[NAGDU] Rideshare driver cancellations

Tue Jul 12 16:10:07 UTC 2022

hello all:

good email Heather.  in the last year or so I've had about 20 refusals. the most common are when they see me and drive away and then I note on the app that another  car is on it's way.  When I first started taking ubers/lyfts to work in feb 2021 when any of these refusals happened Uber did a better job and actually refunded the cost of the trip i ended up taking.  Lately i hear very little back from after i make my complaint.

If the driver actually opens his window to tell  me how he doesnt  take dogs i am  usually successful at informing him of the rules, the law and  that not to worry, my dog will be on the floor between my legs.  i learned oneof the big  anxietyies was around the dog going on the seat.

However, the end result of this is, as a person who is blind using a service dog, Ihave to wonder every time Iorder an Uber/Lyft  if they are gong to pick me up. 
This  is especially concerning when its not work work or home.  My friends/colleagues do not have to feel anxiety when they use ride shares  or experience the frustration of a car drivign away making me late for work or an appointment. 

Seems like there is still much work to be done with these services and the education of their drivers.

Gaery

On July 12, 2022 6:32:45 AM PDT, Heather Bird via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>So, I understand what the presenter from Lyft was saying, about drivers needing the right to cancel, sometimes, I had of time, because something may legitimately come up. I think we need to be understanding of that, to an extent. For instance, perhaps they start to feel ill, perhaps their child’s daycare calls and says that their kid had an accident falling off of a piece of playground equipment. The drivers car could also possibly have something go wrong, for instance they could get a flat tire, or they could get into a car accident. I seem to recall, from what I could hear over zoom, the presenter saying some thing regarding a driver canceling a few minutes ahead of time. I don’t have an issue with a few minutes ahead of time, they cannot see your dog, a few minutes ahead of time. However, at least in the Uber app, if you watch the screen where it lists your drivers ETA, it will get accurate, within feet of where you are. I know a driver is canceling because of my dog when I see something like the following, your driver is 2.3 miles away, your driver is .5 miles away, your driver is .2 miles away, your driver is 250 feet away, your driver is 100 feet away, your driver is 50 feet away, your driver is 20 feet away, your driver is 60 feet away, your driver is 100 feet away, your driver is 150 feet away, your driver is 80 feet away, your driver is 300 feet away, trip canceled. What this shows, is that the driver is approaching, sees you, maybe makes a circle around to check out the situation, switches lanes, goes around the block, is doing some thing to scope everything out, then they make up their mind that you are probably the passenger, and you definitely have a dog with you, sometimes they find out because they see you using your phone, which confirms that you are probably in the process of interacting with the Uber app, then they cancel. This is what I have a problem with, and this is what I wanted to say to the presenter from Lyft, that blind people are not unreasonable, we understand drivers have to cancel sometimes, and that’s not their fault. However, it is very clear when they are canceling because of the presence of a service dog, because of what you see in the app with regards their location. I don’t have a problem with the driver canceling two or three minutes ahead of time, I don’t have a problem with them canceling a mile or two away, but I do have a problem when they cancel when they’re only 100 feet away or less, or they have been within 100 feet of me or less prior to canceling, or they are canceling when they are only 30 seconds away. I think there should be some sort of threshold, and if a driver is within that time, and distance, threshold, it should be considered a cancellation due to the presence of The service dog, and treated like a denial. I think if a driver is that close, then the writer should get the benefit of the doubt and be assumed to be in the right. If the driver is outside that threshold, then I think the driver should be given the benefit of the doubt, and assumed to be in the right. I think a complaint should still be examined, even if the driver is outside of that threshold, but  The rights of riders, and drivers, both need to be respected, but I think common sense with regards the location of the driver when they cancel the trip, and, importantly, their location prior to canceling the trip, that is, they can’t drive up to where you are, and then drive a mile away prior to canceling, to fool the system is indicative of whether or not an access issue is taking place.  If a driver is far enough away, and cancels, then I think they need Tubi assume to be innocent, until proven guilty. However, if they are that close, within a close threshold, of time and distance, then they need to be presumed guilty, until proven innocent. The technology is definitely there, with regards GPS, to capture relevant data, in order to make an initial determination, and then if need be, a follow up could be conducted. For instance, if the writer has location sharing enabled on their device, and the driver comes within a certain range, let’s say within 100 feet of the individual, that could trigger something in the app, which could do a whole range of things, alert the driver, take your time and date stamp, capture a photo, all sorts of things, so that if a complaint comes in, it will already be flagged in the system, for the associate to see, that the driver did arrive at, or extremely close to, the individual, prior to initiating cancellation of the ride.
>
>Screenshots can be helpful, but capturing the screens where it announces how far away they are, would mean taking a lot of pictures, which might be helpful if a few people could manage this to prove the point. If you had another device, you could take a video of what your phone is displaying, also, if my son, recording his video game activity, is any indication, on an iPad, and possibly on an iPhone, you can take a video of your screen, of what is going on with the audio and video of your screen itself, which might be very helpful to prove this case. Now, I know that the Uber app displays the distance of the driver, but I’m not sure if this is true of the Lyft app. If so, I would suggest the same procedure would work for Lyft. Additionally, I have a message, you can save it in your text messages, or your memos, so that you can copy and paste it when needed, but you will have to tailor the wording to fit within the character constraints of the chat feature where you can message the driver. It sounds like the one for Lyft is a lot shorter, I think he said 50 characters? That’s pretty short. I would figure this out ahead of time find the character limit, play around with wording that is clear, and fits within the limit, and you can send a message like this. I have a service dog, I know you’re here, if you cancel at this point I will know you’re canceling because of the presence of my service dog.  You can refine that and make it a lot shorter, but I make it clear in the message that if they cancel at this point it constitutes a service dog denial. For a shorter option you could have I C U R here cancel now = Service dog denial   No, it’s not elegant, it uses some text speak, some old school text speak, but you can play around with things like camel case, substituting a letter that sounds like a word, symbols like an ampersand or an =, and, don’t forget, even if it’s not perfectly clear, it gets their attention, and they will likely respond to you, to ask what you’re saying, or to say that they’re canceling because of the dog, or to ask if you have a service dog, or something. Best case scenario, it opens up a dialogue, so you can make it very clear that they need to take you and your service dog. Worst case scenario, they cancel anyway and you have proof that you notified them of the situation, and getting a complaint followed up on would be a lot easier. you can also possibly use emojis to stand in for words, if there is a small character limit. I don’t usually like to notify someone ahead of time that I will have a service dog, however, in this case, it can be a valuable tool, is your proactively letting them know that it’s not a pet, that you are aware that they are already there, and that if they leave at this point, it will constitute a service dog excess denial. in an ideal world, there wouldn’t be a tiny character limit and you could write something much more professional, like, I am a person with a disability, accompanied by a service dog, I am notifying you that it is in fact a service dog, and you’re obligated by law to provide us with transportation. I know that you have already arrived, and that you are now aware that I am a person with a disability, accompanied by a service dog, so if you cancel the trip and leave at this point, that will constitute a service dog denial to myself and my service dog aunder federal and state law, and according to the policies of Uber. Unfortunately, while a novel of a text, or an email, may be much more accurate, it’s not usually possible, it’s not Unfortunately, while a novel of a text, or an email, may be much more accurate, it’s not usually possible, it’s not likely they’ll read the whole thing, and it almost certainly won’t fit in the edit field of the app, or platform, in question. The trick is to have the wording worked out ahead of time so you’re not messing around with your phone, to have it ready to copy and paste, and to send it when your driver is within about 100 or 150 feet. They can’t claim that some emergency just magically came up when they are that close. Playing devils advocate, and understanding the drivers do legitimately have reasons to cancel, I would say, that even if Uber only counted this sort of thing as half a strike, these drivers do this often enough, and believe it is a reasonable technique to use, that even if one only counts this as half of a strike, under a three strike system, they will likely rack up plenty of these half strikes to constitute enough strikes to ban them from the platform in a relatively short period of time. It would prove a pattern of behavior, and also demonstrate the prevalence of this technique for refusing to transport a service dog.
>
>I also want to say something important about Access, because I can just hear some of you thinking right now, but Heather, this is an undue burden, I shouldn’t have to take screenshots, or screen videos, I shouldn’t have to track my driver within feet of where they are, I shouldn’t have to do all of this. And you know what, you’re absolutely right, and you’re wrong. In the long term, and in an ideal world, you are absolutely right, we should not have to do this just to get equal treatment and be able to access a ride share. However, in the short term, if this is what we need to do, to gather the correct evidence, to make the rideshare services comply, then that is what we need to do. It doesn’t matter if it’s right, or fair, it’s something we can do, and should do right now, so that in the future, we, and others, don’t have to deal with this crap. Another thing you can do, is save any push notifications that you get, or take screenshots, because it will let you know who your driver is, I believe it sends a picture of them, how many stars they are rated, what vehicle they have, color, and type, and the license plate number. It will send something, at least in the Uber app, that says check your ride, every time. Lastly, and I know this is a real hassle, but one way to avoid this, especially if you have the resources to do it, is to have someone wait with you, have them go out and sit in the car, so they can’t leave, and then you run out with your dog. It’s extra helpful, if someone in authority, say a concierge at a hotel, a police officer or security guard who is hanging out anyway near where you are, is the one to approach the driver, and ask, hey, are you here for Heather? Then they can’t say they weren’t there, they can’t say they didn’t know that you were ready, and there’s someone wearing a uniform, someone with a badge, someone who is cited, which again, shouldn’t matter, but it does, someone who can confirm that the driver was there, and that the driver denied you, or tried to get out of it. There is a concept that is often brought up in psychology, especially surrounding advertising, sales, and business. It is the foot in the door concept, and that concept means that sometimes, you need to just break through somehow, a little bit, in order to get your point across, make the sale, make your case. In this case, I have found that when I force a driver to take me, who I know was planning on pulling away, but someone sat in the car so they couldn’t pull away until I got in, nine times out of 10, I am able to educate them, and convince them that service dogs do behave well, and they will often, even say something to me like “I really don’t like to take dogs, but your dog was very good, I’ll pick up the dog next time. “ oh, and before I forget, don’t forget that if you’re using Aira, they can take pictures, for instance, I like it best when the driver pulls up at the end of my driveway, because I can come out my side door, come barreling down the driveway very quickly, find the car, and get in, before they know what hit them. But sometimes they will pull up in front of my house, or halfway in front of the neighbors house, that gives them a lot of time to see me and my dog coming down the sidewalk, and gives them a lot of time to pull away. So, I had Aira locate them through the front window, and we took a couple of pictures, and, sure enough, they saw me coming, and they drove away, Uber tried to say that the driver couldn’t find me, but we had a date, time, and location stamped image, that showed the neighborhood, and that the car was parked in the correct place, pulled over to the side of the road, not driving by, while the driver tried to figure out where he was. And I did get a refund of the trip cancel fee, and they at least said, that they were giving the driver a strike. We are getting a ring doorbell camera installed, and if you have the resources, I understand that not everyone does, especially if you’re renting, and they won’t let you put up hardware of any sort, that a camera could be very helpful especially if it captures your driveway, sidewalk, or the parking lot right in front of your door. I am also looking into how expensive a body cam is, something like what cops wear, small, and that can record visuals for sure, and hopefully also audio. This would eliminate some of the steps of having to use Aira, and the phone, review footage from a ring doorbell camera, etc. another suggestion for the nagdu board, perhaps, some of the money in the treasury, could be spent on some technology that could be sent out, with some sort of agreement relating to the return of the equipment, to individuals who have a high incidence of access denials. This footage could help get justice for the individual, and also help build a case regarding rideshare denials.A contract could be made up that the person has to sign, stating that NAGDU owns the equipment, and then if they don’t return it within a certain period of time, they are legally obligated to pay for it, although I think generally, most folks are pretty honest here.Alternatively, funds could be used, on occasion, for a pervasive, or important, access issue, to send an officer or board member, to a different part of the country, where the access issue is happening, to do something hands-on, actually ride in the cab, Collin Uber from that particular airport, meet with the staff of the hotel, visit the store in question, etc. 
>
>Those are just a couple of thoughts I had while reading through these emails on the list, and also while listening to the presentation the other day. Please excuse any errors, which are, of course, brought to you by dictation.
>
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