Legal

Terms ofservice

The terms on which we provide chauffeur services. effective 10/15/2026. Written to be read rather than to be got past.

1.Who we are and what these terms cover

These terms form the contract between you and RYDES when you book a journey with us. Please read them. They are written in plain language on purpose, and nothing in them is designed to be missed.

[[OPEN]] Entity and address supplied. Still to add if required by counsel: state of formation, registered agent, and any US state transportation registration number. COMPARATOR: Blacklane names Blacklane GmbH with its Berlin street address in the first line of its German terms, and separately names Blacklane North America Inc. in its US terms and Blacklane HAVN UK Ltd for the UK. They run THREE documents rather than one. Counsel should decide whether RYDES needs a US document and a separate EU/UK document, because a single worldwide contract is not what the largest comparator concluded was workable.

In these terms, "we", "us" and "RYDES" mean RYDES LLC, a limited liability company with its registered office at 800 5th Avenue, Suite 101, Seattle, Washington 98104, United States. "You" means the person making the booking. "Passenger" means the person travelling, who may be someone else. "Operator" means the licensed local chauffeur business that supplies the vehicle and driver for your journey.

If you book on behalf of somebody else, you confirm you have their authority to do so and you agree to make these terms known to them. You remain responsible for the booking.

Nothing in these terms removes or limits your rights under consumer law in the country where you live. Where a term conflicts with a right you have by statute, the statutory right applies.

2.What we provide, and who is responsible

Two different things can go wrong on a journey, and they are answered for differently. This clause separates them, because most disputes in this industry come from that separation being left vague.

What RYDES does

RYDES arranges your journey with an independent licensed transportation operator, which carries it out. We select and vet the operator, set the standard it is held to, price the journey, take and hold your booking, and dispatch it.

We do not own vehicles, we do not employ chauffeurs, and we are not the licensed transport operator in the city you are travelling in. The operator is. That is not a technicality: it is why the operator holds the operating licence, the commercial motor insurance and the passenger liability cover its jurisdiction requires, maintains the vehicle, and employs or contracts the chauffeur.

Transportation risk sits with the operator

Liability for personal injury, death, or loss of or damage to property arising from the operation of the vehicle rests with the operator and its insurers, and is claimed against that insurance. We will identify the operator, supply its insurance details, and assist you in bringing a claim. We do not insure the vehicle and we do not stand behind the driving.

The booking is answered for by both of us

Delivering the booking you made is a joint responsibility of RYDES and the operator. If the vehicle does not arrive, arrives materially late through our or the operator's fault, or is not of the class you booked, you are entitled to look to either of us, and clause 13 sets out what happens next.

In practice you should contact RYDES, because we hold the booking and can act on it fastest. We will not tell you that a failed booking is a matter between you and a company you have never spoken to. What we cannot do is accept liability for the driving itself, which is insured elsewhere and for good reason.

Why the line sits there

A missed pickup is a service failure. It is not an insured event and no motor policy pays for one, so it is answered for by the two parties who agreed to deliver the journey. A road traffic accident is an insured risk, and the licensed operator carries the cover for it, as it is required to in every market we work in.

[[DECISION]] Counsel must confirm four things. First, that operator agreements oblige every operator to carry passenger liability cover at a stated minimum, to indemnify RYDES, and to name RYDES as additional insured where available. Second, that RYDES LLC carries its own commercial general liability, technology errors and omissions, cyber and excess cover, because a claimant may still join RYDES to a passenger claim on negligent-selection or agency theories regardless of this clause. Third, whether the joint service commitment in the third heading above risks RYDES being treated as the carrier in any market, which is the specific question this drafting turns on. Fourth, which markets treat whoever contracts with the passenger as the carrier whatever the paperwork says. Do not finalise this clause before the full architecture mapping is complete.

3.Making a booking

A booking is a request until we confirm it. The contract between us begins when we send you a booking confirmation, not when you submit the form or when payment is authorised.

You must be 18 or over to make a booking.
You must give accurate pickup and destination details and an accurate passenger count.
You must give a day-of-travel mobile number that will be switched on and answerable at the time of pickup. This is the number your chauffeur will use, and a booking without a reachable number is the single most common cause of a failed pickup.
Where the journey connects to a flight, give the flight number. Clause 10 explains what we do with it.
We may ask you to verify your mobile number by one-time passcode before a booking is confirmed.
Bookings should be made at least three hours before pickup. We accept reservations up to a year ahead.
We may decline a booking. Reasons include no operator being available, incomplete or implausible details, a destination we cannot lawfully serve, or a previous unresolved dispute over payment.

If we decline or cannot fulfil a confirmed booking, we refund you in full. Where we have caused you loss by doing so, clause 18 applies.

4.Price, and what is included

The price you are shown before you confirm is the price of the journey you booked.

It includes the vehicle, the chauffeur, fuel or charging, road tolls, congestion and low-emission charges, airport access fees and applicable taxes. It does not change because of traffic, the route taken, the weather, or demand.

It does not include a gratuity. See clause 6.

The total can be adjusted after booking only where you change the journey or cause additional cost. That means:

waiting beyond the free allowance in clause 10;
a stop added on the day;
a change of destination;
parking charges we incur while waiting for you;
ferry or crossing fares where your route requires one, including the vehicle and driver;
cleaning or repair under clause 17.

Each of these is charged to the payment method held on your booking. We will tell you before applying one wherever it is practical to do so, and every adjustment appears itemised on your receipt.

5.Gratuity

A gratuity is not included in the fare and is never required.

Your chauffeur is paid a rate agreed with the operator before the journey is accepted, so no part of their payment depends on whether you add anything.

At payment you may add a percentage, enter your own amount, or decline. Declining is presented as an equal option. Anything you add is passed to the chauffeur who drove you.

[[CLOSED]] Confirmed: gratuities pass through in full, no commission or processing deduction. COMPARATOR: Blacklane's US terms define their own tipping language for the reader, saying that where they call tipping voluntary, not required or included, this only means they will not add anything further to what was already paid, and that the guest remains free to tip. That is a materially weaker promise than it sounds, and it is the gap RYDES can occupy by stating plainly that the driver is paid before any tip.

6.Vehicle classes and substitution

You book a class of vehicle, not a specific make or model. The models named on our site are representative of the class and vary by city and operator.

We will supply a vehicle meeting the standard of the class you booked, or a higher one. We will not substitute downward without telling you first and offering you the choice of a refund.

Passenger and luggage capacities published for each class are the figures we will honour. If you arrive with more passengers or luggage than the class carries, the chauffeur cannot lawfully or safely take them, and a larger vehicle will be charged at the local rate if one is available.

7.Your responsibilities as a passenger

Be at the pickup point at the booked time, or at the meeting point we confirm to you.
Tell us at booking about child seats, wheelchairs or mobility equipment, animals, oversized luggage, or any requirement that affects the vehicle. We cannot guarantee to accommodate a requirement first raised on the day.
Wear seatbelts, and ensure children are properly restrained.
Do not smoke or vape in the vehicle.
Do not behave in a way that is threatening, abusive, or unsafe. A chauffeur may end a journey where they reasonably believe their safety or yours is at risk, and no refund is due in that case.
Do not ask the chauffeur to exceed speed limits, carry more passengers than the vehicle is licensed for, or break any other law.

Service animals travel free in every class, need no advance notice, and may not be refused by any operator. Other animals travel in a carrier and must be requested at booking.

8.Children, child seats and minors

Every passenger needs their own seat with a working seatbelt. A child may not travel on an adult's lap in any vehicle, in any market, whatever the local law permits.

Child seats are available as a paid add-on and must be requested at booking, so the correct stage is in the vehicle when it arrives. Infant, toddler and booster stages are offered. A child seat occupies one passenger position, so a party of three adults plus one child seat does not fit a class rated for three.

We supply the seat. We do not install it. Fitting the seat, securing it correctly, and satisfying yourself that it is safe before the vehicle moves are the responsibility of the parent or guardian travelling. Neither RYDES nor the operator nor the chauffeur installs a child seat or checks its installation, and none of them accepts liability for a seat that is incorrectly fitted or used. If you are not confident fitting the seat yourself, bring your own and fit that instead.

Where you have not requested a seat and local law requires one, the chauffeur cannot lawfully carry the child. The booking is treated as a no-show under clause 9 and charged in full. This is not a commercial decision and the chauffeur has no discretion in it.

We do not carry unaccompanied minors anywhere in the network. A minor must be accompanied by a parent, guardian or responsible adult for the whole of the journey.

Whether a passenger is a minor is determined by the law of the place the journey is performed, not by a single worldwide age. That age differs between the markets we operate in, and applying one number everywhere would be wrong in some of them.

If a booking is made for a passenger who turns out to be an unaccompanied minor, the chauffeur will decline the journey. The booking is then treated under clause 11 and charged in full. The chauffeur has no discretion here and it is not a commercial decision.

If you are booking travel for a young person and are unsure whether this applies, ask us before you book rather than at the kerb.

9.Cancelling or changing a booking

You may cancel or change any booking free of charge up to 24 hours before the booked pickup time.

Inside the 24-hour window, the booking is charged in full. By that point a vehicle and a chauffeur have been committed to you and the operator cannot resell the slot.

This applies to every booking type: transfers, hourly bookings, intercity journeys and cruise transfers alike. Group vehicles and event programmes may carry different terms, which are shown to you at booking and take precedence over this clause.

Changes are subject to availability. Where a change increases the price you pay the difference. Where no operator can meet the changed booking, you may cancel it free of charge under the first paragraph if you are still outside the 24-hour window.

If you do not appear at the pickup point and do not contact us, the booking is treated as cancelled inside the window and charged in full. If your delay is caused by a flight whose number you gave us, clause 12 applies instead and you are not treated as a no-show.

Because these are transport services for a specific date, the statutory cooling-off period for distance contracts does not apply. In the European Union this follows from the Consumer Rights Directive; equivalent exclusions apply in the United Kingdom. Your other consumer rights are unaffected.

10.Waiting time

At airports, sixty minutes of free waiting from the actual landing time of the flight, not from the scheduled arrival time and not from the booked pickup time.

At every other pickup, fifteen minutes free from the booked time.

Beyond the free allowance, waiting is charged in fifteen-minute increments at the rate for your vehicle class. We will attempt to contact you before charging begins.

The free allowance assumes you intend to travel. If you tell us or the chauffeur that you will not be arriving, the vehicle is released and the booking is treated under clause 9.

11.If we cannot find you

Where the chauffeur is at the pickup point and cannot locate you, they will call the day-of-travel number you gave us before doing anything else. We will also attempt to reach you.

If you cannot be reached and do not appear within the free waiting allowance in clause 10, the booking is recorded as a no-show and charged in full. The vehicle is then released.

We will not record a no-show without having attempted to contact you on the number provided. If that number was switched off, unanswered or incorrect, the attempt still counts as having been made.

If you realise you cannot travel, tell us. A cancellation inside the window is charged under clause 9, which is the same money, but it releases the chauffeur to other work and we would rather know.

12.Flights, delays and diversions

Where you give us a flight number, we track the aircraft and move your pickup automatically to match the actual landing time, at no cost.

Where a flight is delayed beyond what an operator can reasonably hold a vehicle for, we will tell you as soon as we can and either re-dispatch or refund you in full.

Where a flight diverts to a different airport, contact us. We will re-dispatch to the new airport if we have coverage there. If we do not, we refund the booking in full. We are not responsible for the costs of an alternative journey you arrange yourself without contacting us first.

If you do not give us a flight number, we cannot track the flight, and a late arrival is treated as waiting time under clause 10 and then as a no-show under clause 9.

13.If something goes wrong

Where a vehicle does not arrive, arrives materially late through our or the operator's fault, or is not of the class booked, we will do one of the following, and we will tell you which:

re-dispatch another vehicle as quickly as one can be found;
arrange and pay for a reasonable alternative;
refund the booking in full.

Where you have reasonably incurred a cost as a direct result of our failure, and you told us about the problem at the time so we had the opportunity to fix it, we will consider that cost. Clause 14 sets the limits.

Tell us at the time. A problem reported at the time can usually be solved. The same problem reported a week later can only be argued about.

14.Non-discrimination

Service is offered on the basis of vehicle and chauffeur availability, and on nothing else.

No operator or chauffeur carrying RYDES work may refuse or degrade service on grounds of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability or medical condition, age, or the neighbourhood a journey starts or ends in.

Passengers with disabilities are carried on equal terms. Wheelchair-accessible vehicles are arranged on request where available. Service animals are carried in every class, at no charge, with no advance notice required, and may not be refused. Folding wheelchairs and mobility aids travel as luggage at no charge.

If you experience discrimination, tell us. We investigate every report, and an operator found to have discriminated is removed from the network. That is a decision we would rather make than defend.

15.Chauffeur conduct

Every chauffeur carrying RYDES work is required to hold the licence their jurisdiction demands, obey traffic law, and behave professionally and courteously.

There is a zero-tolerance rule on alcohol and drugs. A chauffeur may not consume, possess or be under the influence of alcohol, illegal drugs or impairing medication while carrying a RYDES booking.

If a chauffeur behaves inappropriately, appears impaired, or drives in a way that concerns you, end the journey where it is safe to do so and contact us immediately on the number in clause 25. We will arrange onward transport at our cost and investigate. Do not wait until afterwards to tell us.

16.Lost property

Tell us as soon as you notice. We will contact the operator and the chauffeur and do what we reasonably can to recover and return the item.

We cannot guarantee recovery, and we are not responsible for property left in a vehicle. Reasonable costs of returning a recovered item may be charged to you, and we will tell you what they are before incurring them.

17.Damage and cleaning

You are responsible for damage caused by you or your passengers beyond normal wear, and for cleaning made necessary by your or your passengers' conduct.

Where an operator reports such a cost, we verify it before charging anything. We will tell you what is being claimed, why, and what evidence supports it, and we will charge the payment method held on your booking.

If you disagree, tell us and we will look at it again. Where we have charged in error we refund promptly.

18.Our liability

This clause limits what we owe. It cannot limit everything, and the parts it cannot limit are listed first so they are not buried.

What is never limited

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for gross negligence or wilful misconduct, or for anything else that the law applying to you does not permit us to exclude. In several of the markets we operate in that list is longer than this, and the local law prevails over this clause without us having to say so again.

What we are responsible for

We are responsible for foreseeable loss caused by our failure to provide the service with reasonable care and skill, or by our breach of these terms. Liability for injury or property damage arising from the operation of the vehicle sits with the operator and its insurers under clause 2.

What we are not responsible for

We are not liable for loss that was not foreseeable, for indirect or consequential loss, or for business losses such as lost profit, lost revenue, lost contracts or lost opportunity. We are not liable for the consequences of a missed flight, connection, sailing or appointment beyond the direct cost of the journey itself, which is why the city guides tell you to build a buffer rather than rely on one.

The cap

Where we are liable, and outside the categories that are never limited, our total liability for all claims arising from a booking is limited to the greater of the total charges you paid for that booking and 1,000 US dollars.

[[CLOSED]] Confirmed at the comparator figure: the greater of the fare paid and 1,000 US dollars, matching Blacklane US. The four carve-out categories above cannot be capped in any market RYDES operates in and are stated first rather than buried. One point remains for counsel to note rather than decide: a cap set near the fare sits awkwardly beside clause 13, which promises to put a failed booking right, and putting it right can cost more than the fare. Where the two meet, the carve-outs and local consumer law will decide, not this clause.

19.Events outside our control

Neither of us is in breach of these terms for a failure caused by something outside reasonable control. That includes severe weather, natural disaster, war, terrorism, civil unrest, epidemic, industrial action, road or airport closure, and failure of public infrastructure.

Where such an event prevents your journey, we will tell you as soon as we can and refund the booking in full. We are not liable for consequential costs, but we will not keep your money for a journey that did not happen.

20.Operators

Every operator carrying RYDES work holds the licence its jurisdiction requires, commercial insurance, and drivers with the correct local credentials. We verify these before an operator can accept a booking and re-verify them on a set cycle.

Operators are independent businesses, not our employees or agents. That affects our relationship with them. It does not affect our responsibility to you under clause 2.

21.Payment

Payment is taken through our payment operator. We do not store your full card details.

Refunds are made to the original payment method. Where currency conversion is involved, the amount you receive may differ from the amount you paid because of exchange rate movement, which is outside our control.

Where you book on a business account with agreed invoicing terms, those terms apply to payment timing and take precedence over this clause.

22.Pricing errors

We take care with pricing, and occasionally a rate is displayed in error through a technical fault or a mistake in configuration.

Where a price is obviously wrong, we will contact you before your journey and offer you the choice of proceeding at the corrected price or cancelling with a full refund. We will not simply charge you more than you agreed, and we will not quietly cancel without telling you why.

We are not obliged to honour a price that resulted from an evident error. Whether an error is evident is judged on how far the price sits from the normal rate for that journey, not on whether we would prefer not to honour it.

23.Fraud and chargebacks

We monitor for fraudulent bookings, including use of a payment method without the cardholder's authority, misrepresented identity, and disputes raised against charges that were legitimately incurred.

Where fraud is established we may cancel the booking without refund, suspend the account, recover our costs, and report the matter to the payment operator and to law enforcement.

If you believe your payment details have been used without your authority, tell us immediately and we will act on it rather than defend the charge.

We do not ask passengers to produce photo identification at the kerb, whatever the value of the booking. Bookings are made and paid for online in advance, so identity and payment are verified before the journey rather than in front of a waiting car.

24.Bookings made through third parties

Where you booked through a travel agent, a hotel, a corporate booking tool or another reseller, that booking is governed by our terms for the journey itself, and by the reseller's terms for payment, changes, cancellation and refunds.

Refunds and billing questions on those bookings go to whoever took your money. We cannot refund a payment we did not receive.

A reseller cannot offer you terms for the journey that are better than ours without our agreement, and cannot make ours worse. Where the two conflict on the transport itself, these terms apply.

25.Complaints

Write to support@rydes.co, or call dispatch on +1 888 881 7933. Tell us the booking reference and what happened.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 12 hours, at any hour of any day, and tell you who is handling it. Twelve hours covers the widest timezone gap between you and a desk that is awake, so the commitment holds wherever in the world you are when you write.

We aim to give you a substantive answer within {{COMPLAINT_RESOLUTION_DAYS}} working days. Where a complaint needs information from an operator in another timezone, or from a third party such as an airport or a payment operator, it can take longer, and we will tell you that rather than let the clock run out quietly.

If something went wrong during a journey, tell us at the time rather than afterwards. A problem reported while the chauffeur is still there can usually be solved. The same problem reported a week later can only be compensated or argued about.

[[OPEN]] The 12-hour acknowledgement is a contractual commitment once published, and every miss is a breach of it. The figure was chosen to absorb the largest timezone gap rather than to sound impressive, which is the right basis. Confirm operations can hold it on the days that generate the most complaints, not the average day. For comparison, neither comparator publishes any complaint response time: Blacklane none in any of its three documents, Transfeero one working day. Still to set: COMPLAINT_RESOLUTION_DAYS, the substantive answer window.

26.Messages we send you

We send you two kinds of text message and nothing else. We do not send marketing by text, ever.

1. Security codes

To create an account or complete a booking, you verify your mobile number with a one-time passcode we send by text. It is how we establish that the number belongs to you and that a booking is genuine.

The number you give must be able to receive a text at the moment you book. Codes are single-use and expire shortly after they are sent. We will never ask you to read a code out to anyone, including to someone claiming to be from RYDES.

2. Messages about your journey

Booking confirmations, your chauffeur's name, photograph, vehicle and registration before pickup, notification that they are on the way or have arrived, and anything that changes about your journey.

Stopping them

Reply STOP to any message and we stop sending you texts. Reply HELP for assistance, or use the contact details in clause 25.

Your account stays active and any booking you have already made stands. You will still get email. What stops is the texts, and that includes the passcode, so you will not be able to verify a number for a new booking until you restart them by replying START. If you would rather not receive texts at all, contact us and we will arrange the booking another way.

Marketing

We do not send marketing text messages. If we send marketing email it requires your separate consent, is never sent on the strength of having made a booking, and can be withdrawn without affecting anything above.

Cost

We do not charge for any message. Your mobile operator may charge you for receiving texts under your own plan, particularly while roaming, and that is between you and them.

[[OPEN]] Counsel to verify across markets. United States: STOP and HELP keyword handling is required under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and this clause is now consistent with how messaging platforms actually implement STOP, which is globally per number rather than per category. That removes the configuration risk in the earlier draft. EU and UK: the passcode is likely processed as necessary for performance of the contract rather than on consent, and since no marketing texts are sent, the ePrivacy opt-in question does not arise for SMS. Two things to check: that checkout consent language matches these two categories and does not imply marketing, and that replying START genuinely re-enables the passcode in the platform, since the clause tells the customer it does.

27.Governing law and disputes

[[DECISION]] Governing law, jurisdiction, and whether to require arbitration with a class-action waiver. Decide deliberately rather than adopting the industry default. COMPARATORS: Blacklane US requires binding AAA consumer arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act, hearings in New York City, with a jury-trial waiver and a class-action waiver, a mandatory informal conference before any demand, confidential proceedings, and costs shared equally. Carve-outs exist for sexual harassment and assault at the claimant's election. Governing law is the law of the state where the dispute arose. Blacklane Germany instead applies German law with Berlin as the place of performance, preserves mandatory consumer jurisdictions, and states it will not take part in consumer arbitration board proceedings. Everett Shuttle applies Washington law with exclusive Washington jurisdiction regardless of residence, which would not bind an EU or UK consumer. NOTE: arbitration with a class waiver is a strong protection and a poor fit with a brand whose About page says a failed ride is ours to fix. That tension is a business decision, not a legal one.

If you are a consumer, you keep the right to bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live, and to rely on the mandatory consumer protections of that country. Nothing in this clause takes that away.

28.Data protection

We process your personal data to take and fulfil your booking, and we share what an operator needs to collect you: your name, contact number, pickup and destination, and any requirement you have told us about.

How we handle personal data, the lawful bases we rely on and the rights you have are set out in our privacy policy, which forms part of your agreement with us.

29.Your indemnity to us

You agree to cover our reasonable losses, costs and legal fees where they arise from your breach of these terms, from information you gave us that was false or misleading, or from your or your passengers' unlawful conduct during a journey.

This does not apply to losses caused by our own failure, and it does not affect your rights as a consumer.

30.Using this website

This clause covers the website, not the transport service. Your rights in respect of the journey are set out above and are not limited by anything here.

The site, its text, images, code, and the RYDES name and marks belong to us or our licensors. You may read, print and share pages for personal use. You may not copy the site's content for commercial use, scrape it systematically, reverse engineer any part of it, or use it to build a competing service.

The site is provided as it is. We do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we are not liable for losses caused by it being unavailable. That disclaimer applies to the website only. It does not apply to the transport service, and nothing in it limits our responsibility under clause 2.

If you believe content here infringes your copyright, write to info@rydes.co with the work concerned, the URL, your contact details, and a statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is unauthorised.

31.Changes to these terms

We may change these terms. The version that applies to your booking is the version in force when you made it, and we will not apply a later version retrospectively.

Each version is dated and numbered at the top of this page. Where a change materially affects bookings you have already made, we will tell you and you may cancel the affected booking without charge.

32.General

If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.
If we do not insist that you do something you are required to do, or delay in doing so, that does not mean we have given up the right to do so later.
You may not transfer your rights under these terms to someone else without our agreement. We may transfer ours, and will tell you if we do.
These terms and the documents they refer to are the whole agreement between us about your booking.

Questions about these terms go to info@rydes.co.