<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Gigaom]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://gigaom.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Carmel DeAmicis]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[http://search.gigaom.com/author/carmeldee88/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[After drivers revolt, Lyft apologizes and extends $1000 promo]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>After <a href="https://gigaom.com/2015/03/04/lyft-may-not-deliver-on-its-1000-sign-up-bonuses-angering-drivers/" target="_blank">incurring the wrath</a> of its driver community, Lyft has <a href="http://therewardboss.com/2015/03/06/lyft-extends-deadline-for-1000-bonus-for-some/" target="_blank">changed how it&#8217;s handling</a> the promised $1,000 bonuses to new drivers. Since the company failed to process some applications in time, it&#8217;s <a href="http://blog.lyft.com/driver-promotion-update" target="_blank">extending the paperwork</a> processing deadline until March 13th so people aren&#8217;t shut out from their reward.</p>
<p>In case you missed the controversy, here&#8217;s what happened. In Lyft’s ongoing war with Uber over driver supply, it offered people a big check if they signed up to drive and did one ride by March 5th. As you&#8217;d expect, the company was overwhelmed with applicants. It told drivers that even if they had applied by the deadline, they wouldn&#8217;t receive their bonuses if their background checks weren&#8217;t processed in time to give a ride.</p>
<p>That wasn&#8217;t in drivers&#8217; control, and people rose up in anger. They felt swindled by Lyft, as though the company had hoodwinked them into applying without ever intending to grant all the bonuses. 376 drivers <a href="https://www.change.org/p/lyft-we-would-like-lyft-to-honor-their-1000-driver-referral-promotion-by-extending-the-deadline-to-allow-for-background-checks-to-clear" target="_blank">signed a Change.org petition</a> asking Lyft to reverse the decision. <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Lyft/comments/2xy12o/potential_class_action_lawsuit_regarding_the_1000/" target="_blank">A reddit thread claims</a> that a law firm is considering representing a class action suit against Lyft regarding the matter. I&#8217;ve reached out to the firm to fact check and will update this if I hear back.</p>
<p>Frankly, I was surprised when Lyft drivers told me about the promo bait-and-switch. Lyft has always been the driver-friendly entity of the two ridesharing behemoths, and people who choose Lyft over Uber say it&#8217;s because they&#8217;ve had better interactions with the company. This conflict threatened to hurt that brand.</p>
<blockquote id="quote-bcakatheman-carmelde" class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/BCakaTheMan">@BCakaTheMan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/carmeldea">@carmeldea</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/stwright">@stwright</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Techmeme">@Techmeme</a> Agreed, Lyft=Uber in my book right now, which is not a good place to be</p>
<p>— Rideshare Guy (@TheRideShareGuy) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRideShareGuy/status/573216631893057536">March 4, 2015</a></p></blockquote>
<p>Lyft heard the criticism loud and clear, and <a href="http://blog.lyft.com/driver-promotion-update" target="_blank">co-founder John Zimmer issued a public apology</a> when he extended the promotion deadline. &#8220;Lyft learned a lesson this week, and we’re sorry for the frustration it caused the community,&#8221; Zimmer said. &#8220;Thanks to those who gave us productive feedback on how to improve, and for holding us to a higher standard.&#8221;</p>
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