# Ratings at night



## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

I have a sign on the passenger visor that lists all the freebies I offer during the ride, and at the bottom, "Your 5 star rating is appreciated". Targetting people who don't normally rate at all, or who normally give 3 or 4 thinking that is good enough if there were no problems.

This works very well when I drive daylight hours. But at night, I have the challenges of, no lighting so the sign can't be read or even noticed well, and more intoxicated riders who don't notice, don't care, or are highly irritable and picking details apart anyway.

What can I do to plug 5 star ratings to the night time riders? Asking for it verbally may not work because they could forget by morning. Are we allowed to make business cards or fliers to hand out? Do light-up signs exist?


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## ddelro219 (Aug 11, 2016)

If I was your PAX, I might purposely give you one less star simply for placing that signage. You could be as enjoyable as ever as a driver, but I just might dock you a star just for asking for the 5 star rating. It looks desparate and undeserved, and the geniuneness of your ratings may really not be the truth, as you're 'buying' the rating. That's just me. Sorry, not trying to be a jerk. And if it gets you higher ratings, then go you. 

I have a 4.95 average rating and have never dipped below 4.88 with over 1000 rides, which I think is pretty good; and I don't give away freebies, I don't even open doors for the PAX. I don't have any sign. I smile, I'm personable, I stay respectful no matter what. I get them to their destination safely and in a timely manner with a comfortable ride. I may dig for some common ground and then have a nice chat if the rider seems up for a chat. If not, I stay quiet and let the rider initiate a conversation if he/she so chooses. That's it. Nothing fancy. 

But I've also found, simply saying at the end if you're after ratings, "Thank you. I hope you had a pleasant ride." goes a long way. It encourages feedback, without asking for one, versus simply saying, Good night or thank you. If they agree, it gives you a hint as to how they might rate you. If not, then at least you have an opportunity to address with the rider at that point and just maybe recover a star or 2 based on how you respond. Which I think I was able to do a couple times, when I noticed my ratings drop. 

Safe driving!


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## Gung-Ho (Jun 2, 2015)

What are some of these "freebies" you offer.

Signed,
Dirty old man.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

I think the type of vehivle you drive along with how clean and comfortable the ride is goes along way with ratings. I drive a 14 dodge caravan rt with Leather seats and I get comments from 75 percent plus how nice of setup I have and how nice it is to ride in such a nice vehicle. 

I haven't driven long got 140 rides and 1114 are rated drives and I have a 4.98 rating. If I driver from 2am and later I doubt u would have as high of rating but that's just guessing. Slobbering drunks are not a group that should be rating drivers anyway.


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## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

ddelro219 said:


> If I was your PAX, I might purposely give you one less star simply for placing that signage. You could be as enjoyable as ever as a driver, but I just might dock you a star just for asking for the 5 star rating. It looks desparate and undeserved, and the geniuneness of your ratings may really not be the truth, as you're 'buying' the rating. That's just me. Sorry, not trying to be a jerk. And if it gets you higher ratings, then go you.
> 
> I have a 4.95 average rating and have never dipped below 4.88 with over 1000 rides, which I think is pretty good; and I don't give away freebies, I don't even open doors for the PAX. I don't have any sign. I smile, I'm personable, I stay respectful no matter what. I get them to their destination safely and in a timely manner with a comfortable ride. I may dig for some common ground and then have a nice chat if the rider seems up for a chat. If not, I stay quiet and let the rider initiate a conversation if he/she so chooses. That's it. Nothing fancy.
> 
> ...


I do all that already and still carry a 4.7. The sign actually gets a lot of compliments, chuckles, and even a few snapchats. During the day.


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## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

Gung-Ho said:


> What are some of these "freebies" you offer.
> 
> Signed,
> Dirty old man.


Included free with your ride today:

Bottled water
Chewing gum
Device charging
Song requests
Toys for kids
Pokemon stops

And then a divider line of stars across the page

Your 5 star rating is appreciated

The most popular one is the device charging. Pokemon stops are a close second among riders who play.


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## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

Louisvilleuberguy said:


> I think the type of vehivle you drive along with how clean and comfortable the ride is goes along way with ratings. I drive a 14 dodge caravan rt with Leather seats and I get comments from 75 percent plus how nice of setup I have and how nice it is to ride in such a nice vehicle.
> 
> I haven't driven long got 140 rides and 1114 are rated drives and I have a 4.98 rating. If I driver from 2am and later I doubt u would have as high of rating but that's just guessing. Slobbering drunks are not a group that should be rating drivers anyway.


I drive a 2012 Chevy Sonic. It is preowned but still an upgrade as far as ride comfort and quality, from a 2015 Mitsubishi Mirage. I get compliments on it during the day. It's the evening crowd that is the challenge.

In the app under ratings, where it shows the breakdown, I show a high percentage of rides that are not rated. Those are the ones I'm after. I carry a 4.78 probably due to drunks but, I can remind everyone else to rate their ride, and give a 5 when I earned a 5 and not just a 4. There are a lot of store chains in my area that are also after ratings and they do much the same thing, such as stapling extra fliers to receipts pointing out that 9 is not fine (out of 10). The culture here is that way, you have to point stuff out to people.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

Honestly if you live by the rule to treat pax the way you would like to be treated the ratings will take care of themselves. I'm going to try an experiment and drive tonight at at closing and eat with drunks to see what kind of ratings I get. Only hadn2 4s out of 114 rated rides so going to see if I get lower ratings from drunks. Not sure but will be fun to see.

If your doing all you can I wouldn't worry about it. I have signs I purchased off of Amazon thanking people for their 5 star ratings or something like that and have free gun and free candy signs that attach to the corner of them with velcro.

I will update you after tonight and let you know how my drunk rides go. I have 145 rides now with only 114 rated. I hate allowing pax to rate weeks after they last rode because I'm not sure how many even remember the last uber ride.

I'll update after I get home should be interesting at least. I can afford a few bad ratings so won't hurt me any


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

LyonTamer said:


> I have a sign on the passenger visor that lists all the freebies I offer during the ride, and at the bottom, "Your 5 star rating is appreciated". Targetting people who don't normally rate at all, or who normally give 3 or 4 thinking that is good enough if there were no problems.
> 
> This works very well when I drive daylight hours. But at night, I have the challenges of, no lighting so the sign can't be read or even noticed well, and more intoxicated riders who don't notice, don't care, or are highly irritable and picking details apart anyway.
> 
> What can I do to plug 5 star ratings to the night time riders? Asking for it verbally may not work because they could forget by morning. Are we allowed to make business cards or fliers to hand out? Do light-up signs exist?


Ego + Alcohol + youth = nothing good.

Uber should pay hazard pay at night.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

LyonTamer said:


> Included free with your ride today:
> 
> Bottled water
> Chewing gum
> ...


No not no no noooooooo !

Included with ride :
1.) 4 wheels that stay on.

2.)pick up

3.)drop off

4.) Seat

5.) Doors that open & close

6.) Windows

7.) Air conditioning( if you behave)

8.) Won't run out of gas


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## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

Louisvilleuberguy said:


> Honestly if you live by the rule to treat pax the way you would like to be treated the ratings will take care of themselves. I'm going to try an experiment and drive tonight at at closing and eat with drunks to see what kind of ratings I get. Only hadn2 4s out of 114 rated rides so going to see if I get lower ratings from drunks. Not sure but will be fun to see.
> 
> If your doing all you can I wouldn't worry about it. I have signs I purchased off of Amazon thanking people for their 5 star ratings or something like that and have free gun and free candy signs that attach to the corner of them with velcro.
> 
> ...


I noticed that. Drivers have to rate the rider right away before we can accept another request, but riders don't have a deadline to rate the driver.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

LyonTamer said:


> I do all that already and still carry a 4.7. The sign actually gets a lot of compliments, chuckles, and even a few snapchats. During the day.


Snapchat ?
Or e mail to Uber ?


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## LyonTamer (Aug 12, 2016)

Snapchat.


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## Louisvilleuberguy (Aug 3, 2016)

I went out and worked till 1am and was right took a hit in my ratings. Figure it was 19 year olds who when his girlfriend git in van bumped the pull down door where TV screens could go and when he got in he hit his head. All the ratings haven't came back but my 4.98 I've kept for a while now has already dropped to a 4.97which isn't too bad but have to see what rest of the ratings come in at.


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## madUber74 (Jun 3, 2015)

LyonTamer said:


> I have a sign on the passenger visor that lists all the freebies I offer during the ride, and at the bottom, "Your 5 star rating is appreciated". Targetting people who don't normally rate at all, or who normally give 3 or 4 thinking that is good enough if there were no problems.


I wonder if changing the sign from mentioning 5 stars to something like "remember to rate your ride" would accomplish the same thing, insofar as reminding pax who might not rate at all to punch in a rating? I'm under the impression that pax who are going to rate you a 4 or less aren't going to be persuaded into a 5 rating by a sign but that's just me.

The real fault is the dumb driver rating system to begin with. Having a 5-star system implies that 4s are good and 3s are acceptable. But in reality, and unbeknownst to most pax because Uber does a p***-poor job of giving pax ratings guidelines, giving a 5 really means "acceptable-to-exceptional" and 4 down to 1 means, increasingly, "deactivate this driver."


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## kc ub'ing! (May 27, 2016)

Hard to imagine you're carrying a 4.78 handing out all those freebies... I guess give aways don't inspire goodwill. Instead of pondering the efficacy of your sign, you might want to consider your performance. 

How's your navigation? Any abrupt starts or stops? Do you find yourself apologizing during rides? "oops, sorry I goofed there". And to me, most importantly are you personable? Do riders enjoy your company over other drivers?

Answering these questions honestly may help. Or just get a battery powered LED reading light for your sign.


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## LGBNEWBIEDRIVER (Jun 9, 2016)

ddelro219 said:


> If I was your PAX, I might purposely give you one less star simply for placing that signage. You could be as enjoyable as ever as a driver, but I just might dock you a star just for asking for the 5 star rating. It looks desparate and undeserved, and the geniuneness of your ratings may really not be the truth, as you're 'buying' the rating. That's just me. Sorry, not trying to be a jerk. And if it gets you higher ratings, then go you.
> 
> I have a 4.95 average rating and have never dipped below 4.88 with over 1000 rides, which I think is pretty good; and I don't give away freebies, I don't even open doors for the PAX. I don't have any sign. I smile, I'm personable, I stay respectful no matter what. I get them to their destination safely and in a timely manner with a comfortable ride. I may dig for some common ground and then have a nice chat if the rider seems up for a chat. If not, I stay quiet and let the rider initiate a conversation if he/she so chooses. That's it. Nothing fancy.
> 
> ...


Great advice.... Thank you


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