NEW ORLEANS — With the recent arrest of Lyft driver, Yousef Hamed, over the alleged kidnapping and rape of an intoxicated female, we thought it would be important to remind users of Lyft how to report a driver that makes you feel uncomfortable.
If a crime is committed, contact the police department immediately, but if someone makes you feel uneasy… follow these steps…
Step One – Report the ride to Lyft’s Critical Response Line HERE. Click on the “Contact Safety Team” button for immediate assistance. They will ask for your phone number and an automated system will call you and put you on hold until they can connect you with a live body.
Step Two – Once you are on the phone with Lyft, you will walk them through your experience. The call is recorded and they are taking the incident down for further review. You are told that they will likely call you again and they apologize for the experience. If they “escalate” the report, you will hear from someone else within the next few days.
Step Three – You will receive a call from someone on the Lyft Safety team. The conversation will sound something like this… and you will receive a follow-up e-mail with almost the same language…
“I am following up on the incident that you reported regarding your driver, ______. I am so sorry to hear that this driver made you feel extremely uncomfortable with the inappropriate comments and questions. This sort of behavior by a driver is a violation of our Terms of Service and is something we absolutely do not tolerate in the Lyft community.
Please know that the concerns you have brought to our attention have been investigated, and that I have followed up with this driver to take the appropriate and necessary actions. I’ve refunded your ride which you should see in 1-5 business days.
I want to thank you again for alerting us to this kind of behavior from a driver. Safety is paramount to everything that we do here at Lyft, and we are constantly working to foster a safe, respectful, and conscientious community.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.”
According to Lyft, once a driver drops you off, your information is deleted from the driver’s system. They also stress that they are working hard to protect your identity. So don’t hesitate to report something that makes you uncomfortable because you could protect yourself from a horrible experience… or someone else.
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