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Lyft Plus

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Re: Lyft Plus

#101

Post by jaredsohn »

joosters wrote: post #8

How can companies get away with saying things like 'the most affordable premium option' without providing any pricing information whatsoever? Why do they even think that it is acceptable to do so?

It now says "Lyft Plus promises the most affordable premium option"; is this different than it was before?

Generally, I look at language like this as how they want to position the product in the marketplace; I think there is still some value in knowing this, although you cannot trust it until they offer something more tangible.

Re: Lyft Plus

#102

Post by dsl »

hammock wrote: post #80
nostromo wrote: post #72

I'm curious about the economics. I presume they're buying the SUVs? By getting into the game of managing a fleet of vehicles, I imagine their margins will look more like a cab company's and less like a software company's. It's as curious as if Airbnb started buying up hotels and their associated inventory risk.

Uber has been maintaining fleets for a long time. Don't have a source off the top of my head but I know from talking to lots of drivers here in Chicago that they regularly take their top-rated drivers and offer them a (company-owned or leased) SUV or town car to drive as a part of Uber Black.

There are companies that get a contract rate with Uber to say, have X cars on the road 24/7. They in turn hire enough drivers to keep the cars moving all the time.

I'm fascinated by how logistics work, so I was asking my Uber driver a bunch of questions. He explained the above to me and said he was referred over to one of these companies because he didn't (or couldn't) buy his own car at the time.

Re: Lyft Plus

#103

Post by sulliwan »

Is this satire or is this an actual company? I honestly can't tell. This could very well be viral marketing for Silicon Valley.

Re: Lyft Plus

#104

Post by jedrek »

mhaumann wrote: post #78
nostromo wrote: post #72

I'm curious about the economics. I presume they're buying the SUVs? By getting into the game of managing a fleet of vehicles, I imagine their margins will look more like a cab company's and less like a software company's. It's as curious as if Airbnb started buying up hotels and their associated inventory risk.

Lyft doesn't own these vehicles, the drivers own them (and therefore they can use them as their primary cars all the time). Lyft is just helping drivers upgrade (they've negotiated special pricing).

Interesting, this is what a lot of taxi cab companies here in Warsaw for the past 10 years. Škoda, Toyota and Fiat have all given them great deals on various models as a means to promote their car brands.

Re: Lyft Plus

#105

Post by nodata »

Why are all the comments here treating this as a serious product? It's satire! The car has a moustache! They used the words "ford" and "luxury" in the same sentence! They have a photo of dandelion chocolate!

Re: Lyft Plus

#106

Post by grzaks »

jacalata wrote: post #70
tibbon wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber started at the top and then did Uber X to go down in pricing. Lyft started at the bottom and now goes up. My biggest problem with all of these services is that there aren't enough drivers (at least in Boston), and I can rarely actually find one on any service when I need it. And it seems a large % of the drivers are actually chilling at home, waiting for a ride (which is fine), but sometimes don't "move" on the…

I've noticed that too, it's infuriating. And with Uber and cabs, they all mark themselves as having 'arrived' some 2-5 minutes before they pull up - it's like, dude, I can see you on the map as six blocks away, how the hell do you get away with this?

It's most probably because they have KPIs to fulfil set by Uber and they are gaming the system that way. If I were Uber I would definitely monitor quality of service by measuring the arrival times for each driver.

Re: Lyft Plus

#107

Post by Dylan16807 »

sssbc wrote: post #17
joosters wrote: post #8

How can companies get away with saying things like 'the most affordable premium option' without providing any pricing information whatsoever? Why do they even think that it is acceptable to do so?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffery its real, deal.

It's not the puffery that's being objected to, it's the way they are actively avoiding providing basic information needed to understand the puffery.

Don't woo me with "the orangest chairs in America" and film it in black and white.

Re: Lyft Plus

#108

Post by taternuts »

sulliwan wrote: post #103

Is this satire or is this an actual company? I honestly can't tell. This could very well be viral marketing for Silicon Valley.

I was 100% sure this was a joke until clicking into the comments

Re: Lyft Plus

#109

Post by lotp »

This looks desperate, Lyft is just grabbing for ways to stay relevant. I don't see how they ever raise enough to actually compete after giving away nearly 40% of their company on that last round.

Re: Lyft Plus

#110

Post by lotp »

brianbreslin wrote: post #100
ed wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lyft won't actually own the new luxury rides, which were designed specifically for the company by West Coast Customs. Instead, individual Lyft drivers are buying the vehicles with some financial assistance from the company, according to a spokesperson. The move means Lyft won't have to deal with issues like car maintenance or storage, and also maintains the peer- to-peer element that has propelled the company. The co…

Lyft becomes the bank...

Lyft becomes the taxi brokerage that monopolizes the kinda of car you can use.
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