ATLANTA — As more than a million people come into Atlanta for the Super Bowl, many of them will likely use ride-sharing services.
They’re transportation outlets many of us use without even thinking – assuming the driver makes your safety and well-being a priority.
11Alive spoke to a woman who says she was practically ruined by a driver. But the company that he contracted for legally bears no responsibility - and it’s all in the fine print.
“To this day, a lot of people think I was scamming or scammed them out of that money,” Meira Price said.
For nearly a year, she's been living a nightmare.
It started when she forgot one of her most valuable possessions, unlocked, in a Lyft ride.
“He basically has control of my identity,” she said.
Price said her Lyft driver stole her phone, locked her out and took over all her social media accounts.
“He started impersonating me so, literally, he was going through all my contacts asking all my contacts for money and then he did the same thing on Facebook,” she said.
But that wasn’t even the worst of it.
“I found out he tried to file taxes in my name,” Price said.
She said he also tweeted a half-naked picture of her – one taken to document her weight-loss journey. She filed a police report, but investigators could not locate the driver.
Lyft said they have worked with police.
“It’s remarkable that they don’t take any responsibility for it,” Price said.
Johnathan Johnson is an attorney representing Price.
“When we deal with these companies, they are just a front and you’re really getting in the car with a total stranger and there is nobody - there is no company - standing behind that person that will accept responsibility for their actions,” Johnson said.
It’s a tough case to prove.
All that fine print separates the company from the drivers as independent contractors. The company guarantees very little to passengers. Just look at part of the disclaimers.
“We do not warrant that your use of the Lyft platform or services will be accurate, complete, reliable, current, secure, uninterrupted, always available, or error-free.”
“It just makes you realize, kind of, how small you are up against a big corporation,” Price said.
“This is sort of a cutting-edge case where the law is trailing behind technology because all these ride-share companies disclaim any responsibility for the actions of their drivers,” Johnson added.
If you’re wondering if the driver is still on the road – Lyft said they “deactivated the driver” and attempted to help the passenger recover her belongings - something to think about before taking that next ride share.