# Ratings help



## LAbDog65 (Nov 29, 2016)

i have been driving about 3 months now. I have several 5 star ratings but I think I am getting mostly 4 or no ratings which is killing my overal rating. I supply bottled water and snacks and mints (no one took advantage yet). Car is new and clean and I have charging cables and they can listen to their choice of music, including Sirius. I mostly get college students going on short trips, though. Once 0n a fairly long ride with a mother and daughter we got to talking about ratings. The daughter ( who was the age of most of my riders, 19 or 20) said she considered 4 to be very good to give to someone. She felt no one was perfect. Why can't Uber realize this and adjust their system. I am on the verge of getting kicked off.

I did get a 5 for that ride, probably because the mother understood.


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

First: Stop giving out or offering consumables.
Second: Nothing you can do about your market. college students are cheap and don't know that anything short of a 5 star is a failing grade.

If you are teetering off the edge of a 4.6, then what I would do is try to bring in ratings into your conversations organically. Many people ask me how I like Uber, that's how I bring up tipping. If ratings are more important to you (if close to a 4.6) then bring up the rating system. Remind them that it might as well be a Pass or Fail grade. 5 is pass, 1-4 is fail.

Advise them that only rate 4 or lower if the driver is someone they would not want to drive them ever again, as giving 4 stars can get a driver fired.

5 - Would ride again
4 - Would not ride again, fire this driver soon
3 - Would not ride again, fire this driver tomorrow
2 - Would not ride again, fire this driver today
1 - Dear god I barely made it alive, fire this driver immediate.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

0 - Don't worry, Uber. I shot the driver for you to make the world a better place.


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## yojimboguy (Mar 2, 2016)

I agree that handouts are a waste of effort and money. I find that driving in daylight seems to result in higher ratings than late night when you would be picking up more drunk young people.


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## TheWanderer (Sep 6, 2016)

I agree. Stop giving out water. As you can tell it is not helping with ratings. I have actually had drivers as a consumer that put up signs regarding tips and ratings. If you don't feel comfortable bringing it up in conversation then maybe the sign approach. You can exclude information about tips in the sign and just do a quick overview about ratings. Like, "Uber deactivated drivers at 4.6 or lower." or I provide 5 star service whenever possible. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." or "don't forget to rate your driver" with some sort of happy emoji or picture.
These are a couple I have seen which get the point across.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

I went through this when I was a new driver. I wasted a lot of time stressing about it needlessly.

Here's what I wish I knew in short form:

1. Don't worry at all about ratings until you get below 4.75. Then start looking at ways to improve things. *Seriously, if you are at 4.75 or above right now then just stop reading and forget about worry about it further until you are below 4.75!* If you drop below 4.70 then start looking even harder at ratings and how to get them up.

2. Quit offering all the extras. It really doesn't help. Sure, keep a charger handy for if someone needs it and maybe offer it for longer or airport trips.

3. College students tend to rate lower. As do people on their way *to* work. Tourists tend to rate higher than locals. Also night driving tends to mean lower ratings, especially around bar closing time. So if you get below 4.70 then you might need to simply change your times and places of working to get things back up.

4. Know you city. Have GPS and use it. Ask the customer if they have a preferred route or whether we should just go the way "Uber suggests" each trip. Rightly or wrongly customers will 1* if they think you took the scenic route. Asking in advance helps disarm them of this.

5. Try to find something in common with the customer. Try to make them see you as a person and not just some faceless driver. At the same time though, know when to shut up and drive. For example if two customers are talking to each other I never jump in the conversation unless it is to ask for directions or something.

6. If things start to go bad look for ways to turn the 1* into a 4* (or even 5*). I've had people with initially horrible attitudes rolling their eyes at me. But by finding common ground or explaining the misunderstanding I made them my friend by the end of the ride. As an example one young lady was going to Greyhound. Due to the way things stated it was almost surely a 1*. But by making small talk about how much riding on a Greyhound sucks and how I once rode one for 14 hours I got her laughing and that changed everything. 5 stars. Stuff like this helps.


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## walrusd (Aug 19, 2017)

touberornottouber said:


> I went through this when I was a new driver. I wasted a lot of time stressing about it needlessly.


Thank you for this!!


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

If I think the ride was okay but that maybe the people dont know about the skewed rating system, at the end of the ride I might say "hope I've earned my 5 stars today, have a good day/evening".

A little subconscious suggestion for the younger crowd may help you out a bit.


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## Okphillip (Feb 6, 2017)

If you look like you are trying to hard then passengers will pick up on this weakness and look for "problems" with the ride. Don't try so hard and NEVER give out water, mints, etc.


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## walrusd (Aug 19, 2017)

I've noticed the less talkative they are, the more likely I'll get a lower rating. And I live in a college town so I've gotten some 4 stars.


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