Surprise charges and overpayments are some of the most frustrating problems for Lyft users.
Look at the comments section of our article on how to contact Lyft customer service to see dozens of complaints about duplicate charges, overcharges, or rides that never occurred.
The good news is that you can report overcharges and request a refund from Lyft, but you have to know where to go in the Lyft app or at help.lyft.com.
What you need to know
- Use the Help section at the bottom of every ride receipt to report payment problems
- Pending charges labelled ‘temporary authorization holds’ typically disappear once the transaction is processed
- Other common surprise charges are fees, Lyft Pink charges, or a price that was higher than the upfront estimate
- Report suspected fraud to your cardholder first
How to get help with payment problems in the Lyft app
Follow the steps below if you have an issue with an overcharge, duplicate charge, fraudulent ride, or other payment issues.
In the Lyft app, Tap Menu (☰) > Ride history > Find the ride and tap on it > Scroll to ‘Help’ > Select the best matching item
You can dispute the fare or report another issue about the charge. After you report the issue, a chat with Lyft customer service will begin.
The Help button beneath each ride receipt is the best place to dispute charges
Helpful pages at help.lyft.com
Lyft explains payment policies on these pages at help.lyft.com.
- Lyft’s guide to charges and payments
- Payment authorizations (temporary holds)
- Cancellation policy for passengers
You can contact Lyft with each of the pages above. Scroll to the contact button at the bottom of each page and follow the on-page steps to report an issue with a charge.
- Our complete guide: How to Contact Lyft Customer Service
Legitimate charges from Lyft that might look unusual
Many legitimate charges from Lyft might be unexpected or even appear suspicious at first glance.
Before contacting Lyft, check to see if the charge could be explained by one of the reasons below.
Temporary holds: Payment authorization
A duplicate charge from Lyft could be a temporary payment authorization.
Lyft places a temporary hold on your payment method to confirm that it has enough funds to pay for your ride.
The temporary authorization will disappear after your payment provider processes the transaction, or it may appear as a refund after 5-7 days.
Temporary payments appear as ‘Lyft TEMP AUTH HOLD’ on your payment account transactions.
Temp auth hold charges typically settle within a day
You might see a pending charge when you create an account, request a ride, update your payment method, change your destination or add a stop.
One charge from Lyft after taking many rides
By default, you will only be charged once for all the Lyft rides you take in one day. So if you took many rides during a day, one big charge means all the rides were lumped together into one payment.
To change your payment frequency, go to Menu > Payment > Payment frequency. You can choose to pay after every ride or once for all the rides you do in a day.
Price higher than the upfront estimate
Lyft offers upfront pricing, but the price may increase if you encounter unexpected heavy traffic or add a stop.
If you still think Lyft charged too much, use the Help section of the ride receipt and select Dispute ride fare or charges.
Lyft fees
Lyft charges cancellation fees and damage fees. Cancellation fees are typically $2–$10, and damage fees are $20, $30, $80, or $150.
Go to the trip receipt and scroll to the help section to dispute a fee. Read more about the Lyft cancellation fees.
Lyft Pink: A $9.99 monthly charge
Lyft Pink is a monthly membership that costs $9.99 per month. An unexpected charge of $9.99 could be a Lyft Pink subscription you forgot about. More about Lyft Pink here.
Lyft Cash
Lyft Cash is another recurring payment that could lead to surprise charges.
In the Payment area of the app, there’s an option to add Lyft Cash to your Lyft account and a separate option to turn on auto-refill. Auto-refill could explain an unexpected charge.
Check to see if auto refill can explain a mystery charge
Family or friend took a ride on your card
Many people share account logins and credit cards. If there’s a surprise charge on your card, think if someone else who shares your card might have taken the ride.
Illegitimate charges: Fraud on your Lyft account
Although many surprise charges are a misunderstanding about Lyft payment practices, fraud does happen.
These activities on your Lyft account could indicate fraud
- Receipts for a trip you didn’t take
- Charges for trips you didn’t take
- Notifications from Lyft about a ride that you aren’t on
- Your account info was updated without your knowledge
Suspect fraud? Contact your cardholder or bank
If you believe someone is fraudulently using your credit or debit card to use Lyft, contact your cardholder first to report the fraud.
It’s important to secure the account first to prevent further fraud.
Most credit and debit cards offer fraud protection and 24/7 customer service. It’s much easier to quickly notify your cardholder than to report issues to Lyft.
After contacting your bank or cardholder, you can report the issue to Lyft in the ride receipt or at help.lyft.com.
Will Lyft give you a refund? What to expect
Illegitimate charges or fraud are likely to be refunded if you promptly report the issue to Lyft and follow up with details.
However, Lyft is less likey to offer a refund for legitimate charges from fees and recurring memberships.
The best way to start the process is to use the Help tools in the ride receipt or the contact buttons at the bottom of the support pages at help.lyft.com.
Still not getting a refund after contacting Lyft? You can initiate a chargeback with your credit card company.
A chargeback is nearly guaranteed to get your money back, but you should only use it if it was genuinely an illegitimate charge and Lyft refuses to take action.
Related Lyft Topics
Daniel says
I’m a driver and Lyft is still holding my pay for a week I drove for them. It’s been 2 months of lying excuses and every time I contact them or chat either them it’s like Im starting back at step one. I sent screen shots of my earnings but still nothing. All they say over and over is you didn’t earn a ything that week. What’s wrong with this company. I’ve stopped driving for them ever since they kill passengers with their prices and pay drivers slave wages. Actual slave wages like $8 an hour for some drivers. This is happening to more and more drivers. If I get a lawyer that will only cost me way more. Scum company. I only drove for them thos one week because they gave me a $1000 bonus if I drove that week. They owe me $2406 still today.
Suzanne says
Yesterday I was charged $60 for a $21 dollar ride after the driver took the wrong route and journey time was doubled! They won’t refund! Something needs to be done about them.
Doug H says
The per minute rate isn’t enough to triple a ride from $20 to $60. It’s likely something else happened, like surge pricing.
John says
The biggest rip off this company has is the fact that they will automatically turn on your auto refill option anytime you make a deposit into lift cash I turn it off all the freaking time and anytime I say transfer $50 when it gets below 25 they hit me for another 50 without my authorization I should not have to manually turn off auto refill every time I make a deposit this goes for hundreds and thousands of people that have the same complaint all over the internet
Christina says
I was charged a total of $64 yesterday for rides I never took or was picked up for. I have been trying to get the help to discuss my situation to avail. I feel victimized by Lyft. I need help.
Doug H says
If the ride is in your Ride History, find the Help link at the bottom of the receipt and report that the ride didn’t happen. If you think your card was compromised, report it to your cardholder.
Paul says
I was quoted approximately $24 for a 10 mile ride. They charged me over $72.70 Impossible to reach customer service. To Lyft: I have plenty of other ride options. Although I am not a frequent rider, I will tell this story far and wide and will never use your service again and therefore not be tipping your riders well either. I hope your company goes bankrupt … I will do my part to assist.
Shawn says
I experienced the same issue with Lyft. The app quoted $42 ride to the airport but I was charged $109! I too will never use Lyft again.
Lisa says
This literally happened to me today. I work not too far from the airport say about 2 minutes. My work address is programmed in Lyft so I just select work from home and they quote me $32 that was Sunday so the price was a little more than a during week. Today I got a new charge of 47 dollars and the drop off changed from my work to Delta C at the airport. I never even used that airport in my life. What kind of fraud are these people doing, the put that I request priority pick up and use a black car service.
KP says
This happened to me 2 days ago! I was quoted about $45 and received an email that says the ride was $145. Is there anything we can do other than dispute it on credit card?!?
KP says
Update:
After reaching out to @AskLyft, and many DMs later I did get a refund for the overcharged amount. Phew~
Uva says
Tuesday I was charged an $80 dollar fee from lyft for damage, but I didn’t do anything, and it doesn’t matter what you say they will still charge me for it, I googled it a little bit, and I’m not the only one, many people are having a damage fee automatically charged to their cc or debit cards, for things we didn’t do we can’t prove it, but they also don’t give us any evidence we did, just photos of the drivers of the “damage” and no more information.
Lyft is not protecting loyal costumers, and the way they treat you and the arguments:
“ Please be advised that per our terms of service, we charge a damage fee to help drivers repair, remediate, or clean affected areas of their vehicle. The amount of the damage fee is determined once drivers provide anecdotal evidence of the situation.
We re-opened your case and after an extensive review of the information provided by both you and the driver, no adjustments will be made to this claim.”
I spent hours trying to solve this, getting this ridiculous answer over and over.
I google it, many people have experienced the same and Lyft should be accountable for it. No?
For me $80 is a lot, but more importantly it’s wrong, fraud and stealing. 😢😤😡🤬
Flaco says
Lyft is a big scam nd allow the drivers to make fraudulent charges. They are no help when I called 4 times. I was told they will contact me & in the mean time they will continue to try to charge my card for the fraudulent charge from the drivers false damage report