Key Takeaways
- Lyft account disabled for requesting rides for others, hacking/fraud, or policy violations.
- Reactivation possible by contacting Lyft support with detailed issue explanation.
- Lyft’s disabling process is swift, reactivation may take longer, persistence is key.
- Reactivation requires proving false reports or resolving the underlying issue with Lyft support.
What Does it Mean That My Lyft Account is Disabled?
A disabled Lyft account means you don’t have access to all Lyft’s offered features, and that includes the ability to request rides.
Try logging in and requesting a ride. If Lyft has disabled your account, an error message should pop up when you attempt it.
If you’re unable to request a ride but don’t see an error message, the next step is to check your text messages and email.
Depending on the settings you already have, automated notifications and messages may go to your phone number rather than through the internal notification system, or if you have linked your Lyft account with an email address, notifications may go there.
If your account was merely on hold, you would receive similar emails and notifications; however, the procedure for resolving that is a whole other article.
Important Note:
A rider deactivation is similar to a Lyft deactivation for drivers. These are common if you break rules, and usually don’t happen without notice.
Reasons Your Lyft Account Was Disabled
Determining the reason for a disabled account may be the most challenging part of resolving the problem, especially if you pride yourself on following all the Lyft terms of service.
That said, some of the reasons may be that obvious.
Here’s a breakdown of the most common reasons for your Lyft account becoming disabled.
1. Requesting Rides for Others
Did you know that requesting a Lyft ride for someone other than yourself can get your Lyft account disabled?
Let’s say your friend needs a ride home from a party or another kind of event, and you call a Lyft for them to make sure they get home safe.
Your friend gets the ride, and you go to sleep that night thinking you did a nice thing for a friend.
When you try to request a ride at a later date, you may find your account Lyft account disabled.
Your friend may have caused the driver to file a complaint to Lyft, which resulted in the disabling of your account because your name is on the ride.
This scenario happens more often than you might think.
It’s an excellent example of why you should be careful about who you request rides for and realize you are taking responsibility for the ride regardless of whether the passenger is yourself or somebody else.
Of course, that shouldn’t stop you from being a good friend.
Lyft even encourages requesting rides for others with their contact syncing feature in the Lyft app.
Just make sure you trust whoever you request rides for or request a ride through their profile instead.
Otherwise, they could very well do something during a ride that breaks Lyft’s TOS, and you may not know until your account is affected.
When an account is disabled due to a complaint about a breach of TOS, it’s tough to get your account back without knowing what the complaint was about or who did it.
Depending on the severity of whatever occurred, Lyft may deem you a risk to future drivers and refuse to reactivate your account or set a suspension period after which Lyft will resolve your account.
2. Hacking/Fraudulent Lyft Account Activity
Another common cause of Lyft account disabling is hacking or fraudulent activity on your account.
This includes Lyft free ride hacks that border on the “grey” side of things.
If you return to your account after an extended period of not using it but find that suddenly your Lyft account disabled, there’s a chance that something has happened to your account while you were away that made Lyft question the account’s legitimacy.
Disabling your account and preventing further spending in these circumstances is just as much for their protection as it is yours.
Check the transaction history of the credit or debit card you have registered on your account and look for Lyft transactions for rides you’re sure you’ve never requested.
If you find anything suspicious, your account could have been hacked.
Then, contact your bank or credit card issuer and work through their procedure for addressing fraudulent charges.
Your bank may even issue you a new card that will need to be attached to your account once it’s fixed.
After the bank, contact Lyft’s customer support team.
Doing this will allow them to start looking into what is going on as quickly as possible.
The primary and best way to contact Lyft is by email, which you can do by going to the Lyft support page and submitting a help request.
The amount of time it takes for Lyft to respond to emails varies, so if you want to get a quicker response, you can try messaging their official Twitter account @AskLyft.
Unfortunately, for those that prefer to speak directly to someone, Lyft does not currently have a customer support phone number.
Once Lyft receives your email or tweet, they will help you determine the problem and walk you through the necessary steps to get your account back into working order.
3. Failing to Follow Lyft Passenger Policies
Lyft aims to be a safe environment for everyone on the road, which includes passengers and drivers.
Passengers can report Lyft drivers for various reasons, and drivers can do the same using a list of policies that define what conduct Lyft believes warrants account deactivation.
One of these policies which can lead to a Lyft account disabled includes reports of discrimination based on the following: gender, religion, nationality, race, sexual orientation, age, and several other characteristics.
Unfortunately, false reporting by both drivers and passengers is a never-ending issue.
While Lyft has implemented measures to prevent it, they can only do so much unless evidence exists to confirm or deny a report.
Don’t panic if a driver falsely reports you for policy violations and has your account deactivated.
You can dispute all false reports by contacting Lyft’s customer support.
However, if Lyft finds video/audio evidence proving that you have violated policies, they will disable your account.
With this in mind, always be sure to adhere to Lyft’s policies at all times during a ride.
Too many offenses may result in your account receiving permanent deactivation.
The Disabling Process
When it comes to the actual disabling process, it won’t take long for you to know if Lyft disables your account; sometimes it can happen in as little as twenty-four hours.
Once the account is disabled, you’ll receive the notification by email or text.
There is no set amount of time for how long your account will remain disabled but it will stay disabled until Lyft solves whatever issue caused the disabling.
For that reason, the sooner you reach out to Lyft and make them aware of your situation, the better.
Unlike the rapid turnaround of disabling an account, reactivating your Lyft account may not happen quickly.
It could take anywhere from one or two days to a week or more to get your account reactivated.
Can I Reactivate my Lyft Account?
Yes, you can reactivate your account, but only if Lyft approves reactivation. To reactivate a disabled Lyft account, follow the above steps to identify the issue and reach out to Lyft customer support.
Even if you don’t know or aren’t sure of what caused your account to get disabled, reach out to Lyft anyway to figure out the issue with them and what steps you need to take to fix it.
Tips for Getting a Rider Account Reactivated Successfully
- Gather information about the disabling of your account for when you speak with Lyft support.
- Include details such as the time and date of when your account got disabled and the details of why it happened, as best as you are aware.
- If you think someone hacked your account, you’ll need documentation.
- Collect records of any ride transactions you know you didn’t make and bank documentation that shows your card has been compromised, if applicable.
- Reach out to Lyft support as soon as you notice the account has been disabled, no matter the reason to start the reactivation process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you delete a Lyft account and start over?
Yes, you can delete an account and start fresh. To do this, visit the page for account deletion and follow the instructions provided on the page.
A note of caution: once Lyft deletes your account from the system, it will not be recoverable so do so with care.
What Lyft rating gets you deactivated?
While no specific rating number will get a passenger Lyft account disabled, low ratings or violating Lyft’s guidelines can lead to account deactivation.
A high cancellation rate or keeping a driver waiting too long repeatedly may also result in account deactivation.
Can you have two Lyft accounts?
Yes. A Lyft account requires a mobile number, email address, and photo of yourself. Because of this, you will need a new mobile number if you want to make a second account on the platform.
Suggested Read
What Is My Lyft Passenger Rating? How to Find & Improve Yours
Lyft Deactivation of Your Account is Not Unfixable
There are several reasons your Lyft account may be disabled.
Like every rider, every account is different, so there’s a chance none of the reasons I mentioned may apply to your situation.
If that happens, either take the general ideas presented for troubleshooting or immediately contact Lyft support to discuss your options.
If your account does get disabled, it’s not the end of the world!
Follow the steps outlined above, be patient, and stay persistent.
With these tips plus a dose of kindness, you have the best possible chance of getting your account back.
My account was recently deactivated. I contacted Lyft via email. They refused to provide any details other than to say I apparently violated their terms of service. I don’t use the service often but I have never had any problems or caused any problems. No clue why. It is amazing that they accuse me of something without providing any evidence or even an explanation.
My account recently got reactivated by cyberianx on telegram. Report your case to them, i’m sure they’ll help.
My account was recently deactivated. I contacted Lyft via email. They refused to provide any details other than to say I apparently violated their terms of service. I don’t use the service often but I have never had any problems or caused any problems. No clue why. It is amazing that they accuse me of something without providing any evidence or even an explanation.
I just copied and pasted the above comment as it is EXACTLY the same thing that I experienced. The difference is that I do use the service daily and my star rating is high.
I am not surprised. I would not advise using these platforms except in an extraordinary emergency where other options are either difficult or impossible to access. They at least owe their customers an explanation. Even if there is no evidence. And some reasonable way to appeal. Maybe an appeal option in the app. Especially for a first suspension or disabling of the account. Until they improve I would advise seeing these corporations as just robots with no human feeling. And treating them accordingly.
Yeah so this information is more or less misinformation, since typically Lyft will not tell you the reason why they deactivated you at all, AND will not even inform you that you have been deactivated.
In my case, I have been using Lyft for years and have spent thousands of dollars on it. I have a 4.9 star rating (near perfection). I have never had a single problem in any of my rides.
What Lyft did, was absolutely nothing except after I request a ride, it searches for a driver forever, and never moves beyond attempting to load a driver. It presents itself as nothing more than a glitch, or a cache issue.
I uninstalled the app, tried everything. Switched to Uber for the past 10 months. When I got a new phone, I decided to try Lyft again, and the results were the same. I can access my account just like normal, see drivers, request a ride, only it never gets accepted by a driver.
So, I emailed them thinking it was something wrong with their system. They have NEVER informed me that there was a problem with my account. Sure enough however, they told me that I would never be able to use the platform again due to violating the terms of service, and that by law they could not disclose any more information whatsoever.
What makes matters worse, is that I had just put a gift card into my account. Again, I merely thought the rides were not loading properly due to a system maintenance issue or something like that. The gift card of $55 was accepted by Lyft, and then the funds were gone. They took the funds.
I do not owe Lyft any money, as I always pay with gift cards which I top up on Amazon. I asked them to reactivate the gift card, as I would simply gift it to someone else. They will not respond any further. I asked about this gift card two more times, and told them what they were doing is theft. They will not speak with me or respond to anything I say.
They said “Legally, we can not give you any more information”. My last ride was in January, and I had zero issues with it. It was paid for. I STILL have complete access to my account on the app, I can see everything, I can see my payments and all my rides history and there is NO mention of ANYTHING being wrong with my account ANYWHERE.
I would NEVER have known there was a problem if I did not email them. I had a Lyft cash balance of $12 which still shows up as available credit, though apparently I will never be able to use it, AND my $55 gift card was accepted by the platform and then literally stolen by Lyft.
Putting the gift card information into someone else’s account says that it has already been used. Lyft will not reactivate the gift card OR even respond to any inquiries about it. They stole from me, plain and simple. The gift card, plus my Lyft cash balance would be a total of $67.
There is absolutely no recourse for me, because $67 is not enough to go to small claims court over. And, Lyft will not reply to any of my inquiries. There is no appeals process, there is no way to reactivate my account, AND there is no way to find out what I ever did wrong.
Meanwhile, I still have full access to everything on the app, and nowhere does it say anything about there being an issue with the account. Except for infinite loading screen after requesting a ride, and then telling me through email that I’m done and it’s illegal to tell me why.