# I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?



## HazardousDescent (Jul 25, 2016)

*I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


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## Elephant (Aug 29, 2016)

As long as driver drop you safely they always deserve higher ratings.


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## HazardousDescent (Jul 25, 2016)

Driver talking on the phone shouldn't be a problem, but some riders feel entitled (like only they may use the phone). Based on the article linked.
I added Higher to unbiasedly present the poll. In actuality it obviously doesn't go higher than 5 stars  (what one would expect from a issue free ride)


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

HazardousDescent said:


> *I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


I remember one day I ordered from the dollar menu at McDonalds and the cheese wasn't evenly applied on my $1.49 Double Chubby w/Cheese. I not only complained to the manager on duty but I wrote corporate a very strong worded letter. How dare a multi billion dollar corporation not get my $1.49 burger perfect. When I'm spending very good money then I expect my $1.49 burger to be nothing but the best. When I'm done eating my $1.49 burger from McDonalds I want to feel like I just ate a $60 filet from Morton's. Uber, I'm Lovin It.


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## WeirdBob (Jan 2, 2016)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> I remember one day I ordered from the dollar menu at McDonalds and the cheese wasn't evenly applied on my $1.49 Double Chubby w/Cheese. I not only complained to the manager on duty but I wrote corporate a very strong worded letter. How dare a multi billion dollar corporation not get my $1.49 burger perfect. When I'm spending very good money then I expect my $1.49 burger to be nothing but the best. When I'm done eating my $1.49 burger from McDonalds I want to feel like I just ate a $60 filet from Morton's. Uber, I'm Lovin It.


I know a guy who will get you those $60 steaks for $20 each. Home delivered, vacuum sealed and fresh frozen. If you buy a case and don't look like a narc, he'll even smoke a bowl of Pineapple Express or Sour Diesel with you. Just look for the 1997 White Ford Ranger with the freezer in the back.


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## Mars Troll Number 4 (Oct 30, 2015)

Ya know... after reading that.


Broken seat-belts are not acceptable...

However this is uber we are talking about so you get what you pay for.



Personally it's this sort of Shoddy service that not even a cab company would tolerate, this week I got pulled off the road because a headlight was burned out. A convention week, 5:00 AM and i went home without being able to make a dime and the company lost all the money i would have paid them that day.


Safety is safety, if we have to get $(D%* on and forced off the service until we deal with safety issues that's what needs to be done. If i was running the show i'd suspend him until he got the seat belt replaced, and taken the car into the inspection site to have one of the staff inspect it.

Personally i think we need quarterly inspections from the company.


The rates are however too low for a 1 man 1 car operation to effectively work. In the past I ran an Indy taxi, and i lost time to having my car go in to get various things fixed. I called it unscheduled vacations. It's inevitable to have cars go out of service. A company with a fleet can have spare cars, or people going on vacation or whatever, to cover the lost time. You don't have that luxury with uber. And with barely over cost you can't loose days or a week getting your car fixed.


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

WeirdBob said:


> I know a guy who will get you those $60 steaks for $20 each. Home delivered, vacuum sealed and fresh frozen. If you buy a case and don't look like a narc, he'll even smoke a bowl of Pineapple Express or Sour Diesel with you.


I'm more partial to Purple Kush. I couldn't even begin to tell you how long ago it's been since I've smoked weed. I'm sure it was back in the late 70's when I was in high school. We have dispensaries here in AZ since the use of medical marijuana became legal and about a year ago I walked into one. Holy crap, the smell alone will get you stoned. The weed we had 40 years ago is nothing compared to what you guys have today. No wonder why half this country is walking around lost. As Spicoli said in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High "That's my skull, I'm so wasted".


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

This was pretty impressive close to the article



> So here's how I think you should look at it. *How would you rate your own performance at work today? *And I don't mean your overall average. I mean how would you rate every 20-minute chunk of your time, from the minute you clocked in to when you went home? How did you do between your snack at 11.30am and lunchtime? What about the 10 minutes you skived off to go and sit in the toilet, or the dental appointment you attended on company time, or all that private email you sent during the afternoon slump?
> 
> Unless there's a very good reason for it, don't dignify these ratings systems by assuming they're real. Over-tip, over-praise, and give everyone who serves you five stars as a matter of principle.


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## Wedgey (Feb 14, 2017)

HazardousDescent said:


> *I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


How bad was it?


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## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

MINIMIZE YOUR RISK: Taking a hands-fee phone call is technically legal in most states. Further, most of the time it will probably not affect the safe arrival at the destination. However, like texting-while-driving, it is a distraction that marginally increases your risk of having an accident while driving. Of course, so is fiddling with your GPS while driving. Drivers are forced to accept these risks on a daily basis. Smart drivers will try to minimize risk to both themselves and the PAX. It is simply smart business.

Ask yourself, do you really want the PAX to overhear an argument with your wife/girlfriend/daughter or bill collector? What is so important that it cannot wait 5-10 minutes to get the PAX out of your car? Then you can pull over to a safe spot and call back or listen to any message. You do not even need to go offline.


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## Trebor (Apr 22, 2015)

Mears Troll Number 4 said:


> Ya know... after reading that.
> 
> Broken seat-belts are not acceptable...
> 
> ...


Why didnt you get a spare taxi when your headlight went out? Or why not just replace the headlight yourself? I have stopped at wallymart in the middle of the night, replaced my headlight and keep driving.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

HazardousDescent said:


> *I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


Thats just rude.
3 stars or less.



SEAL Team 5 said:


> I'm more partial to Purple Kush. I couldn't even begin to tell you how long ago it's been since I've smoked weed. I'm sure it was back in the late 70's when I was in high school. We have dispensaries here in AZ since the use of medical marijuana became legal and about a year ago I walked into one. Holy crap, the smell alone will get you stoned. The weed we had 40 years ago is nothing compared to what you guys have today. No wonder why half this country is walking around lost. As Spicoli said in the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High "That's my skull, I'm so wasted".


Real Hawaiian mountain grown purple blue haired sticky bud skunk weed was as potent in the 70's as anything is today.


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## GaryWinFlorida (Jan 3, 2016)

Maven said:


> MINIMIZE YOUR RISK: Taking a hands-fee phone call is technically legal in most states. Further, most of the time it will probably not affect the safe arrival at the destination. However, like texting-while-driving, it is a distraction that marginally increases your risk of having an accident while driving. Of course, so is fiddling with your GPS while driving. Drivers are forced to accept these risks on a daily basis. Smart drivers will try to minimize risk to both themselves and the PAX. It is simply smart business.
> 
> Ask yourself, do you really want the PAX to overhear an argument with your wife/girlfriend/daughter or bill collector? What is so important that it cannot wait 5-10 minutes to get the PAX out of your car? Then you can pull over to a safe spot and call back or listen to any message. You do not even need to go offline.


How about just common decency? In what job does anyone get to make personal calls while dealing with a customer? Unless it is a true emergency there is ZERO reason to take or make a personal telephone call when you have a rider in the car. Wait until they get out and then take fiver and make your call.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

It is annoying when the next passenger in queue calls when you still have a rider in your car. Probably results in a lower rating if you answer it.



> What is so important that it cannot wait 5-10 minutes to get the PAX out of your car?


I've also made calls when I pick someone up and find out they are going on a long trip to let people know I am missing my appointments to do a long uber ride. It isn't always just a 5-10 minute wait to make the call. On a long ride you might be on the ride for hours and if you don't make the call you are effectively no-showing people, even getting stuck with cancellation fees that exceed the profit on the Uber ride you are doing. The only way to avoid this is to turn off your app several hours before any scheduled event lest you suddenly get boned by a long trip that you accepted and you can't even see the destination before you accept it.

A one star rating for a quick 30 second phone call at the start of a ride, or answering your Uber phone to tell the next guy that yes you take shaggy wet dogs, or that yes I have your iphone you left in my car, would be in my opinion, an unjust rating for making a short call.

I can count the number of phone calls I've made or answered with a rider in my vehicle on one hand.

If ratings were not associated with account deactivation, then fine, any rating goes. But I think it is ridiculous to essentially vote to fire a driver for basically just making a call that is practically necessary to the functioning of your Uber business.


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## emdeplam (Jan 13, 2017)

2*..only 1* if its not hands free


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## Talcire (May 18, 2016)

No point in commenting on this article unless you live and drive in the UK. Different country, different laws, different manners...
also, *Uber is a licensed taxi service* in the UK, so our perspective (if you're in the USA) is something to consider.


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## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

Talcire said:


> No point in commenting on this article unless you live and drive in the UK. Different country, different laws, different manners... also, *Uber is a licensed taxi service* in the UK, so our perspective (if you're in the USA) is something to consider.


This tread was started by someone in the USA. You are in San Diego, which last time I checked was also in the USA. Of course, laws are different in the UK. How did the UK enter this thread? UK-specific issues should be discussed in a UK-thread like those at https://uberpeople.net/forums/London/


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## UsedToBeAPartner (Sep 19, 2016)

Do not tip the driver and DO give him a 1 star. Some say you give your server a good tip even if they are a terrible server (not restaurant issues) and I totally disagree. If my server takes my order and I only see them again when they deliver the food and again when they hand me the bill, this is NOT good service and I will adjust my tip accordingly. Those that do not only promote lackluster service and allows these folks to remain on the job. A bad Uber driver should also be rated poorly as you should not promote lackluster service from an Uber driver just because they are underpaid, generally under educated and desperate folks who have fallen for the Uber promise of great riches. Bad service is simply bad service. My wife recently took a ride and it was terrible. I always insist that she tips here driver but when she described the ride I said "I hope you did not tip" which she did not and I said "I hope you gave him 1 star" which she also did. It's the right thing to do. The ratings are based upon the last 500 rides so a couple of 1 star ratings are not going to effect any driver. However, if they consistently give bad service the rating system will catch up with them and they can either choose to change their ways or be removed from the Uber platform.


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## Trump Economics (Jul 29, 2015)

HazardousDescent said:


> *I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


Every call that pays less than minimum-wage gets a 1-star by default.

Welcome to my algorithm.


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## Uberfunitis (Oct 21, 2016)

I don't want someone driving me doing anything but driving me and paying attention to the road. Hands free is less distracting than screwing with a phone but still distracting and I want his or her attention completely on the road and nothing else.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

The article does make pretty good arguments about how unfair the rating system is; how the TNCs fail to educate their customers on it and how the TNCs interpret it properly. Where it fails, though, is that its writer seems not to understand that this clearly was a case of poor service. The complainant stated that the car smelled bad, the Nanny-ER-uh-*seat* belt did not work and that the driver was yakking on the telephone. You have, here, one sanitation deficiency and two safety deficiencies. While, for my purposes, I would not worry too much about the Revenue-ER-uh-_*seat*_ belt, the smelly car and the failure to pay full time and attention do cause me to worry.

Yes, in most states the hands free is legal, but, when you are hauling passengers for compensation, a higher standard comes into play. It may be legal for a driver for compensation to yakk on a hands free, but just because something is legal does not always mean that you should do it.



Uberfunitis said:


> I don't want someone driving me doing anything but driving me and paying attention to the road. Hands free is less distracting than screwing with a phone but still distracting and I want his or her attention completely on the road and nothing else.


I have to agree with this one. If I hail a cab and the driver is yakking on the telephone, I ask him, politely, if he will hang up. If he gives me any lip, I get out and hail another cab. It has yet to happen on Uber, but if a driver shows up yakking on the telephone, he will receive the same treatment. Any lip will earn him a cancellation and a nastygram to Uber about him.

If a cab driver starts yakking en route, I have him discharge me, immediately. I will pay what is on the meter, as I do owe for the distance that he carried me, but he gets a flat. If it were to happen on Uber, I would tell the driver to end the trip immediately, discharge me. He would receive on star and Uber would receive a nastygram about him.


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## TheFixer1 (Jan 29, 2017)

HazardousDescent said:


> *I had a really bad Uber ride. Can I give the driver one star or will it wreck his ratings?*
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/17/uber-lyft-driver-ratings-customer-impact


What type of service where you exactly expecting with these dirt cheap rates, you want a five star restaurant experience while paying McDonald's dollar menu rates.


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