# Uber's toxic/adversarial rating system makes it less safe for passengers, not more.



## tomatopaste (Apr 11, 2017)

Uber likes to tout their rating system as an added safety measure for passengers; just the opposite.

Uber knows two things:
1. Passengers can demand extras, like stopping at 7/11, without any additional compensation because many drivers fear a poor rating.
2. Passengers will, and do, use ratings in lieu of compensation. "Great ride, thanks for loading all those bags, I'm going to give you a five." 
Uber is the beneficiary of this fraudulent rating system because they are able to offer a better product without having to compensate the service provider. 
They have intentionally created an unnecessary adversarial relationship between driver and passenger in order to save money. A driver gives what he perceives to be five great rides in a row only to see that some passenger has abused the system and given him a poor rating. There are a lot of angry drivers driving around simply due to Uber's abusive rating system.


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## PTUber (Sep 16, 2015)

If anybody is driving around angry because of a bad rating they are an idiot! As has been talked up many times on this forum don't worry about the ratings. Do a good job and you will be fine. It's only abusive if you let it be!


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## tomatopaste (Apr 11, 2017)

PTUber said:


> If anybody is driving around angry because of a bad rating they are an idiot! As has been talked up many times on this forum don't worry about the ratings. Do a good job and you will be fine. It's only abusive if you let it be!


In theory that's true. In life that's not how human nature works. The anger is not so much at the passenger but at Uber for allowing this toxic atmosphere to continue.


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## Uberfunitis (Oct 21, 2016)

There are no clearly defined guidelines as to what is expected or included in the base fare, this is intentional and is good. That is what the rating system is there to define. If a driver continually falls short of expectations than he or she will be deactivated, if it is an unreasonable expectation from a rider that is out of the norm than that low rating from that one rider will have no real effect.

There is compensation built in for things like making stops at the 7/11 and that is the per minute rate. It may not be as great compensation as you would like but it is still increased compensation.


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## LA_Native (Apr 17, 2017)

I have 30 rated rides out of about 70 total. Twenty-eight 5-stars, one 4-star, and one 3-star. The 3-star I get; it was a navigation issue, completely my fault. But the 4-star, I don't understand it. Some people think they should be waited on hand and foot. While there are a lot of @ssholes pax out there, there are a lot more good people who are passengers. If you're a good driver and not a jerk, you'll most likely be ok. But I do believe that luck plays a role in ratings. I mostly pick-up in Venice, MDR, and Santa Monica areas, and most of those people _tend _to be easy going.


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## tomatopaste (Apr 11, 2017)

LA_Native said:


> I have 30 rated rides out of about 70 total. Twenty-eight 5-stars, one 4-star, and one 3-star. The 3-star I get; it was a navigation issue, completely my fault. But the 4-star, I don't understand it. Some people think they should be waited on hand and foot. While there are a lot of @ssholes pax out there, there are a lot more good people who are passengers. If you're a good driver and not a jerk, you'll most likely be ok. But I do believe that luck plays a role in ratings. I mostly pick-up in Venice, MDR, and Santa Monica areas, and most of those people _tend _to be easy going.


My point is that Uber touts their rating system as a additional satety measure, where in reality they use it as a weapon against drivers. No, any decent driver is not going to be deactivated for too low a rating, but that's not the point. How many drivers have been ready to quit and then have some pax abuse the rating system, then say that's it, I'm out. There is a a cost to Uber for treating drivers with disrespect. Ultimately it will be paid when new lean competitors come in and take all the drivers.


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## LA_Native (Apr 17, 2017)

tomatopaste said:


> My point is that Uber touts their rating system as a additional satety measure, where in reality they use it as a weapon against drivers.


Yeah, but those two things aren't mutually exclusive. It can be used for safety and it can be used to be vindictive. I think a real problem is that many pax don't realize that a 4-star rating is a poor rating. Since I've started driving for Uber I've informed my friends who use Uber and they had no idea that 4-stars was a bad rating.


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## tomatopaste (Apr 11, 2017)

LA_Native said:


> Yeah, but those two things aren't mutually exclusive. It can be used for safety and it can be used to be vindictive. I think a real problem is that many pax don't realize that a 4-star rating is a poor rating. Since I've started driving for Uber I've informed my friends who use Uber and they had no idea that 4-stars was a bad rating.


Correct, and Uber knows this. So why don't they fix it? Because they don't want to. It will eventually get fixed when competitors come in and buy Uber for pennies on the dollar.


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## Cableguynoe (Feb 14, 2017)

tomatopaste said:


> Uber likes to tout their rating system as an added safety measure for passengers; just the opposite.
> 
> Uber knows two things:
> 1. Passengers can demand extras, like stopping at 7/11, without any additional compensation because many drivers fear a poor rating.
> ...


The whole "i'll give you 5 star" thing from pax got out of control because of the no option to tip. That was the best they could do for us, and many thought we really wanted that 5 stars.
But that has or will soon go away with tipping. Because while they still have option to not tip of course, now they're going to feel stupid saying something like "do this and i'll give you 5 stars" when the tipping option is right there in front of them now.

Personally the rating system doesnt bother me like it used to when I first started. 5 stars or no rating at all, i dont care.
And I have told many people that I cannot make stops and they also dont rate. So no big deal. Out of about 900 lifetime rides, i've had 4 one stars, I've told dozens of pax that I can't make stops because I make almost nothing by doing so.

On the flip side, by biggest tips, $70 being my biggest and many $20's, have come from making stops.


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## LA_Native (Apr 17, 2017)

tomatopaste said:


> Correct, and Uber knows this. So why don't they fix it? Because they don't want to. It will eventually get fixed when competitors come in and buy Uber for pennies on the dollar.


Yeah, I did mention that in a response to a survey they sent out.


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## dirtylee (Sep 2, 2015)

Everytime a pax says 5☆ w/o tip = 2 - 3☆

Who cares? These ****ers get their ratings reset. Do you really believe that ***** that takes 4:45 to show up, short shitty rides, & generally snotty entitled really has a 4.93 rating?


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## tomatopaste (Apr 11, 2017)

dirtylee said:


> Everytime a pax says 5☆ w/o tip = 2 - 3☆
> 
> Who cares? These &%[email protected]!*ers get their ratings reset. Do you really believe that ***** that takes 4:45 to show up, short shitty rides, & generally snotty entitled really has a 4.93 rating?


This is why I say Uber has created an unnecessary toxic and adversarial relationship between driver and passenger. If you were making good money the 4:45 wouldn't be as big of a deal. Shorty rides that paid the driver minimum 10 bucks would be welcome. Snotty and entitled gets overlooked when you're making good money. But when you're making crap and the entitled pax still thinks he has the right to rate you a one because no aux cord, you end up with the toxic atmosphere that is Uber.


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