating that their brother was just murdered.
Now the passenger goes into panic mode thinking of the loss of their brother and all the money they’re going to need to help bury him. They need every dollar they can get to pay for the funeral. So they then decide to cancel the ride early to help save a couple extra bucks. Now I know this example is kind of an extreme example, but you get my point! See folks, I do try to relate to my passengers when I can. Even when they’re wrong for canceling (regardless of the reason) in the middle of a ride. Things happen in which I fully understand! But to conclude this last example, I guess the passenger figured that every little bit can help when you’re strapped for cash.
Especially in unexpected emergency cases like losing a family member. But the driver still needs to get paid for his or her time and gas! That being said, no excuse in my opinion is a good enough excuse to not pay what you agreed to pay, when you ordered your Uber or Lyft ride. So with that being said, get rid of all those excuses for canceling your ride and use some of my friendly advice. Plan for unexpected circumstances! And for those who already know and understand what I’m advising, look at my words as a friendly reminder.
Passengers cancel on drivers in the middle of a ride being completed all the time. I think I’ve already made that part clear! But when a passenger decides to cancel on a driver in the middle of a ride, what protocol or procedure should you follow as a responsible Rideshare driver, to ensure that not only you get paid, but your passenger also kindly exits your vehicle? I’ve made a short list of things to do when a passenger cancels on you in the middle of a ride and they are the following:
1.) Keep Driving: When a passenger cancels in the middle of a ride, the first thing you should do as a professional Rideshare driver is stay calm and continue to drive like nothing happened. Or at least until you find a comfortable, safe place to pull over. The goal here is to stay focused on the road and to make things seem like nothing’s happened or changed. Or at least that’s how I would carry it! Just imagine if you made them aware of them canceling the ride when they actually canceled it. I can almost promise you that with all the back and forth you’ll be doing with your passenger, you won’t be able to focus or think clearly on what to say or do next. At least not at first! That being said, use this timeframe to gather your thoughts for what you are about to say and do next. Remember to breath and try to stay calm!
2.) Pull Over: Once you have located a populated area of people and/or addresses, simply pull over and put your hazards lights on. Be sure not to pull over on any highways, interstates, expressways or isolated roads that are for example, surrounded by lots of trees, hills and farm land. Doing this will definitely creep your passenger out, which could put you in an even worse predicament. So try to find residential areas or an area with restaurants, businesses, schools, gas stations and so forth.
This is definitely an important step for a driver to take so the passenger can have an address to be picked up from. That being said, as much as any driver would like to, no you can’t just drop the passenger off anywhere you’d like. Yes you still have to care for your passenger even though they canceled on you lol. You do want them to exit your vehicle peacefully and in a timely fashion right? Just imagine trying to drop them off on the highway. I’ll leave you with that possible dangerous outcome to think about!
3.) Show Cancellation Message: It’s time to inform your passenger that you’re aware of them canceling their ride. You do this by showing them the cancellation message you received from the Rideshare company. Showing them the message will immediately exclude you from having anything to do with this cancellation. Showing your passenger the cancellation message will also give them less to argue with you about.
With that being said, if you do choose to bring the cancellation issue to the passengers attention without showing them the message, get ready for an argument. The passenger will try to say any and everything other than “Yes, I did cancel the ride”, or “the person who ordered the ride for me canceled the ride.”
4.) Ask Them Why The Ride Was Canceled: Asking this question isn’t necessary, but wouldn’t really hurt the situation in my opinion either. Me personally, I would ask the passenger why they canceled the ride, just to see where their head is. I want to at least show the passenger that I do care a little bit and that I’m not just all about the money. Especially since these types of situations tend to go bad pretty quick!
So understanding your passengers intentions and having your intentions understood can sometimes calm the entire situation down. You want them to understand that you’re not taking anything personal by them canceling or ending the ride mid trip. You’re just trying to do your job and get paid while doing it, that’s all! That’s not too much to ask for right? The more you relate with your passenger, the better.
5.) Politely Ask The Passenger To Exit Your Vehicle: After finding and pulling over to a location you feel is safe, showing your passenger the cancellation message, relating with your passenger and verifying that the ride is canceled, it’s now time to politely ask them to exit your vehicle. If they want to wait for another ride in your vehicle, then I suggest you allow them to do so. You could even suggest this to them to show them that there’s no harm done. Either way you want them to exit your vehicle in a peaceful, timely manner. By any means necessary!
If they refuse to order another ride and believe that it’s your job to still take them to where they have to go, you could either take them to their destination or call the damn police (which I would suggest!) and have them physically remove the passenger from your vehicle. The only problem with this option is that you have to wait for the police to arrive at your location, which is why it’s also important for you to drive to a residential or populated area of addresses and/or businesses first. You’re not just doing this for your passengers sake!
7.) Immediately Contact Your Rideshare Company: As soon as the passenger exits your vehicle, be sure to immediately reach out to your Rideshare company and make them aware of what just took place. Do not reach out to your Rideshare company while your passenger is still in the car. You don’t want to say the wrong thing and trigger a bad reaction out of them! Remember that they already feel like they wronged you. So saying anything bad could make them feel worse!
When you make Uber, Lyft, Via, Sidecar or any other Rideshare company aware of the circumstances, they’re going to need a few things. They’re going to need to know the passenger’s name and what happened, what time you pick them up and approximately what time did the ride get canceled. The reason for this information is so they can calculate and pinpoint how much money you’ve earned when referring to the time spent and the miles driven. Once they have this information, you should be good to go!
Even though I’ve already answered this question, I guess I could elaborate a little more. That being said, it wouldn’t be fair if the Rideshare company decided not to pay the driver. Especially after picking up their passenger and driving them halfway to where they had to go. So the short answer to this silly question is yes, the Rideshare company does still compensate the driver! But they won’t know how much the driver would be compensated until they’ve calculated the time invested by the driver, multiplied by the actual miles driven.
And since this particular payout will be in the form of a bonus, these Rideshare companies tend to pay out these types of funds within 3 to 5 business days versus instant, like with normal completed rides. Sucks right? Just because your passenger wanted to cancel the ride mid trip!
My Professional Conclusion For Passengers Canceling Mid Trip:
So in conclusion, I would like to say that canceling on your Rideshare drivers in the midst of them trying to complete your ride is always wrong. It doesn’t matter if what happened was unexpected or if it was something you simply didn’t plan for. Excuses are excuses and wrong is wrong! Plan better for yourself as a passenger before, during and after the ride, so you hopefully won’t have these issues. And also keep in mind that when you do decide to cancel on your driver, that you’re not only affecting the driver’s money.
You’re also wasting their valuable time that they used to not only arrive at your pickup location, but to also take you to your drop off destination. The driver’s time can never be replaced. And if you are a Rideshare driver, be sure to follow my tips on how to handle passengers that cancel in the middle of your ride. Staying professional before, during and after the passenger cancels the ride is key! Stick to your game plan and if you don’t have one, create one!
Bringing another great review to a close, would you guys happen to have anything on your minds that you would like to share? Any thoughts, comments or concerns maybe? Maybe you have something to add that I didn’t mention, that could make this review more complete? If you do have anything on your mind or maybe a personal story to share, please feel free to leave them down at the bottom of this review. Other than that, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read my review and I will see you on my next chapter. Take care out their people and as always, drive safe!
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