# Low Ratings? Tips and 5 star tricks



## Uberselectguy (Oct 16, 2015)

Im reading more and more posts in here about folks working hard to improve their ratings only to see averages of 3.0 - 4.5, which means almost certain deactivation. There's no doubt many of you try hard, unfortunately there are two hurdles. First is you've received zero training from Uber, second is that you are dealing with the public and frankly they aren't educated to understand the rating system.

I drove in the Select platform in the Bay Area and my ratings were 4.9 overall. I gathered a lot of experience years ago driving limos to earn money while I was in college. I've attended Several professional driving courses, for my benefit and to get tips from the pros. I'll share some with you as well as a trip I took last evening as a rider from SFO to Woodside, 25 miles and about 45 minutes. Yes, I tipped her.

Let's start with the trip, and why she would ordinarily get 1-3 stars at best ( I gave her five out of courtesy ). I also gave her the benefit of some advice at the end. Here are common mistakes she made that without a doubt, if you are doing the same your ratings will suffer.

1) before you even start the day, make absolutely certain your car is clean. Dress up rather than down. Carry a portable vacuum in the trunk. Check the back carpet and seats after every couple of rides. Carry glass cleaner, make certain the back windows are clean. Her car had empty wrappers on the seat and floor. My window had what looked like dog nose smears on the glass. 

2) before you pick up a pax, PULL OVER AND CALL THEM .. get their exact location. WRITE IT DOWN, then enter it into your GPS. It is best to use a secondary GPS than the Uber phone. Use your cars, an iPad, ECT. the driver last night never called, texted. As a result she came to the wrong pickup location. I also was left wondering if she was coming at all with no call.

3) when they get into your car, GREET THEM. Ask three things. Is the temperature ( a/c,heat ) okay? Would you like to take my GPS route or do you have a better way? Is there anything else you would like? Then say .. My goal is to get you to your destination safely and timely. After that be certain to have the destination correct, repeat it to the rider. I got into this gals car and she had the heat on, it was uncomfortable. Something as simple as that could earn you 3 stars. I had to ask her if her gps was loaded right with the correct drop off. How many times does a pax load the wrong destination? Anyone that has driven has experienced this. And of course, it's always the drivers fault.

4) your driving style is critical. No surging starts and stops. Use your cruise control when you can. No hard lane changes, drive as if you have a cop on your tail. Use your turn signals, plan ahead your turns with no sudden swerves across lanes. Lest night this gal kept speeding up, slowing down, speeding up, slowing down. It made me think she was tired or unaware, not a good feeling. As well she never once used her turn signal, people notice this and feel you are unsafe. DO THE SPEED LIMIT. 75 mph on the highway is unacceptable, besides stupid. Same applies to surface streets. Make a pax feel unsafe, guaranteed 1 star.

5) Music. It's nice, most everyone likes music. Ask your pax first if they want it on or not and then keep the volume down. Try to preselects stations to fit your riders age. I used Sirius so I had the variety. FM stations are limiting. CDs will work if you have a multi disc player ( have 4-5 that cover most age groups ). Last night this gal had annoying, static laden rap music on that I had to ask twice to turn it down. I needed to make a cell call and had a speaker right behind me. Just that one item can get you 1 star.

6) not everyone wants to hear you chat it up. No one wants to hear you gripe. Few are interested in your life story. Let the Pax engage the conversation. I tend to be on the quiet side, I'm not big on small talk. Last night I heard this gals life story over the rap music. She might have thought she was the most interesting person on the planet, I didn't. It sounds harsh but if you are concerned with ratings, keep the conversation light. Also keep in mind that your pax think THEY are more interesting so if there is small talk, it's best to listen more than anything else.

7) as you near the destination ( 1-2 minutes ) you start the thank you conversation. Keep it short, don't sound cheesy or anything less than genuine. At the end, say these simple words. You have been a great passenger and I'm going to rate you five stars. That will help you get better drivers and faster pick ups. I'd like to ask that you rate me five stars since anything less is failure in Ubers system. 
You would be surprised how many people thank you for that and are inquisitive that anything less than five stars to you can lead to your termination. Put it out there, it pays back in dividends three fold.

Lastly. If you work only the surges, expect lower ratings. People take the rate hikes out on you. Never pick up a 4.0 or lower pax, they got the low ratings for a reason. Drunks will always rate you low. Young people 18-25 generally rate low no matter what. College kids are the absolute worst. Uber Pool will get you lower than average ratings, one or two people will feel they should have been picked up first or dropped off first. 

Hope you understand and benefit from this. Its truly unfortunate that Uber doesn't believe in investing into its drivers with professional driving courses, more videos, ect. The bad drivers give everyone a bad reputation.


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## MikesUber (Oct 23, 2015)

Uberselectguy said:


> Im reading more and more posts in here about folks working hard to improve their ratings only to see averages of 3.0 - 4.5, which means almost certain deactivation. There's no doubt many of you try hard, unfortunately there are two hurdles. First is you've received zero training from Uber, second is that you are dealing with the public and frankly they aren't educated to understand the rating system.
> 
> I drove in the Select platform in the Bay Area and my ratings were 4.9 overall. I gathered a lot of experience years ago driving limos to earn money while I was in college. I've attended Several professional driving courses, for my benefit and to get tips from the pros. I'll share some with you as well as a trip I took last evening as a rider from SFO to Woodside, 25 miles and about 45 minutes. Yes, I tipped her.
> 
> ...


Fantastic advice Uberselectguy! I am a firm believer in keeping your car factory new in appearance and dressing up as a driver will always impress! My first ride as an Uber passenger my driver was in a less than steller Prius and dressed in a plain white t-shirt and what looked like gray sweatpants. He drove somewhat erratically and went 70+ on the parkway which is 55mph. I understand some people don't follow the speed limit on the highway but when you're an Uber driver you _always_ drive the speed limit.

My career is in customer service and I consider myself an expert in the field, great tips on greeting the driver, confirming destination and closing the sale. Customer service isn't rocket science but so many people do not understand the basics. Be professional, polite, accommodating, understanding and genuine!


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

So, can you see what a driver rates you per trip? If they don't enter a rating, does it count as zero, or does it become a sort of null entry that doesn't go into your scores?


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## Uberselectguy (Oct 16, 2015)

No, you can not see what a driver rates you on a per trip basis. The driver will generally always enter a rating as he must do so in order to close out the completed trip. The only time a driver does not rate is when either he or rider cancels and the ride never begins.
Bad rider ratings 4.5 and below equate to drivers not wanting them as passengers. You would experience a high rate of cancels. You would also experience much longer wait times to be picked up, if you ever are.
Drivers judge riders on tips received, rider attitude, rider cleanliness and rider behavior.


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

Ok, so I've read a couple things on here about a driver getting bad reviews removed. How did they know the circumstances to argue to uber if not seeing them case by case?


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## Uberselectguy (Oct 16, 2015)

There are rider submitted reviews, then there are ratings. If a rider really feels particularly vengeful, they can email Uber with comments. In those cases where the review is bad, Uber sends a warning text to the driver along with the rider submitted review. The driver can and should dispute these. That is what you read in this forum.

As for driver and rider ratings, that's a different subject. Both generally see a running average of ratings, not a daily or hourly tally. By the time you get bad ratings, it's to late.


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## Clifford Chong (May 3, 2015)

I had a rider with a 4.0 rating tip me once. That was because it was their second ride and the driver before me gave them a 4 since they came back from a game, drunk.

I trust a 4.0/4.5 more than a 4.4-4.1. I always give the benefit of the doubt when it comes to clean numbered ratings and assume that this person must be fairly new.

I will never call my pax everytime I accept a request. I've done this a few times via text message and was given a below average rating as a result. Even as a passenger, I think it's annoying when they call me right after requesting a ride just to confirm if I am at my location. It's the same as the passenger doing the same to me as a driver.


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## Uberselectguy (Oct 16, 2015)

Obviously you have your own rule set. I have mine. The denominator is what works better, what does not.

Ratings eventually tell the tale. Deactivation ends the story. 

So, good luck.


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## Avenig (Sep 2, 2015)

Thanks for the tips!


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

Uberselectguy said:


> Im reading more and more posts in here about folks working hard to improve their ratings only to see averages of 3.0 - 4.5, which means almost certain deactivation. There's no doubt many of you try hard, unfortunately there are two hurdles. First is you've received zero training from Uber, second is that you are dealing with the public and frankly they aren't educated to understand the rating system.
> 
> I drove in the Select platform in the Bay Area and my ratings were 4.9 overall. I gathered a lot of experience years ago driving limos to earn money while I was in college. I've attended Several professional driving courses, for my benefit and to get tips from the pros. I'll share some with you as well as a trip I took last evening as a rider from SFO to Woodside, 25 miles and about 45 minutes. Yes, I tipped her.
> 
> ...


I do all of these things, and more, and I struggle with a 4.64, but it is going up now, it used to be 4.79. I quit at midnight before they are really drunk. Drunks are a losing battle, I just dont want them. You can't refuse kids, unless they are under 18, so I don't get that one. I always tell pax I'm rating them 5 stars. I never work surges, because for UberSUV, surges mean no pings, no one is going to pay a multiple of $4.30 per mile. UberSUV I get a lot of rich kids with daddy's CC., but I get good ratings from them, 'cause I relate to kids very well. I open doors for all the ladies, the guys only on pick up. I've never had a guy mind that I don't open the door for them on exit, but ladies appreciate being treated like a lady. I would never work UberPOOL (but it's not available in San Diego anyway ). One thing I do now that I was very bad at in the beginning, if I overheard conversation for which I had what I thought was good input, is resist the temptation to interject ( as if I were one of their friends ). As a rider, one thing I noticed about taking cabs is that drivers often go to0 fast on turns, not realizing that if you are not a driver, the inertia is amplified for a rider since they can't antipicate turns, so I always take turns slowly.

I think the one thing that helps more than anything ( since I started doing this, and it's not in my nature, because I'm an extreme introvert ) is greet people on entry, since I started doing that about a few weeks ago, my rating is going up. I did everything you mentioned, including playing music and offering water, except not greeting, and my stats sank, and now they are going up. Having a clean car is a no-brainer, I can't stand driving in a dirty car, and I actually inspect my car after every ride, and dust things off, pick up lint left behind, etc. before taking the next trip, and it's a good idea because sometimes people leave stuff, and it's embarrassing if the next pax finds it before you do. I took an uber as apax a few weeks ago, and the car was filthy, I was totally amazed at how anyone could ask anyone to ride in a dirty car, are people that clueless? Apparently they are. I should have rated the driver low, but I'm too nice I guess, but I just told him that can expect low ratings, and went on my way. Another thing, I replaced removable rugs with the all rubber type, they are so much easier to keep clean, and having an all black leather interior is better than fabric seats and interiors that are beige, etc. Also, I detail my car ever so often, give the car a real going over, 'cause, and this is really true of women, people notice detail.


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## jrboy (Sep 14, 2015)

dude you're doing way too much. they're just stars bro.


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## Davesway10 (Aug 7, 2015)

Uberselectguy 
Just wanted to say thank you for all that you post in these forums. You are one of the few on here that I honestly read with "open eyes", not because I always agree with you or because I think you have all the answers. Because all of your posts are well thought out and are seemingly written with an unbiased opinion. It's human nature to agree or disagree with what one thinks is right and the other thinks is wrong. Disagreements discussed objectively can lead to healthy and positive changes, your posts tend to keep my own opinions in check and allow me to step back and reassess my own way of looking at a problem.

So, in short, Thank you.


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## Uberselectguy (Oct 16, 2015)

Thanks Dave. I try to be as objective in most of my posts, and I hope for the most part that the posts are beneficial for the drivers.


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## UberAroundTown (Oct 26, 2015)

I am new to driving - only been driving a about a month and still learning. I really enjoyed reading these posts and will take the advice and put it to use. I always greet my passengers and ask them about the air and music. Until this past weekend, my rating was 5.0 - but this was Halloween and yes I picked up a bunch of drunk college kids on most of the trips. I normally stay away from the area of the college and the college bars but I kept getting brought back to that area. I wish they would show who rates you how so you can know and then I arrived to several pickups and they had more than 4 passengers so I wasted gas and didn't get paid as I cannot transport more than 4 passengers. I think they should charge the rider the cancellation fee if they have more than 4 passengers and a driver has to cancel due to that. According to Uber, the rider will only get charged the cancellation fee if you don't cancel for five minutes after arriving so you refuse to drive more than 4 passengers and then you have sit there for five minutes before cancelling if you want to get any reimbursement for your time and gas. Something does not seem right about that.


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

Level up. Your cap is in the mail.


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

Here's a tip for you older drivers .. If you want a better rating from the 18-26 year old millenial sheep then just play any Drake song. Doesn't matter which one they all sound the same but for some reason these kids go ape shit over Drake.

Easy 5 stars


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

Uberselectguy said:


> Im reading more and more posts in here about folks working hard to improve their ratings only to see averages of 3.0 - 4.5, which means almost certain deactivation. There's no doubt many of you try hard, unfortunately there are two hurdles. First is you've received zero training from Uber, second is that you are dealing with the public and frankly they aren't educated to understand the rating system.
> 
> I drove in the Select platform in the Bay Area and my ratings were 4.9 overall. I gathered a lot of experience years ago driving limos to earn money while I was in college. I've attended Several professional driving courses, for my benefit and to get tips from the pros. I'll share some with you as well as a trip I took last evening as a rider from SFO to Woodside, 25 miles and about 45 minutes. Yes, I tipped her.
> 
> ...


Another approach to educating paxs is attaching this sign to the backs of the seats. This is what I've done and it has produced excellent results.

*As an Uber driver, I must keep my driver rating above 4.7 to keep my job. 
Here's is how the driver rating system breaks down:
5 stars = The driver was courteous. The car was clean. I was transported safely.
4 stars = One vote to terminate this driver immediately.
3 stars = Two votes to terminate this driver immediately.
2 stars = Three votes to terminate this driver immediately.
1 star = Four votes to terminate this driver immediately.*​
I originally posted these signs as an emotional response to a couple really unfair ratings I received and Uber's total lack of regard for its drivers. I eventually got Uber to remove one of the ratings but it took way too long to do so. Meanwhile, I found that the signs were yielding higher overall driver ratings. I don't hand out gum, candy, water, mints, etc., I don't provide phone chargers, I don't let paxs select radio station, and I never wait more than 301 seconds for a pax to show up.


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

I do the same and I carry 4.88 - 4.9


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

SECOTIME said:


> Level up. Your cap is in the mail.


Drivers aren't really going to wear those, are they? That'd be nearly as bad as putting the Uber badges on your car.


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## UberAroundTown (Oct 26, 2015)

I like the idea of the sign on the back of the seats. I will try this and see if I can get my rating back to 5.0 as it went down this weekend to 4.84 - not sure why as I did everything the same other than picked up more drunks and college kids than normal as I stay away from the area where the college bars are located. But did notice that several riders were already drunk at 10 pm when I picked them up to bring them to the bar. Maybe that had to do with the lower rating for Saturday night.


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

Desert Driver said:


> Drivers aren't really going to wear those, are they? That'd be nearly as bad as putting the Uber badges on your car.


It's just a joke. I'm sure some would wear it though.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

SECOTIME said:


> It's just a joke. I'm sure some would wear it though.


Jebuz! Can you imagine?


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## SECOTIME (Sep 18, 2015)

I certainly can. People wear branded hats all the time. And they don't have any affiliation with the company really.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

UberAroundTown said:


> I like the idea of the sign on the back of the seats. I will try this and see if I can get my rating back to 5.0 as it went down this weekend to 4.84 - not sure why as I did everything the same other than picked up more drunks and college kids than normal as I stay away from the area where the college bars are located. But did notice that several riders were already drunk at 10 pm when I picked them up to bring them to the bar. Maybe that had to do with the lower rating for Saturday night.


Yeah, how insane is that? People who are too inebriated to drive are rating YOU as you drive. In what universe does that make any sense at all? I mean, who was the asshole who didn't think this design through?


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

I thought I made it through the 31st with 5 stars, but somewhere I got dropped to 4.9 stars. Damn. Not sure why. I think I know who it was, and it really pisses me off because the guy told me he was an Uber driver before they left SA and came back. College kid. I missed an exit taking him to destination, and so to keep him from paying for my mistake, I stopped the meter around the block and fixed my mistake on my dime at my risk. Only seemed fair, but he was a prick about it.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

texasm203 said:


> I thought I made it through the 31st with 5 stars, but somewhere I got dropped to 4.9 stars. Damn. Not sure why. I think I know who it was, and it really pisses me off because the guy told me he was an Uber driver before they left SA and came back. College kid. I missed an exit taking him to destination, and so to keep him from paying for my mistake, I stopped the meter around the block and fixed my mistake on my dime at my risk. Only seemed fair, but he was a prick about it.


And so goes the world of Uber and it's statistically invalid driver rating system...


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

Desert Driver said:


> And so goes the world of Uber and it's statistically invalid driver rating system...


I'm upset about it, but it's not like it ruined my day. lol. I made a few bucks, got a few tips actually, and honestly had a lot of fun doing it.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

texasm203 said:


> I'm upset about it, but it's not like it ruined my day. lol. I made a few bucks, got a few tips actually, and honestly had a lot of fun doing it.


Don't let it bug you. Let me explain how the rating system works...

Uber wants us to believe that because our driver ratings are the result of averaging the individual star ratings our paxs give us that it has created a fair and valid driver rating system. The truth of the matter, however, is that nothing could be further from the truth, statistically speaking. The paxs rate drivers on an interval scale. The intervals are 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. There are no partial scores, like 3.5 or 4.8 However, Uber makes driver keep/kill decisions based on an ordinal scale. The problem is, you cannot use interval data to create an ordinal scale. Doing so results in a statistically invalid rating system that produces no meaningful output. And for those who understand statistics, it's basic statistical knowledge that mixing ordinal and interval scales produces no useable results.

In the current rating system, the validity of the score can be described as follows:

Imagine receiving a message from Uber on your weekly summary that said, "Uber Partner, your driving rating score last week was lollipop. Two weeks ago your driving rating score was water pump. Congratulations! You are a valued Partner. Keep up the good work and Uber on!

See the problem here? The data point lollipop has nothing to do with and possesses no relationship to the data point water pump. Ergo, those two driver rating scores have precisely zero meaning. And this is exactly what happens when interval data (pax ratings of drivers) are used to create an ordinal scale (Uber's keep/kill threshold of 4.6.)


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

Desert Driver said:


> See the problem here? The data point lollipop has nothing to do with and possesses no relationship to the data point water pump. Ergo, those two driver rating scores have precisely zero meaning. And this is exactly what happens when interval data (pax ratings of drivers) are used to create an ordinal scale (Uber's keep/kill threshold of 4.6.)


Lollipop and water pump.... you made laugh. Well done sir.

I understand it's a bunch of crap, honestly. What bugs me is my family REALLY needs this money I'm making part-time, and so to know some schmuck can take that away from my family just because I didn't give them a handjob while driving them to a party is BS. I'm willing to do a-lot to provide, but handy J's are a bit too far for me.  I guess I'll just shake it off and play the game until I get a 4.7. More trips will offset the bad rating for me I suppose.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

texasm203 said:


> Lollipop and water pump.... you made laugh. Well done sir.
> 
> I understand it's a bunch of crap, honestly. What bugs me is my family REALLY needs this money I'm making part-time, and so to know some schmuck can take that away from my family just because I didn't give them a handjob while driving them to a party is BS. I'm willing to do a-lot to provide, but handy J's are a bit too far for me.  I guess I'll just shake it off and play the game until I get a 4.7. More trips will offset the bad rating for me I suppose.


Learn to live with it. I realize that's crappy advice, but it's the best I can do. And remember, because the system is so horribly flawed, there is absolutely NO difference between a rating of 4.7 and a rating of 5. As long as you're above 4.7, you can tell people you're a 5 star driver and you are not lying.


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## texasm203 (Oct 27, 2015)

Desert Driver said:


> Learn to live with it. I realize that's crappy advice, but it's the best I can do. And remember, because the system is so horribly flawed, there is absolutely NO difference between a rating of 4.7 and a rating of 5. As long as you're above 4.7, you can tell people you're a 5 star driver and you are not lying.


Cool, Thanks!


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