# The Driver Rating Mystery



## Guest (Feb 2, 2015)

As an UBER X driver my overall rating continues to plummet ...and I have absolutely no idea why.

I actually provide an XL car accepting fares at the X rates - an always impeccably clean 1 year old crossover SUV.
I arrive at pick-ups quickly, and with a smile on my face greet the customer - while opening the door for them and loading their luggage as necessary.
I am friendly and courteous during the ride, very safe and direct on the route without confusion.
I open the door for the customer on exit (if they are not already out of the car), thank them for calling me, and wish them a great day.
What more could a person ask for? That's the big question.

When I received my weekly summary from UBER today I found that I had completed 39 trips last week, but only 27 of those were 5 Star ratings, the rest were apparently something less (UBER doesn't give you any information on just what the "something less" rides' ratings are.

But if you do the math knowing that 27 of 39 rides were 5 Star - that means that 12 rides were less than 5 Star.
And in order to get to my overall average rating for the week of 4.28 (!!) - it means that a bunch of people are rating the ride 2 or 3 Stars. Unbelievable.

Are the riders/customers pushing buttons at random? Are they just plain angry with the world? Are they drunk and incapable of operating a cell phone? Are they snobs on a power trip who think that nobody deserves to be acknowledged for doing a fine job?

I don't get it. Anybody out there with ideas - or having the same experience?


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## CJ ASLAN (Sep 13, 2014)

mike888 said:


> As an UBER X driver my overall rating continues to plummet ...and I have absolutely no idea why.
> 
> I actually provide an XL car accepting fares at the X rates - an always impeccably clean 1 year old crossover SUV.
> I arrive at pick-ups quickly, and with a smile on my face greet the customer - while opening the door for them and loading their luggage as necessary.
> ...


Don't worry too much about your rating. You'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what you are and aren't doing. Most passengers don't realize that a 4 is not really a good rating to give to drivers. They feel that hey he didn't have fresh baked brownies, no 5 for him, but a 4 is damn good enough..right? no. That is what they fail to realize, 4s do us more harm than good. You have to take a second and educate the riders sometimes, I like to do that. Especially ones I feel like I have connected with or had an overall good experience with, the last thing I want is him saying "Oh he was good! 4 stars!". I tell them how drivers must maintain XXX avg in order to stay active or risk deactivation. A lot of them are usually like "ahhhh, I didn't know that, thank you!"..

I NEVER open the doors for passengers. They're not entitled to Luxury service (holding the door for someone is a sign of excellent customer service) in the driving field, but to the UberX passengers, they could care less. They don't appreciate none of the stuff you do, trust me. That just sets up the next pax to get in your car feeling like you owe them something. I will help load luggage, that's about it. 9 out of 10x, you wont even get a tip so why go the extra mile for them? You shouldn't have to kiss ass to get 5 stars, just be yourself and keep the conversation light, depending on pax mood. I gauge my pax within first 2 minutes, if they don't seem like the talking type, I shutup and drive. I let them initiate convo.

Also, you have to realize if you're picking up drunks, they're not going to care whether or not they gave you a good rating. They see the "rate driver" thing come up on there app at the end of the trip and sometimes, just to get it off the screen, they just push any button, maybe a 2 star or 3, just anything to clear the message off the screen. Sometimes, you wont get rated by them til they take there next trip. Don't sweat the rating system, it's all ****en bullshit anyways. Keep a good attitude, don't get lost, don't be a creep (oh you smell nice today) and you'll be fine.


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## the_radioactive (Feb 2, 2015)

CJ ASLAN said:


> I NEVER open the doors for passengers. They're not entitled to Luxury service (holding the door for someone is a sign of excellent customer service) in the driving field, but to the UberX passengers, they could care less. They don't appreciate none of the stuff you do, trust me. That just sets up the next pax to get in your car feeling like you owe them something. I will help load luggage, that's about it. 9 out of 10x, you wont even get a tip so why go the extra mile for them? You shouldn't have to kiss ass to get 5 stars, just be yourself and keep the conversation light, depending on pax mood. I gauge my pax within first 2 minutes, if they don't seem like the talking type, I shutup and drive. I let them initiate convo.
> 
> Also, you have to realize if you're picking up drunks, they're not going to care whether or not they gave you a good rating. They see the "rate driver" thing come up on there app at the end of the trip and sometimes, just to get it off the screen, they just push any button, maybe a 2 star or 3, just anything to clear the message off the screen. Sometimes, you wont get rated by them til they take there next trip. Don't sweat the rating system, it's all ****en bullshit anyways. Keep a good attitude, don't get lost, don't be a creep (oh you smell nice today) and you'll be fine.


Exactly how I feel....I'm tired of people telling me to open doors for pax to get higher ratings. I really feel like saying to these entitled pricks, "I'm not your ****ing chauffeur because I don't get paid near as enough! You really think you can get a limo for less than the price of a cab?"
I think it's partly Uber's fault too. Their motto is your own private driver. That's why I prefer Lyft, "your friend with a car"
Passengers are almost always wonderful with Lyft.


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

Does your car have any strong smells? - even if it is air freshener, if it is too strong, it might be a big negative.
Do you smoke cigarettes? - If yes, you may not be aware others are disturbed by the smell of cigarette smokes.
Do you have dirty floor mats? - This is very important. Even if the rest of the car is clean, dirty floor mats will ruin it all.
Do you wear very strong colon/perfume etc...? - people might not like the same smells.
How is your driving? do you provide a smooth ride where you don't need to hit the breaks a lot, with no sudden acceleration and deceleration?
Do you drive below speed limits? with passengers in the car, I always drive above speed limit. Some passengers think we make more money when we drive slowly.
Most importantly: do you appreciate it when a passenger have entered the address correctly, was ready at the curb when you arrived, flagged you before you tried to find him/her? if yes, make it very clear by saying it to them that this behavior is very much appreciated. Just like you want to be respected, passengers also want to be appreciated.
when they rate you, they will remember how nice you were to them when you appreciated their punctuality. I think I gave away my biggest secret. I am at 4.92 rating with my old Prius. I am extremely allergic to any dust and strong odors. I keep an extraordinarily clean car inside and out. I hate dust! I am allergic to it. I get a lot of positive feedback on how clean my car was.

Sometimes I get into other people's cars. They try to cover up bad smells and dirt with a lot of air fresheners. It will backfire. It will not help. If you do all these things and still bad ratings, you may work on being a people person, show some empathy, without being intrusive talk about things that matter to people, listen to them when they want to talk and remember the conversation, ask non-intrusive questions showing that you actually care...

I hope this helps.


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## The Kid (Dec 10, 2014)

You must educate PAX. 5* is good job, 4* means I want this driver fired immediately. Most PAX just don't know how it works. Also, let them know it a 2 way street. Uber cuts off PAX that fall below 4.5. It's not true, but they don't now that. I've done over 300 rides and still have 4.97*.


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

The Kid said:


> You must educate PAX. 5* is good job, 4* means I want this driver fired immediately. Most PAX just don't know how it works. Also, let them know it a 2 way street. Uber cuts off PAX that fall below 4.5. It's not true, but they don't now that. I've done over 300 rides and still have 4.97*.


I agree. If you see a 5* passenger, make sure you learn if it is their first ride. If it is, run the list of things they need to know. Rating system is the item number 1. 5=keep the driver; anything else=fire the driver. That's what it means. I tell them that too.


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## the_radioactive (Feb 2, 2015)

The Kid said:


> You must educate PAX. 5* is good job, 4* means I want this driver fired immediately. Most PAX just don't know how it works. Also, let them know it a 2 way street. Uber cuts off PAX that fall below 4.5. It's not true, but they don't now that. I've done over 300 rides and still have 4.97*.


I am trying to find a way to go over this topic in a short and quick way. I'm even contemplating putting a note behind my seat explaining how ratings work. You don't always get a chance to explain this. Pax want to hear music or chat among themselves.


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

mike888 said:


> As an UBER X driver my overall rating continues to plummet ...and I have absolutely no idea why.
> 
> I actually provide an XL car accepting fares at the X rates - an always impeccably clean 1 year old crossover SUV.
> I arrive at pick-ups quickly, and with a smile on my face greet the customer - while opening the door for them and loading their luggage as necessary.
> ...


Question: How many rides you have so far? If it is less than a few hundred, don't worry too much. I am at 900+ rides and my rating have steadied. When you have hundreds of rides, things will even out and hardly ever change from day to day.


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## Lou W (Oct 26, 2014)

Wash your ass weekly. Works for me.


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## the_radioactive (Feb 2, 2015)

UberXTampa said:


> Question: How many rides you have so far? If it is less than a few hundred, don't worry too much. I am at 900+ rides and my rating have steadied. When you have hundreds of rides, things will even out and hardly ever change from day to day.


Mine are definitely less than a hundred...I started uber last week of December. That's a relief to hear that eventually they'll even out. Although I'm very afraid of being deactivated because of the 4s I seem to be getting regularly. Anyone have any thoughts on my note on the back of my seat idea?


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

Also - do you hold the phone in your hand while driving? if so - do you as a passenger trust you driving like that? this is a big safety hazard. Make sure you give calm and comfort by being and acting safe. I see a lot of people with their phones in hand and driving like a kamikaze. Are you one of them?


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## The Kid (Dec 10, 2014)

Takes less than a minute. Then they can do what they want. If they give you attitude give them 1*, see how they like it.


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## the_radioactive (Feb 2, 2015)

UberXTampa said:


> Also - do you hold the phone in your hand while driving? if so - do you as a passenger trust you driving like that? this is a big safety hazard. Make sure you give calm and comfort by being and acting safe. I see a lot of people with their phones in hand and driving like a kamikaze. Are you one of them?


Wow that's just dangerous behavior! Whatever happened to phone mounts? Lol


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## Kaiser_S (Aug 23, 2014)

Why even bother with a 5 star system when apparently 5 = "thumbs up" & 4 = "thumbs down"? In nearly any other area where ratings are used, the person doing the rating at least has to justify the rating or their opinion is invalid.


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## UberxD (Aug 4, 2014)

mike888 said:


> As an UBER X driver my overall rating continues to plummet ...and I have absolutely no idea why.
> 
> I actually provide an XL car accepting fares at the X rates - an always impeccably clean 1 year old crossover SUV.
> I arrive at pick-ups quickly, and with a smile on my face greet the customer - while opening the door for them and loading their luggage as necessary.
> ...


Uh you're UberX, I don't open doors, I don't help load luggage, I don't fake smile. I cancel on people who want me to do a U-turn on a busy street. I don't thank them just for saying thank. I thank them when they say "have a good night"

I am polite, I greet by saying "Hello" and "Good Morning" / "Good Afternoon" / "Good Evening" depending on time of day.

Then again... my rating is only 4.7 (But I would be fine with a 4.6 rating)


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## Guest (Feb 6, 2015)

I started this conversation and would to says thanks to everyone for the feedback. I don't really give a damn what my rating is, I know that I am providing a solid product, just trying to figure out what in the hell is wrong with some of these Pax ! I run dual navigation, nearly new super clean crossover SUV, 7 months experience, and am a nice guy. I have quit opening doors (thought it was ridiculous in the first place), and am not driving the drunk shift anymore which I believe just opens you up to bad ratings from a bunch of out of control assholes looking for a cheap ride - let them try to give the bartender shit like we get - they'd be cut off and out on their ear. The key is, as many of you said, Uber's manipulative rating system. Most Pax (and any reasonable person) would think that 4 stars is pretty darn good. What it really means according to Uber is ...you suck. Go figure.
Thanks again.


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