By Christopher Elliott
Guest Columnist

Christopher Elliott

Svetlana Milina receives a surprise $80 cleaning bill from Lyft after a seven-minute ride. But Lyft won’t tell her what she did to deserve it.

I recently took a seven-minute ride on a Lyft in New York City. Shortly afterward, I received a text and email there was damage to the car and my credit card would be charged $80.

Lyft refused to provide any evidence of any damage caused by me and only sent a form letter in response to my questions. I repeatedly asked for additional information or any evidence of damage.

The ride took only a few minutes, and I didn’t do anything except just sit in the back of the car. Lyft stated in the chat they provided pictures. But they didn’t send any pictures. They refused to provide any additional information about the damage or even a phone contact to discuss this. I would like these charges and the claim to be reversed. Can you help me? — Svetlana Milina, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Lyft should not charge you a dime unless it can prove you damaged the car. Lyft requires its drivers to send at least three photos of the damage when they file a claim. And the company should have shared those pictures with you.

Lyft also requires its drivers to describe what happened, and it needed to share that with you, too. I asked you to share the paper trail of correspondence between you and Lyft, and it shows Lyft just kept repeating the claim was valid. That’s not good enough.

Lyft should have offered some way to appeal this damage claim, but it didn’t. Instead, it sent a series of maddening responses. Here’s a typical one:
“Svetlana, per our terms of service, we charge a damage fee to help drivers repair and clean affected areas of their vehicle, once drivers provide evidence,” one of them read. “We re-opened your case and after extensive review of the information provided by both you and the driver, no adjustments will be made to this claim.”

Don’t worry, I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of Lyft’s executives on my consumer advocacy website. A brief, polite email to one of them might have helped. I also have a free guide to advocating your own case that might have helped you convince Lyft to take a closer look at your case.

It turns out your driver had sent Lyft photos of muddy footprints in a car. Your seven-minute ride had taken place on a sunny day. I contacted Lyft on your behalf. “Our customer team reached out to Svetlana and handled the matter and provided a refund,” a representative told me.

Lyft refunded your money and told you it would treat the claim by your driver as fraudulent.

Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer for Elliott Advocacy. Email him at [email protected] or get help with any consumer problem by contacting him.