Key to Lyft and Uber’s whole business model is they are a platform connecting drivers and passengers and nothing more. This is their key talking point, the one they go back to over when confronted with disappointed customers, suspicious regulators and angry drivers. They will go to the grave insisting on this point.
So when they say “you have to take that up with the driver”, that’s not just bad customer service (although it IS bad customer service) - it’s an intentional strategy of positioning themselves as a neutral platform.
To be clear, I’m not defending them. They’re despicable. But as long as cab services continues to suck, people are going to continue to use them.
