# First night 5 star rating two days later 4.3



## JD1278 (Jul 26, 2016)

So Saturday I did my first Uber shift, I had eleven trips everyone seemed happy. I haven't driven in two days and all of a sudden I dropped to 4.3. So I understand people can rate the driver later, also my number of trips being so low a four or three star rating would crush my rating. I have ten rated trips and seven of those are five stars so I am batting a 70% five star average. So I understand where I may have gone wrong, no phone stand yes unprofessional and not safe so I accept any poor rating I got for that. 

I greet riders feel I am intuitive on if they want to talk or not I wait for them to speak but greet them in a friendly professional manner. I let riders use my aux and phone charger. I felt I drove pretty smooth made good time. I canceled one ride but tried to call and text them they didn't respond even waited eight minutes. 

I am not deactivated and I am assuming über factors that I have very little trips. I just wonder when should I really worry about a low rating? 40 trips? Six months? A lot of drivers say ratings fluctuate and unless you get complaints or consistently get less than five stars then you have to worry. Is that true?


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## DriverX (Aug 5, 2015)

THe more trips you get the harder it is to bring your rating up. I've had 15 five star trips out of the last 16 rated. With no rating change at all. not evne a hundredth of a point difference. It's extremely difficult to go up once you go down, you really need to bring it up while you have under 100 trips. I didn't find this site until afte I had 500 trips and was down to a 4.64. It took months to bring it up out of the danger zone and I've pretty much plateaued now at a 4.8 I doubt I will be able to hit 4.9 and the drivers who are at a 4.9 took more care with their rating early on. I also know a guy on here that somehow got a refresh on his rating by switching his account to another market. I think that back then they had to close his current account and start a new one so he got a new shot at 5 stars with the experience needed to keep it over 4.9 early. 

hit a solid 4.76ish and you'll be fine.


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## JD1278 (Jul 26, 2016)

DriverX said:


> THe more trips you get the harder it is to bring your rating up. I've had 15 five star trips out of the last 16 rated. With no rating change at all. not evne a hundredth of a point difference. It's extremely difficult to go up once you go down, you really need to bring it up while you have under 100 trips. I didn't find this site until afte I had 500 trips and was down to a 4.64. It took months to bring it up out of the danger zone and I've pretty much plateaued now at a 4.8 I doubt I will be able to hit 4.9 and the drivers who are at a 4.9 took more care with their rating early on. I also know a guy on here that somehow got a refresh on his rating by switching his account to another market. I think that back then they had to close his current account and start a new one so he got a new shot at 5 stars with the experience needed to keep it over 4.9 early.
> 
> hit a solid 4.76ish and you'll be fine.


Thanks, yeah that's my plan I am going to drive tonight after work. I know weekdays are slow but this may help me get my ratings up. I got a phone stand and have researched this site and will implement the advice. I hope I don't have no shows but a slower night may be good just a night to boost ratings then on the weekend have that higher rating. Come to think of it too I could have dressed better so I will do that too. I feel confident that should help my ratings.


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## DriverX (Aug 5, 2015)

vacuum your car more frequently and yeah don't look like a dirt bag until you got it down. Cancels will not affect your star rating AFAIK in fact your better off canceling a trip so they can't rate you rather than taking it and risking a bad rating. Don't be afraid to call the rider and get a better fix on the location and ask them where they are going while you have them on the phone. If they sound rushed CANCEL it, its not worth the bad raing. if its a short no surge trip in a area that is surging CANCEL it and get a bettter ride. dont' give people that are only spending $5 a chance to sink your rating for no good reason and no profit. At least I know all my shitty ratings have come from people paying 2x or more.


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

Dude, you aren't making enough to take it that serious. Give it a little time, get into the rhythm and most important, know where you are going.

It will either get better with a few more rides under your belt or it isn't for you. I think Uber gives you about 50 rides before sending a warning.


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## FARIS (Jul 11, 2016)

Same here when I first started , the second day I hit 4.6 .You will be fine just don't be very compliment for them and treat them normal like any other people .It is not worth thinking about it believe me because your are not going to make money out of it for living it's just a few pennies .


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## Horsebm (Jul 21, 2015)

*Once you start serving your passengers caviar, crackers and sparkling Perrier water your ratings will shoot right back up. 
Don't forget the doily under the serving tray. *


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

I started off in the same boat... My first trip was last month on June 23. My rating dropped from a 5.0 to a 4.69 in ten days. Right now, 537 trips later, I have slowly climbed up to a 4.81 rating... and the longer each day passes, the longer it takes for the rating to tick up. I closely monitored my ratings the last 34 trips, and everyone who gave a rating ALL gave 5 stars, and it only moved my rating up 0.01+.

I found what works for me is quick spot-detailing of my car every day. I shake out or do a fast clean of my floor mats before I start my day, wipe off any window smudges, make sure the car smells clean, etc. I get many compliments on how clean my car is. It may sound like a lot, but if you keep up on it daily, it takes minimal maintenance (except for the random pax who may or may not leave a mess). On hot/humid days, I keep the AC pumping. Yes, it sips a little more gas doing so, but I've gotten many compliments on how cool and dry it is in my car on those days, sometimes before they even get the door shut.

I engage in conversation depending on the personality/mood of the pax. Most pax, especially when it is only one rider, seem to look forward to conversation during the trip. Multiple pax usually do, although sometimes they would rather engage with themselves about work or friends, and I stay out of it unless acknowledged. Some pax are a combination of both, others, even single pax, are just buried in their phone, ask them how their day is, etc., after a couple of one-word answers, I notice that they are buried in their phone, I leave them in peace after that.

Pax that are pleasant, kind, thankful, no-hassle, I give 5-stars to. Pax that are awkward and give out weird demands like odd route requests, or ask for "can I stop by a gas station? ... and then it takes them 10 minutes to come back out and don't tip, or pax that take FOREVER to get out of their pick-up dwelling and get into the car (way passed the time I could have did a "no-show" on them), get a 4-star. Usually I give out 5's. Pax that try to turn the backseat of my car into a honeymoon suite get a 4-star. Pax that do this and are rude get less. Pax that are arguing with each other or worse get a 1, although this doesn't happen often, it's usually the late crowd that it occurs with.

Another criteria I give 5-stars to: Good tippers. Yesterday, I drove a nice lady to her destination, maybe a 7 minute drive. She tipped $20. I wish there was a 6-star for this. Tonight, I drove two older gentleman for 6 minutes from downtown to their destination. The first gentleman tried handing me a $100 bill, but pax #2 intercepted it and said he was being silly. Instead, I got a $20 tip... Again, 5 stars. One day I got two $20 tips back-to-back. Again, clean car, smooth efficient drive, good conversation, etc. The little things can pay off in the end, and when I get rewarded, I most definitely make sure that the pax gets 5 stars. I just wish the star rating happened so smooth going the other way to the driver. I got 1-starred a couple of weeks back (and I know exactly which trip it was) by a group of late-nighters on a trip who were beyond drunk. I stopped off at a gas station and ended their trip. I knew it would kill my rating, but it was worth it considering the chaos that was happening inside my car. If nothing else, it was for safety reasons... I will not drive my car down the road with pax if one of them is so out of their mind that they are trying to dismantle the inside of my car while I am driving it. Get out, find another ride, take the hit.

That being said, most pax are a pleasure to deal with. It's the 12:30 AM - 2:45 AM crowd that seems to kill driver ratings. High risk/reward type situation. I took a lot of surge pax tonight after midnight. It appears I had all five star ratings (so far), one of them was a 3.7X. That surge is attractive, but as already mentioned, you roll the dice with it. Sometimes, all it takes is for someone to look at what they paid for the fare the next day to get disgruntled and punish the driver for it over the fee that they paid. The system is great, but the human element exists, which means nothing will ever be perfect with the rating system when it comes to the driver's end of it. Just try to be wise with it, for better or worse.


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## JD1278 (Jul 26, 2016)

ptuberx said:


> I started off in the same boat... My first trip was last month on June 23. My rating dropped from a 5.0 to a 4.69 in ten days. Right now, 537 trips later, I have slowly climbed up to a 4.81 rating... and the longer each day passes, the longer it takes for the rating to tick up. I closely monitored my ratings the last 34 trips, and everyone who gave a rating ALL gave 5 stars, and it only moved my rating up 0.01+.
> 
> I found what works for me is quick spot-detailing of my car every day. I shake out or do a fast clean of my floor mats before I start my day, wipe off any window smudges, make sure the car smells clean, etc. I get many compliments on how clean my car is. It may sound like a lot, but if you keep up on it daily, it takes minimal maintenance (except for the random pax who may or may not leave a mess). On hot/humid days, I keep the AC pumping. Yes, it sips a little more gas doing so, but I've gotten many compliments on how cool and dry it is in my car on those days, sometimes before they even get the door shut.
> 
> ...


I drove late night last night, my rating has climbed two points so far but a few people didn't give a rating. So we will see over the next few days but I got compliments on my car cleanliness, dressed better, and accommodated people best I could.


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## drexl_s (May 20, 2016)

Drive local home town for the five stars; when I go into SF, that is when I get occasional 4stars; but doing local day trips; I get almost all five stars. Just saying, people in some areas will give you less than five regardless how well you drive. I got a one star one time, for no reason at all but I think the guy was too drunk and accidentally gave one star. Oh well, Uber said that all drivers go through this and it is averaged into the ratings needed for good standing.


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

JD1278 said:


> I drove late night last night, my rating has climbed two points so far but a few people didn't give a rating. So we will see over the next few days but I got compliments on my car cleanliness, dressed better, and accommodated people best I could.


That's part of the problem I run into: In my market, over 20% of riders don't ever give a rating at all. Some of them aren't even aware of the rating system on either end of it.


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## dnlbaboof (Nov 13, 2015)

do they even deactivate people anymore for ratings below 4.5??????? all the lawsuits etc


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## Beur (Apr 14, 2015)

I was in the same boat when I first started, dropped to a 4.34. It sucked starting during coachella!

I managed to bring my rating up very fast. I'm at a 4.87 and climbing.

1. I enforce the 5 min no show cancel. If they're not in my car in five I drive away slowly and cancel at 6 mins.
2. If I've canceled for no show, I don't accept their second ping
3. If they're at a mall or shopping center I always call to find out which business they're at. If I get any attitude or sense they're a problem I cancel.
4. When they get in the car if they display any rudeness or are demanding I tell them this isn't going to work for me and to please exit the car. Once you ask them to exit never back down, it will only tank your rating.
5. If they can't give me an exact address or business name I ask them to exit the car
6. When I pull up to a bar or restaurant I scope out the situation first, if they appear overly intox I don't take them. Often I'm close enough to hit arrive wait five and collect my $4.
7. No food or drink in the car, this is non negotiable
8. I don't make multiple stops, also non negotiable
9. Don't pick up from locations (bars) known to have problem pax. Accept the ping, call advise them you don't pick up from said location and tell them to cancel.

The longer you drive you'll start to learn the warning signs of bad pax. Always stick with gut and what you've learned and don't cut people slack. When you backdown on your rules is when your rating gets tanked. Remember it's your car, they play by your rules or find another car.


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## FARIS (Jul 11, 2016)

Beur said:


> I was in the same boat when I first started, dropped to a 4.34. It sucked starting during coachella!
> 
> I managed to bring my rating up very fast. I'm at a 4.87 and climbing.
> 
> ...


Wow , I really enjoyed reading this. Thx


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## COUGARUBER (Aug 1, 2016)

ptuberx said:


> I started off in the same boat... My first trip was last month on June 23. My rating dropped from a 5.0 to a 4.69 in ten days. Right now, 537 trips later, I have slowly climbed up to a 4.81 rating... and the longer each day passes, the longer it takes for the rating to tick up. I closely monitored my ratings the last 34 trips, and everyone who gave a rating ALL gave 5 stars, and it only moved my rating up 0.01+.
> 
> I found what works for me is quick spot-detailing of my car every day. I shake out or do a fast clean of my floor mats before I start my day, wipe off any window smudges, make sure the car smells clean, etc. I get many compliments on how clean my car is. It may sound like a lot, but if you keep up on it daily, it takes minimal maintenance (except for the random pax who may or may not leave a mess). On hot/humid days, I keep the AC pumping. Yes, it sips a little more gas doing so, but I've gotten many compliments on how cool and dry it is in my car on those days, sometimes before they even get the door shut.
> 
> ...


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## COUGARUBER (Aug 1, 2016)

How in the heck are we too spot check or freshen up our ride when we get back to back bings? en route ? 1 week in and down to 4.47. Mind you I dress professional, ride is clean, smells good I offer water, I understand and read wether or not a passenger wants to chat or not ? yet i'm im goin down !
Give me a break, people like to scrutinize. I was giving all passengers a 5. Not anymore ! I fight fire with fire no apologies ! Yeah don't tip me and rate me low, a passenger should just speak up if something is wrong or maybe i should ask "what can I do to get a 5 rating out of you? so i can keep my job as it's my livelyhood you seem to not take very serious.

btw. can rider see our rating for them LOL


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

COUGARUBER said:


> How in the heck are we too spot check or freshen up our ride when we get back to back bings? en route ? 1 week in and down to 4.47. Mind you I dress professional, ride is clean, smells good I offer water, I understand and read wether or not a passenger wants to chat or not ? yet i'm im goin down !
> Give me a break, people like to scrutinize. I was giving all passengers a 5. Not anymore ! I fight fire with fire no apologies ! Yeah don't tip me and rate me low, a passenger should just speak up if something is wrong or maybe i should ask "what can I do to get a 5 rating out of you? so i can keep my job as it's my livelyhood you seem to not take very serious.
> 
> btw. can rider see our rating for them LOL


I clean out or spot-check in and out of my car BEFORE I start driving for the day. I usually don't do it again until the next day that I drive, again before I start, not during, unless a passenger leaves an obvious mess, which rarely happens. Other than that, I have no idea why your rating is going down. Perhaps it has something to with other than the vehicle or the other things mentioned.


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## nash801 (Apr 17, 2016)

dnlbaboof said:


> do they even deactivate people anymore for ratings below 4.5??????? all the lawsuits etc


Yeah, do they?


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## nash801 (Apr 17, 2016)

Beur said:


> I was in the same boat when I first started, dropped to a 4.34. It sucked starting during coachella!
> 
> I managed to bring my rating up very fast. I'm at a 4.87 and climbing.
> 
> ...


No way you get good ratings being like this


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