# Former Uber driver intentionally rated me 1 star



## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

I've been driving for a few weeks now but only do it on the weekend, since I have a full time job. So as of today I've only had 25 rides under my belt. Before picking up the last set of passengers tonight, my rating was 5. 

Then I picked up a couple from the beach. Address given wasn't exactly accurate so I couldn't find them right away. 30 seconds later I called, and the wife said that they've been waving behind me. So I turned around and picked them up. 

She said she was cold so I cranked up the heater. She was happy that I had a cell phone charger and lollipops (gourmet, btw), which she took one. Then she started telling me that she drove Uber before and her rating fell below 4.6, and Uber sent her to class that she had to pay $60 for. And she shared what she learned with me. So I thought she was a nice person.

After she got out of the car, she picked up a clear plastic wrap that a prior passenger left behind and reminded me to check between rides, then told me to vacuum the carpet because there was sand. 

Really, woman? Ok, the plastic wrap I should have seen (even though it was clear). However, prior to her, none of the passengers had just been to a beach party. So who would have brought in the sand? Hmm... 

So after giving her & her husband a 5 star rating, I turned offline and drove away. When I pulled over to stretch, I checked my rating again, and it had drastically dropped to 4.71. I had 14 ratings and 13 of them were 5 stars. My very first passenger commented that I was amazing. Then this woman gave me a 1 star rating? Really? Was it to teach me a lesson? Was she bitter to see that I had a 5 star rating? You bet I took it very personal! I was very upset, because I know that I did not deserve such a low rating.

Fortunately, all other passengers I've met were awesome.


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## kc ub'ing! (May 27, 2016)

Your pax was a nasty harpy! Try not to internalize her spiteful intentions. For whatever the reason, she needed to be a bee that day and you were her hapless victim. You're very astute for keeping your awesome pax in mind after dealing with her. It'll take time but your rating will climb back. Sorry you took the unwarranted hit but believe me, we all have.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

kc ub'ing! said:


> Your pax was a nasty harpy! Try not to internalize her spiteful intentions. For whatever the reason, she needed to be a bee that day and you were her hapless victim. You're very astute for keeping your awesome pax in mind after dealing with her. It'll take time but your rating will climb back. Sorry you took the unwarranted hit but believe me, we all have.


Thank you so much for your encouraging response!


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## mikechch (Jun 5, 2016)

My rating nearly always drops after taking other drivers.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

What do gourmet lollipop look like ?


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been driving for a few weeks now but only do it on the weekend, since I have a full time job. So as of today I've only had 25 rides under my belt. Before picking up the last set of passengers tonight, my rating was 5.
> 
> Then I picked up a couple from the beach. Address given wasn't exactly accurate so I couldn't find them right away. 30 seconds later I called, and the wife said that they've been waving behind me. So I turned around and picked them up.
> 
> ...


I understand your frustration: Same thing happened to me after about 10 days of driving. Had two pax give me a 1-star, and it tanked me down to about the same, a 4.71 or so. 7 weeks later, I've slowly climbed up to a 4.88. The only thing that sucks is, the more trips you take, the longer it takes for that rating to creep up.

8 weeks +1 day driving, 950 trips.


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## The Mollusk (Feb 13, 2016)

unPat said:


> What do gourmet lollipop look like ?


They have hippy/old timey designs on them and come in funky flavors like "inspired buttercorn" or "
Free trade Fuscia ". Also charge you like $1.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

mikechch said:


> My rating nearly always drops after taking other drivers.


I really don't understand why people would do that. I've always rated everyone (drivers and passengers) 5 stars.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

unPat said:


> What do gourmet lollipop look like ?


I came across them at Walgreens and bought a few. People loved them. So I went on Amazon and got a whole bag.


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## Hippy Matt (May 29, 2016)

I carry a 4.88 rating after 1,025 rides. If you are a nice person, offer a charger and radio station.. most will be pleasant. I drive around tampa florida and there's a lot of shitty people, but your other rides will make up for it! Btw don't worry about vacuuming a ton. Sand will never come out anyway and it's super expensive to do it all the time. I have not vacuumed my car in 2 months...nobody complains... a dog threw up on my back floor mat, in the corner that I couldn't see from my seat, a pax sat there with it and still gave me 5 stars because I was pleasant. You'll be fine!


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

ptuberx said:


> I understand your frustration: Same thing happened to me after about 10 days of driving. Had two pax give me a 1-star, and it tanked me down to about the same, a 4.71 or so. 7 weeks later, I've slowly climbed up to a 4.88. The only thing that sucks is, the more trips you take, the longer it takes for that rating to creep up.
> 
> 8 weeks +1 day driving, 950 trips.


That's a lot of trips, wow!


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

It is, indeed, truly amazing how one low rating can ruin the overall and that it takes forever and fifteen days to obviate it.

Just keep driving and rendering the best service that you can. 

Do check as passengers get out and if you see that they left trash, say something. Many drivers do not permit eating in their cars. I will permit it under certain circumstances, but I let the customer know that I have a litter bag and would he please let me know if he needs it. I do not permit children to eat in the car under any circumstance. Children tend to be careless and let their crumbs fall everywhere. This is not to state that they are bad, it is the nature of the beast, they simply do not think about it.

In some markets, you can change the rating. I would dial up this trip and see if you can one-star this passenger.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

Another Uber Driver said:


> It is, indeed, truly amazing how one low rating can ruin the overall and that it takes forever and fifteen days to obviate it.
> 
> Just keep driving and rendering the best service that you can.
> 
> ...


I've been pondering whether I should take back the 5 star I gave her since last night... still can't decide. It was her husband's account and he was very pleasant.


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

Pearl729 said:


> So after giving her & her husband a 5 star rating, I turned offline and drove away. When I pulled over to stretch, I checked my rating again, and it had drastically dropped to 4.71. I had 14 ratings and 13 of them were 5 stars. My very first passenger commented that I was amazing. Then this woman gave me a 1 star rating? Really? Was it to teach me a lesson? Was she bitter to see that I had a 5 star rating? You bet I took it very personal! I was very upset, because I know that I did not deserve such a low rating.
> 
> Fortunately, all other passengers I've met were awesome.


I don't think that she was "bitter" at all.

She just compared your driving ability to the view of her own, and figured that she was a lot better. And if she was worth less than a "5", you certainly were- based on what she knew of the scale.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

Another Uber Driver said:


> It is, indeed, truly amazing how one low rating can ruin the overall and that it takes forever and fifteen days to obviate it.
> 
> Just keep driving and rendering the best service that you can.
> 
> ...


And thanks for the tips. I'll be sure to check after each trip. Last night I panicked a bit cuz I kept getting requests back to back. All were short trips near the beach.


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

I_Like_Spam said:


> I don't think that she was "bitter" at all.
> 
> She just compared your driving ability to the view of her own, and figured that she was a lot better. And if she was worth less than a "5", you certainly were- based on what she knew of the scale.


I hear you. Still, what a @#%^&*(. (facepalm)


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

Pearl729 said:


> I hear you. Still, what a @#%^&*(. (facepalm)


You'll run into "@#%^&*("'s in the livery business, its just part of the terrain.

The problem is that Uber not only solicits opinions from all of these @#%^&*('s , it actually takes personnel action based on these opinions.

Never had that in the cab business.


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## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been pondering whether I should take back the 5 star I gave her since last night. It was her husband's account and he was very pleasant.


One star.



Pearl729 said:


> Last night I panicked a bit cuz I kept getting requests back to back. All were short trips near the beach.


You are a rookie, hence a little jumpy; understandable. Just keep driving and the skittishness will go away.


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## A T (Aug 3, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> Thank you so much for your encouraging response!


Rerate her a 1 star. Problem solved.


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## mikejm (Jun 1, 2016)

She is a former driver who sucked at it, stupidly paid a days worth of driving so she could keep driving, still sucked at it, got deactivated and now this is her way of feeling good about herself, taking Uber rides she doesn't need and one starring random Uber drivers. It cost her a couple of dollars to do that. In a few rides your ratings will be in the 4.9's because you only have a few ratings to start with. And she paid you for it. She probably has no skills and isn't good at anything.


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## I_Like_Spam (May 10, 2015)

mikejm said:


> She is a former driver who sucked at it, stupidly paid a days worth of driving so she could keep driving, still sucked at it, got deactivated and now this is her way of feeling good about herself, .


Maybe she sucked at it, or maybe she didn't. No way to really know, she may have picked up vindictive people who rated her badly for no good reason---just like she is doing now.


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

The good news is, it doesn't matter.


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

You could have done 97 things differently and not changed the outcome. I would say she was jealous that you drive and she can't and she was scammed into the $60 class. I have not given away a single water bottle in 2 years. It has been brought up by 3 riders in 5745 trips. I am currently a 4.86 in last 500. The biggest factor for my rating hits is surge pricing. When I get paid more, I lose stars.


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## lancengym (Aug 22, 2016)

Don't sweat it. It's like how some sales people need to go torment a retail assistant to get the repressed anger out of their system since they spend their time at work taking shit from others. Makes them feel balanced out by being back on top of the food chain for a while. I had straight 5-stars at first too until one wrong route taken dropped me to 4.6 instantly. Took me a while to get back up but in the long run, it doesn't matter. The more we bend over our backs to get the 5-stars, the more riders will feel the power is in their hands to do whatever they want and get away with it cos we have to SUCK IT UP!


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## Pearl729 (Aug 28, 2016)

thanks guys!


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## kc ub'ing! (May 27, 2016)

Quick tip about the sand and in between vacuuming in general. Best case is of course a portable mini vac. But who wants to store it or pay for it? My simple solution is a roll of packing tape from the dollar store. Wrap some around your hand , sticky side out, dab your floorboards and voilà! Crumbs, sand, grass etc. are gone. Quick, easy, and cheap!


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## kc ub'ing! (May 27, 2016)

I_Like_Spam said:


> Maybe she sucked at it, or maybe she didn't. No way to really know, she may have picked up vindictive people who rated her badly for no good reason---just like she is doing now.


You're right we don't know the pax's details. So why not give our poster the benefit of the doubt and support her unconditionally? When the harpy pax replies justifying her punitive rating to a fellow driver; we can re-evaluate.


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## Brian G. (Jul 5, 2016)

Do not offer anything. Be yourself and drive. I barely vacuum my 14 camery and car wash. As uberx drivers we aren't paid enough to give freebies. My rating is a 4.91 after 3,000 trips in 5 months.


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## CaptJohn (Apr 27, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been driving for a few weeks now but only do it on the weekend, since I have a full time job. So as of today I've only had 25 rides under my belt. Before picking up the last set of passengers tonight, my rating was 5.
> 
> Then I picked up a couple from the beach. Address given wasn't exactly accurate so I couldn't find them right away. 30 seconds later I called, and the wife said that they've been waving behind me. So I turned around and picked them up.
> 
> ...


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## CaptJohn (Apr 27, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been driving for a few weeks now but only do it on the weekend, since I have a full time job. So as of today I've only had 25 rides under my belt. Before picking up the last set of passengers tonight, my rating was 5.
> 
> Then I picked up a couple from the beach. Address given wasn't exactly accurate so I couldn't find them right away. 30 seconds later I called, and the wife said that they've been waving behind me. So I turned around and picked them up.
> 
> ...


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## CaptJohn (Apr 27, 2016)

You can go back and change her rating btw ... maybe a 'one'. Write a note to Uber stating she will give all Uber drivers a one rating and explain why.

I had a Co-Ed freaked Out once, because I offered her candy - she went on and on and on, till I realize that she thought I drugged the candy, and then I understood. Before she got into the dorm I was writing Uber. Their response was that they would make sure I would never have her again and they said they probably cancel her account.


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

CaptJohn said:


> You can go back and change her rating btw ... maybe a 'one'. Write a note to Uber stating she will give all Uber drivers a one rating and explain why.
> 
> I had a Co-Ed freaked Out once, because I offered her candy - she went on and on and on, till I realize that she thought I drugged the candy, and then I understood. Before she got into the dorm I was writing Uber. Their response was that they would make sure I would never have her again and they said they probably cancel her account.


How do you change ratings?


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## CaptJohn (Apr 27, 2016)

I can't get into the help section now because of 'set home destination' screen up. But it's in their, took me awhile to find it


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## Slim Pete (Nov 21, 2014)

Pearl729 said:


> She was happy that I had a cell phone charger and lollipops (gourmet, btw), which she took one.


If you're offering gourmet lollipops at these rates, you deserve your 1 star.


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## CaptJohn (Apr 27, 2016)

Go into the Uber app, not the partner app/help/write question how to change rider rating


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

Pearl729 said:


> So after giving her & her husband a 5 star rating, I turned offline and drove away. When I pulled over to stretch, I checked my rating again, and it had drastically dropped to 4.71. I had 14 ratings and 13 of them were 5 stars. My very first passenger commented that I was amazing. Then this woman gave me a 1 star rating? Really? Was it to teach me a lesson? Was she bitter to see that I had a 5 star rating? You bet I took it very personal! I was very upset, because I know that I did not deserve such a low rating.
> 
> Fortunately, all other passengers I've met were awesome.


Theres really no way for you to know SHE was the one that rated you low.
You also don't know if she was the one if she rated you 1 star or 2...... just saying

But "when I pulled over to stretch", um, Uber in no way updates ratings that fast


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## PenelopePendlton (Aug 25, 2016)

People are shitty. I own a business. I have a few yelp reviews. Do I care? Nah, some people you just can't please.... 

I never wish any bad to anyone trying to make an honest living.


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## stephan (Aug 25, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been driving for a few weeks now but only do it on the weekend, since I have a full time job. So as of today I've only had 25 rides under my belt. Before picking up the last set of passengers tonight, my rating was 5.
> 
> Then I picked up a couple from the beach. Address given wasn't exactly accurate so I couldn't find them right away. 30 seconds later I called, and the wife said that they've been waving behind me. So I turned around and picked them up.
> 
> ...


Some ppl are just a haters, generally most riders who rated me 1 star or 2. ,were for close distance ride and no surge , I got less than 5 stars from tow riders today $3.13 and 3$ , and 12 5 stars from riders who paid between 1.7x and 3.7x surge. And some tips, remember some Riders they will rate you 1star because they just don't like you or don't like your car . I drive an old toyota 2002. Generally we all uber drivers are very nice and friendly, even if you are not friendly by nature you have to be . So we all deserve 5 stars, this uber lady who rated you 1 star she is just jealous that,s all , you can't clean your car every hour. From my experience nice ppl gives 5 stars, mother ****ers gives less .


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## Jason Bourne (Apr 7, 2016)

Pearl729 said:


> I've been pondering whether I should take back the 5 star I gave her since last night... still can't decide. It was her husband's account and he was very pleasant.


Yes go back in there and dog her the 1 star she deserves; do be a whim go unto the trip profile and change rating to 1 star I do it all the time to those I know did it to me. But


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## Carmony (Aug 29, 2016)

Ah that's terrible. Hopefully you are having better luck with riders!


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## Happyhead (Sep 4, 2016)

Hippy Matt said:


> I carry a 4.88 rating after 1,025 rides. If you are a nice person, offer a charger and radio station.. most will be pleasant. I drive around tampa florida and there's a lot of shitty people, but your other rides will make up for it! Btw don't worry about vacuuming a ton. Sand will never come out anyway and it's super expensive to do it all the time. I have not vacuumed my car in 2 months...nobody complains... a dog threw up on my back floor mat, in the corner that I couldn't see from my seat, a pax sat there with it and still gave me 5 stars because I was pleasant. You'll be fine!


"A dog threw up on the back floor mat" WTF??? LMAO! Probably not funny for you. However, I guess humans aren't the only ones I need to be concerned about vomiting in my car. Greeaat...


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## stephan (Aug 25, 2016)

Why you have to carry phones chargers or waters or whatever, these passengers pay 2 or 3x in taxis or cabs and they gets nothing also they give 15% tips included in the fare, and we uber drivers low fees ,the see passengers has to be very thankful to us. I don't offer nothing and my rating is 4.7. , I have samsung , if someone asked and have the same, I give. Other i said sorry I use samsung. Generally we uber drivers are very nice and friendly, but passengers some of them are mother. ... f...kers whatever you do to them .
I got a lot of one stars because I was dropped many of some rude passengers of my car .plus I accepted all passengers despite their ratings, but now I become more selective


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## Kevin4163 (May 22, 2016)

Don't worry, 500 more rated rides and it will disappear from your average.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

I still wonder if you cancel a trip that you know the rider 1 starred you, if it cancels their rating too.

Especially if the ride was minimum fare and you won't really lose anything by cancelling the ride then you could negate the dbags like the one the OP got.


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

uberdriverfornow said:


> I still wonder if you cancel a trip that you know the rider 1 starred you, if it cancels their rating too.
> 
> Especially if the ride was minimum fare and you won't really lose anything by cancelling the ride then you could negate the dbags like the one the OP got.


From what I learned and now experienced, the only real sure way to keep them from rating you bad is to cancel the trip before it even starts, and click "do not charge rider." This takes any gripe out of their hands.

1300 trips, I've had to do this a few times, but it is insurance for yourself. Did I like cancelling a fare on a 3x surge? No. Did I see within ten seconds that this was going to be a huge problem for me with negative results no matter how patient and professional I was? Yes. I will drop $15 and cancel if I think it's going to lead to something far worse than the ride is worth.


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## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

ptuberx said:


> From what I learned and now experienced, the only real sure way to keep them from rating you bad is to cancel the trip before it even starts, and click "do not charge rider." This takes any gripe out of their hands.
> 
> 1300 trips, I've had to do this a few times, but it is insurance for yourself. Did I like cancelling a fare on a 3x surge? No. Did I see within ten seconds that this was going to be a huge problem for me with negative results no matter how patient and professional I was? Yes. I will drop $15 and cancel if I think it's going to lead to something far worse than the ride is worth.


It should go without saying that I already do this. Any time a pax calls or texts me before I pick them up and there is any chance they are going to be a dbag, they are getting the cancel.

I'm trying to help those situations when someone acts cool but is just waiting to 1 star you after the ride, such as the one that happened to the OP.


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## ptuberx (Jun 28, 2016)

uberdriverfornow said:


> It should go without saying that I already do this. Any time a pax calls or texts me before I pick them up and there is any chance they are going to be a dbag, they are getting the cancel.
> 
> I'm trying to help those situations when someone acts cool but is just waiting to 1 star you after the ride, such as the one that happened to the OP.


Agreed.


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