# Talk to a reporter about rating system?



## Josh Dzieza (Jul 28, 2015)

Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.

I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.

If you'd like to talk, please shoot me an email at [email protected].

Thanks for your help


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Hi Josh Dzieza, welcome to the forum.

I've compiled some of the deficiencies in Uber's Rating System as it is formulated & implemented in this thread:

*The Tyranny Of Uber's Rating System | An Attempt At Changing It*


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## Josh Dzieza (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks chi1cabby, that thread is super helpful. I'm still hoping to talk to some drivers to get some anecdotes about ratings, if you're interested.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

I haven't read the above, or don't recall that I have however, one point I like to make is, Why is there NO threshold of when I rider gets deactivated? 

You already know its 4.6 for drivers, but what should it be for riders ? Anything under 4.0 after 12 completed trips ?

Help to serve us drivers and find out why / what ubers reasoning to keep them on. Besides the money.


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## Josh Dzieza (Jul 28, 2015)

Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Thank you Josh Dzieza!

Also please read *I got deactivated for lowrating?* for deactivation & reeducation classes.

Good idea never implemented:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/adjusted-driver-rating.14670/#post-194527

*Uber Asks For Drivers To Pay For Training*

*Why Is Uber New York Funneling Thousands Of Drivers To This Training Class?*

*"Ban this driver!!! He's ****ing horrible."*


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## DocT (Jul 16, 2015)

When will your article be published?


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## Josh Dzieza (Jul 28, 2015)

Probably sometime in the next few weeks, depending on how the reporting goes.


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## KMANDERSON (Jul 19, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.
> 
> I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.
> 
> ...


the rating system is terrible.You have to maintain a 4.6 yet the riders have a 2.6 and that ok just got that email when I ask uber why I seen a rider with a 2.6


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## KMANDERSON (Jul 19, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


no


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


Yes we do, much to the angst of Screwber but with the approval of our rating
Folks with a rating of 3-star can give a driver 1-star
Kids that have never driven a car can rate us
People that have lost their privilege to drive can rate us
People who put in wrong pick-ups can rate us
Intoxicated people that can't walk, remember their names can rate us
People on their first free ride can rate us

All of these ratings hold as much water as favorable sensible riders.

We are regular joes offering up our cars and service at a highly discounted rate yet many wish to treat us and expect us to be professional drivers. We get them from A to B as fast as traffic and the GPS direct us. All this while not coughing up ever a few bucks for a tip.

4 star hotels and restaurants are fantastic, with UBER you're canned.


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## glados (May 23, 2015)

Uber's rating system keeps works to make sure the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber.

Less than 1% of all trips have a low rating given to drivers or riders*. *Uber has indeed given temporarily cooling off periods and permanent bars to riders for inappropriate or unsafe behaviour. Riders who continuously exhibit low ratings may be barred from using the service.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber has indeed given temporarily cooling off periods and permanent bars to riders for inappropriate or unsafe behaviour. Riders who continuously exhibit low ratings may be barred from using the service, as Uber trips should be great experiences for the driver too.
> 
> It's important to note that *less than 1% of all trips have a low rating given to drivers or riders. *Uber rides are consistently high quality, safe, and respectful for both drivers and riders.


The style of language and the content you use in your posts lead me to believe that you may work for Uber.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber's customer support representatives are also always happy to adjust ratings if the rider or driver has made a mistake.


^^Says the Uber Spox^^

*We Asked 10 Black-Car Drivers If They Prefer Working for Lyft or Uber - Here's Why Lyft Won By a Landslide*

_There was an overwhelming consensus. Of all the drivers, only one said he preferred Uber over Lyft. The other nine had an array of grievances about Uber, ranging from the financial to the personal. Eight explicitly expressed a preference for working for Lyft.

Many drivers railed against Uber's notoriously strict rating system, going so far as to say it makes them fear their own passengers. Both Lyft and Uber ask riders to rate their drivers on a scale of one to five. But Uber often severs relations with drivers whose average ratings get too low (there's no official cutoff, but the consensus was that you don't want to drop below a 4.7). *The drivers said they have no way to fight back when Uber riders give them low ratings for things a driver has no control over.*_


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

glados said:


> Riders who continuously exhibit low ratings may be barred from using the service


^^ Says the Uber Spox^^

*My quest to score the worst passenger rating on Uber*


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## glados (May 23, 2015)

The "survey" has significant sampling bias and does not represent an accurate picture of driver satisfaction. Uber is the leading ridesharing platform and over 78% of drivers are satisfied with Uber. Typically, drivers only start looking into alternate ridesharing platforms when they are poor drivers and are already on the brick of deactivation with Uber. Thus, a sampling of drivers who use both ridesharing platforms will be overwhelming biased towards poor drivers with an unfair resentment against Uber.

It should also be concerning that other ridesharing platforms may have a significantly higher proportion of low-rated, poor drivers. Uber has always committed to safety as the top priority and the stringent rating requirements reflect that.

Please see https://newsroom.uber.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/BSG_Uber_Report.pdf for an independently conducted and statistically valid paper about Uber driver satisfaction.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Beware of the trolls

UBERS rating system sucks ride sharing balls
Drivers get downgraded for items out of their control by people who don't know shit.

UBER fails to inform drivers who rated what and why they did so...WHY?
Because they just don't care.

What good is a 1 star if you don't know why. UBER collects a surge, we get a 1star

According to UBER I should be able to rate a 5 star chef even if I don't know anything about cooking.
Hell YELP even removes ratings they feel to be unfair, SCREWBER on the other hand does not care.

By the Way UBERs rider APP is rated 3.2 stars


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

glados said:


> The "survey" has significant sampling bias and does not represent an accurate picture of driver satisfaction. Uber is the leading ridesharing platform and over 78% of drivers are satisfied with Uber. Typically, drivers only start looking into alternate ridesharing platforms when they are poor drivers and are already on the brick of deactivation with Uber. Thus, a sampling of drivers who use both ridesharing platforms will be overwhelming biased towards poor drivers with an unfair resentment against Uber.
> 
> It should also be concerning that other ridesharing platforms may have a significantly higher proportion of low-rated, poor drivers. Uber has always committed to safety as the top priority and the stringent rating requirements reflect that.
> 
> Please see https://newsroom.uber.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/BSG_Uber_Report.pdf for an independently conducted and statistically valid paper about Uber driver satisfaction.


Well 78% rider satisfaction gets a driver de-activated...HYPOCRITS

78% a friggin "C" UBER is happy with a C rating from drivers


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber is the leading ridesharing platform and over 78% of drivers are satisfied with Uber.


Nah, not buying it. Uber math has the same credibility as the used car salesman in the plaid suit. Or the sellers of the various cure-all snake oils advertised on late night TV infomercials.

If you communicate inaccurate information once to a group of people, they may believe it. Twice, maybe still. But if you try to deceive your own "partners" time after time after time with numbers and claims that are flat out misrepresentations, you'll be left with zero credibility, as you are now.

You're trying to preach to the wrong crowd here.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

elelegido said:


> The style of language and the content you use in your posts lead me to believe that you may work for Uber.


May???


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

observer said:


> May???


 Definitely a troll, but this is either a troll who works for Uber or a troll who does not. Hard to say.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

elelegido said:


> Definitely a troll, but this is either a troll who works for Uber or a troll who does not. Hard to say.


If he/she isn't getting paid by Uber, he/she should be hired immediately.

No training needed.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber's customer support representatives are also always happy to adjust ratings if the rider or driver has made a mistake.


Post by Desert Driver on his quest to get Uber to adjust a unfair rating.
*Uber CSRs on the run - unable to logically address issues*
_"Here's the conversation I had with Uber

*http://www.anmandco.com/dl/April_Uber_Conversation.pdf*

I had to create an external link because this forum site limits posts to 10K characters."_


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)




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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber provides feedback, both positive and negative, to drivers.


Feedback on Spaceuber's weekly summary email:

*5* Rating Feedback: 13 Inch Cock










And btw glados, many US markets, don't send out the weekly summary email to the Drivers. So drivers don't get to see any comments/feedback by riders.*


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Let this be a lesson to all male UBER drivers, whip out your 13 inch cock to get 5 stars.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> Feedback on Spaceuber's weekly summary email:
> 
> *5* Rating Feedback: 13 Inch Cock
> 
> ...


Credit where it's due, I guess


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## UberReallySucks (Jul 17, 2015)

_Here's an idea for you to make your reporting probably a little bit more complete... 
How about you get activated and drive a week for UBER and get to experience first hand the good, the bad and the ugly? From low rates and how they're affecting the livelihood of drivers, to low ratings... That would make a hell of an investigative report... you know, the kind they used to do back in the good old days.

As far as ratings go, I have as do many others, reason to believe that UBER manipulates those ratings as they see fit. Sometimes those ratings make absolutely no mathematical, or statistical sense. And I think they do the manipulating based on whether they have too many or not enough drivers in any given market ... Can you just imagine the class action lawsuit that would result from this finding for all the drivers that have been de-activated based on their ratings.

It's a difficult thing to prove but a good starting point to look would be a possible disgruntled ex-employees from support with hard evidence to provide... _


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber's rating system keeps works to make sure the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber.


ROFLMAO! Your posts are actually pretty funny.


> Real-time feedback about drivers and passengers means Uber can correct for issues big and small


 Yeah, I got the "We know some passengers can be difficult and we want to thank you for your professionalism. Uber on!" email each time I reported abusive pax. Thanks for "correcting the issue".



> It's not surprise why riders around the world are singing praises of Uber and the amazing service that drivers provide.


Of course they are - they're getting great service at a knock-down price. Relevance to the issue of driver ratings?



> A statistical ratings system requires all ratings to be taken into account, otherwise it will no longer provide an accurate picture.


Define accurate. How do you know what accurate is? Accuracy is meaningless in subjective opinions. I could ask 100 people to rate the Mona Lisa, and maybe get a result of 4.2. Would that be an accurate score? Or would it be completely meaningless?


> Typically, drivers only start looking into alternate ridesharing platforms when they are poor drivers and are already on the brick of deactivation with Uber. Thus, a sampling of drivers who use both ridesharing platforms will be overwhelming biased towards poor drivers with an unfair resentment against Uber.


Huh? Unfair resentment against Uber? Surely, given enough opinions, any resentment towards Uber would balance out over time, giving a fair and complete picture of what drivers think. Isn't that Uberlogic?


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## Txchick (Nov 25, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber's rating system keeps works to make sure the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber. Real-time feedback about drivers and passengers means Uber can correct for issues big and small - while ensuring that only the best drivers stay on the road. It's not surprise why riders around the world are singing praises of Uber and the amazing service that drivers provide.
> 
> A statistical ratings system requires all ratings to be taken into account, otherwise it will no longer provide an accurate picture. Driver ratings are compared relatively in a city. Even if a rider rates all drivers 1 stars, it will have no effect as that would bring the rating of _all _drivers down, resulting them to still be equal relatively.
> 
> Furthermore, Uber does not deactivate drivers for ratings until they have received a large number of ratings. This is enough to filter and average out select incidents where ratings may not have been perfectly accurate. Uber's customer support representatives are also always happy to adjust ratings if the rider or driver has made a mistake.


Wrong! If a driver requested a rating change Uber will not adjust the rating..period. If a passenger by mistake enters a low score, uber will correct it if requested by passenger.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

And less not forget what other reports have already written.

"Anything less than a 5 Star is a fail for the driver." 

Every rider I explain to about a drivers rating is shocked about the 4.6 and being terminated as such.


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## BurgerTiime (Jun 22, 2015)

Be careful Josh. Uber may take out $1 million dollars to dig up some dirt on your past.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


Yes. I do all the time. Read my signature.


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## UberBlackPr1nce (Dec 28, 2014)

Did you notice the uber employee glados deleted all of his deceitful post?. Although they have been quoted. I guess he couldn't stand the heat and left the kitchen. Only fitting of an uber employee. If you start losing the game take your ball and go home.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

UberBlackPr1nce said:


> Did you notice the uber employee glados deleted all of his deceitful post?.


Perhaps the deletions of glados' posts were carried out by the Forum Admin., and rightfully so! If Josh Dzieza was looking from Uber PR on the Rating System, he would've contacted Uber's Media Relations.

Just read glados' post in the thread
*Journalist in South Africa seeking driver's thoughts about repeat riders*



glados said:


> *Hi @N.Kariuki, welcome!*
> *As chi1cabby has said, on this site there aren't many drivers who are in South Africa. I am sure Uber will be able to help you get in contact with some South Africa Uber drivers:*
> 
> *https://www.uber.com/media/inquiry*
> ...


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## Instyle (Oct 18, 2014)

UberBlackPr1nce said:


> Did you notice the uber employee glados deleted all of his deceitful post?. Although they have been quoted. I guess he couldn't stand the heat and left the kitchen. Only fitting of an uber employee. If you start losing the game take your ball and go home.


Yes very noticeable, be sure to quote his posts whenever you see them


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## ATX 22 (Jun 17, 2015)

glados said:


> Uber provides feedback, both positive and negative, to drivers.


Not really. They don't give specific feedback, and everything they do send is a cut and pasted reply.


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## poopy (Jun 28, 2015)

Gladnose was better as the copy n' paste CSR.
Had a better angry-audience-to-words-pasted ratio too.

Can't wait to see the next reincarnation.


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## ATX 22 (Jun 17, 2015)

Josh,
I have sent more than a few emails about the need to ignore ratings from midnight to 3am on weekends. If the rider is too drunk to drive, obviously they're judgement is impaired. Factor in most weekend bar closing runs are on a surge rate, and it can be doubly damaging for the driver's rating. I've gotten responses that stated that surge has no negative impact on ratings, and ratings at bar closing don't have a negative impact on driver ratings. Those of us that drive know this is either untrue, or that Uber manipulates ratings as they see fit. Just last weekend, on 8 rated rides my rating was a 4.33 for a single day, but on my weekly summary, I was a 4.85. I calculated numerous possibilities for the 4.33 rating in 8 rides, and it didn't add up.


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## ocbob2 (Aug 18, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


Yes, I tend to "skip" any rider at 4.6 or below as that seems to be our breaking point as drivers. Most smart drivers will accept, cancel ,(reason), other A.C.R.O. or skipping. We do this in a 15 second manner and it will pass our ride to the next rider. The hope is some driver with little brain cells will take the request so it doesn't get back to us (where it then can penalize us). We are told that we can accept whatever rides we want but of course Uber also had their policy of turning down too many request. If someone is 10 minutes away and especially not surging, most veterans are skipping that ride. If busy, I am not going over 2.5 miles and/or 7 minutes. Rates too low to have that chance of being a non profit ride with no tip.
You should also look on this site and see why we deduct stars for pax (riders). Those are the ones who need to learn to be a better rider and not blame uber drivers for not being picked up.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Damn the troll left...bummer. It's fun beating them with their own stick. 

ATX just because you have 8 trips it does not mean all 8 rated you...riders do not need to rate. Could be 3/4/5 of the 8.

Come back Glados.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


I personally won't pick up a pax with a rating lower that 4.7. We're told 4.7 is the rating threshold at which drivers are deactivated. Ergo, in the sense of fairplay I won't risk an angry, belligerent pax in my car, so I won't allow a rider in my car if his/her rating is below 4.7. Why take the risk?


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

glados said:


> Uber's rating system keeps works to make sure the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber. Real-time feedback about drivers and passengers means Uber can correct for issues big and small - while ensuring that only the best drivers stay on the road. It's not surprise why riders around the world are singing praises of Uber and the amazing service that drivers provide.
> 
> A statistical ratings system requires all ratings to be taken into account, otherwise it will no longer provide an accurate picture. Driver ratings are compared relatively in a city. Even if a rider rates all drivers 1 stars, it will have no effect as that would bring the rating of _all _drivers down, resulting them to still be equal relatively.
> 
> Furthermore, Uber does not deactivate drivers for ratings until they have received a large number of ratings. This is enough to filter and average out select incidents where ratings may not have been perfectly accurate. Uber's customer support representatives are also always happy to adjust ratings if the rider or driver has made a mistake.


But keep in mind, the Uber driver rating is wholly useless because the system isn't statistically valid. Uber is fully aware of the inadequacies of its driver rating system, but it has also made clear it has no plans to change or improve the system.


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

Txchick said:


> Wrong! If a driver requested a rating change Uber will not adjust the rating..period. If a passenger by mistake enters a low score, uber will correct it if requested by passenger.


Actually, Uber will change a driver rating. Well, let me be clearer. Uber will REMOVE a rating but it will take better than two months to get the rating removed. I know from experience.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

elelegido said:


> The style of language and the content you use in your posts lead me to believe that you may work for Uber.


Yes, he/she is an Uber CSR/employee.


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## Josh Dzieza (Jul 28, 2015)

Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


What is it about the relationship between Uber and partner that allows for or creates a need for this style of managing their partners?

Is the rating system flawed or by design?

What were the grounds for setting the threshold such that 10% of committed drivers are categorically defined as deficient.?

What role does the fact that Uber does not own the cars and hence has no responsibility to maintain or fuel them, what is the effect on the driver rating system?

I hope you are making an honest effort at asking smart questions Josh. Thank you for taking the time to investigate this issue of concern.


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## The_One (Sep 9, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


I suggest you do a bit more research on this forum, uber are the scum of this earth. Ratings, really, you have no idea. You need to get behind the drivers seat to get the information you seek for your article, it's called leg work.


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## Backdash (Jan 28, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


Yes we get rated for those things.
The thing is, if in the riders opinion all goes well on a particular trip that rider may think, and rightly so, that a 4 is an adequate rating for a perfectly fine trip. Unfortunately, a rating of 4 stars is not only inadequate in Ubers mind, it is a fail.

Last year I had one passenger tell me he never gives 5 stars because 5 stars is perfect and nobody is perfect.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


Absolutely
1.) Car
2.) Surge
3.) How much they drank
4.) Picking up second pool rider 
5.) Not allowing food, drink, open containers
6.) Not permitting extra riders
7.) Time traveled to get them too long
8.) Them in fight with others

Just to name a few


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## ubercurious (Dec 24, 2014)

Please feel free to visit the Perth Western Australia forums where the trolling continues ....


ubercurious said:


> *GLaDOS* (*G*enetic *L*ifeform *a*nd *D*isk *O*perating *S*ystem) is thecentral core designed to control, guide, and oversee theAperture Science computer-aided Enrichment Center.
> 
> In possession of a feminine programming, she is the antagonist of _Portal_ and the first half of the single-player campaign in _Portal 2_. During the later half, she becomes the game's tritagonist. In the game's cooperative campaign
> 
> ...


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


we are rated for the car's smell, the drivers age, how late the pax is to where they are going, how expensive the ride is, how long they had to wait for a car, the attitude of their last driver, being over their credit limit, forgetting something in the car, talking too much, talking too little, bad breath.... and to top it off Uber never told the pax that giving the driver 4 stars means fire the driver, it does not mean very good as people think.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

LAuberX said:


> we are rated for the car's smell, the drivers age, how late the pax is to where they are going, how expensive the ride is, how long they had to wait for a car, the attitude of their last driver, being over their credit limit, forgetting something in the car, talking too much, talking too little, bad breath.... and to top it off Uber never told the pax that giving the driver 4 stars means fire the driver, it does not mean very good as people think.


I have had a pax or two Uber'd over their credit limit. Rates are on the high end of the spectrum here, prone to surge, things get expensive quite quickly. $18 on what should be a $9 - $10 taxi fare. $42 on what would be an $11 fare, I have heard of $90 on what I'd guess to be a $23 dollar taxi fare.

I will make it a point to ask some of these people how they relate to the way the rtes are generated, who they consider to be responsible and how they express their response to the high fares or if they respond at all with comments. there is very little feedback on the State College forum, there is zero talk about rating concerns over anything at all. I'm guessing that the lower the 1x rate is, the greater the opportunity for pax to want to lash out via the rating system. That is just a guess.


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## Caraandmia (Jul 26, 2015)

glados said:


> Uber provides feedback, both positive and negative, to drivers.


I never received negative feedback! Where is it? My email?


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## superhans (Jul 29, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.
> 
> I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.
> 
> ...


I for one have stopped answering the question from excited pax when asking 'so how much do you enjoy driving for Uber', my ratings go down EVERYTIME. I refer them to this site or just change the subject. If they keep on at me I tell them that my ratings tend to go down when I try to correct some of the misinformation that passengers universally have swallowed and its best that they don't know and that I don't tell them. 
They are dizzy from the koolaid and for sure don't tolerate well the dose of cold offerings I deliver, so I've censored myself.
One way to keep drivers happy happy about their existence behind the wheel, a bit like your neighbor ratting on you to the authorities!


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## superhans (Jul 29, 2015)

UberReallySucks said:


> _Here's an idea for you to make your reporting probably a little bit more complete...
> How about you get activated and drive a week for UBER and get to experience first hand the good, the bad and the ugly? From low rates and how they're affecting the livelihood of drivers, to low ratings... That would make a hell of an investigative report... you know, the kind they used to do back in the good old days.
> 
> As far as ratings go, I have as do many others, reason to believe that UBER manipulates those ratings as they see fit. Sometimes those ratings make absolutely no mathematical, or statistical sense. And I think they do the manipulating based on whether they have too many or not enough drivers in any given market ... Can you just imagine the class action lawsuit that would result from this finding for all the drivers that have been de-activated based on their ratings.
> ...


Should ask Glados, it appears that she's for sale. Really, those responses are straight from the screen are they not?


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## negeorgia (Feb 1, 2015)

glados said:


> Uber's customer support representatives are also always happy to adjust ratings if the rider or driver has made a mistake.


I have been told the opposite. Told that they couldn't undo a 1 star on me when I jumped the gun and started a trip too soon when the wrong passengers entered my vehicle. I sent the email to make sure the charge was removed from the requester of the trip. So they paid zero money and the 1 star they gave me stayed. If we were allowed to cancel a trip after starting one by mistake, there would have been no harm to me or them.


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## UberReallySucks (Jul 17, 2015)

negeorgia said:


> I have been told the opposite. Told that they couldn't undo a 1 star on me when I jumped the gun and started a trip too soon when the wrong passengers entered my vehicle. I sent the email to make sure the charge was removed from the requester of the trip. So they paid zero money and the 1 star they gave me stayed. If we were allowed to cancel a trip after starting one by mistake, there would have been no harm to me or them.


_They must have had too many Drivers in your area at the time you made that request, so in terms of valued driver-partner, you were not very much valued and you were answered accordingly._


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## JaxBeachDriver (Nov 27, 2014)

If you want to talk to someone who went through the deactivation hell and then had to PAY a multiBILLION dollar company to be reinstated, try to get in touch with MrsUberJax


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## Desert Driver (Nov 9, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


Yup. In fact, ratings are consistently lower during surges because paxs are pissed about having to pay more than 90 cents a goddamn mile for a ****ing ride. So what do they do? They take it out on the driver in the form of a lower rating. Yeah, great ****ing rating system here, Uber. Shall I explain again why the driver rating system is statistically insignificant and fails to account for confounding variables?


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## THE MAN! (Feb 13, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.
> 
> I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.
> 
> ...


Interesting enough, if you were to look up Ubers Yelp ratings in every city they operate in. There Yelp rating is below the standards they hold there drivers. Essentially Uber would have to deactivate itself in all cities it operates. Why? The inability to retain good drivers by reducing there fares by half on the UberX platform. Uber is exactly why capitalism is given a bad rap by some! It's no surprise where Uber is based (San Francisco) has the highest gap in wages in the country. Just a group of Billionaires/Millionaires attempting to become bigger Billionaires/Millionaires at the expense of others. And its not only at the expense of its drivers. It's also at the expense of tax paying citizens that don't even use Uber.


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## SharedRideTruther (Aug 20, 2015)

elelegido said:


> The style of language and the content you use in your posts lead me to believe that you may work for Uber.


The nail you just hit on the head was Glados' cranium.

He's an Uber company, forum-trolling-shill.

I've called him out on other threads, so he steers clear of my posts now.

Share the word....


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## KeJorn (Oct 3, 2014)

glados said:


> The "survey" has significant sampling bias and does not represent an accurate picture of driver satisfaction. Uber is the leading ridesharing platform and over 78% of drivers are satisfied with Uber. Typically, drivers only start looking into alternate ridesharing platforms when they are poor drivers and are already on the brick of deactivation with Uber. Thus, a sampling of drivers who use both ridesharing platforms will be overwhelming biased towards poor drivers with an unfair resentment against Uber.
> 
> It should also be concerning that other ridesharing platforms may have a significantly higher proportion of low-rated, poor drivers. Uber has always committed to safety as the top priority and the stringent rating requirements reflect that.
> 
> Please see https://newsroom.uber.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/BSG_Uber_Report.pdf for an independently conducted and statistically valid paper about Uber driver satisfaction.


When was that "independent" study conducted??


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## KeJorn (Oct 3, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.
> 
> I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.
> 
> ...


A five star rating system should not treat a 4 star review as a bad review. With Uber, 4 stars mean you have done something wrong. In a normal 5 star system: 1 and 2 are unsatisfactory scores. 3 is neutral or average, and 4 and 5 are above average, with 5 considered perfect. Most people reserve 5 stars for only service they feel was absolutely perfect and far above others.

Uber's logic is to maintain a high bar of expectations ( common corporate-speak) thus anything less than perfect is considered unacceptable. Not only is this unrealistic, it places undue burden on the driver to seek that 5 star rating or face deactivation. Most customers are unaware of this expectation and grade based on standard 5-star preferences they have used over their lifetime.

It is one thing to have high expectations, it's another when those expectations are by far unrealistic. The feel of the Uber rating system is that it is designed to control drivers and keep them in a submissive role, because the law of averages will keep many drivers very close to the deactivation bar.

To make matters worse, it is creating a counter reaction, where many riders (and even as a result, drivers) retaliate with extremely low scores (1 star) for reasons ranging from indifference to intentional malice. Drivers and riders are being pit against each other creating an adversarial environment. This is especially noticeable among the bar-hopping crowd and certain university populations.

Some will nearly always rate a driver (or even a rider) a 1 star for little if any valid reasons. Much is out of spite.

This results in drivers that refuse to work those environments ( bar- hopping locations or certain universities). SMU is one example of a population that many drivers dread picking up and will take great efforts to avoid.

The fact the scoring system is not transparent makes suspicions that Uber may modify our ratings in order to justify disciplinary measures, such as suspended accounts, banning from special guarantees that other drivers are offered in the same city, and of course deactivation. This appears especially true if Uber learns of any driver speaking less than positive about the company.

The overall feeling Uber's rating system creates is a lack of trust and adversarial view of Uber by the drivers, as that is the what they feel is projected by Uber. By their own words and actions, the message is that Uber not only does not trust their "partners", but they view them as an expendable commodity. The animosity between Uber and drivers is growing, partly because they refuse to provide a more fair and transparent rating system. Uber management does not seem to understand the leadership faux pas they continue to demonstrate, whether intentional or not. Based on some of the public comments of Uber upper management, it seems clear they have little respect for their independent partner drivers. As the front end service and sales component (literally where the rubber meets the road) that is a very unwise and detrimental stance to take.


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## XUBERX (May 26, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Do drivers avoid riders with low ratings? Can you avoid them without being penalized for not accepting rides?


Yes we do, at least the ones with a couple of months driving for uber, but the newbies don't have any idea on why pax have low ratings, so they learn fast that pax with low ratings are a-holes, personally I prefer 4.6 and up pax, 4.5 if you are really close 1minute or less, lower than 4.6 and I'll only pick you up if the surge is worth it 2X 3X.


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

It is 1:37 am. I am still awake. 
I can drive and there is steady demand. 
But I stopped way before trouble makers start needing rides from their bars and clubs back home. 
Based on my experience, after 11 pm ratings are complete crap shoot. 
It takes 1 out of 10 riders to rate you low for you to lose your job. 

The survival rate of an uber driver will drop to zero over long enough time and only because of the unfair rating system.


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## KevRyde (Jan 27, 2015)

Below are some comments I posted to one of a zillion threads that discusses ratings.



KevRyde said:


> While the Denver operations team may for assessment purposes use whatever ratings average that suits them, the driver "account rating" - what the rider sees and what we see on the bottom of our phone screen and the top right of the web portal screen - is based on the *last 500 completed trips.*
> 
> View attachment 12137
> 
> ...


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

KevRyde "_but you can see from the attached sampling of the weekly feedback I get from Uber how riders can be all over the place with their comments and ratings and how Uber can be all over the place with its feedback."
_
KevRyde, in fact your actual Rider comments have been uniformly positive.










It needs to be pointed out that the *"Problems Reported"* is not based on actual complaints by the Riders, but is based on Uber's Talking Points on "5 Star Service".

*Rider feedback is horseshit*

Also Drivers in many markets do not receive Weekly Summary Email. Thus they never get to see the actual comments left by their Riders.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Josh Dzieza please read Shakenama's thread where he was deactivated before even completing first 25 rides:
*Deactivated temporarily & frustrated....but why not this?*

And LEAFdriver's gotcha thread on Rider Feedbacks:
*RIDER FEEDBACK Censored from Weekly Reports!*



LEAFdriver said:


> The ratings feedback included on your weekly summary are general feedback by riders to partners around your area. This doesn't specifically point to a certain partner and would only serve to be a reminder for everyone so we can help the overall ratings of our partners in Chicago.


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## RainbowPlate (Jul 12, 2015)

If you want to play "journalist" (is that even still a thing?), then here's your story:

Try to find a driver who, in the past 90 days or so, has actually been deactivated for no other reason than falling below the 4.6/80/90 thresholds. (Do you even know what the 80 and 90 are, "journalist"?)

You likely won't find any such drivers. They are an urban legend.

That's all the story you need.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

RainbowPlate said:


> If you want to play "journalist" (is that even still a thing?), then here's your story:


That's insulting. Perhaps a post that would guide & inform Josh, instead sneering at him, would've been more helpful.


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## KevRyde (Jan 27, 2015)

chi1cabby said:


> "_but you can see from the attached sampling of the weekly feedback I get from Uber how riders can be all over the place with their comments and ratings and how Uber can be all over the place with its feedback." _KevRyde, in fact your actual Rider comments have been uniformly positive.


At least in the Denver market, the weekly feedback e-mails from Uber and Lyft never include actual negative rider comments, so I'm in complete agreement with your assessment that *Rider feedback is horseshit. *Notice that even when I averaged 4.91, Uber found it necessary to include the "HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR RATING" pointers. I find the weekly feedback e-mails silly and annoying at worst and entertaining at best, and I regularly joke about the whole rating system with riders. Last week was only the second time in almost a year that I received a flag for "Friendliness" from Lyft. Not only am I super friendly, I'm also super funny and entertaining, so I'll get lots of mileage chatting about that with future riders and jokingly asking, "what do they want from me - am I supposed to stop off at the nursing home and read stories to their dying grandma when my shift is over?".


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## UberXTampa (Nov 20, 2014)

Josh, 

Please work as an UberX driver for at least 100 completed rides.
Do not disclose your real job as a journalist to any riders. 
Make sure you experience the midnight and closing time shift. 
If uber already knows you, they can manipulate your ratings and make them better. 
They can even make you more money by constantly giving you better fares. 
I think, since you posted here, you are outed already and uber knows you working a news story. 
Maybe get a friend work as UberX driver and report/record everything that friend does in addition to you being a driver for the story. 

I hope you catalyze some of the pain points and help uber understand what we are experiencing in the field. 

Best of luck!


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

UberXTampa said:


> Josh,
> 
> Please work as an UberX driver for at least 100 completed rides.
> Do not disclose your real job as a journalist to any riders.


lymmis did exactly such a long form piece for City Paper in Philly:

*"I was an undercover Uberdriver" - piece about UberX in Philly*


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## KevRyde (Jan 27, 2015)

UberXTampa said:


> If uber already knows you, they can manipulate your ratings and make them better. They can even make you more money by constantly giving you better fares.


speaking of horseshit...


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## superhans (Jul 29, 2015)

chi1cabby said:


> That's insulting. Perhaps a post that would guide & inform Josh, instead sneering at him, would've been more helpful.


Yeah for f!#&$ sake there's a point.
Really to hack Uber you have to have a sliver of talent.....


RainbowPlate said:


> If you want to play "journalist" (is that even still a thing?), then here's your story:
> 
> Try to find a driver who, in the past 90 days or so, has actually been deactivated for no other reason than falling below the 4.6/80/90 thresholds. (Do you even know what the 80 and 90 are, "journalist"?)
> 
> ...


You should try to recognize someone who is genuinely trying to help your cause, did you take any time to go to theVerge.com?


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

RainbowPlate said:


> If you want to play "journalist" (is that even still a thing?), then here's your story:
> 
> Try to find a driver who, in the past 90 days or so, has actually been deactivated for no other reason than falling below the 4.6/80/90 thresholds. (Do you even know what the 80 and 90 are, "journalist"?)
> 
> ...


Me. Just not in the last 90 days. I am a Legend!


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

chi1cabby said:


> That's insulting. Perhaps a post that would guide & inform Josh, instead sneering at him, would've been more helpful.


You forgot to call him stupid and ugly, and a meenie. Tread lightly chi1cabby when you engage in this protection racket because you be muscling in on my turf


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## Wil_Iam_Fuber'd (Aug 17, 2015)

poopy said:


> Gladnose was better as the copy n' paste CSR.
> Had a better angry-audience-to-words-pasted ratio too.
> 
> Can't wait to see the next reincarnation.


So far,  Glados has been my fav. There's just something kinda endearing about that rambunctious, youngster RobotBoi. I'm going to nominate it for the "UD Troll of the Year" award. Maybe Donald Trump will air the awards dinner.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Thread by Nitetymme

*Uber wants me to attend a driving class even though my rating is 4.85*


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## BlackDog (Sep 5, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Hello, I'm a journalist for the tech site The Verge, and I'd like to talk to some drivers about your experience with the rating system.
> 
> I've been reading the forums and have a general sense of some of the worries that come with ratings, but I'd like to talk to a few people about their specific experiences -- what are some things you've learned to do to keep ratings high, how do you feel when they drop, do you have stories about the rating system working or failing, and other questions along those lines. I can keep names anonymous.
> 
> ...


I got a weekly summery a while back stating my rating was a 4.82 star and then below that it said: Unfortunately, your driver rating last week was below average. Yes, the words below average in red. That messes with my head !!! Expecially after providing a cell charger, mints, water, offering choice of radio station, letting them chat or chill, a friendly welcome with a smile, a courteous good bye... WTF. I would think a 4.82 is still a good rating. I still have a 4.91 overall.

The reason where generic. Confirming you Rider: Riders love Uber because they can count on reliable pickups. That's why it is always important to always: Ask for the rider's name before starting the trip to make sure you are picking up the correct person. And then they write: On the bright side, you received 91 five star out of the last 98 rides. That language just sounds like an asshat wrote it...

I feel this system is unfair: One person should not have the ability to bring down so many 5 stars with there 1 star. Most of the time it is the passengers fault for dropping a pick up location on a busy street with no place to pull over. We are doing them a favor by offering a safe and inexpensive transportation option and they can turn around and mess with our heads. I think Uber passengers have more crappy people. I drive for Lyft also and have a 4.98 rating and have held that a long time. I am not able to cancel on a low rated passenger without it effecting my acceptance rating. However, I know those passengers are more likely to be crappy people and in turn give me a low rating.

Uber needs to educate there passengers better what drivers expect from them (drop the pin at a location where we can actually pick them up, be ready at pick up location, have the address entered, be nice) and the how the rating systems effects them and drivers.

The churn rate for drivers with Uber has to be huge. Or they wouldn't have to recruit so heavy all the time. I wonder how many drivers out of 1000 drop out every month and for what reasons.

I hope this helps a little .


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## hao (Sep 18, 2015)

one thing I think the rating system really sucks is that many people do not give drivers ratings
for example, I finish 10 rides, 1 give me 3, and the rest of 9 do not rate at all even after a week. In sum, my daily rating will be 3 after 10 trips~! 
I think Uber has to fix this, set the unrated rating to 5 stars after 7 days if the rider do not rate during those period of time. That is really the way Uber should do.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

BlackDog said:


> . I am not able to cancel on a low rated passenger without it effecting my acceptance rating.


Yes you can! Read my signature.


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## BlackDog (Sep 5, 2015)

Sacto Burbs said:


> Yes you can! Read my signature.


 Thanks !!!


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## glados (May 23, 2015)

Sacto Burbs said:


> Yes you can! Read my signature.


Drivers in LA are being waitlisted for cancelling using your method.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Prove it. Chapter and verse please. Not conjecture.


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## glados (May 23, 2015)

Sacto Burbs said:


> Prove it. Chapter and verse please. Not conjecture.


If you're a LA driver who has been waitlisted, review your texts. Further cancellation abuse will result in permanent deactivation.

Cancellations ("ACRO", "skipping", etc) are NOT for rejecting pick ups because you do not like the rate, ETA, etc. If you do not like them,* do not accept the ride* in the first place and let it time out.


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

Can you please post one if these texts since you claim not to be guessing?

Crying doom from reading other people's posts is the work of a troll.


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

No Comment!


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## Sacto Burbs (Dec 28, 2014)

glados said:


> If you're a LA driver who has been waitlisted, review your texts. Further cancellation abuse will result in permanent deactivation.
> 
> Cancellations ("ACRO", "skipping", etc) are NOT for rejecting pick ups because you do not like the rate, ETA, etc. If you do not like them,* do not accept the ride* in the first place and let it time out.


I consider EVERY ride when I accept.

Screen 1 shows

Surge
Pax rating
Uber guess of time to pax
Screen two shows

The direction of the pax
Time to decide if I believe the estimated time
Time to hit Nav to see the real estimated time
Only then can I make my decision.

Is it profitable enough?

Can I risk my rating?
I'm not Skipping, I'm deciding. My days of accepting and going to every ping are over ... because of the rating systme. If I pick up 5* or low rated pax, I WILL get deactivated again because of crummy pax. When I stick to good pax my rating stays above 4.8

I am going to treat glados as a focus group moderator who plays the devils advocate.


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## XUberMike (Aug 2, 2015)

chi1cabby said:


> No Comment!
> 
> View attachment 13731


What a total crock...yes if you toss in every area Screwber is in the chart is probably correct. Much like my
Overall Rating changes little with a few lower rated trips....BUT toss in drinking/club areas on their own without diluting them with no nite life areas and that graph moves. If you work only work late nights in Santa Monica your ratings will suffer

I don't understand why UBER publishes such vomit...Wait these are the same folks that say you can earn $50 an hour driving UBER so I guess I know why.

Not to worry UBER PARTNERS know the real deal so just ask them. They will tell you if you only work late nights in a party town your stars are Screwdber.

Only experienced drivers with a huge rating base can pull this off


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

@Josh Dzieza, did you finish your piece and has it been published?


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied.


This is Josh Dzieza's article:

*The Rating Game | How Uber and its peers turned us into horrible bosses*


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

Josh Dzieza said:


> Thanks everyone who replied. Other than the basic driving and navigation, do you feel like you get rated for other things, like friendliness, customer service, music, or things beyond your control, like bad traffic?


Nice job you did. I will make it a point to see what else you have written. I hope you continue to investigate the gig economy, reading the piece was time well spent.


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