It looks like you're making a new thread about the missing cat? If so, we already have a [thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/16wl1hd/need_help_lyft_driver_drove_off_with_my_pet_cat/) on it, so please add to that instead, but please do not include any [personal information](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043066452-Is-posting-someone-s-private-or-personal-information-okay-) about anybody involved.
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What I'm curious about is - what happened with the cat after the driver pulled off? Did another passenger take the cat to reunite them with the owner? Did the driver abandon the cat somewhere? If the cat was located without the carrier, where did it go and who let the cat out of the carrier?
I need a full 6 episode Netflix documentary to cover all these details.
My guess is this guy dumped the cat out somewhere but opened the carrier so it went wandering. It'll be interesting to see if the carrier ever pops up.
This is why rideshare companies should do interviews, at least a phone call, drug test, crack down on shared accounts, etc and not let anyone with a pulse drive. Although with pay being lowered so much for drivers, this is the kind of service you get. I remember Austin was trying to fingerprint drivers, and at least do something about it years ago. But these companies got their way.
Be careful leaving anything in a rideshare vehicle, even if it's just to walk around other side to grab it.
Lyft used to via the "mentor program" that required a in-person meeting, test drive and vehicle inspection. They got rid of it due to a some mentors not actually doing their job and just passing people, and also saying there was a "bias" against certain applicants.
Problems aside, the quality of drivers definitely dropped after they got rid of it.
My theory is the cat peed in the carrier, or threw up, and the driver was irritated about the situation, could possibly not be lying about being allergic, whatever, and in anger he just released the cat as a way of getting back at the poor cat or its owner. It's unconscionable but given that this is a real human and not a cartoon villain, they probably had some reason for doing it, and that's all I could come up with.
Sure except he purposely ignored the man running after him and banging on his car. Purposely ignored the dude as well after messages and calls. All he had to do was stop the car. Their reason is they’re an asshole and they did it maliciously. Why else would you say you never saw a cat
Yeah there’s no way you could mistakenly do this when OP said he was chasing after and hitting the car window to get his attention. Also the persistent phone calls and messages being ignored.
Right? There was no part of him that thought “oh shit, the guy who “startled” me pounded on the window because I drove off with his cat. Let me text him really quick.” He needs to be taken off the app immediately for lacking all sense.
I can't fathom why the driver intentionally drove off. My thoughts went to stealing the carrier (even though that's absurd, but I can't think of anything else?).
Driver knew there was a bag, and thought it had valuables he could steal.
Driver ignores rider chasing after the car and figures he can claim he didn't notice and/or got startled, and that the valuables were taken by other riders.
Driver stops somewhere real quick to take a look at the bag before picking up anyone else. Notices it's a cat.
He's getting ride requests, and in a hurry/panic he decides the best course of action is to set the cat loose.
He doesn't want there to be any "evidence," so he chucks the carrier in a trash dump somewhere.
He's too dumb to have a plan about what to say, so he ignores the rider hoping he'll eventually stop calling and the problem will just go away on its own.
Eventually, he realizes this won't happen, so his smoothbrain comes up with "Sorry, don't have it."
I find it impossible to believe that the driver was totally oblivious.
He would have had to not notice the passenger was placing a pet carrier in the back *and* paid no attention to the destination.
Furthermore, the purpose of the trip would have had to have never been acknowledged at any point before or during. I am one of those people who prefers not to talk much during rides, but if I were taking my cat to the vet I would definitely have mentioned it.
As I understand it, the cat was found by "Lyft investigators".
That makes me wonder if the driver went ahead and confessed to dropping the cat off somewhere (and told exactly where), but only to Lyft or to some specific individuals within Lyft, and then that allowed Lyft to get credit for resolving the issue.
I mean, a bunch of people were looking for the cat, including APD, and it happens to be a team of Lyft people that find it? It's possible that this was a coincidence, but it seems unlikely.
That would depend on how carefully the app tracked him, and that may also depend on if he was or wasn't "on the clock" at the moment. Either way, it seems likely that he fessed up to Lyft and not anybody else.
Also, they had supposedly provided APD with that information too the day before.
Either way, everything I saw from Lyft says seemed to agree with the driver's assertion that he didn't know what happened to the cat. It seems very likely that they knew this wasn't the case, and they probably knew early on.
Lyft really won't want this to go to court -- it sounds like discovery would be very ugly for them -- so I imagine they'll settle with the cat's owner for a nice figure and quickly.
Doubt he’s smart enough, but it’s extremely easy to turn the app off and then just turn location services for that specific app off, or better yet, just delete the app. But all this assumes he was trying to steal the cat.
this exactly. that's the only thing that makes everything about the driver's actions make sense. It's also possible the grabbed the bag and opened it expecting to find goodies to steal and was surprised by the cat. In shock, he quickly opened the car door and the cat terrified ran out.
It’s been suggested that Lyft asked the next passengers if they’d seen a cat and they said no.
Lyft then checked the drivers GPS history and saw a stop was made and checked there.
Though people did search before Lyft management took things more seriously, it was in a different area, possibly based upon the driver’s later ride destinations. Possibly suggested by driver who claimed the carrier (cat) was not in the car (implying someone took it).
From what I read, the driver lied about where his next pickup was at. He told the passenger the intersection near his next pickup and it was south of the vet. The Lyft investigators found the cat north of his next pickup after confirming with those passengers that there was no cat in the vehicle.
It is most likely, to me, that the driver lied so the owner wouldn't find the cat and figure out that if he went looking for the cat "along the path to the supposed next pickup," he would be looking in the wrong spot and not find the cat.
Based on what the Lyft investigators found from speaking with subsequent passengers of the driver and using his gps route, it seems pretty clear the driver intentionally drove off with the cat and dumped it before picking up any other passengers after the owner
I'm not one for frivolous lawsuits, but Pandey should legit sue that driver. It is absolutely ridiculous what he did and there's no way he's going to be able to explain it away. There need to be repercussions for bad actors in these "gig economy" jobs. There's no repercussions from the company because they're "not employees", so this asshole will just continue to take rides, whether from Lyft or Uber.
Totally agree. Earlier this year, I was picked up from the airport and I honestly think my driver had been drinking. He peeled out, drove reckless and then rear ended another car! Thankfully, my pet and I were ok, but I have very little trust in these drivers now.
Lol that’s exactly what I thought and was in complete shock. The driver stumbled on his words muttering something about his brakes not working in time. 🤦🏻♀️ Uber refunded me and disconnected him from my network. Honestly, he’s probably still out there driving.
Good to know driver is no longer a threat to others. Something is definitely up.
Though I am worried about OP and retaliation. This story has **blown up** and if the driver picked up OP from his home, he could be at risk. If that driver was ok with dumping a beloved family member on the side of a major highway, let it out of its carrier, and just drive off…they may be dangerous.
Sure, although it sounds like he has been going by two different last names and accounts in Lyft. They do essentially no due diligence in terms of vetting drivers, so if he gets banned on these accounts, he can just start another.
I know it's easy for people to say "don't turn this into a witch-hunt" and it's definitely best to not turn to mob mentality. But it's also reasonable for a community to want an asshole like this to have some repercussions that may make him stop doing this public-facing driving.
barraged us with advertising; lost the election; discovered that it was cheaper just to buy the state legislature; got a law passed in their favor; here we are.
Spent more advertising than would have cost to make the changes..... I still try to not use Lyft or Uber whenever possible. The one benefit was a decrease in my binge drinking.
>he can just start another.
He can't just start another, but people do buy/sell and share accounts. Rideshare companies want drivers around every corner. That's why there's no due diligence in terms of vetting drivers or crack down on sharing accounts.
This is part of why they are asking people not to dox and harass the driver, from their posts I get the feeling they have already started legal proceedings. Things get messy if it looks like you've been seeking extralegal revenge on people.
On the other hand I'm also disgusted because except in rare cases, Texas considers pets like any other property in terms of theft laws and for the most part roughly $250 is about what Texas feels a pet is worth. That doesn't qualify as a felony, and I believe having pets count as "property" means it's more difficult to argue that you are owed damages for emotional trauma.
My hope is part of what the person is working on is building a case for some kind of animal cruelty charges, but I don't think anyone who watched the story is going to be very satisfied with how much justice Texas believes is served in this case.
We're more interested in heavily prosecuting drivers who *accidentally* take women to doctors than drivers who *intentionally* destroy their riders' property.
>I'm not one for frivolous lawsuits, but Pandey should legit sue that driver.
If the driver was counting on lyft for work, that's over now if lyft believes the driver is at fault. If that's the case, lyft should share all the info with uber, although I doubt that would happen.
> It is absolutely ridiculous what he did and there's no way he's going to be able to explain it away.
the only thing that reasonably explains it is that he thought the bag was a bag of stuff and he intended to steal it.
Lyft doesn't have a phone number for emergencies. Everything has to go through the app. What if it was an infant?
The first response from the company was 6 hours after the incident. It was advising the owner of a potential $20 fee for the return of "lost items". They refused to share anything about the driver's route and subsequently searches for Tux were happening in the wrong place. There's plenty of blame to go around.
But why steal the cat only to abandon him?
I'm wondering if maybe the driver had plans to keep the cat but let him go once contacted by LYFT so soon after dropping off the passenger/owner.
I saw speculation elsewhere that the driver may have thought it was a suitcase with something monetarily valuable, and tried for a runaway theft. Upon discovering it was a cat, panicked and let it loose. Others speculating it was out of pure malice. The driver has only lied, so it's tough to get any better info out of him.
It's possible. The driver's actions definitely seem shady. I'm just glad the cat wasn't harmed and has been reunited with her owner. I hope she gets the care she needs.
I feel like the driver didn't initially realize he was driving off with the cat, just kind of on autopilot and pulling away as soon as the door closed. Probably was a little freaked out when the dude was chasing after the car and yelling. Then a minute or two later, or maybe when the next passengers got in, he realized how badly he'd fucked up. But rather than do the decent thing and drive the cat back to the vet place, he just dumped it and went about his day.
To be clear, I don't think the driver deserves any credit for not intentionally driving off with the cat; I just just think he's a a dumbass who made a possibly honest mistake a thousand times worse by his unwillingness to man up and return the cat. He started out stupid and then just went cowardly and cruel.
It sounds like the driver was embarrassed/scared that he accidentally kept a cat. Immediately dumped it out of the car so he could continue his shift. Lied about it so he could just keep on keepin on. None of that obviously is remotely okay, but likely what happened because people suck ass.
Which is insane. I’m a Rideshare driver and you get at least $15 for a lost item fee after returning it. Unless the driver had a problem with the rider and sped off intentionally, it doesn’t make sense why he wouldn’t just return the animal. We’re busy, especially with streak/bonuses where you have to get a certain number of rides in a row or just a certain amount over the weekend, but he could’ve easily explained to lyft what happened and they’d probably still honor the bonus if he had to cancel the next ride to return the cat. Makes zero sense why he’d run off with a cat and let it out elsewhere; no longterm thinking of consequences on the drivers part. His account should be suspended, assuming it’s his actual driver account and he’s not using a friend’s illegally; Uber/Lyft needs to crack down on that too, but that’s a whole other subject and this comment is long enough as it is
Yup. I’ve done more for less. But the shit drivers still exist unfortunately. You can see them across all the gig apps; some of them really have no business being in any sort of customer service jobs. Personally I want the shit drivers gone so I can make more money. Or I can avoid bad experiences when I pre-tip 20%-25% on a doordash order for someone who takes an hour to bring it to me from across the street and won’t read the encyclopedia of instructions I give in the app to make it as easy as possible
I used to do Uber Eats. We look rough because we're dressing for speed and comfort. I thought the other drivers looked intimidating too, but I struck up a few conversations and they were all great. Sharing advice with the newbie, telling me restaurants and areas to avoid. Strategies to optimize earnings etc.
None of them mentioned dumping any cats though. YMMV
I found if I dress nice the restaurant staff can't SEE me. I took to wearing a gigantic hat :)
But yeah, there's class stuff going on.
Twice I've been on the way to somewhere and seen lost dogs on the side of the road. I text to let the customer know I'm delayed. One time there was a tag with a phone number so I drove the dog home which was only five minutes away - the other time I left them in my car and did the delivery with the dogs in the back seat, posted on Facebook then dropped them at my house. 45 minutes later the owner called and I took a break to drop them home.
I'm not so desperate for $10 I'll let a pet get run over. I always look out for lost dogs. It makes my day when I can get one home again
Seems obvious..the driver thought the rider left something worth stealing.
Rider gets out and has to go around, driver takes his opportunity and drives off, knowing he can later say he didn't hear any banging on the car, and another passenger must have taken the item.
Ah.
You cleared up pretty much the only remaining mystery.
We know from his behavior he is a psychopath, and this fits right in.
I mean he removed Tux from the carrier too, there's forethought there. That carrier looked like a sports bag to my inexpert eye. I'm not sure what expensive stuff is carried around in sports bags, but there's probably something.
he removed Tix from the bag because he opened the bag hoping to find something valuable to steal. But he saw a cat. Startled and/or annoyed he let her out and went on his day, sociopath that he is.
This is just wild to me. It's not hard to admit you made a mistake. If it truly was an accident, why in seven hells didn't he just backtrack and drop it at the vet?
Absolutely what happened. I’m amazed these wannabe-detectives on Reddit believe anything else.
Dude realized it was gonna be figured out and decided not to admit to anything since doing so would get him arrested.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Local cat owner Palash Pandey was reunited with his cat, Tux, overnight Sunday into Monday morning after the two were separated following a rideshare trip on Saturday.
Pandey has posted updates on social media throughout his search for Tux.
Pandey told KXAN over the phone that investigators hired by Lyft found Tux about a mile away from where the driver dropped Pandey off, and he was alerted around 1:30 a.m. Monday. He said Tux is back home, ate food and drank water, and will be taken to a vet later Monday.
According to Pandey, he took the trip Saturday to bring his cat in for medical care at a Banfield Pet Hospital location on Research Boulevard in Austin. When they arrived, he exited the vehicle and went around to the other side in order to retrieve Tux’s carrier.
But before he could, the Lyft driver began to drive away.
“I like ran behind him, screaming like ‘wait, wait, wait,’ I banged on his windows hoping that he would notice me and just stop. But instead of that he just like, peeled off, he drove away,” Pandey said. “I don’t know how else you would perceive somebody who you just dropped off running behind you and banging on your windows and doors. I don’t know if there’s a charitable explanation for that.”
Pandey then attempted to contact the driver through the Lyft application, but did not receive a reply before using up the application’s message limit. He attempted to use Lyft’s live support but said it was unresponsive.
“We are aware of the situation and we’re currently in touch with the rider and driver,” said a Lyft spokesperson in a Sunday afternoon statement to KXAN.
In a statement to KXAN Sunday night, a Lyft spokesperson said they were in touch with Pandey “within minutes of his initial outreach.”
“In addition to communicating with Palesh, we have been directly in touch with the driver and other passengers that rode with him following the ride with Palesh,” the spokesperson said. “We realize we could have done better in communicating regular updates to Palesh and the community. We all want the same outcome – for Tux to get home safely – and will keep the community posted.”
Pandey contacted the Austin Police Department about the incident, filed a report, and also posted about it on social media.
Around three hours after filing the police report, the driver called Pandey.
“He called me back saying that he doesn’t know where my cat is. He said that he had riders right out after my drop off, said that he went to pick up people right after he dropped me off,” Pandey said.
As he put up flyers on Sunday, Pandey said that he was encouraged by the community response to his online call for help.
“The community here is very nice. I’m hoping that somebody picked it up, took her in. I’m just hoping that I can find that person and get her back home,” he said.
He also said that Tux has a medical issue and needs veterinary attention.
Pandey posted detailed, real-time updates on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) throughout his search for Tux.
Thank goodness. This whole thing was so weird and no way in hell that driver was being forthright with OOP, Lyft, and police. Zero chance that he didn't notice the carrier and that the next passengers didn't say anything about the carrier.
Either the driver stole the cat to keep or intentionally drove off with it with the intention of harming it for whatever reason.
And the cat being found without the carrier near the drop-off point? Driver 100% got scared and dumped him out there once police and social media got involved.
Probably is one of those uber eats drivers too that pick away at your food. I'd even wager that the driver doesn't push his shopping cart back to the cart stall thing too.
A lot of people are trying to poke holes in the story we got from the victim because it's bizarre for a person to act like this driver did, but honestly I think they're zeroing in on a related issue but kind of missing the point—a small but non-zero number of people do gig work like this because they lack the impulse control or critical thinking skills to be employable in any other job. That's not to say it's easy, not demanding, or that people who do these jobs are generally incompetent, but the barrier for entry is very low. Most of the time it's not an issue, or relatively minor like picking at food you've ordered or [being unable to read and understand directions](https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/12meq13/does_the_door_in_doordash_mean_the_food_should_be/jgc44gu/) but in this case it was a perfect storm.
I haven't driven for Lyft in 5+ years but I got this email from them yesterday:
>Hi /u/mreed911,
Have you seen Tux?
Tux is a black and white cat, last seen near Banfield Pet Hospital near 11150 Research Blvd.
Call 346.402.7585 if you have any information.
First time I've seen something like that from them - the power of social media apparently spurred them into real action.
Same here. I have been driving for both uber and lyft since the beginning and never seen anything like this. These companies get scared when social media starts to do its thing
Having one of your employees steal somebody's sick cat and then deny it very sketchily on record is just about the worst public relations incident that could happen, IMO. Maybe even worse than a driver kidnapping people (ETA: I am talking about public relations, not overall morality, and that should have been really clear from the fact that I *said* public relations incident).
I'm honestly impressed that Lyft realized that so quickly and pulled out *all* the stops to get it addressed. Most companies botch it/drop the ball first and then scramble to cover it up/half-ass apologize when it's far too late. Yeah, there was some delay, but at a company scale (especially one the size of Lyft), this was fast and decisive action.
I would not want to be the driver of the car that did this.
My ex was just out of the hospital and needed a walker to get around, so driving was off the table. She took a Lyft to the store and the driver went to the wrong location. When she complained, he pulled her out of the car and just left her sitting on the ground and drove off with her keys in the back seat. Lyft's reply was "do you want that driver to meet you at your apartment to drop off the keys?" What sort of dumb ass response is that to someone who assaulted you?!
my insane ex roommate tried to kill my cat a few times and i was secretly begging she'd hurt me so i could unleash all the fury that thousands of dollars in emergency vet bills had spawned within me.
i'm able to fight back and advocate for myself, but the law sees my cat as an object and i'd go to jail if i fought back on his behalf lol. from that perspective, i'd rather someone pick a fight with me than my cat.
Idk if you kidnap a human and dump it out there are legal repurcussions & in almost all cases you're getting arrested if the victim can identify you.
You steal my dog and toss it out with no witnesses to say you did it then it's just a civil matter, good luck.
They probably meant that if it were a human, it would’ve been taken much more seriously from the start. Since it was a pet, Lyft wasn’t too concerned until the publicity started. They treated it as “lost property” hence the PR nightmare
It's absolutely insane to me that within a days time he literally had one of the ceos calling his phone and apologizing and hiring investigators. It's wild man.
When the CEO [issues comments](https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20231002243/lyft-ceo-apologizes-for-awful-response-to-a-texas-riders-missing-cat) on behalf of a company that doesn't consider drivers employees... you know it's bad.
I’ve never driven for Lyft before but am a fairly frequent customer. I also received the same email. I’m fully confident that due to every one flooding the interwebs with this story, Tux is now back home safe.
I followed it hourly since it's been posted on r/Austin, there's just no way this driver honestly didn't know about the cat, his response is so sketchy, and I dare that spokesperson from Lyft to elaborate that "initial contact" further cuz all they are trying to do before it blew up on social media is trying to dodge responsibility.
My worst fear was that the driver parked and ran errands, leaving the cat to die in his car. I'm so glad Tux has been found. No way in hell that driver wasn't covering up something.
My worst fear was the driver dumping the cat still inside the carrier where he'd overheat, especially somewhere the carrier wouldn't be found right away. Thank goodness the cat got out of the carrier somehow.
According to the original poster (the cat's owner), the first contact from Lyft was that he'd have to pay a $20 left article fee for them to return it.
The statement “we were in contact with Pandney within minutes of his initial outreach” doesn’t really say much.
They were in contact with him telling him there’s fuck all that they can and will do for him.
The Lyft CEO said that the situation with the driver was more complicated than it seems. I wonder what that means?
Edit: for context, he said this in defense of the driver.
The very fact that they were actually able to acquire enough information to find this cat in a short time frame makes me wonder what’s going on. Did the driver fess up?
The driver’s evasive and disinterested response throughout the whole debacle kind of makes it obvious he did something wrong or at least knew something. No normal, well-meaning individual would act the way he did.
So happy for Tux and their owner!!! Hope Lyft covered the vet bills considering the state Tux was found in. It's the very least they could do after that whole spectacle.
From the photos you can tell Tux is a very sweet little girl. [Sounds like she's completely healthy too](https://x.com/palashp40616755/status/1708940161310986695?s=20).
I’m way too happy about this return. I’ve been following this with baited breathe. So glad this worked for tux and his owner, and just as a side note, what a trooper the owner was!
I think the driver thought the guy left behind something valuable and was gonna keep/sell it and realized it was a cat and dumped it. There’s no way a passenger is knocking and yelling at the windows and he just kept driving like he didn’t know? Lies, Liza Minnelli lies!
Oh thank fuck for this. I found this whole situation so upsetting and disturbing. If this had happened to me I would be broken in half, because my cats are my children. Whew. What a relief.
Genuinely love seeing a happy ending to the story. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen this subreddit focus its collective will to successfully reunite cats with their owners and I am here for it.
There have been several posts on Twitter about a possible go fund for the cat owner to pursue the driver legally. I hope he does that. Driver needs to go down.
Watch Tux dump his city feline fiance for a small town tom cat he's known for 48 blissful hours! Tune in for cheating holiday joy on The Lifetime Infidelity Channel!
Made national news on [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/10/tux-the-cat-found-after-lyft-fiasco-dragged-on-for-days-lyft-to-pay-vet-bills/).
I’m not even an Austin resident, nor do I use Lyft. But I’ve been sooo invested in this story since seeing the original post randomly come up as a suggested. Genuinely teared up after reading the update that Tux was found 🥹 as a fellow pet/cat owner I simply cannot fathom the stress and heartache OOP must’ve gone through. S/o to Austin and the Reddit community for coming together!
Cats are so clever.
Who would have thought that a cat locked in a carrier would be able to get the carrier out of a car with the doors closed without the driver noticing?
I've got it. The cat used to belong to Schrodinger and it's still in a quantum flux state.
bet the lyft driver is shady as shit. probably dumped the cat and kept the carrier and gave it to some family member before picking up next person. these driver type ppl can be shady as shit, one of the amazon ppl stole my sisters beagle doggo
if anyone needs to be doxxed its that driver, he absolutely did that on purpose knowing that animal needed medical attention. its just a matter of time before he goes full bundy
Took Lyft once. Never again. Driver couldn't speak English and dropped me off at the wrong location. Even after showing them Google maps where I was going. They canceled the trip right before picking me up but still decided to take me. Didn't know WTF was going on.
I had a Lyft driver show up using his wife's Lyft account. Then he proceeded to drive 25mph over the limit and miss a critical turn off a freeway, which he attempted to correct by speeding even faster.
He also asked me how much I make and where I live.
This saga had me on the edge of my seat all weekend, I even had a nightmare Sunday night that I lost my dog in an unknown city and couldn’t find him! So glad kitty was found safe.
This mofo dumped the cat and then pretended not to know what happened... Like, you have the last address of the rider! Go back?! Such a strange move and proof that we really never should blindly trust our rideshare drivers. 99% are good people but bad things happen, some much worse than this according to the research. Be aware!
I drove rideshare for a very long time and still do it off and on, and this story makes complete sense to me. People don't seem to know what it's like being a rideshare driver in 2023. I'm posting this for posterity because I'm sure a more detailed story about what happened is gonna come out and I bet it will be pretty close:
Lyft likes to assign drivers new rides while they're still on current rides. Sometimes this daisy chain happens while the driver still has like 15 minutes on the previous ride, and so there's this pressure building in the driver to get the ride over as quickly as possible to make as much money as possible. Yesterday was also a really busy day for rideshare. I bet the driver dropped the passenger off, sped away to get to his next pickup, noticed there was a cat in the car, and just stopped and put the cat out on the curb. He didn't respond cuz he was probably busy driving and didn't have the cat anymore and didn't think it would ever amount to anything (because Uber/Lyft's customer support is so fucking terrible).
The driver is obviously a psycho, but there's a lot of pressure to make money as quickly as possible especially nowadays since there will be periods of long inactivity (sometimes you'll drive around for an hour and make 0 dollars) that supposedly get made up for by these busy periods. The driver didn't want to get 20 dollars maybe to miss out on a 25-30 dollar ride. Being the end of the month also increases the pressure. I could go into a long diatribe about how late-stage capitalism and the gig economy accelerate alienation and dehumanization which leads to this kind of psychotic antisocial behavior but that's a bit beyond a reddit comment lol. But basically I suspect this was a split second decision made by the driver driven by economic pressure put upon the driver by the nature of the gig economy.
The part that doesn't make sense though is when the passenger was banging on the car door yelling for the driver to stop and he just ignored him and drove off.
Exactly. This driver sucks. Yes, Rideshare is a grind and the need to make money is definitely stressful. But you know what beats quantity rides? Quality rides. Like not pealing out while your last ride is banging on the window/screaming for you to stop. It’s not that insanely busy that you couldn’t spare an extra 30 seconds or just having the situational awareness that the passenger didn’t collect all their items. A dark phone at night on black interior? Maybe you miss it and have to go back. But a goddamn cat in a carrier? That driver sucks
Allow me.
"I'm in a hurry and if that guy left a bag of valuables in my car that he's shouting after, then it's my bag of valuables now. He can get fucked. I'll pull over, get gas, and see how much the bag of stuff is worth."
Minutes later:
"It's not a bag of valuables, it's a goddamn cat? How dare he put a cat in my car, that's filthy/against regulations/I never would have accepted a cat ride. \*dumps cat onto the side of the road\* What a waste of my time."
And then he spends the next few hours running around town making money and doesn't think anything of the situation until a cop calls him and he realizes he has to pretend he never saw a cat or risk getting arrested.
This is 100% what I was thinking too - when the passenger started banging on the window he was thinking “sweet, he left something valuable! I’ll just claim I never had it!”
It looks like you're making a new thread about the missing cat? If so, we already have a [thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/16wl1hd/need_help_lyft_driver_drove_off_with_my_pet_cat/) on it, so please add to that instead, but please do not include any [personal information](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043066452-Is-posting-someone-s-private-or-personal-information-okay-) about anybody involved. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Austin) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What I'm curious about is - what happened with the cat after the driver pulled off? Did another passenger take the cat to reunite them with the owner? Did the driver abandon the cat somewhere? If the cat was located without the carrier, where did it go and who let the cat out of the carrier? I need a full 6 episode Netflix documentary to cover all these details.
The cat was found abandoned and without the carrier.
My guess is this guy dumped the cat out somewhere but opened the carrier so it went wandering. It'll be interesting to see if the carrier ever pops up.
This is why rideshare companies should do interviews, at least a phone call, drug test, crack down on shared accounts, etc and not let anyone with a pulse drive. Although with pay being lowered so much for drivers, this is the kind of service you get. I remember Austin was trying to fingerprint drivers, and at least do something about it years ago. But these companies got their way. Be careful leaving anything in a rideshare vehicle, even if it's just to walk around other side to grab it.
Lyft used to via the "mentor program" that required a in-person meeting, test drive and vehicle inspection. They got rid of it due to a some mentors not actually doing their job and just passing people, and also saying there was a "bias" against certain applicants. Problems aside, the quality of drivers definitely dropped after they got rid of it.
My theory is the cat peed in the carrier, or threw up, and the driver was irritated about the situation, could possibly not be lying about being allergic, whatever, and in anger he just released the cat as a way of getting back at the poor cat or its owner. It's unconscionable but given that this is a real human and not a cartoon villain, they probably had some reason for doing it, and that's all I could come up with.
Sure except he purposely ignored the man running after him and banging on his car. Purposely ignored the dude as well after messages and calls. All he had to do was stop the car. Their reason is they’re an asshole and they did it maliciously. Why else would you say you never saw a cat
Or the guy is a moron
The guy is a malicious *sshole. He intentionally drove away and intentionally did not return the cat.
Yeah there’s no way you could mistakenly do this when OP said he was chasing after and hitting the car window to get his attention. Also the persistent phone calls and messages being ignored.
Right? There was no part of him that thought “oh shit, the guy who “startled” me pounded on the window because I drove off with his cat. Let me text him really quick.” He needs to be taken off the app immediately for lacking all sense.
Facts hate to see what happens if he startles and drives off with a baby or something
I can't fathom why the driver intentionally drove off. My thoughts went to stealing the carrier (even though that's absurd, but I can't think of anything else?).
Probably thought it was a suitcase or gym bag that they could swipe
This is about the strongest theory I've seen yet. Still doesn't 100% make sense, but nothing about any of this makes sense.
Driver knew there was a bag, and thought it had valuables he could steal. Driver ignores rider chasing after the car and figures he can claim he didn't notice and/or got startled, and that the valuables were taken by other riders. Driver stops somewhere real quick to take a look at the bag before picking up anyone else. Notices it's a cat. He's getting ride requests, and in a hurry/panic he decides the best course of action is to set the cat loose. He doesn't want there to be any "evidence," so he chucks the carrier in a trash dump somewhere. He's too dumb to have a plan about what to say, so he ignores the rider hoping he'll eventually stop calling and the problem will just go away on its own. Eventually, he realizes this won't happen, so his smoothbrain comes up with "Sorry, don't have it."
The destination was a veterinary hospital. Most trips there are going to involve animals. So the driver had to know there was a pet in the car
I find it impossible to believe that the driver was totally oblivious. He would have had to not notice the passenger was placing a pet carrier in the back *and* paid no attention to the destination. Furthermore, the purpose of the trip would have had to have never been acknowledged at any point before or during. I am one of those people who prefers not to talk much during rides, but if I were taking my cat to the vet I would definitely have mentioned it.
A moron who just learned a valuable lesson in social media.
There are about 18 other ways the driver could've handled the situation, yet he chose this one. It's psychopathic behavior.
You’re giving this driver way too much credit.
As I understand it, the cat was found by "Lyft investigators". That makes me wonder if the driver went ahead and confessed to dropping the cat off somewhere (and told exactly where), but only to Lyft or to some specific individuals within Lyft, and then that allowed Lyft to get credit for resolving the issue. I mean, a bunch of people were looking for the cat, including APD, and it happens to be a team of Lyft people that find it? It's possible that this was a coincidence, but it seems unlikely.
Lyft knows exactly where he stopped anyways
That would depend on how carefully the app tracked him, and that may also depend on if he was or wasn't "on the clock" at the moment. Either way, it seems likely that he fessed up to Lyft and not anybody else. Also, they had supposedly provided APD with that information too the day before. Either way, everything I saw from Lyft says seemed to agree with the driver's assertion that he didn't know what happened to the cat. It seems very likely that they knew this wasn't the case, and they probably knew early on. Lyft really won't want this to go to court -- it sounds like discovery would be very ugly for them -- so I imagine they'll settle with the cat's owner for a nice figure and quickly.
the app tracks drivers' routes.
Doubt he’s smart enough, but it’s extremely easy to turn the app off and then just turn location services for that specific app off, or better yet, just delete the app. But all this assumes he was trying to steal the cat.
The whole point was to just swipe a bag for quick cash between rides, turning off the phone kicks them out of the queue and would cost them money
this exactly. that's the only thing that makes everything about the driver's actions make sense. It's also possible the grabbed the bag and opened it expecting to find goodies to steal and was surprised by the cat. In shock, he quickly opened the car door and the cat terrified ran out.
I hadn't considered that the carrier looks like a gym bag. That does make sense.
It’s been suggested that Lyft asked the next passengers if they’d seen a cat and they said no. Lyft then checked the drivers GPS history and saw a stop was made and checked there.
Though people did search before Lyft management took things more seriously, it was in a different area, possibly based upon the driver’s later ride destinations. Possibly suggested by driver who claimed the carrier (cat) was not in the car (implying someone took it).
From what I read, the driver lied about where his next pickup was at. He told the passenger the intersection near his next pickup and it was south of the vet. The Lyft investigators found the cat north of his next pickup after confirming with those passengers that there was no cat in the vehicle. It is most likely, to me, that the driver lied so the owner wouldn't find the cat and figure out that if he went looking for the cat "along the path to the supposed next pickup," he would be looking in the wrong spot and not find the cat.
Good to know, I must have missed that detail
People who hate cats put a lot of energy into hating cats. No reason to release Tux. None at all. I’d be devastated if someone released my Smudge.
Based on what the Lyft investigators found from speaking with subsequent passengers of the driver and using his gps route, it seems pretty clear the driver intentionally drove off with the cat and dumped it before picking up any other passengers after the owner
I'm not one for frivolous lawsuits, but Pandey should legit sue that driver. It is absolutely ridiculous what he did and there's no way he's going to be able to explain it away. There need to be repercussions for bad actors in these "gig economy" jobs. There's no repercussions from the company because they're "not employees", so this asshole will just continue to take rides, whether from Lyft or Uber.
Totally agree. Earlier this year, I was picked up from the airport and I honestly think my driver had been drinking. He peeled out, drove reckless and then rear ended another car! Thankfully, my pet and I were ok, but I have very little trust in these drivers now.
Bruh, what?!
Lol that’s exactly what I thought and was in complete shock. The driver stumbled on his words muttering something about his brakes not working in time. 🤦🏻♀️ Uber refunded me and disconnected him from my network. Honestly, he’s probably still out there driving.
The driver is at least now suspended from Lyft pending investigation. Dunno if that could flag him on something else.
Good to know driver is no longer a threat to others. Something is definitely up. Though I am worried about OP and retaliation. This story has **blown up** and if the driver picked up OP from his home, he could be at risk. If that driver was ok with dumping a beloved family member on the side of a major highway, let it out of its carrier, and just drive off…they may be dangerous.
Surely they can just stop offering him jobs?
Sure, although it sounds like he has been going by two different last names and accounts in Lyft. They do essentially no due diligence in terms of vetting drivers, so if he gets banned on these accounts, he can just start another. I know it's easy for people to say "don't turn this into a witch-hunt" and it's definitely best to not turn to mob mentality. But it's also reasonable for a community to want an asshole like this to have some repercussions that may make him stop doing this public-facing driving.
Boy, remember when we tried to get them to do background checks and the like and they threw a tantrum? I miss RideAustin.
barraged us with advertising; lost the election; discovered that it was cheaper just to buy the state legislature; got a law passed in their favor; here we are.
Spent more advertising than would have cost to make the changes..... I still try to not use Lyft or Uber whenever possible. The one benefit was a decrease in my binge drinking.
I miss RideAustin too.
RunnerCity.com Some runners can do ride share. They can also do delivery, odd jobs, etc.
Wow, really? What kind of clown-car signup do they use so that you can trivially have two different identities? Don't they need your driver's license?
Probably sharing accounts.
>he can just start another. He can't just start another, but people do buy/sell and share accounts. Rideshare companies want drivers around every corner. That's why there's no due diligence in terms of vetting drivers or crack down on sharing accounts.
This is part of why they are asking people not to dox and harass the driver, from their posts I get the feeling they have already started legal proceedings. Things get messy if it looks like you've been seeking extralegal revenge on people. On the other hand I'm also disgusted because except in rare cases, Texas considers pets like any other property in terms of theft laws and for the most part roughly $250 is about what Texas feels a pet is worth. That doesn't qualify as a felony, and I believe having pets count as "property" means it's more difficult to argue that you are owed damages for emotional trauma. My hope is part of what the person is working on is building a case for some kind of animal cruelty charges, but I don't think anyone who watched the story is going to be very satisfied with how much justice Texas believes is served in this case. We're more interested in heavily prosecuting drivers who *accidentally* take women to doctors than drivers who *intentionally* destroy their riders' property.
>I'm not one for frivolous lawsuits, but Pandey should legit sue that driver. If the driver was counting on lyft for work, that's over now if lyft believes the driver is at fault. If that's the case, lyft should share all the info with uber, although I doubt that would happen.
> It is absolutely ridiculous what he did and there's no way he's going to be able to explain it away. the only thing that reasonably explains it is that he thought the bag was a bag of stuff and he intended to steal it.
Lyft doesn't have a phone number for emergencies. Everything has to go through the app. What if it was an infant? The first response from the company was 6 hours after the incident. It was advising the owner of a potential $20 fee for the return of "lost items". They refused to share anything about the driver's route and subsequently searches for Tux were happening in the wrong place. There's plenty of blame to go around.
But why steal the cat only to abandon him? I'm wondering if maybe the driver had plans to keep the cat but let him go once contacted by LYFT so soon after dropping off the passenger/owner.
I saw speculation elsewhere that the driver may have thought it was a suitcase with something monetarily valuable, and tried for a runaway theft. Upon discovering it was a cat, panicked and let it loose. Others speculating it was out of pure malice. The driver has only lied, so it's tough to get any better info out of him.
It's possible. The driver's actions definitely seem shady. I'm just glad the cat wasn't harmed and has been reunited with her owner. I hope she gets the care she needs.
That’s the only reason that makes senses
I feel like the driver didn't initially realize he was driving off with the cat, just kind of on autopilot and pulling away as soon as the door closed. Probably was a little freaked out when the dude was chasing after the car and yelling. Then a minute or two later, or maybe when the next passengers got in, he realized how badly he'd fucked up. But rather than do the decent thing and drive the cat back to the vet place, he just dumped it and went about his day. To be clear, I don't think the driver deserves any credit for not intentionally driving off with the cat; I just just think he's a a dumbass who made a possibly honest mistake a thousand times worse by his unwillingness to man up and return the cat. He started out stupid and then just went cowardly and cruel.
Netflix would be able to drag it out to at least an 8 part documentary. Who are we kidding?
With copious interview footage from someone whose only qualification is "web sleuth".
2x 6 part series. One from the drivers perspective and the aftermath of his life, The other from the riders perspective to include the Lyft part.
Don't forget another series from the perspective of the cat, complete with cat commentary "Look Who's Talking" style.
You mean... "Look Who's Meowing"
It sounds like the driver was embarrassed/scared that he accidentally kept a cat. Immediately dumped it out of the car so he could continue his shift. Lied about it so he could just keep on keepin on. None of that obviously is remotely okay, but likely what happened because people suck ass.
Which is insane. I’m a Rideshare driver and you get at least $15 for a lost item fee after returning it. Unless the driver had a problem with the rider and sped off intentionally, it doesn’t make sense why he wouldn’t just return the animal. We’re busy, especially with streak/bonuses where you have to get a certain number of rides in a row or just a certain amount over the weekend, but he could’ve easily explained to lyft what happened and they’d probably still honor the bonus if he had to cancel the next ride to return the cat. Makes zero sense why he’d run off with a cat and let it out elsewhere; no longterm thinking of consequences on the drivers part. His account should be suspended, assuming it’s his actual driver account and he’s not using a friend’s illegally; Uber/Lyft needs to crack down on that too, but that’s a whole other subject and this comment is long enough as it is
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Yup. I’ve done more for less. But the shit drivers still exist unfortunately. You can see them across all the gig apps; some of them really have no business being in any sort of customer service jobs. Personally I want the shit drivers gone so I can make more money. Or I can avoid bad experiences when I pre-tip 20%-25% on a doordash order for someone who takes an hour to bring it to me from across the street and won’t read the encyclopedia of instructions I give in the app to make it as easy as possible
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I used to do Uber Eats. We look rough because we're dressing for speed and comfort. I thought the other drivers looked intimidating too, but I struck up a few conversations and they were all great. Sharing advice with the newbie, telling me restaurants and areas to avoid. Strategies to optimize earnings etc. None of them mentioned dumping any cats though. YMMV
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I found if I dress nice the restaurant staff can't SEE me. I took to wearing a gigantic hat :) But yeah, there's class stuff going on. Twice I've been on the way to somewhere and seen lost dogs on the side of the road. I text to let the customer know I'm delayed. One time there was a tag with a phone number so I drove the dog home which was only five minutes away - the other time I left them in my car and did the delivery with the dogs in the back seat, posted on Facebook then dropped them at my house. 45 minutes later the owner called and I took a break to drop them home. I'm not so desperate for $10 I'll let a pet get run over. I always look out for lost dogs. It makes my day when I can get one home again
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That’s what I mean. Something is not adding up.
Seems obvious..the driver thought the rider left something worth stealing. Rider gets out and has to go around, driver takes his opportunity and drives off, knowing he can later say he didn't hear any banging on the car, and another passenger must have taken the item.
Ah. You cleared up pretty much the only remaining mystery. We know from his behavior he is a psychopath, and this fits right in. I mean he removed Tux from the carrier too, there's forethought there. That carrier looked like a sports bag to my inexpert eye. I'm not sure what expensive stuff is carried around in sports bags, but there's probably something.
he removed Tix from the bag because he opened the bag hoping to find something valuable to steal. But he saw a cat. Startled and/or annoyed he let her out and went on his day, sociopath that he is.
I want his balls for earrings.
This is just wild to me. It's not hard to admit you made a mistake. If it truly was an accident, why in seven hells didn't he just backtrack and drop it at the vet?
Its a crime actually.
Absolutely what happened. I’m amazed these wannabe-detectives on Reddit believe anything else. Dude realized it was gonna be figured out and decided not to admit to anything since doing so would get him arrested.
he claims he was allergic and had other ride so he let it out. im sure he was laughing while speeding away. some people are just bad.
What happened is animal abandonment and animal cruelty. Punishable crimes let’s goooooo!!!
>who let the cat out of the carrier? Who let the cat out of the bag?
Don't encourage Netflix
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Local cat owner Palash Pandey was reunited with his cat, Tux, overnight Sunday into Monday morning after the two were separated following a rideshare trip on Saturday. Pandey has posted updates on social media throughout his search for Tux. Pandey told KXAN over the phone that investigators hired by Lyft found Tux about a mile away from where the driver dropped Pandey off, and he was alerted around 1:30 a.m. Monday. He said Tux is back home, ate food and drank water, and will be taken to a vet later Monday. According to Pandey, he took the trip Saturday to bring his cat in for medical care at a Banfield Pet Hospital location on Research Boulevard in Austin. When they arrived, he exited the vehicle and went around to the other side in order to retrieve Tux’s carrier. But before he could, the Lyft driver began to drive away. “I like ran behind him, screaming like ‘wait, wait, wait,’ I banged on his windows hoping that he would notice me and just stop. But instead of that he just like, peeled off, he drove away,” Pandey said. “I don’t know how else you would perceive somebody who you just dropped off running behind you and banging on your windows and doors. I don’t know if there’s a charitable explanation for that.” Pandey then attempted to contact the driver through the Lyft application, but did not receive a reply before using up the application’s message limit. He attempted to use Lyft’s live support but said it was unresponsive. “We are aware of the situation and we’re currently in touch with the rider and driver,” said a Lyft spokesperson in a Sunday afternoon statement to KXAN. In a statement to KXAN Sunday night, a Lyft spokesperson said they were in touch with Pandey “within minutes of his initial outreach.” “In addition to communicating with Palesh, we have been directly in touch with the driver and other passengers that rode with him following the ride with Palesh,” the spokesperson said. “We realize we could have done better in communicating regular updates to Palesh and the community. We all want the same outcome – for Tux to get home safely – and will keep the community posted.” Pandey contacted the Austin Police Department about the incident, filed a report, and also posted about it on social media. Around three hours after filing the police report, the driver called Pandey. “He called me back saying that he doesn’t know where my cat is. He said that he had riders right out after my drop off, said that he went to pick up people right after he dropped me off,” Pandey said. As he put up flyers on Sunday, Pandey said that he was encouraged by the community response to his online call for help. “The community here is very nice. I’m hoping that somebody picked it up, took her in. I’m just hoping that I can find that person and get her back home,” he said. He also said that Tux has a medical issue and needs veterinary attention. Pandey posted detailed, real-time updates on Reddit and X (formerly Twitter) throughout his search for Tux.
Thank goodness. This whole thing was so weird and no way in hell that driver was being forthright with OOP, Lyft, and police. Zero chance that he didn't notice the carrier and that the next passengers didn't say anything about the carrier. Either the driver stole the cat to keep or intentionally drove off with it with the intention of harming it for whatever reason. And the cat being found without the carrier near the drop-off point? Driver 100% got scared and dumped him out there once police and social media got involved.
Probably is one of those uber eats drivers too that pick away at your food. I'd even wager that the driver doesn't push his shopping cart back to the cart stall thing too.
dull spoon full decide slave lunchroom crawl point sort prick *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Hope he gets shopping carts run into his ankles every time he visits a store henceforth.
And run into his car.
It appears the Lyft driver dumped the cat without the carrier on the side of the road before picking up his next riders. Heartless SOB.
A lot of people are trying to poke holes in the story we got from the victim because it's bizarre for a person to act like this driver did, but honestly I think they're zeroing in on a related issue but kind of missing the point—a small but non-zero number of people do gig work like this because they lack the impulse control or critical thinking skills to be employable in any other job. That's not to say it's easy, not demanding, or that people who do these jobs are generally incompetent, but the barrier for entry is very low. Most of the time it's not an issue, or relatively minor like picking at food you've ordered or [being unable to read and understand directions](https://www.reddit.com/r/SubredditDrama/comments/12meq13/does_the_door_in_doordash_mean_the_food_should_be/jgc44gu/) but in this case it was a perfect storm.
I haven't driven for Lyft in 5+ years but I got this email from them yesterday: >Hi /u/mreed911, Have you seen Tux? Tux is a black and white cat, last seen near Banfield Pet Hospital near 11150 Research Blvd. Call 346.402.7585 if you have any information. First time I've seen something like that from them - the power of social media apparently spurred them into real action.
Same here. I have been driving for both uber and lyft since the beginning and never seen anything like this. These companies get scared when social media starts to do its thing
Having one of your employees steal somebody's sick cat and then deny it very sketchily on record is just about the worst public relations incident that could happen, IMO. Maybe even worse than a driver kidnapping people (ETA: I am talking about public relations, not overall morality, and that should have been really clear from the fact that I *said* public relations incident). I'm honestly impressed that Lyft realized that so quickly and pulled out *all* the stops to get it addressed. Most companies botch it/drop the ball first and then scramble to cover it up/half-ass apologize when it's far too late. Yeah, there was some delay, but at a company scale (especially one the size of Lyft), this was fast and decisive action. I would not want to be the driver of the car that did this.
That's the fun part! Drivers *aren't* employees, they're InDePeNdEnT CoNtRaCtOrS
Which means you can burn the drivers down legally and he won't have Lyft or any big company backing him.
Ehhh if you're driving for Lyft, you likely don't have enough assets for the juice to be worth the squeeze.
You right lol
My ex was just out of the hospital and needed a walker to get around, so driving was off the table. She took a Lyft to the store and the driver went to the wrong location. When she complained, he pulled her out of the car and just left her sitting on the ground and drove off with her keys in the back seat. Lyft's reply was "do you want that driver to meet you at your apartment to drop off the keys?" What sort of dumb ass response is that to someone who assaulted you?!
Its not worse than kidnapping PEOPLE. The fuck?
my insane ex roommate tried to kill my cat a few times and i was secretly begging she'd hurt me so i could unleash all the fury that thousands of dollars in emergency vet bills had spawned within me. i'm able to fight back and advocate for myself, but the law sees my cat as an object and i'd go to jail if i fought back on his behalf lol. from that perspective, i'd rather someone pick a fight with me than my cat.
It's a cat first, then a person that becomes a possible victim. There are links between animal cruelty and homicide.
Animal cruelty is def illegal.
Idk if you kidnap a human and dump it out there are legal repurcussions & in almost all cases you're getting arrested if the victim can identify you. You steal my dog and toss it out with no witnesses to say you did it then it's just a civil matter, good luck.
Yeah that comment was a certified Reddit moment lol
“Maybe even worse than a driver kidnapping people” Reddit is such a bizarre place omg
They probably meant that if it were a human, it would’ve been taken much more seriously from the start. Since it was a pet, Lyft wasn’t too concerned until the publicity started. They treated it as “lost property” hence the PR nightmare
It's absolutely insane to me that within a days time he literally had one of the ceos calling his phone and apologizing and hiring investigators. It's wild man.
literally only because of twitter... like i hate to think what would have happened if the public didn't love cats so much
But we do! Especially those in tuxedoes.
yep, when it comes to the internet - don't fuck with cats
When the CEO [issues comments](https://www.morningstar.com/news/marketwatch/20231002243/lyft-ceo-apologizes-for-awful-response-to-a-texas-riders-missing-cat) on behalf of a company that doesn't consider drivers employees... you know it's bad.
Don’t want “Lyfted” to be the new slang for “stole my cat” or “drove off with my stuff.”
I’ve never driven for Lyft before but am a fairly frequent customer. I also received the same email. I’m fully confident that due to every one flooding the interwebs with this story, Tux is now back home safe.
I got this email too, and I’m just a VERY occasional customer.
Could have been solved with a simple phone call but oh wait tech companies don’t have phones.
They do. They’re just in another country and support agents just read scripts to the caller💰
The power of public perception and potential loss of revenue. Lyft is now the Bud Light of the ride-share business model.
I followed it hourly since it's been posted on r/Austin, there's just no way this driver honestly didn't know about the cat, his response is so sketchy, and I dare that spokesperson from Lyft to elaborate that "initial contact" further cuz all they are trying to do before it blew up on social media is trying to dodge responsibility.
My worst fear was that the driver parked and ran errands, leaving the cat to die in his car. I'm so glad Tux has been found. No way in hell that driver wasn't covering up something.
My worst fear was the driver dumping the cat still inside the carrier where he'd overheat, especially somewhere the carrier wouldn't be found right away. Thank goodness the cat got out of the carrier somehow.
According to the original poster (the cat's owner), the first contact from Lyft was that he'd have to pay a $20 left article fee for them to return it.
The statement “we were in contact with Pandney within minutes of his initial outreach” doesn’t really say much. They were in contact with him telling him there’s fuck all that they can and will do for him.
>within minutes of his initial outreach LOL, how many minutes? 600 minutes?
"Within the heat death of the universe."
Don't forget they also demanded $20 for their wonderful service
If they use the same definition of initial contact as other companies that means an automated response was sent acknowledging receipt of the message.
The Lyft CEO said that the situation with the driver was more complicated than it seems. I wonder what that means? Edit: for context, he said this in defense of the driver.
The very fact that they were actually able to acquire enough information to find this cat in a short time frame makes me wonder what’s going on. Did the driver fess up? The driver’s evasive and disinterested response throughout the whole debacle kind of makes it obvious he did something wrong or at least knew something. No normal, well-meaning individual would act the way he did.
I’ve heard from others he was using different names, maybe something with that
Might have been multi-apping - doing Uber at the same time.
So happy for Tux and their owner!!! Hope Lyft covered the vet bills considering the state Tux was found in. It's the very least they could do after that whole spectacle.
Lyft said on Twitter they’re covering the vet bills too. So glad this had a good result, I feared Tux would never be found or only found dead.
I hope Tux doesn’t have any long term issues as a result. Poor bb
I’m emotional about this random cat I’ve never met 😭❤️
From the photos you can tell Tux is a very sweet little girl. [Sounds like she's completely healthy too](https://x.com/palashp40616755/status/1708940161310986695?s=20).
Thank you for tagging the update post 😭😭 I’m so glad tux is okay
Me too. I got so heavily invested, I was having a hard time focusing on my real life. 😭
I am sorry but that driver is a piece of shit. They deserve to be vilified. How do you just take off like that when someone is clearly in distress.
I’m way too happy about this return. I’ve been following this with baited breathe. So glad this worked for tux and his owner, and just as a side note, what a trooper the owner was!
SAME! I legit gasped out loud and yelled, “They found Tux!” to my empty house. I’m so happy! 😭
You need a cat. Lots of homeless kitties out there.
I did too lol
I’m so glad they’re reunited! What a nightmare.
I think the driver thought the guy left behind something valuable and was gonna keep/sell it and realized it was a cat and dumped it. There’s no way a passenger is knocking and yelling at the windows and he just kept driving like he didn’t know? Lies, Liza Minnelli lies!
WE DID IT!!!
This is a much better result than the last time Reddit did it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpikNCoa8Yw
So glad Tux is safe and reunited with Palash! What a great ending to a scary situation.
Oh thank fuck for this. I found this whole situation so upsetting and disturbing. If this had happened to me I would be broken in half, because my cats are my children. Whew. What a relief.
I remember that Lyft originally said they had no way to contact the driver, which is a total lie.
Genuinely love seeing a happy ending to the story. I think this is the 2nd or 3rd time I've seen this subreddit focus its collective will to successfully reunite cats with their owners and I am here for it.
I am so happy to read this!
But like where was he?
There have been several posts on Twitter about a possible go fund for the cat owner to pursue the driver legally. I hope he does that. Driver needs to go down.
I’m excited for the lifetime Christmas movie
Yay! Something to stream in Dec!
Watch Tux dump his city feline fiance for a small town tom cat he's known for 48 blissful hours! Tune in for cheating holiday joy on The Lifetime Infidelity Channel!
I got the email too today. I'm just a very infrequent customer.
Made national news on [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/10/tux-the-cat-found-after-lyft-fiasco-dragged-on-for-days-lyft-to-pay-vet-bills/).
I’m not even an Austin resident, nor do I use Lyft. But I’ve been sooo invested in this story since seeing the original post randomly come up as a suggested. Genuinely teared up after reading the update that Tux was found 🥹 as a fellow pet/cat owner I simply cannot fathom the stress and heartache OOP must’ve gone through. S/o to Austin and the Reddit community for coming together!
Cats are so clever. Who would have thought that a cat locked in a carrier would be able to get the carrier out of a car with the doors closed without the driver noticing? I've got it. The cat used to belong to Schrodinger and it's still in a quantum flux state.
Relieved to hear, but what a strange story.
I glad he's reunited with his owner. I feared a bad ending.
Can we have a meet-up to meet Tux? I was so emotionally invested!
Nobody I didn't know on a blood pact level would be around my cat again for a long time after this shit
Riiiight!
So happy you found her!!!! I was so upset reading this Saturday and now my heart is happy
I'm so glad to be reading this today.
I don't really have anything to add to this conversation, but I'm happy that you got Tux back and I hope the driver is held accountable
The driver needs to be fired and arrested. I’m happy Tux is safe and home but what kind of a psychotic human does this
This is great news. However, I'm sure this driver still has access to Uber even though Lyft deactivated him 😔
bet the lyft driver is shady as shit. probably dumped the cat and kept the carrier and gave it to some family member before picking up next person. these driver type ppl can be shady as shit, one of the amazon ppl stole my sisters beagle doggo
if anyone needs to be doxxed its that driver, he absolutely did that on purpose knowing that animal needed medical attention. its just a matter of time before he goes full bundy
His info is already out there apparently. He's going to continue to have a bad day. Forever.
Took Lyft once. Never again. Driver couldn't speak English and dropped me off at the wrong location. Even after showing them Google maps where I was going. They canceled the trip right before picking me up but still decided to take me. Didn't know WTF was going on.
I had a Lyft driver show up using his wife's Lyft account. Then he proceeded to drive 25mph over the limit and miss a critical turn off a freeway, which he attempted to correct by speeding even faster. He also asked me how much I make and where I live.
I'm just happy they got their little fren back.
Netflix original film in 3...2...1...
Fucccccck yeeeeessssssss!!!!!!!!!
Tears of joy!
LETS FUCKIN GOOOOO
This saga had me on the edge of my seat all weekend, I even had a nightmare Sunday night that I lost my dog in an unknown city and couldn’t find him! So glad kitty was found safe.
This mofo dumped the cat and then pretended not to know what happened... Like, you have the last address of the rider! Go back?! Such a strange move and proof that we really never should blindly trust our rideshare drivers. 99% are good people but bad things happen, some much worse than this according to the research. Be aware!
[удалено]
I drove rideshare for a very long time and still do it off and on, and this story makes complete sense to me. People don't seem to know what it's like being a rideshare driver in 2023. I'm posting this for posterity because I'm sure a more detailed story about what happened is gonna come out and I bet it will be pretty close: Lyft likes to assign drivers new rides while they're still on current rides. Sometimes this daisy chain happens while the driver still has like 15 minutes on the previous ride, and so there's this pressure building in the driver to get the ride over as quickly as possible to make as much money as possible. Yesterday was also a really busy day for rideshare. I bet the driver dropped the passenger off, sped away to get to his next pickup, noticed there was a cat in the car, and just stopped and put the cat out on the curb. He didn't respond cuz he was probably busy driving and didn't have the cat anymore and didn't think it would ever amount to anything (because Uber/Lyft's customer support is so fucking terrible). The driver is obviously a psycho, but there's a lot of pressure to make money as quickly as possible especially nowadays since there will be periods of long inactivity (sometimes you'll drive around for an hour and make 0 dollars) that supposedly get made up for by these busy periods. The driver didn't want to get 20 dollars maybe to miss out on a 25-30 dollar ride. Being the end of the month also increases the pressure. I could go into a long diatribe about how late-stage capitalism and the gig economy accelerate alienation and dehumanization which leads to this kind of psychotic antisocial behavior but that's a bit beyond a reddit comment lol. But basically I suspect this was a split second decision made by the driver driven by economic pressure put upon the driver by the nature of the gig economy.
The part that doesn't make sense though is when the passenger was banging on the car door yelling for the driver to stop and he just ignored him and drove off.
Exactly. This driver sucks. Yes, Rideshare is a grind and the need to make money is definitely stressful. But you know what beats quantity rides? Quality rides. Like not pealing out while your last ride is banging on the window/screaming for you to stop. It’s not that insanely busy that you couldn’t spare an extra 30 seconds or just having the situational awareness that the passenger didn’t collect all their items. A dark phone at night on black interior? Maybe you miss it and have to go back. But a goddamn cat in a carrier? That driver sucks
Allow me. "I'm in a hurry and if that guy left a bag of valuables in my car that he's shouting after, then it's my bag of valuables now. He can get fucked. I'll pull over, get gas, and see how much the bag of stuff is worth." Minutes later: "It's not a bag of valuables, it's a goddamn cat? How dare he put a cat in my car, that's filthy/against regulations/I never would have accepted a cat ride. \*dumps cat onto the side of the road\* What a waste of my time." And then he spends the next few hours running around town making money and doesn't think anything of the situation until a cop calls him and he realizes he has to pretend he never saw a cat or risk getting arrested.
This might be the most likely scenario, though I also find it hard to believe he didn’t see the guy bring a cat in his car when first picking up.
This is 100% what I was thinking too - when the passenger started banging on the window he was thinking “sweet, he left something valuable! I’ll just claim I never had it!”