Lyft surprised me with a $150 cleaning charge. Is this allowed?

Q. I took a Lyft recently in New York. I did not do any damage to the vehicle, but after the ride, Lyft charged me a $150 damage fee.

Initially, my bank flagged the charge as fraud. But when I contacted Lyft and asked for an explanation, the company claimed that I caused damage to the car. Lyft also sent photos that the company said the driver had shared.

I did not cause any damage whatsoever, and the photos did not depict any damage I actually caused. I’d like my $150 fee to be refunded. But even that would be disappointing based on what I’ve had to go through. This includes the initial stress when being billed $150 and the many hours I’ve spent trying to rectify this with Lyft to no avail. So, I’d also like $1,500 as compensation for the stress this has caused.

Ultimately, I’d like to be a loyal Lyft customer again, and these false allegations against me should not be the cause of a severed business relationship. Someone with some sense at the company needs to review this and should also consider investigating the driver making these accusations.

JARED HAKIMI, Briarwood, N.Y. A. Lyft should have notified you immediately of the damage and sent you evidence that you were responsible. It could have sent you time-stamped photos of the vehicle’s interior showing the alleged damage. Instead, you say it just charged your credit card.

This looks like another case of the Lyft vomit scam. (It’s called a vomit scam because drivers frequently claim that passengers have vomited in the back of their cars.) Drivers charge their passengers anywhere from $80 to $150 for a “cleanup,” even when there’s little