# Help a newbie - Rating glitch????



## ElectroFuzz

Hello

I started driving for Uber 2 days ago.
So far 8 rides only.
Yesterday morning my driver rating went down to 4.5
I log into the dashboard where I can see all the 8 rides but they are all rated at 5 stars by client.

Am I missing something or this is simply a glitch?
Should I do something about it?

Thanks in advance
PS
I'm in the Phoenix market.


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## LookyLou

I believe the ratings you are seeing in the dashboard are the ratings you gave each rider. Not their rating of you.


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## RacerX

The Ratings you are seeing on your Dashboard are the ratings you gave to the customer. You are not able to see what Rating customers give you unless you only do 1 ride in a given day. Don't worry about your ratings. It's a headtrip. Just focus on giving the best service you can with everything that you can control. 

make sure you are clean, smell good, presentable. 
make sure your car is always clean, smells good.
Greet customer. open door if safe and possible.
Breathe, relax. ask them where they are going.
enter info/address into GPS, but ask if they have a preferred route. if they don't show them the route Waze or google maps has selected. ask them if that looks good.
Offer them water. turn on air conditioner
make small talk. if they talk back engage in conversation. if not leave them alone. be positive. don't complain about stuff.
Thank them for using Uber.
when starting out find a hot spot in your city that you are very familiar with and where there are a lot of short rides. don't worry about the fares/money/rating just practice doing great short trips. rack up 50 of these you will be a 4.9+ Pro in no time at all.


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## ElectroFuzz

OK, thanks for the clarification.
I started with Lyft a week ago, I did 30 rides with 5.0 rating
so I was surprised about getting 4.5 stars with Uber after the first day.
I do everything right I believe except maybe talking too much with customers, I'll tone it down.

Another question.
How often is the rating updated?
Is it after every ride?
Once a day?
Once a week?
I ask because I just did 2 more rides but the rating didn't change.

Thank you


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## RacerX

ElectroFuzz said:


> OK, thanks for the clarification.
> Another question.
> How often is the rating updated?
> Is it after every ride?
> Once a day?
> Once a week?
> I ask because I just did 2 more rides but the rating didn't change.
> 
> Thank you


Not sure. usually by end of night but that depends on what hours you work. also its possible that some customers don't rate you right away. someone on a drunken or drugged out bender you gave a ride to today might not rate you for a few days. in 3 days you might see your rating drop and think WTF? i gave 3 really good rides today. Well don't worry just keep on giving quality rides.


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## LAuberX

The rating keeps changing / updating as the customer rates you... Takes days after the last ride to stabilize.

The rider does not have to rate you right away.... Or ever!

Relax, give great service, drive safe and smoooooth.


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## Nautilis

FYI: I think the general consensus is that Uber riders rate drivers lower than Lyft riders, so be prepared for that. 

Uber will "reset" your ratings after you've done your first 40 trips. Use this time to get into your groove and build up your confidence. Practice finding your rider's exact location by chasing that pin and get good using the app. RacerX's advice here is good to follow. Try not to stress out over your ratings, just do the best you can do and prepare yourself for the inevitable low ratings every once and a while. The low raters out there probably rate all of their drivers low, so it all will average out.


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## brett

LAuberX said:


> The rating keeps changing / updating as the customer rates you... Takes days after the last ride to stabilize.
> 
> The rider does not have to rate you right away.... Or ever!
> 
> Relax, give great service, drive safe and smoooooth.


Err. if they want to take another ride, they need to rate and close out last tide.


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## LAuberX

Err. if they want to take another ride, they need to rate and close out last tide.

True!

It may be days or weeks before they take another Uber.....if ever.


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## grams777

Nautilis said:


> FYI: I think the general consensus is that Uber riders rate drivers lower than Lyft riders, so be prepared for that.


One thing I noticed is that if a Lyft rider rates lower than 5 stars, the rating screen changes substantially. Four big buttons show up asking what area does the driver need to improve on, as well as the comment section. So it is more apparent that a rating on Lyft below 5 means there was a problem. That could be part of why Lyft ratings are generally higher. Mine runs about .10 higher on Lyft than it did on UberX. On Uber there is almost no indication to the rider that under 5 stars means anything is wrong. There also seems to be a difference in the expectations of riders using UberX vs. Lyft which could explain lower ratings on UberX as well.

I've also noticed Lyft ratings generally all get posted within 24 hours. My Lyft rating never seems to change after I have stopped driving for 24 hours. UberX ratings can lag for days or weeks. You can get hit by ratings from trips done days ago and not have any idea what's going on. This may be because the window to close a Lyft trip and set the tip is 24 hours I believe, so people get on it sooner. UberX I think can stay open until the next trip, whenever that is.

Also when starting out, try to work regular day hours. Avoid surge and late night hours which are generally magnets for low ratings even though they are the best paying times. Supposedly Uber now takes late night and surge into account, but I don't know how that works or how much it is offset. My seat of the pants experience is that working days I will average 4.9+. Late night and surge hours usually drop me toward 4.7. Once you have a number of good trips under your belt, it's easier for the bad ratings to get averaged out.


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## ElectroFuzz

It moved!
Up to 4.6 then down to 4.4
Lyft still steady at perfect 5.0

Beats me, will Uber send me any clues about what I am doing wrong?
Or is it hidden forever?


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## Nautilis

ElectroFuzz said:


> Beats me, will Uber send me any clues about what I am doing wrong?
> Or is it hidden forever?


Hidden forever. That's why you shouldn't obsess about it (easier said than done, I know). If your rating stays low for a while, you'll get the obligatory generic Uber email with tips on how to do better. It's a cut and paste from the driver FAQs and the training/orientation information.

Let me ask you this, besides "talking too much" (your words), what do YOU think you are doing "wrong"? Put yourself in the rider's shoes for a moment and try to look at it from their perspective. Uber riders want a safe, fast, and cheap trip. Every rider is different. Some are chatty and some are shy. Try your best to match their mood/energy level.

Maybe you could sign on as a passenger and request a ride or two from another driver to see what they do? You'll see the driver's rating as soon as they accept your request and during the trip you'll get an idea of why they have that rating.


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## ElectroFuzz

Nautilis said:


> Let me ask you this, besides "talking too much" (your words), what do YOU think you are doing "wrong"? Put yourself in the rider's shoes for a moment and try to look at it from their perspective. Uber riders want a safe, fast, and cheap trip. Every rider is different. Some are chatty and some are shy. Try your best to match their mood/energy level.


Thanks, my rating started to climb again (4.6)
Well.... let's see

- Maybe because I do not have a trash can in the back?

- Maybe because I have fancy low profile tires (Lexus rims on my Camry) that can be a little noisy on the freeway.
(I do a lot of early morning long trips on the highway)

- Maybe because I enter addresses into my Nuvi GPS via voice command (the GPS is silent only I speak to it)
I ask for the address and write it down on a notepad, then I talk to Nuvi.
It's really fast, definitely faster then I can type but maybe it's annoying to them.

Other then that I can't think of anything.
I drive very smooth at speed limit or slightly higher.
I have mini cold bottled water and gum.
Radio is on low volume set on a mix station that plays everything.

- I did have some youngsters who wanted me to take 5 people, I told them I can't.
So they ordered a second Uber, maybe they dinged me, even thought the kid that ordered it 
seemed to understand and even tipped me.

- There are some awkward moments when riders blur out pub names
and expect me to know it, I tell them sorry I'm new and just look it up on my Nuvi
or Google maps (I have Bluetooth headset)

Anyway, any input is appreciated.


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## Nautilis

ElectroFuzz said:


> Thanks, my rating started to climb again (4.6)
> Well.... let's see


Is your backseat area always clean?

Do your low profile tires make for a bumpy ride?

Paranoid and impatient riders may not appreciate you writing down their destination. My impression has been that they want us to get moving right away. Some riders may think you are writing down their destination as creepy? Maybe?

You may want to consider ditching the Nuvi for a couple of trips to see what happens. I've had riders notice I use Waze and tell me (jokingly) that they have cancelled the ride when they see a driver using TomTom, Nuvis, etc. yes, they have gotten that snobby. Plus, Waze/Google Maps has everything you need and it's always updated. Try not to apologize to riders, it leads them to think that you are in the wrong for not knowing the name of a bar or restaurant. Instead, just enter it into Waze/google Maps and you are golden.

The youngsters who tried to stuff your car with 5 people probably did ding you. That situation comes up all of the time and it's always difficult for me personally. Do we risk breaking a law for a rider for a good rating or do we politely turn down their request because their safety / our driving record is more important? Just last night I had a group of guys wanting to bring open containers of beer on my car. I told them they couldn't in the nicest way possible, knowing that I was doomed for a 4-star rating or less. Oh well. I figure I'm doing the other drivers a favor by not breaking the rules and letting them think that they can do it again in the future.

It's sounds to me that you are doing everything right. You seem to really care about your riders and you are putting in a great effort! Keep doing what you are doing. My only thought (and I'm not in the car with you so I am only guessing here, so I could be totally off-base) is possibly your riders may feel a sense of a lack of confidence from you? You will keep on gaining experience and your confidence will come after you encounter more and more different situations. My advice would be to try to not "overthink" it (especially the ratings!) and just keep on going. Uber on!


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## grams777

Like Nautilus said, the writing down and speaking thing might be creeping some people out.

Better to just type it directly in. It shouldn't take too long that way. Use google maps or Waze or similar because they are much easier to just type in somewhere and go. Most of the standalones are far too time consuming and complicated. Point of interest or addresses? City name? Street? Ok now the number...etc. Or, instead of just entering the name of the place, you have to go through 5 menu options.

I've seen some of my negative feedback (on Lyft), and it's amazing some of the strange things that will upset people. Like my door handles are all black and mold into the door so people often fumble around trying to find them. I put a little white label tape on them. Now, everyone can see them and open the door easily, especially at night. But, whammo, bzzzzt. Someone ranted against and dinged me in the feedback at how awkward this little white tape strip was. Acted like I was some kind of kook with brain damage for doing it. So, I take the tape off, people go back to fumbling around again trying to open the door, my ratings go up, and no more complaints. Whatever.


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## ElectroFuzz

Thanks for the feedback.
The "do not apologize to riders" and not telling them "I'm new" is
something I will start to adopt.

The car is always clean and spotless, I am a "suburb driver", I only do about 6 rides a day
but they are all very long rides so I have plenty of time to go over the car between rides.

About the Nuvi Voice Command..... I'm not good at typing on that tinny
iphone screen and I probably will need to pull out reading glasses (yeah... when you hit 50 it starts to show)
I actually perfected the Nuvi, when you disable her voice prompt and voice responses
it's a very fast process.
Just "Find address" and then immediately you just speak the entire address.
Number, street name, city and state all in one sentence (Nuvi 2597LMT)

I use the notepad because out here we have some very long street numbers and this way
I don't have to ask the customer to repeat in more then once.
For example:
26897N Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix AZ

Next week I have plans to hack the Nuvi so I can hook it up directly to my
Bluetooth headset, then I can talk to it even if the radio is blasting. (or customers screaming)
(I can not believe there is not even one GPS on the market that can take voice commands via BT headset...... not even the $800 motorcycle GPS)

Cheers
40 Lyft trips ----- 5.0
18 Uber trips ---- 4.6


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## LookyLou

If you are a 5.0 on Lyft, you can't be too far off. I think just a matter of confidence and learning to match the riders vibe which comes with doing more rides.

My numbers are reversed to yours. Uber 5.0 and Lyft 4.95. I dropped to 4.9 first weekend with Lyft and have slowly been climbing back up. I think I got a few low ratings that first weekend because I was trying to get the hang of things and made a few navigation errors. My nerves got the better of me.


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## vtexposfan

Four days in, and I'm at a 4.33. I would worry more about this if I wasn't getting Harvard Square pickup requests while I'm driving by the Agganis Arena. Seems to me that supply is nowhere close to demand in Boston, at least where I lurk around. I even got a 2.75x tonight from Brighton to the North End.

And I thought I would have started a month ago, based on how long it took me to acquire the vehicle I have. I thought a bunch of other anglers would have jumped in, but this job so far looks like fish in a barrel.


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## Just_in

Just started two days ago. Did 11 trips. On the iPhone, At the end of my last shift I noticed a 4.8 with a star at the bottom of the iPhone. 
I thought I got a 4.8 rating. I go to my dashboard and it say's 4.71. The 4.8 rating I suppose is what I rated the passengers. Odd thing is I rated all 11 passengers 5.0 believe it or not. Maybe I didn't press all five stars one time. I think this rating system so far seems a little unfair. One wrong press of the button...

Seems to be a large room for error...


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## LookyLou

Hi Just_in,

Welcome to the forum. Please start a thread in the People section introducing yourself and let us know about where you are from and a little about yourself.

The 4.8 on your phone is your rating that will be seen by the riders on their app when you have accepted the ride. It is your 4.71 rating rounded up to the next whole 10th, being 4.8. If your rating was 4.64 it would show as 4.7 on yours and the riders app.


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## Just Some Guy

vtexposfan said:


> Four days in, and I'm at a 4.33. I would worry more about this if I wasn't getting Harvard Square pickup requests while I'm driving by the Agganis Arena. Seems to me that supply is nowhere close to demand in Boston, at least where I lurk around. I even got a 2.75x tonight from Brighton to the North End.
> 
> And I thought I would have started a month ago, based on how long it took me to acquire the vehicle I have. I thought a bunch of other anglers would have jumped in, but this job so far looks like fish in a barrel.


I think we have too much supply in Boston now. Surge is when you make good money. Too many drivers, plus 500,000 college students gone for the summer, means very little surge. We used to get 2x to 4x surge for hours at a time, now we're lucky to hit 2x to 3x for 20 minutes. Not really enough time to get in multiple trips anymore, where I used to have more trips with surge rates than without. Making $300 a night was easily possible before, but very difficult now. I recall one night when we were at 3x to 4x surge for over two hours, and I made 3 trips from BC to the North End at $60 to $80 per ride...


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## ElectroFuzz

Nautilis said:


> Maybe you could sign on as a passenger and request a ride or two from another driver to see what they do? You'll see the driver's rating as soon as they accept your request and during the trip you'll get an idea of why they have that rating.


So... I did just that today.
The car looked bad, he couldn't locate me, called 3 times.
And.... when I asked him "how long are you doing this?" he replied:
It's my first day and you are my first rider... LOL!!


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## LookyLou

ElectroFuzz said:


> So... I did just that today.
> The car looked bad, he couldn't locate me, called 3 times.
> And.... when I asked him "how long are you doing this?" he replied:
> It's my first day and you are my first rider... LOL!!


Maybe try one more time.


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## Nautilis

ElectroFuzz said:


> So... I did just that today.
> The car looked bad, he couldn't locate me, called 3 times.
> And.... when I asked him "how long are you doing this?" he replied:
> It's my first day and you are my first rider... LOL!!


Yeah, you might want to try again with another driver 

I think the majority of Uber drivers in Boston are new these days. I keep hearing this from my riders lately. I had a couple of riders this weekend tell me that they thought that their previous driver was a taxi driver and that they didn't use GPS and were rude. I've heard the sentiment that "Uber is starting to go down hill" more and more lately. Whether that is true or not, it's not a good reputation to have. Before this month, ALL of my riders would go on and on about how great Uber is and how much they spend on the service every week.


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## ElectroFuzz

4.47★ Driver rating 
Unfortunately, your driver rating last week was *below average*.

On the bright side, you received *14* five-star reviews out of 19 rated trips in the past two weeks

Quick math:
4.47*19=85
14*5=70

Most likely scenario:
14 ---- 5 stars
3 ------ 4 stars
1 ------ 2 stars
1 ------ 1 stars

Wow, no mater how you shuffle it there had to be 1 stars or 2 stars in there.
I'm always on time and never made any route mistakes, should be worth more then 1 star
Oh well.... not much I can do about it.

I ditched the notepad, got me a fancy stylus to enter directly into Google maps.
Will see how it goes.

Thank you all for the tips.


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## LuLu

ElectroFuzz said:


> Hello
> 
> I started driving for Uber 2 days ago.
> So far 8 rides only.
> Yesterday morning my driver rating went down to 4.5
> I log into the dashboard where I can see all the 8 rides but they are all rated at 5 stars by client.
> 
> Am I missing something or this is simply a glitch?
> Should I do something about it?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> PS
> I'm in the Phoenix market.


Just an FYI to the Phoenix Market. Had one of your people yesterday here in SD. She said that Uber was way better here because we offered water. That could be the difference between a 4 star and lower to a 5 star. It is BLOODY HOT in Phoenix. Just a thought.....;-)


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## LookyLou

ElectroFuzz said:


> 4.47★ Driver rating
> Unfortunately, your driver rating last week was *below average*.
> 
> On the bright side, you received *14* five-star reviews out of 19 rated trips in the past two weeks
> 
> Quick math:
> 4.47*19=85
> 14*5=70
> 
> Most likely scenario:
> 14 ---- 5 stars
> 3 ------ 4 stars
> 1 ------ 2 stars
> 1 ------ 1 stars
> 
> Wow, no mater how you shuffle it there had to be 1 stars or 2 stars in there.
> I'm always on time and never made any route mistakes, should be worth more then 1 star
> Oh well.... not much I can do about it.
> 
> I ditched the notepad, got me a fancy stylus to enter directly into Google maps.
> Will see how it goes.
> 
> Thank you all for the tips.


Plus there can be legitimate errors too. Some drunk yahoo is waivering back and forth in your back seat after a ride trying to close it out. He thinks he has to swipe the stars and puts his finger on 1 and boom you have a 1 star rating. Or maybe he can't even tell what star he is hitting. You never know.

Generally the more late night drunk crowd work you do, the worse your ratings will be.


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## Rich Chen

I drive for both Lyft and Uberx. My experience so far with rating is about the same in between Uberx and Lyft. I was hoping I get 4.95 rating with Lyft because I heard that Lyft riders are more friendly than Uber riders. But so far, I am at 4.87 overall rating with Uberx at 1188 rides. And Lyft is 4.9 with 151 rides. I don't know why others say Lyft is easier on rating compared to Uberx. I don't feel it's any easier.


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## Just Some Guy

ElectroFuzz said:


> Wow, no mater how you shuffle it there had to be 1 stars or 2 stars in there.
> I'm always on time and never made any route mistakes, should be worth more then 1 star
> Oh well.... not much I can do about it.


Maybe they're upset about surge rates, or how long they had to wait before you accepted, or any number of other things that you have no control over, so they gave _you_ a low rating. The problem is that they don't just rate the driver (even though that's what they're supposed to do), they rate their overall experience with Uber, which includes things beyond your control.

Also don't forget that any trips you don't accept will also effect your rating.


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## LAuberX

Just some guy says:
"Also don't forget that any trips you don't accept will also effect your rating."

How exactly ?


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## ElectroFuzz

LuLu said:


> Just an FYI to the Phoenix Market. Had one of your people yesterday here in SD. She said that Uber was way better here because we offered water. That could be the difference between a 4 star and lower to a 5 star. It is BLOODY HOT in Phoenix. Just a thought.....;-)


Ice cold water and gum always at hand.
BTW yesterday I picked up 2 couples from San Diego
they came to vacation here in Phoenix...... LOL
They said they love the heat but it was a litle too much even for them (yesterday was 108F)


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## Just Some Guy

LAuberX said:


> Just some guy says:
> "Also don't forget that any trips you don't accept will also effect your rating."
> 
> How exactly ?


I haven't figured that out exactly yet, but it definitely does. I had one week where my rating was 3.8, yet it also said that I got 5 stars on 19 out of 21 trips. So even if the other two trips were 1 star, that still wouldn't come out to a 3.8 rating. My acceptance rate was around 45%, as I was trying to only accept rides in surge areas. It just makes no sense to take a trip at normal rates when there's a 4x surge going on. After that I started going offline when traveling back to surge areas after dropping someone off outside of one. I used to just ignore the requests until it became obvious that it was effecting my rating.


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## grams777

Just Some Guy said:


> I haven't figured that out exactly yet, but it definitely does. I had one week where my rating was 3.8, yet it also said that I got 5 stars on 19 out of 21 trips. So even if the other two trips were 1 star, that still wouldn't come out to a 3.8 rating. My acceptance rate was around 45%, as I was trying to only accept rides in surge areas. It just makes no sense to take a trip at normal rates when there's a 4x surge going on. After that I started going offline when traveling back to surge areas after dropping someone off outside of one. I used to just ignore the requests until it became obvious that it was effecting my rating.


That sounds messed up. With 5 stars on 19/21 your lowest average would be around 4.6 assuming the worst: two 1 stars. More likely you got a couple 4s, or a 4 & 3. So you should have been closer to 4.85-4.90. If you got a 3.8 due to acceptance, that's a massive hit. What is that, a loss of .1 to your rating for every 5% of non acceptance? (I.e. 4.85-1.05=3.8) And technically as an independent contractor, they really shouldn't be dictating which rides you take. That's a relatively big no no which makes them look more like an employer. Or, maybe there's something missing about the calculation that we're overlooking.


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## Sydney Uber

Rich Chen said:


> I drive for both Lyft and Uberx. My experience so far with rating is about the same in between Uberx and Lyft. I was hoping I get 4.95 rating with Lyft because I heard that Lyft riders are more friendly than Uber riders. But so far, I am at 4.87 overall rating with Uberx at 1188 rides. And Lyft is 4.9 with 151 rides. I don't know why others say Lyft is easier on rating compared to Uberx. I don't feel it's any easier.


Welcome!

Two possible mistakes you're making - how is your fist pump? Try practicing on your friends and ask them what they're taking away from the experience you're providing. Is it warm, sincere, hesitant, lingering, professional, military, air-pump?

None of those and other variants are right or wrong. You basically have to physcologically asses them in the course of $5.00 trip, without cutting into their social media time, and engaging in conversation.

There are 3-4 year courses being made available at Universities these days where you sit with your back to the lectern and watch the Lecturer through a small rear-view mirror, trying to instil the skills of body and mind language reading through a small reflection. Beware you will be marked down for not keeping your eyes straight ahead aswell.

The other mistake and you are forgiven for this if you don't have any 20 something children, is that you seem to have some expectation of reward from them. These days that may only be found on another planet! Lol


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## Rich Chen

I will try fist bumps more then next time.


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## Just Some Guy

grams777 said:


> That sounds messed up. With 5 stars on 19/21 your lowest average would be around 4.6 assuming the worst: two 1 stars. More likely you got a couple 4s, or a 4 & 3. So you should have been closer to 4.85-4.90. If you got a 3.8 due to acceptance, that's a massive hit. What is that, a loss of .1 to your rating for every 5% of non acceptance? (I.e. 4.85-1.05=3.8) And technically as an independent contractor, they really shouldn't be dictating which rides you take. That's a relatively big no no which makes them look more like an employer. Or, maybe there's something missing about the calculation that we're overlooking.


I agree. I think they started doing it when they set up different surge areas instead of having the whole city surge at the same time. I bet they were having a lot of drivers doing the same thing I was, so they wanted to penalize us for trying to maximize our profit at the expense of keeping their riders happy. I also received a text around the same time warning that low acceptance rates negatively impact rider experiences...

Which also brings up another issue; what's the point of us rating the riders if we're going to be penalized for not accepting their requests? I had one ping last week where the rider had 3.2 stars, apparently that's just fine with Uber. So what's the point of us even rating them?


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## vtexposfan

Mean ratings are fallacious with a five-star system. On what grounds would anybody give or receive a two or a three? A median rating would be a more accurate evaluation.


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## Nautilis

Just Some Guy said:


> I haven't figured that out exactly yet, but it definitely does. I had one week where my rating was 3.8, yet it also said that I got 5 stars on 19 out of 21 trips. So even if the other two trips were 1 star, that still wouldn't come out to a 3.8 rating. My acceptance rate was around 45%, as I was trying to only accept rides in surge areas.


I don't see how your acceptance rate would affect the ratings you received from a rider. They are two separate indicators of your performance.

Most drivers have reported that surge pricing directly affects the rating the rider gives us. The higher the surge, the lower the rating. Riders often think they are rating the service (not the specifically the driver) and are rating the price paid. It doesn't help that the rating prompt is on the same screen as their total fare (in big print in the center of the screen). During a surge event, the rider sees a large price tag and thinks, "This sucks, I just paid $XXX for a trip that normally costs me 1/4 of that" and ding us.

In Boston, our weekly email summaries include scores from the past two weeks. Under Rider Feedback it says "You received *XX* five-star reviews out of XX rated trips in the past two weeks." Your rating % however, is only this past week. There's a chance your 21 trips are the total trips for two weeks and the majority of the 5 star ratings were for the previous week and the 2 ratings that were not 5-star ratings were both last week. Since Uber only shares with us our average rating, we will never know what the individual ratings are or learn anything from a particular trip.


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## Just Some Guy

Nautilis said:


> I don't see how your acceptance rate would affect the ratings you received from a rider. They are two separate indicators of your performance.


Uber does say that riders canceling will effect their ratings, which is clearly happening independent of driver ratings of them. So they're already demonstrating that at least with the passengers that the rating is not solely based upon the driver's ratings of them. Given this fact, is it really a stretch to believe that our ratings are effected by factors other than just passenger ratings?



Nautilis said:


> Since Uber only shares with us our average rating, we will never know what the individual ratings are or learn anything from a particular trip.


I really wish they'd give us the passenger rating from each trip. Then we could try to figure out what, if anything, we did wrong. We'd also be able to see if there was something else going on with the ratings.


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## SunSmith

Just Some Guy said:


> Also don't forget that any trips you don't accept will also effect your rating.


Which is a violation of their new agreement with us. We have the right to accept/refuse as many trips as we want.

However, customers who request a trip and then wait for several drivers to ignore the request will wait up to a minute to get to driver who accepts the request. That passenger may then be frustrated it took so long (at about 15 seconds for each driver to see/ignore request) and get into the accepting driver's car a little frustrated. And their opinion of Uber may trend downward.


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## zbuc

When a driver rates a rider, do they also have an option to leave a comment like riders can?


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## Just Some Guy

zbuc said:


> When a driver rates a rider, do they also have an option to leave a comment like riders can?


You can with Lyft, but not with Uber.


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## LookyLou

Just Some Guy said:


> You can with Lyft, but not with Uber.


Just a note: When a driver leaves a comment about a rider on Lyft, the rider never sees the comment. It is only used internally by Lyft. So unless it is something that you need to inform Lyft about there is no need to leave a comment.


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## ElectroFuzz

Uber 26 rides 4.19 stars
Lyft 51 rides 4.90 stars

Going down......

EDIT

OK it's 4.35 actually with 50 rides (wow did a lot yesterday), I didn't realize if you change the date range in the dashboard the rating changes as well.
So.... does Uber use the lifetime range, the past 365 days or something else.


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## ElectroFuzz

And here it is, after 15days 54 trips 4.4 stars

*This email is notification that, due to low user ratings and/or negative user feedback, Rasier LLC is deactivating your access to the Uber mobile application for drivers, effective immediately. This email also constitutes notice of Rasier's termination of its Transportation Provider Service Agreement with you, effective 30 days from today.

Your final payment will occur within the next week. If you have any questions or need help with your account, please email [email protected].

Please see the steps below to return your Uber-issued iPhone:

Please click here to fill out and print this form: t.uber.com/westcoastreturns
*

Fill out form and Print
Send Printed form and phone to address below
*Attn: Uber Technologies 301 Vermont Street San Francisco, CA 94117

Once we receive your phone, the phone will be disassociated from your account and you will be reimbursed any appropriate fees. Thank you.

Thank you for your understanding, and all the best!

*


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## LAuberX

At least you have Lyft to earn some $$$, If my ratings drop I am done in rideshare.

It looks like your Lyft riders appreciate you more than the Uber ones did,

good luck!


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## Nautilis

Oh man! That's harsh!!! I'm sorry to hear you got "deactivated" from Uber. 

Other than your previous weekly summary, did you get any type of intermediary warning? Any particular rides recently that you didn't think went well? How is your Lyft rating?

What's puzzling about your situation is how differently you are being rated between Uber and Lyft. Unless you are purposefully driving/behaving differently on the two services, this just goes to show you that there is some sort of inherent bias going on here. 

Have you tried responding to Uber seeking more information?


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## ElectroFuzz

Nautilis said:


> Have you tried responding to Uber seeking more information?


I am working on it, will let you know.


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## grams777

Nautilis said:


> Oh man! That's harsh!!! I'm sorry to hear you got "deactivated" from Uber.
> 
> Other than your previous weekly summary, did you get any type of intermediary warning? Any particular rides recently that you didn't think went well? How is your Lyft rating?
> 
> What's puzzling about your situation is how differently you are being rated between Uber and Lyft. Unless you are purposefully driving/behaving differently on the two services, this just goes to show you that there is some sort of inherent bias going on here.
> 
> Have you tried responding to Uber seeking more information?


That process where you write down the address then speak it might have wigged some people out. I have had people freak out over some very minor things. Like I used to have a small white label strip so people could see the black door handle at night to get out. One guy left feedback on Lyft basically calling me a freak for that. So I took it off, and sure enough, now people fumble around for the handle but no more complaints.

You could try indicating to Uber that they may be deactivating you in part because of the problem with the managing of typing in of small letters. Perhaps there would be another way you could do it to make passengers more comfortable. Ask them to work with you, or give you more time, to make a reasonable accommodation. This might not be so much a safety or personality problem, but a non driving related physical limitation. Deactivating you on this basis, under the cloud of passenger ratings, might not be the best thing for them to do. Consider the recent example of service animals that transpired. Also coming are handicapped accessible vehicles.

If your low ratings are due to a non driving related physical limitation, they may be inclined to listen. Not necessarily that they care, but one of the regulatory complaints against Uber, etc. is the ratings system could lead to discrimination based on unlawful criteria. This has been raised as a complaint over and over, mostly against the driver rating of passengers. But it still can ring true against drivers as well.


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## ElectroFuzz

grams777 said:


> That process where you write down the address then speak it might have wigged some people out. I have had people freak out over some very minor things. Like I used to have a small white label strip so people could see the black door handle at night to get out. One guy left feedback on Lyft basically calling me a freak for that. So I took it off, and sure enough, now people fumble around for the handle but no more complaints.
> 
> You could try indicating to Uber that they may be deactivating you in part because of the problem with the managing of typing in of small letters. Perhaps there would be another way you could do it to make passengers more comfortable. Ask them to work with you, or give you more time, to make a reasonable accommodation. This might not be so much a safety or personality problem, but a non driving related physical limitation. Deactivating you on this basis, under the cloud of passenger ratings, might not be the best thing for them to do. Consider the recent example of service animals that transpired. Also coming are handicapped accessible vehicles.
> 
> If your low ratings are due to a non driving related physical limitation, they may be inclined to listen. Not necessarily that they care, but one of the regulatory complaints against Uber, etc. is the ratings system could lead to discrimination based on unlawful criteria. This has been raised as a complaint over and over, mostly against the driver rating of passengers. But it still can ring true against drivers as well.


Thanks
I ditched the notepad and the speaking into the Nuvi navigation.
I got a good stylus and I am typing the address into Waze. (no reading glasses needed!)
Things are running much smoother now.

Here is my mistake:
Metro Phoenix is very large, I lived here for the past 20 years but
there are towns here I have never been to..... until now.
No problem dropping off customers there but then picking up new customers in these towns
is a mistake.
They usually want to go 2 blocks and are surprised I am not familiar with the local bank or pub.
I decided to not pick up these customers but rather head back to a familiar territory.
It will cost me in earnings but could probably save my ratings.

I knew my rating was not cutting it but I thought I had more time
with everything I have heard here about warnings and the reset on the first 40 rides
I figured I could turn things around.

Anyway, I believe if they give me another chance I will do great.
And if not..... well there is not much I can do about it.


----------



## grams777

ElectroFuzz said:


> Here is my mistake:
> Metro Phoenix is very large, I lived here for the past 20 years but
> there are towns here I have never been to..... until now.
> No problem dropping off customers there but then picking up new customers in these towns
> is a mistake.
> They usually want to go 2 blocks and are surprised I am not familiar with the local bank or pub.
> I decided to not pick up these customers but rather head back to a familiar territory.
> It will cost me in earnings but could probably save my ratings.


That's always interesting how people expect you to know their neighborhood inside and out. Meanwhile there can be hundreds of square miles that you drive in, and much more if you add the dropoff reach beyond your metro area.

You don't know the back alley that runs between old man Taylor's house and the closed down diner? Whhhhattttt!!!

I've recently started leaving areas and times I know my ratings will get spanked for no good reason. Especially for $5 hustle rides. The other night I was at a big club area at 1 am. It was busy. Even downtown was short drivers. There were few other driver cars around. I could have probably knocked out an easy 6-10 $5 hustle rides in 3 hours. But I figured, heck with it. It's not worth averaging a 4.5 out of those rides to gross $40 and net maybe $20 over 3 hours. Add the chance of someone puking. I'm going home. In my younger days (two months ago), I would have just stayed and picked up all the rides. In my opinion, surge ratings plus ratings between 11 pm and 4am need to be discarded and only serious verifiable complaints accepted.

At least you still have Lyft. If your passengers on Lyft rate you that much higher, maybe it will work out better anyway as long as there are enough rides.

One thing I noticed on lyft, when a passenger rates you, it is more obvious that there is a problem with anything below 5 stars. When the passenger selects 4 it says, ok but could be better or something. Then buttons come up asking the area needed to improve. Similarly on 3 and below the wording changes.


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## Sydney Uber

ElectroFuzz said:


> Thanks
> I ditched the notepad and the speaking into the Nuvi navigation.
> I got a good stylus and I am typing the address into Waze. (no reading glasses needed!)
> Things are running much smoother now.
> 
> Here is my mistake:
> Metro Phoenix is very large, I lived here for the past 20 years but
> there are towns here I have never been to..... until now.
> No problem dropping off customers there but then picking up new customers in these towns
> is a mistake.
> They usually want to go 2 blocks and are surprised I am not familiar with the local bank or pub.
> I decided to not pick up these customers but rather head back to a familiar territory.
> It will cost me in earnings but could probably save my ratings.
> 
> I knew my rating was not cutting it but I thought I had more time
> with everything I have heard here about warnings and the reset on the first 40 rides
> I figured I could turn things around.
> 
> Anyway, I believe if they give me another chance I will do great.
> And if not..... well there is not much I can do about it.


Man that is so harsh after such a short time. Without any opportunity to respond to specific complaints is just wrong.

Drivers don't last with me if they don't know their way around or if I get repeated reports that they got lost or took the long way. But this is in a Black car carrying regulars that the driver is informed of the destination well before the job, so they have time to research the route.

I don't mind if the burn some fuel checking out the destination before actually doing the job. But with UBER there is no warning, and unlike pre-booked jobs that have a set rate, some riders would just think you take a wrong turn to run the "meter" up.

Don't answer this if you don't want to, but have you been discriminated against before this for stupid and illegal things like the way you look or speak?


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## ElectroFuzz

Sydney Uber said:


> Don't answer this if you don't want to, but have you been discriminated against before this for stupid and illegal things like the way you look or speak?


Nah, I won't go there.
I am a little too old (50) for most of these young riders.
I have a slight foreign accent but I lived in the US for 25 years and my English is definitely very good. (went to college here)
I have another draw back, I don't drink alcohol (I just don't like it)
so I am not familiar with all the cool pubs..... but I have learned most of them
in the past two weeks.
I have been self employed my entire life, I have been interacting with customers every day
for the past 30 years so socializing is not a problem.

Bottom line, I might not be the "coolest driver" out there
but I wouldn't call it discrimination.

15 five stars out of 19 is probably what I can achieve
and that should be good enough, it's those 1 stars that I need to avoid.
Some customers view 4 stars as a good rating and will only give 5 stars
if the driver is "cool"..... and I'm not.
I have personally witnessed one new rider trying to get out of the fare screen
by randomly pushing all over the screen hitting the 1 star, I managed to explain to her
what do does stars mean so I avoided that one but it shows you that these things happen.

If anything I would fault Uber for not giving new drivers more time to adjust.
If you only have 50 trips and you receive two 1 star ratings, lets say one by mistake and one for a real mistake you did (hey nobody is perfect)
then add to that a few 4 stars and you are already below the requirements.

I hope they will let me back in.
I know I can make this work.


----------



## Sydney Uber

ElectroFuzz said:


> Nah, I won't go there.
> I am a little too old (50) for most of these young riders.
> I have a slight foreign accent but I lived in the US for 25 years and my English is definitely very good. (went to college here)
> I have another draw back, I don't drink alcohol (I just don't like it)
> so I am not familiar with all the cool pubs..... but I have learned most of them
> in the past two weeks.
> I have been self employed my entire life, I have been interacting with customers every day
> for the past 30 years so socializing is not a problem.
> 
> Bottom line, I might not be the "coolest driver" out there
> but I wouldn't call it discrimination.
> 
> 15 five stars out of 19 is probably what I can achieve
> and that should be good enough, it's those 1 stars that I need to avoid.
> Some customers view 4 stars as a good rating and will only give 5 stars
> if the driver is "cool"..... and I'm not.
> I have personally witnessed one new rider trying to get out of the fare screen
> by randomly pushing all over the screen hitting the 1 star, I managed to explain to her
> what do does stars mean so I avoided that one but it shows you that these things happen.
> 
> If anything I would fault Uber for not giving new drivers more time to adjust.
> If you only have 50 trips and you receive two 1 star ratings, lets say one by mistake and one for a real mistake you did (hey nobody is perfect)
> then add to that a few 4 stars and you are already below the requirements.
> 
> I hope they will let me back in.
> I know I can make this work.


Yes Being a child of 1963 does provide challenges when relating to youngsters! I know what you mean.

Some of the conversations Ive heard just curls my hair, I sometimes cant believe how badly they treat each other. Which probably shows how easy it would be for some youngsters to 1 star a driver for the silliest reason. I certainly don't fit the cool image either. The Black cars here are used by a lot of over-entitled, rich kids with attitude so I get to see them in the same way as UBERX drivers do.

I Hope that UBER does the right thing and backs someone clearly willing to give it a good go


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## Just Some Guy

They really need to better educate the *riders* on the whole rating system... Maybe make the riders start paying hirer rates if their rating is below 5 stars... I bet that would keep them on their best behavior.

I know they'll never do that though because they care far more about their riders than they do about their drivers.

They could at least make a second screen pop up if they rate drivers anything less than 5 stars asking what the driver did wrong. Then maybe they'd understand that Uber considers anything less than 5 stars to be bad. It would also help if these "complaints" were actually passed on to the driver so they can potentially learn from their mistakes, or maybe Uber could see that there really was no issue at all and disregard the rating.


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## Sydney Uber

Just Some Guy said:


> They really need to better educate the *riders* on the whole rating system... Maybe make the riders start paying hirer rates if their rating is below 5 stars... I bet that would keep them on their best behavior.
> 
> I know they'll never do that though because they care far more about their riders than they do about their drivers.
> 
> They could at least make a second screen pop up if they rate drivers anything less than 5 stars asking what the driver did wrong. Then maybe they'd understand that Uber considers anything less than 5 stars to be bad. It would also help if these "complaints" were actually passed on to the driver so they can potentially learn from their mistakes, or maybe Uber could see that there really was no issue at all and disregard the rating.


They are excellent suggestions - do you mind if I cut and paste your post, without ID and send off to the local UBER office?


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## Just Some Guy

Sydney Uber said:


> They are excellent suggestions - do you mind if I cut and paste your post, without ID and send off to the local UBER office?


I'm certain they'll ignore it, but feel free. What do I know, I'm just a talking, driving, monkey...


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## Sydney Uber

Just Some Guy said:


> I'm certain they'll it ignore it, but feel free. What do I know, I'm just a talking, driving, monkey...


Now Now! You're falling under UBER management control


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## Nautilis

I hope they give you another chance ElectroFuzz. Just from your postings on here you obviously care about doing the best job you can (and your Lyft ratings demonstrate you can do the job successfully).

Like others have mentioned here, the ratings system could use a lot of improvement. For whatever reason, the UberX community you are in is rating you low to exclude you from driving for them. If this was because of safety reasons or your overall driving skills, then I would say that this is a good use of the ratings system. But I'm assuming that is not the case since you are getting great ratings on Lyft.

Good luck with your "appeal". Please keep us posted on what they say in response. Your situation is a good reminder for us to maintain a backup source of income (such as driving for multiple companies). Now I'm beginning to think I should get a part-time job that is not even driving related to further protect myself.


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## ElectroFuzz

OK guys, I'm back in !

They said I must show improvement or else...


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## Oc_DriverX

LookyLou said:


> Hi Just_in,
> 
> Welcome to the forum. Please start a thread in the People section introducing yourself and let us know about where you are from and a little about yourself.
> 
> The 4.8 on your phone is your rating that will be seen by the riders on their app when you have accepted the ride. It is your 4.71 rating rounded up to the next whole 10th, being 4.8. If your rating was 4.64 it would show as 4.7 on yours and the riders app.


While I know that Uber will round up, I don't think it rounds up as much as you have indicated. If you have a displayed 4.8 rating, you need to have at least a 4.75. A 4.71, or a 4.74 rating, will both show as 4.7. That has been my experience anyway.


----------



## grams777

ElectroFuzz said:


> OK guys, I'm back in !
> 
> They said I must show improvement or else...


Good to hear.

You might want to stick to sober day riders, avoid college areas (or similar entitlement based rider areas), etc. Hours between 11 pm - 4 am should be avoided. If it's surging at any time, stop driving.

Stay in familiar areas as much as possible until you're off probation.

Ask riders for their preferred route.

Clean the car often.

Dodge bullets when possible - you can't afford a 1 star ranking from a passenger upset about you not stuffing 8 people in your car.

For the time being, it's more about saving your future driving than the profits.

Good luck. Keep us posted.


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## LAuberX

When I end up in a strange part of L.A. my first instinct is to head to familar territory to avoid the ratings gremlin.... $4.25 gas makes me suppress that urge.

So I just press "go online" and it has worked out just fine most of the time. If a customer gets in the car and gives a one word destination
you are not familar with like "Bob's", explain you just dropped off a pax down the street, you have not been to this part of town in years and are from xxxxx (a variable place FAR away!) so 
could use the "local route" to get there if the customer does not mind... 

works for me.


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## Nautilis

ElectroFuzz... did Uber give you any indication on what you were getting rated badly on? Did they share any of their comments?

BTW, even if you don't recognize the name of the bar or restaurant your rider wants to go to, type it into Waze anyway while keeping a poker face. If/when a match comes up, confirm with them "Bill's Bar on Main St, right"? If a match doesn't come up, then try a different spelling or tap the search icon anyway. Waze will look for close matches. You can bluff your way through any trip using the right tool! 

If the rider questions why I am using Waze to get to an obvious destination (i.e. "Fenway Park"), I sell them on the updated traffic reports / road incidents features. It helps turn a situation from "my driver is stupid and has to use GPS" to "my driver confidently navigated traffic and taught me a new short cut today"


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## Sydney Uber

Excellent news!!!

Now if only we can all be given a MIB Neuralyzer, we'd all be able to zap riders as they stepped out of our cars!


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## The Geek

Just Some Guy said:


> They could at least make a second screen pop up if they rate drivers anything less than 5 stars asking what the driver did wrong. Then maybe they'd understand that Uber considers anything less than 5 stars to be bad. It would also help if these "complaints" were actually passed on to the driver so they can potentially learn from their mistakes, or maybe Uber could see that there really was no issue at all and disregard the rating.


That's exactly the plan as it was explained to me by a guy in Uber legal, so Sydney, go ahead if you must but it is supposed to be in place before the school sessions start up here in the U.S..


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## LookyLou

ElectroFuzz said:


> OK guys, I'm back in !
> 
> They said I must show improvement or else...


Nice! I am very happy for you. Uber On my friend!


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## Just Some Guy

Nautilis said:


> If the rider questions why I am using Waze to get to an obvious destination (i.e. "Fenway Park"), I sell them on the updated traffic reports / road incidents features. It helps turn a situation from "my driver is stupid and has to use GPS" to "my driver confidently navigated traffic and taught me a new short cut today"


 I had one time the rider insisted I follow her route instead of letting me follow the gps... I tried to tell her that Google Maps was saying that route was 45 minutes slower (with a construction warning), but she insisted... so what should have been a 20 minute trip took over an hour... most of which was sitting on the Tobin bridge not moving. After 30 minutes she said "I guess I should have listened to you".


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## Just Some Guy

Sydney Uber said:


> Excellent news!!!
> 
> Now if only we can all be given a MIB Neuralyzer, we'd all be able to zap riders as they stepped out of our cars!


Nothing a little midazolam won't fix...


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## dominant7th

When using WAZE or GMaps just type the name of the establishment in and it'll give the address. Confirm the location before going (in case there's similar names businesses). Also, make sure to put Waze in sleep mode when you finish your shift or it'll keep running and draining the battery.


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## ElectroFuzz

Nautilis said:


> ElectroFuzz... did Uber give you any indication on what you were getting rated badly on? Did they share any of their comments?


I asked for it, just a hint of the general area of concern..... but nothing.
I don't think they really care, all these e-mails seem like your usual pre-written answers.


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## SunSmith

I've started doing gps more discretely. I have google maps or waze open and a bluetooth on my ear (on the side away from the passengers, mostly covered by hair). When customer gives me the address or bar name I hit the mike button and repeat it, kind of like I'm confirming it. Most the time the mapping program then pulls it up and I hit start and navigation is there. Sometimes it doesn't understand me and then I type it in. I don't gps every ride, I know my way around the city well since I've lived here all my life, but I do most. The gps routing is often more efficient than the route I would have taken without it. If I'm heading to the eastside I alway use gps, I don't know that area as well.


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## ElectroFuzz

I am getting there.......

4.91★
Driver rating
Nice work, your driver rating last week was *above average*.



My overall is still 4.62


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## grams777

ElectroFuzz said:


> I am getting there.......
> 
> 4.91★
> Driver rating
> Nice work, your driver rating last week was *above average*.
> 
> 
> 
> My overall is still 4.62


That's great. Quite a bit higher than where you were not long ago.


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## Chris

I'm a newbie also. 3 weeks in now. 

Firstly how does one get a "reset" from uber? I've never been offered this and I'm up to 244 trips. 

I'm really confused about my rating!! 

The one on the dashboard always matched that of my driver app. It has steadily declined. 

Today, was the first day I noticed it was different. 
Driver app says 4.81
Dashboard 4.79

For the day it says 5. Was I given or did I give 5 stars all day? 

I almost always give the passéngers 5 stars. But the rating in the dashboard does not reflect as such. 

I'm really confused about how that all works and worried I'll be terminated before I can buy my new car. 

I'm using a honda fit which I know isn't everyone's fav car, but I know where I am going, I have water, candy promo cards and happy riders. I get a lot of compliments. So why the Low rating? At what point does uber deactivate me?

I don't want to buy a brand new car and lose the job. But I only have two weeks left to use my friends. The local office says my 4.8 is great, but has yet to explain what ratings I'm looking at. 

It appears the dashboard rating is the clients rating of me, until tonight when it didn't match the driver up. Now I am really confused. I wouldn't care so much if I was not about to make a 35,000 investment into a new car. 

Can someone please she's some light not this for me?

I basically just want to know how to monitor my score and keep the job. 

Thank you! Much appreciated!


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## Nautilis

Hi Chris! Welcome to the forum!!

On the dashboard, you can view your past ratings by the past 1 day, 7-days, 30-days, or 365-days. These are your average ratings received for trips during that time. The average rating on your driver app is the average for the past 500 trips. Your rating was "reset" after you drove your first 40 trips.

What you rate your passengers does not factor into your ratings.

4.8 is not a low rating, in the Uber world, it is actually considered average! It's hard to explain why your rating would be where it is. You mentioned that you are driving a Honda Fit, it's a relatively small vehicle so that could be why some are rating you lower than a 5 sometimes. I've found Uber riders to be quite "finicky" and since there is no set criteria for the rating system, our average ratings could be all over the map for unknown reasons.

Keep doing what you are doing. You mention you are getting a lot of compliments (That's Great!). What are you using for navigation? Is your driving style smooth? (No hard braking or quick accelerating) Keeping your car clean? (I would find wrappers tucked everywhere in the back of my car when I used to offer gum and mints... now I don't offer them and my car is cleaner = better ratings)

There's an Uber CSR that is a member on this forum. He recently posted that Uber deactivates drivers whose average ratings fall somewhere in the range of 4.75 to 4.6.

My advice would be to spend your energy pleasing your riders instead of worrying about your ratings (easier said than done, I know!). Keep studying your city, learn shortcuts, use Waze, and try to match your rider's energy (some are quiet and are comfortable with silence, others want to chat away)

If you are looking to buy a new car primarily to drive for Uber, I'd suggest holding off on that decision (or consider buying a decent used car instead). As others have suggested here, it seems like there is a high turnover of drivers in ride sharing. Having car payments could create a situation where you are "forced" to do this job even if you no longer enjoy it.

EDIT: Original post cut off


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## Oc_DriverX

Nautilus did a good job of covering the ratings. Sometimes they don't seem to have a rhyme or reason to them. There have been stories of people observing drunk riders having trouble entering a rating, so there is a chance that some of the ratings are random.

I would also echo the comment about a new vs. a used car. Used is better! Also, realize that being a Uber driver can be a short term thing. Uber could run into a regulatory problem, you could get deactivated, etc. Don't put too many "eggs" in the Uber basket.


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## Chris

I have to buy "another" car as I am merely borrowing this one. I don't expect this to be a years on end job, just enough to get me a better car and up my credit score.


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## troubleinrivercity

It's kind of a huge relief to hear that deactivation is not final. It would so totally suck though to be on double-secret probation in a company where you pretty much always exist in a state of probation. Seems like there are some newb mistakes that I can definitely not afford to keep making. I'm going to take a rest day and memorize the mile and half-mile streets, and go out the next day and do double my usual trips and see if I can't earn some breathing room. I suspect my car and friendliness has led some raters to gloss over navigation mistakes, but these will definitely end me if I keep them up.

I would hope that for an account in review, they do read all the positive comments along with the negative ones.


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## nick m

Hi, I'm new to driving for uber. Yesterday was my first day driving and I had 7 riders. My rating was a 5 star the whole day,until between my 6th and 7th rider, then it dropped to a 4.5 rating. Today I logged into uber to start driving and my rating dropped down to a 3.75. All my rides went great except for one in which I ask the guy where he was headed and I was unsure where it was located so I asked him if he had a preferred route and he got upset and said " You're the driving you should know the best route". My last trip was going good, we were chatting a little until she received a phone call. She answered and started to argue with the person the whole ride until the ride was over. The final fare was $23 and I think she might have left a bad rating because she was in a bad mode when the trip ended and and seeing a $23 fare didn't help either. Should I be worried about my rating and any suggestions.


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## LAuberX

3.75 is bad, rumor has it they forgive the first 40 rides if you ask.

You should have time to improve.

Learn your city. #1 complaint.

Keep car spotless/no smoke or funky smells.

Wear decent clothes, at least until you earn 4.8 easily.


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## TomNashville

nick m said:


> Hi, I'm new to driving for uber. Yesterday was my first day driving and I had 7 riders. My rating was a 5 star the whole day,until between my 6th and 7th rider, then it dropped to a 4.5 rating. Today I logged into uber to start driving and my rating dropped down to a 3.75. All my rides went great except for one in which I ask the guy where he was headed and I was unsure where it was located so I asked him if he had a preferred route and he got upset and said " You're the driving you should know the best route". My last trip was going good, we were chatting a little until she received a phone call. She answered and started to argue with the person the whole ride until the ride was over. The final fare was $23 and I think she might have left a bad rating because she was in a bad mode when the trip ended and and seeing a $23 fare didn't help either. Should I be worried about my rating and any suggestions.


You should always be concerned about your ratings, especially if you plan to do this long-term. Some quick tips:

Pay attention to the rider's rating when you get a request, if they are 4 or below, you probably shouldn't pick them up
Always use GPS, you can cover yourself on this by saying that it adapts to traffic (Waze and Google Maps do)
With Uber passengers, don't say anything more than is necessary to do your job unless they are chatty with you, most don't want to talk to you, Lyft passengers will rate you poorly for not talking to them
If asked about the ratings system, always hit on the key points that you rate passengers too, that a rating of 5 is normal, 4 or below indicates a problem and that 4.5 or less equals deactivation
Most riders don't rate right away, meaning that your rating will fluctuate wildly when you don't have too many rides under your belt, and also that negative ratings have much more impact than positive ones
Cancel on obvious problem riders before letting them enter your vehicle, problem riders include groups of 5 or more, overly drunk groups of people (trouble walking), people with food, drink or cigarettes in hand, and any other personal rules you come up with. If you deny people anything, they will rate you low because of it, best practice is to deny them without the possibility of them rating you.


----------



## troubleinrivercity

Don't worry. Do a ton of trips. The only way your rating will stay low is if you don't dash to 50/100 trips to build a buffer. Most riders rate five if you didn't hit anyone.


----------



## grams777

troubleinrivercity said:


> Don't worry. Do a ton of trips. The only way your rating will stay low is if you don't dash to 50/100 trips to build a buffer. Most riders rate five if you didn't hit anyone.


Just don't do them all at night or surge until your rating has leveled off in a better place.


----------



## gdougher

Hey,

Newbie here, too. Paying too much attention to my ratings. I've done 18 trips and started my first day with a 4.5 rating, went up to a 4.67, then plunged to 4.4, and now back around 4.58. From what I can surmise, I've had 10 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating, 1 3-star rating and 1 2-star rating. Both the 2 star rating and the 3 star rating must have been on my first day, with low rated passengers who were very, very aggressive about me coming into a pay parking lot to pick them up and wanting for me to pay the bill for that (they wanted me to pay $10 to get them, on what was a $6 fare!). 

I'm just worried this is a hole that I can't/won't be able to climb out of - if I wasn't doing a good job, I wouldn't be getting so many 5-stars as well as have a 4.95 on Lyft. Would it help to be pre-emptive and contact Uber to ask them for a reset after 40 rides - or, well, just to ask a re-set on my first day? If I'm at a 4.65 or a 4.7 at 40 rides, do they give you a chance to improve up to 4.75 - 4.85. It seems as long as I avoid making some noob mistakes like I did on the first day, I'd be there in 60-70 rides, but, probably not 30-40. Also, if just 1 person gives me a 1, 2, or 3, it makes climbing out of this hole almost impossible. Averages make no sense - distribution seems to be a much more accurate gauge.


----------



## TomNashville

gdougher said:


> Hey,
> 
> Newbie here, too. Paying too much attention to my ratings. I've done 18 trips and started my first day with a 4.5 rating, went up to a 4.67, then plunged to 4.4, and now back around 4.58. From what I can surmise, I've had 10 5-star ratings, 1 4-star rating, 1 3-star rating and 1 2-star rating. Both the 2 star rating and the 3 star rating must have been on my first day, with low rated passengers who were very, very aggressive about me coming into a pay parking lot to pick them up and wanting for me to pay the bill for that (they wanted me to pay $10 to get them, on what was a $6 fare!).
> 
> I'm just worried this is a hole that I can't/won't be able to climb out of - if I wasn't doing a good job, I wouldn't be getting so many 5-stars as well as have a 4.95 on Lyft. Would it help to be pre-emptive and contact Uber to ask them for a reset after 40 rides - or, well, just to ask a re-set on my first day? If I'm at a 4.65 or a 4.7 at 40 rides, do they give you a chance to improve up to 4.75 - 4.85. It seems as long as I avoid making some noob mistakes like I did on the first day, I'd be there in 60-70 rides, but, probably not 30-40. Also, if just 1 person gives me a 1, 2, or 3, it makes climbing out of this hole almost impossible. Averages make no sense - distribution seems to be a much more accurate gauge.


The best way to maintain a rating is to screen out clients. Those guys who wanted you to pick them up in a pay parking lot? Tell them to forget it, cancel on them and move on!


----------



## grams777

TomNashville said:


> The best way to maintain a rating is to screen out clients. Those guys who wanted you to pick them up in a pay parking lot? Tell them to forget it, cancel on them and move on!


This is good advice. Think of it like this. Somewhere in your next 20 rides or so there is a ticking ratings time bomb waiting to go off. It has nothing to do with you otherwise. They just want you to pick them up in a pay parking lot; call you all upset because you aren't getting there fast enough; or some other no-win situation. Let's say your normal Uber rating is 4.82. If you don't recognize and avoid the 1-3 star land mine every 20 trips or so, you may run an additional .10 lower than you should at 4.72, or even lower. One extra 3 star in 20 rides drops you .10 (1 star loss per 10). One extra 1 star in 20 rides drops you .20 (2 star loss per 10). These should be avoided if possible.

See also:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/avoiding-1-star.620/

Also if you have just started driving for both uber and lyft, but having ratings issues on one or the other, it may be better to only run one at a time. Do a day only with uber, or a shift. That way you can focus better since there are some differences in the driver-passenger interaction. Later as things improve, then integrate them more.

Also see these ratings ICU tips from earlier in this thread:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/help-a-newbie-rating-glitch.644/page-4#post-7669


----------



## gdougher

Definitely going to be doing more of the client screening! I think if I do 10 more rides, I can probably climb back up to the high 4.6's and low 4.7's. While not safe-safe, it's definitely safe-ish where I feel an appeal would go through. Just aiming for a 4.8 number. 

I don't necessarily know if driving for both is hurting me - I think it really was just a few bad ratings on my very first day. After my first day, have only received 1 non-5 rating, and it was a 4. Can't get worked up over that. I've had so many pleasant rides, and only start chatting when the other person did. One person was so impressed with a back route that I took that she even offered me a tip - I declined, but, it felt good!

For now, being in Boston, I've noticed I get much friendlier pickups in Allston/Brighton, Somerville, Mission Hill/Jamaica Plain, and Cambridge. Pickups around there tend to be younger and more engaging. I'm 25 years old and not your typical Uber driver in Boston. When I am in downtown Boston, I've gotten some kind of awful passenger who clearly do not know the difference between UberX and UberBlack (really, you live in a $4k/month apartment, and you're going to ***** that your UberX card is not a black car with leather seats? Ooomph). 

FWIW, I do think this is the first job I've had where being a gay 20-something year old has helped, especially when it's with non-business 20 year-olds. Two of my Lyft comments have said that I was "adorable" and it felt like riding with a friend you had known forever.


----------



## Oc_DriverX

gdougher said:


> ...
> FWIW, I do think this is the first job I've had where being a gay 20-something year old has helped, especially when it's with non-business 20 year-olds. Two of my Lyft comments have said that I was "adorable" and it felt like riding with a friend you had known forever.


I can see where age makes a difference. Why would the fact that you are gay matter, and how would that come up?


----------



## ElectroFuzz

LAuberX said:


> 3.75 is bad, rumor has it they forgive the first 40 rides if you ask.
> 
> You should have time to improve.
> 
> Learn your city. #1 complaint.
> 
> Keep car spotless/no smoke or funky smells.
> 
> Wear decent clothes, at least until you earn 4.8 easily.


I just want to point out that I was deactivated after 52 rides (10 days)
I thought I had time, I thought they will reset the first 40 rides
But they didn't.
My lowest was 4.22
So if you are 3.75 start doing something about it.
Drive during the day, drive in areas that you are familiar with.
At least until you raise your ratings and build up some cushion.


----------



## Roberto

Oc_DriverX said:


> I can see where age makes a difference. Why would the fact that you are gay matter, and how would that come up?


Think they can kinda tell each other. Kinda like how you can kinda tell some girls are gay. Also they'd be more likely to rate each other higher in solidarity.


----------



## gdougher

No, but I think at least in Boston, most people - especially females in their 20s and 30s - tend to think of having a gay person as "safe" as well as "fun," although I'm pretty against that stereotype. 

It's the same logic of why there are so many bachelor parties in gay spaces/vacation towns.


----------



## ElectroFuzz

gdougher said:


> FWIW, I do think this is the first job I've had where being a gay 20-something year old has helped, especially when it's with non-business 20 year-olds. Two of my Lyft comments have said that I was "adorable" and it felt like riding with a friend you had known forever.


It's the opposite for me, 
I'm 50 years old and the 20 year-old riders always rate me a 4, especially the females.
Hmm.... you gave me some pointers.... but I'm not sure I can pull it off


----------



## KrisThuy

lol quiet but friendly is the best option
if u feel that a passenger wants chit chat then have a go but still lesser ur tone, jokes here and there.

if a person looks like "hey ur my slave so just drive type"
just say how are u then drop and say bye have a nice day with a smile 

also found out that the last part of the trip is the most important...
the good part u did, the water the gum u gave is useless when the last part of the trip u failed and made them feel like "hey were here now gtfo" feeling..


----------



## LuLu

Roberto said:


> Think they can kinda tell each other. Kinda like how you can kinda tell some girls are gay. Also they'd be more likely to rate each other higher in solidarity.


Seriosously?


----------



## KrisThuy

LuLu said:


> Seriosously?


hahah
honestly have a feeling his a chatty type and he needs to work on it
his gonna get a lot more 3 stars if he dont


----------



## mp775

gdougher said:


> No, but I think at least in Boston, most people - especially females in their 20s and 30s - tend to think of having a gay person as "safe" as well as "fun," although I'm pretty against that stereotype.


Unfortunately, I think you also run the risk of having some dude-bros from Southie or the Naath Shaah rate you lower for no good reason.


----------



## gdougher

> hahah
> honestly have a feeling his a chatty type and he needs to work on it
> his gonna get a lot more 3 stars if he dont


Nope .... I did make that mistake on Day #1, but, other than "Where are you going?" and "How are you doing today?", I make sure to be the one answering the questions, and not asking them. Have had some dead silent riders, some incredibly chatty riders, and mostly in between, towards the dead silent factor.

And @mp775 - yep, you are 100% correct. I tone the personality way down at that point. It's also a good thing that I'm a pretty big sports fan. 

I've worked my way up to 4.66 with around 21-22 rides. Not comfortable being there, but not a bad place after 1 week of a few hours driving, I guess.


----------



## LuLu

KrisThuy said:


> hahah
> honestly have a feeling his a chatty type and he needs to work on it
> his gonna get a lot more 3 stars if he dont


Stereotyping can get you in hot water......don't even think it. And don't say your gay, straight or even your religious, or political affiliation..........its gonna be "no bueno " for some riders. Ohhh, I can see it now.....yikes! Just smile and keep driving.....


----------



## Roberto

KrisThuy said:


> hahah
> honestly have a feeling his a chatty type and he needs to work on it
> his gonna get a lot more 3 stars if he dont


Me, nah, I don't say a word unless the rider wants to chat.


----------



## Roberto

LuLu said:


> Stereotyping can get you in hot water......don't even think it. And don't say your gay, straight or even your religious, or political affiliation..........its gonna be "no bueno " for some riders. Ohhh, I can see it now.....yikes! Just smile and keep driving.....


Just keep the radio on either Rush Limbaugh or Democracy Now. People want to hear news and current events for entertainment on their ride.


----------



## gdougher

> Just keep the radio on either Rush Limbaugh or Democracy Now. People want to hear news and current events for entertainment on their ride.


Geez, I don't start off with "Hi, I'm your Uber driver, and I'm gay." If it comes up, it comes up, if it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm not overly chatty, but, it is my car, so I act as I normally would if a stranger at a party started talking to me.


----------



## Kwame

Nautilis said:


> ElectroFuzz... did Uber give you any indication on what you were getting rated badly on? Did they share any of their comments?
> 
> BTW, even if you don't recognize the name of the bar or restaurant your rider wants to go to, type it into Waze anyway while keeping a poker face. If/when a match comes up, confirm with them "Bill's Bar on Main St, right"? If a match doesn't come up, then try a different spelling or tap the search icon anyway. Waze will look for close matches. You can bluff your way through any trip using the right tool!
> 
> If the rider questions why I am using Waze to get to an obvious destination (i.e. "Fenway Park"), I sell them on the updated traffic reports / road incidents features. It helps turn a situation from "my driver is stupid and has to use GPS" to "my driver confidently navigated traffic and taught me a new short cut today"


That's a good tip, I will also use that (updated traffic reports) because it is the truth.


----------



## KrisThuy

gdougher said:


> Geez, I don't start off with "Hi, I'm your Uber driver, and I'm gay." If it comes up, it comes up, if it doesn't, it doesn't. I'm not overly chatty, but, it is my car, so I act as I normally would if a stranger at a party started talking to me.


hahah funny

man and try to avoid at starring at hot guys too much too might get u 3 star


----------



## gdougher

I have a boyfriend, and am more interested in student loan payments ...


----------



## ElectroFuzz

I'm in "safe mode" trying to raise my ratings.
So I follow the dashboard closely to try and see who is leaving the 4 stars.
I constantly do the "change the clock trick" to see who left what.

Well..... the 4 stars come from the most unexpected riders.
I did 8 rides yesterday and someone left a 4 star.

- Was it the guy that gave me a new restaurant name
that the GPS couldn't find so he had to give me directions?.... no he gave me 5

- Was it the guy that I showed him 3 different routes on the GPS so he can choose one.
He said he doesn't care, had his headphones on all the way to the destination.
Once we get there he is like "why did you choose this route? it's too long"
Nope... he gave me a 5 also.

- So who gave me the 4 stars?
It was this lady that I picked up.
She was like
"wow you got here so fast"
"wow your car is so clean"
"wow you have cold water, thank you"
This was the shortest trip of the day, only 4 miles (my average trips are 20-30 miles)
She is the one that gave me the 4 star.


----------



## RustleWimson

That's interesting.. I thought it was the uptight buttholes who gave out low ratings.. By the way, what is the change the clock trick?


----------



## ElectroFuzz

RustleWimson said:


> That's interesting.. I thought it was the uptight buttholes who gave out low ratings.. By the way, what is the change the clock trick?


In the dashboard the "1 day" rating is a 24 hour window.
You can set the clock on your computer to the future so only the last ride
falls into this window.
Then you can pull it back a little so only 2,3 or 4 rides show up.
You can easily figure out what they are. 
After 4 rides it gets much harder to figure out.
Basic math knowledge of fractions is a must of course.


----------



## grams777

ElectroFuzz said:


> I'm in "safe mode" trying to raise my ratings.
> So I follow the dashboard closely to try and see who is leaving the 4 stars.
> I constantly do the "change the clock trick" to see who left what.
> 
> Well..... the 4 stars come from the most unexpected riders.
> I did 8 rides yesterday and someone left a 4 star.
> 
> - Was it the guy that gave me a new restaurant name
> that the GPS couldn't find so he had to give me directions?.... no he gave me 5
> 
> - Was it the guy that I showed him 3 different routes on the GPS so he can choose one.
> He said he doesn't care, had his headphones on all the way to the destination.
> Once we get there he is like "why did you choose this route? it's too long"
> Nope... he gave me a 5 also.
> 
> - So who gave me the 4 stars?
> It was this lady that I picked up.
> She was like
> "wow you got here so fast"
> "wow your car is so clean"
> "wow you have cold water, thank you"
> This was the shortest trip of the day, only 4 miles (my average trips are 20-30 miles)
> She is the one that gave me the 4 star.


Yep. Much of the time it has no rhyme, reason, or rationality and reflects the random state of mind of the passenger. I've had rides that went pretty bad due to my fault and got 5s. Then I can get lower ones on days where I missed no turns, thought everything went great, and have no idea.


----------



## LuLu

grams777 said:


> Yep. Much of the time it has no rhyme, reason, or rationality and reflects the random state of mind of the passenger. I've had rides that went pretty bad due to my fault and got 5s. Then I can get lower ones on days where I missed no turns, thought everything went great, and have no idea.


Women.......notoriously bad tippers!


----------



## ElectroFuzz

LAuberX said:


> 3.75 is bad, rumor has it they forgive the first 40 rides if you ask.
> 
> You should have time to improve.
> 
> Learn your city. #1 complaint.
> 
> Keep car spotless/no smoke or funky smells.
> 
> Wear decent clothes, at least until you earn 4.8 easily.


I emailed Uber yesterday.
I told them that I heard it's customary to forgive the first 40 trips 
since it's a "learning period" and if this is something they can offer me
it will help me a lot.

The answer I got today is that the "40 day reset" is just a rumor
and that it was never offered in the past.


----------



## LAuberX

So it is/was only a "rumor", thanks for getting an answer on that ElectoFuzz

what would we do without the input of all the drivers on this forum?

the "FAQ" list on the Uber site pales by comparison.


----------



## KrisThuy

can anyone do the math for me

last week i did 40 trips rating 4.75
can anyone please tell me if i got 1 star out of this 40?
ty


----------



## mp775

Could be as simple as three 5*s, one 4*, and 36 haven't rated you yet.


----------



## KrisThuy

mp775 said:


> Could be as simple as three 5*s, one 4*, and 36 haven't rated you yet.


the heck? really?
up to how many hours can they rate me?


----------



## ElectroFuzz

KrisThuy said:


> can anyone do the math for me
> 
> last week i did 40 trips rating 4.75
> can anyone please tell me if i got 1 star out of this 40?
> ty


Can not be solved.
You don't know how many of the 40 have actually rated you.
With 40 trips there are way to many possibilities.
You have to track them day by day and follow the "change the clock trick" I posted above.
If you do that twice a day you can confirm if there were any 1 stars.


----------



## mp775

KrisThuy said:


> the heck? really?
> up to how many hours can they rate me?


Until their next ride, if they take one again.


----------



## KrisThuy

mp775 said:


> Until their next ride, if they take one again.


how about if there next ride is after a month????


----------



## ElectroFuzz

KrisThuy said:


> how about if there next ride is after a month????


You will get the rating a month later.
Note it will not effect your 1,7,30 rating 
but it will effect your 365 rating.


----------



## KrisThuy

ElectroFuzz said:


> You will get the rating a month later.
> Note it will not effect your 1,7,30 rating
> but it will effect your 365 rating.


darn thats crazyyyyyy


----------



## Driver8

Can someone give a screen cap of the dashboard showing the '1 day rating'? Because I don't see that anywhere on my dashboard via web login. Thx


----------



## Oc_DriverX

If you can see a 7 day rating, then just use the dropdown and change it to either 1, 7, 30, or 365 day time period.


----------



## ElectroFuzz

So this week I did very few rides, I didn't feel like working with these new low rates.
Anyway, I had perfect 5 stars for the whole week and this morning I got a 3 star.
Easy to figure out with the "move the clock trick".

So who was it......
Again the most unexpected customer.
It was a ride 2 days ago.
She is in her 50's
I must have picked her up 5-6 times by now.
Always very friendly always rating me 5 (as far as I know)
This was the first time she made me wait like 8 minutes.
She kept on texting me with "sorry 2 more minutes"
I told her absolutely no problem.
This was the first time she asked for a charger and was very happy that I had it.

Two days later 3 star.... WTF
I'm pretty sure it was a mistake, she confused me with somebody else
or maybe she was a little too drunk (a normal state for her on weekends)
Or maybe she just hit the wrong star.... who knows


----------



## BeachBum

I don't pay any attention to my rating. One time a rider commented on it, but I don't think most pax give a rat's a$$ what your rating is. Drunks trying to hit that 5 star can easily miss and hit the three or four star. Don't take it personally.


----------



## ElectroFuzz

BeachBum said:


> I don't pay any attention to my rating. One time a rider commented on it, but I don't think most pax give a rat's a$$ what your rating is. Drunks trying to hit that 5 star can easily miss and hit the three or four star. Don't take it personally.


Right....... except is you read the whole thread you will see
that I was 10 days into driving for Uber when they deactivated me
and told me to send back the phone.
No warning, no 40 ride reset, no nothing.


----------



## BeachBum

ElectroFuzz said:


> Right....... except is you read the whole thread you will see
> that I was 10 days into driving for Uber when they deactivated me
> and told me to send back the phone.
> No warning, no 40 ride reset, no nothing.


Thanks. Found your post on page 3. Maybe it wasn't just your ratings. Sounds like a complaint (or complaints) may have been filed against you as well. 4.35 is low for having all those rides, there was definitely something wrong there. When you're driving for lyft, ask a rider or two for honest feedback at the end of the ride. Even better, give a ride to a fellow driver with good ratings and ask for feedback.


----------



## Sharon Leigh

I seriously think if they don't give a rating, after so much time it should be a 5 star automatic rating at that point.


----------



## Sly

Oc_DriverX said:


> If you can see a 7 day rating, then just use the dropdown and change it to either 1, 7, 30, or 365 day time period.


Can't do that with the new dashboard.


----------



## Courageous

ElectroFuzz said:


> Thanks for the feedback.
> The "do not apologize to riders" and not telling them "I'm new" is
> something I will start to adopt.
> 
> The car is always clean and spotless, I am a "suburb driver", I only do about 6 rides a day
> but they are all very long rides so I have plenty of time to go over the car between rides.
> 
> About the Nuvi Voice Command..... I'm not good at typing on that tinny
> iphone screen and I probably will need to pull out reading glasses (yeah... when you hit 50 it starts to show)
> I actually perfected the Nuvi, when you disable her voice prompt and voice responses
> it's a very fast process.
> Just "Find address" and then immediately you just speak the entire address.
> Number, street name, city and state all in one sentence (Nuvi 2597LMT)
> 
> I use the notepad because out here we have some very long street numbers and this way
> I don't have to ask the customer to repeat in more then once.
> For example:
> 26897N Black Canyon Highway, Phoenix AZ
> 
> Next week I have plans to hack the Nuvi so I can hook it up directly to my
> Bluetooth headset, then I can talk to it even if the radio is blasting. (or customers screaming)
> (I can not believe there is not even one GPS on the market that can take voice commands via BT headset...... not even the $800 motorcycle GPS)
> 
> Cheers
> 40 Lyft trips ----- 5.0
> 18 Uber trips ---- 4.6


My Nuvi 2797LMT Will arrive Saturday.. I can't wait! I'm already searching for bluetooth enabled headset for it. Fantastic piece of equipment! Can't wait to play with it.


----------



## ElectroFuzz

Courageous said:


> My Nuvi 2797LMT Will arrive Saturday.. I can't wait! I'm already searching for bluetooth enabled headset for it. Fantastic piece of equipment! Can't wait to play with it.


I have bad news for you..... you can NOT use BT headsets with the Nuvi..... or any other GPS sold today.
There is simply no GPS on the market that you can hook up a BT microphone to.
With the expensive motorcycle GPS you can use the BT headset to hear the voice commands but the microphone
will not work.

I use Google maps on an iphone, it's the most BT headset voice command friendly.
I also have Waze running in the background so I can hear voice alerts in the BT headset.
The Nuvi is still great..... as a backup.

Tip, get a great stylus and a phone mount with a quick release.
Many times it's easier to just grab the phone and type in the address or name of the place.
With Google maps "auto complete" most of the time you just need to type in the first few letters.


----------



## Courageous

ElectroFuzz said:


> I have bad news for you..... you can NOT use BT headsets with the Nuvi..... or any other GPS sold today.
> There is simply no GPS on the market that you can hook up a BT microphone to.
> With the expensive motorcycle GPS you can use the BT headset to hear the voice commands but the microphone
> will not work.
> 
> I use Google maps on an iphone, it's the most BT headset voice command friendly.
> I also have Waze running in the background so I can hear voice alerts in the BT headset.
> The Nuvi is still great..... as a backup.
> 
> Tip, get a great stylus and a phone mount with a quick release.
> Many times it's easier to just grab the phone and type in the address or name of the place.
> With Google maps "auto complete" most of the time you just need to type in the first few letters.


I am not a smart phone user. Decided to keep it that way all things considered and invest in GPS. Hmmm...so even though the Nuvi 2797 is bluetooth enabled It just won't work? I'll be okay with that I guess. It's 7" screen is not something I'm going to mount on my dash...it's huge. I will grab it from next to me and speak whatever.. but I will be sorely disappointed if I can't use bluetooth enabled earpiece so I can hear the directions vs. all in the car hearing it.  That sucker cost me $260 !!


----------



## Realityshark

ElectroFuzz said:


> Hello
> 
> I started driving for Uber 2 days ago.
> So far 8 rides only.
> Yesterday morning my driver rating went down to 4.5
> I log into the dashboard where I can see all the 8 rides but they are all rated at 5 stars by client.
> 
> Am I missing something or this is simply a glitch?
> Should I do something about it?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> PS
> I'm in the Phoenix market.


 Here's the best advise you'll ever get: Ignore your rating....never look at it....don't try to figure it out....make believe it doesn't exist. The ratings are a joke and have no place in reality. Do the best you can and never, ever look or care about your rating. I wish I would have followed my own advise. Paying attention and trying to figure out your rating will drive you insane.


----------



## haji

You rate your pax 4 or 5 if they tip you.
otherwise 1 or 2 max.


----------



## Sly

Realityshark said:


> Here's the best advise you'll ever get: Ignore your rating....never look at it....don't try to figure it out....make believe it doesn't exist. The ratings are a joke and have no place in reality. Do the best you can and never, ever look or care about your rating. I wish I would have followed my own advise. Paying attention and trying to figure out your rating will drive you insane.


My rating was a 3.85. Someone complained to another driver that my car smelled. Got deodorizers, febreze, detailed the car, now they compliment me on the smell. 1 week later my rating is now 4.05. Not enough to save my job but I probably will be given a second chance if they dumped me based on weekly improval ratings.


----------



## Sly

haji said:


> You rate your pax 4 or 5 if they tip you.
> otherwise 1 or 2 max.


I rate everyone a 5, unless they give me a problem, which hasn't happened yet. I want them to rate me a 5 I'll rate them a 5. I cut them the same slack I want to be given.


----------



## Realityshark

Driver8 said:


> Can someone give a screen cap of the dashboard showing the '1 day rating'? Because I don't see that anywhere on my dashboard via web login. Thx


 There is no one day rating anymore. The new dashboard does not have that option.


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## Realityshark

Oc_DriverX said:


> If you can see a 7 day rating, then just use the dropdown and change it to either 1, 7, 30, or 365 day time period.


 The new dashboard does not have that drop down menu anymore. They did away with the ability to see the one day rating. Any guess I would make as to why they did this, would be speculation on my part.


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## Courageous

Sly said:


> My rating was a 3.85. Someone complained to another driver that my car smelled. Got deodorizers, febreze, detailed the car, now they compliment me on the smell. 1 week later my rating is now 4.05. Not enough to save my job but I probably will be given a second chance if they dumped me based on weekly improval ratings.


SMELL of what ?


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## Sly

Courageous said:


> SMELL of what ?


My guess is body odor. I do two driving jobs, one for medicare and medicaid and then Uber after. Plus my nephew rides in car and he's a dishwasher with a really stinky apron.


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## Aris

If I decide to give water where do you guys store it and should I give it cold? I have not started yet but do you guys run yellow lights, or will the rider be scared and give you a low rating?


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## scrurbscrud

Courageous said:


> My Nuvi 2797LMT Will arrive Saturday.. I can't wait! I'm already searching for bluetooth enabled headset for it. Fantastic piece of equipment! Can't wait to play with it.


It's a complete and total piece of crap. Uber's app and Waze are far superior.


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## Aris

scrurbscrud said:


> It's a complete and total piece of crap. Uber's app and Waze are far superior.


Sorry I am new and want to know some things. If I decide to give water where do you guys store it and should I give it cold? Do you guys run yellow lights, or will the rider be scared and give you a low rating? Also, if I were to pick up a rider and there is no where to park, can just stop in the middle of the street next to already parked cars or do you have to find a parking spot?


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## scrurbscrud

Aris said:


> Sorry I am new and want to know some things. If I decide to give water where do you guys store it and should I give it cold?


I drive an XL vehicle, so I have room for a small refrig in the back of the vehicle. If I were an X only driver I might pass OR have a very small cooler with contained ice packs for cooling. And you should also have a place where water can be placed for them rather than handing it out.



> Do you guys run yellow lights, or will the rider be scared and give you a low rating?


I drive under the speed limit, take little to no chances and try not to be crazy whatsoever on the brake pedal or the gas.  Nothing is more important than their safety and my driving record.


> Also, if I were to pick up a rider and there is no where to park, can just stop in the middle of the street next to already parked cars or do you have to find a parking spot?


As inconvenient as it can sometimes be you have to find a SAFE pickup spot, NOT in an active through fare lane. Yes, this will piss off some riders but too bad. Better than getting rear ended. If you have to go around the block, do it. Call and let them know you are looking for a safe spot to pull over and they may have to walk around the corner or whatever. If they don't like it, cancel the ride immediately and save yourself a headache. Never pick up pax in active traffic lanes. It's a formula for death and lots of tickets.


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## Aris

scrurbscrud said:


> I drive an XL vehicle, so I have room for a small refrig in the back of the vehicle. If I were an X only driver I might pass OR have a very small cooler with contained ice packs for cooling. And you should also have a place where water can be placed for them rather than handing it out.
> 
> I drive under the speed limit, take little to no chances and try not to be crazy whatsoever on the brake pedal or the gas. Nothing is more important than their safety and my driving record.
> 
> As inconvenient as it can sometimes be you have to find a SAFE pickup spot, NOT in an active through fare lane. Yes, this will piss off some riders but too bad. Better than getting rear ended. If you have to go around the block, do it. Call and let them know you are looking for a safe spot to pull over and they may have to walk around the corner or whatever. If they don't like it, cancel the ride immediately and save yourself a headache. Never pick up pax in active traffic lanes. It's a formula for death and lots of tickets.


How about in a red curb or a spot where it says no parking or a spot where a sign says no parking between these times. If I know I will only be there for a short time, do you think it is fine?


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## Sly

Nobody wants to drink hot water. I don't carry it because it takes a pax space. I also don't believe it's worth the trouble keeping ice in there and all when I average 1-2 $7 - $12 fares per hour. If every run was a $30 run, then definitely.


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## Courageous

Aris said:


> If I decide to give water where do you guys store it and should I give it cold? I have not started yet but do you guys run yellow lights, or will the rider be scared and give you a low rating?


what are "yellow lights"?


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## The Geek

Aris said:


> How about in a red curb or a spot where it says no parking or a spot where a sign says no parking between these times. If I know I will only be there for a short time, do you think it is fine?


I got cited for being in a bus lane a week or so ago. Posted times were 6:00am to 9:00am and I stopped for literally 45 seconds. $236.00 fine.


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## Aris

Courageous said:


> what are "yellow lights"?


When the stop light turns from green to yellow to red is what I mean.


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## Aris

The Geek said:


> I got cited for being in a bus lane a week or so ago. Posted times were 6:00am to 9:00am and I stopped for literally 45 seconds. $236.00 fine.


That probably s****d for you and the rider


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## Aris

Sly said:


> Nobody wants to drink hot water. I don't carry it because it takes a pax space. I also don't believe it's worth the trouble keeping ice in there and all when I average 1-2 $7 - $12 fares per hour. If every run was a $30 run, then definitely.


I feel what you are saying. Definitely if fares were much higher.


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## Courageous

Aris said:


> When the stop light turns from green to yellow to red is what I mean.


With the existence of intersection cameras I no longer go through yellow lights. Haven't had a ticket yet and don't want to start with one.


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## Aris

Courageous said:


> With the existence of intersection cameras I no longer go through yellow lights. Haven't had a ticket yet and don't want to start with one.


I will keep that in mind!


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## UBERX_IS_SOSO

ElectroFuzz said:


> Hello
> 
> I started driving for Uber 2 days ago.
> So far 8 rides only.
> Yesterday morning my driver rating went down to 4.5
> I log into the dashboard where I can see all the 8 rides but they are all rated at 5 stars by client.
> 
> Am I missing something or this is simply a glitch?
> Should I do something about it?
> 
> Thanks in advance
> PS
> I'm in the Phoenix market.


Where do you see what the passengers rated you in the dashboard? I've looked all over but couldnt find this.


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## Sly

UBERX_IS_SOSO said:


> Where do you see what the passengers rated you in the dashboard? I've looked all over but couldnt find this.


You can't. You can only see your total.


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## elelegido

RacerX said:


> Offer them water.


I don't carry water to offer them. What I do have from all the junk food I'm eating out on the road is an abundance of little ketchup sachets from BK, McD etc. They're welcome to those.


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## Badbeat

ElectroFuzz said:


> OK guys, I'm back in !
> 
> They said I must show improvement or else...


How it going? UPDATE:


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## ElectroFuzz

Badbeat said:


> How it going? UPDATE:


Very slow, painful but steady climb.
After 4 months I am now at 4.75
I expect a faster rise from now on because
those old bad ratings will start to fall out of the "last 500 rides that count"


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## Badbeat

ElectroFuzz said:


> Very slow, painful but steady climb.
> After 4 months I am now at 4.75
> I expect a faster rise from now on because
> those old bad ratings will start to fall out of the "last 500 rides that count"


Good to know your story... I had 5.0 for the first week of driving...then it went to 4.75 the next week...then the following week 4.6....now it is at 4.61.... I expect I will be traveling down your path at some point, cause I am an asshole and don't take shit from these scum sucking idiot riders!..lol


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## ElectroFuzz

Badbeat said:


> Good to know your story... I had 5.0 for the first week of driving...then it went to 4.75 the next week...then the following week 4.6....now it is at 4.61.... I expect I will be traveling down your path at some point, cause I am an asshole and don't take shit from these scum sucking idiot riders!..lol


It's a rating system that keeps you "under the gun" all the time.
It's especially tough on new drivers.
Somehow you have to make it to 300-400 rides.
Then you will have a cushion that can protect you better.
Once you have 500 rides a 1 star will barely move your score.


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## ElectroFuzz

Well it happened, a whole week of 36 fives

5.0★
Driver rating Nice work, your driver rating last week was *above average*.

Overall 4.77


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## LookyLou

ElectroFuzz said:


> Well it happened, a whole week of 36 fives
> 
> 5.0★
> Driver rating Nice work, your driver rating last week was *above average*.
> 
> Overall 4.77


Nice.

What a success story. From deactivated to kicking ass and taking names in a few months.


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## Telomostro

grams777 said:


> Good to hear.
> 
> You might want to stick to sober day riders, avoid college areas (or similar entitlement based rider areas), etc. Hours between 11 pm - 4 am should be avoided. If it's surging at any time, stop driving.
> 
> Stay in familiar areas as much as possible until you're off probation.
> 
> Ask riders for their preferred route.
> 
> Clean the car often.
> 
> Dodge bullets when possible - you can't afford a 1 star ranking from a passenger upset about you not stuffing 8 people in your car.
> 
> For the time being, it's more about saving your future driving than the profits.
> 
> Good luck. Keep us posted.


On top of all that I think that if your ride is longer than 3 minutes you have time to educate your passenger, I would say something like this:

"I am not asking or suggesting you give me 5 stars but I just want to let you know that 4 stars is a bad rating, if everyone gave me 4 stars I'd be out of a job so I very humbly ask you to give me any suggestion to make this ride as comfortable as possible"

All this with a smile on your face and a low and relaxed tone of voice and an occasional eye contact through the rear view mirror. I am NOT an experienced driver as a matter of fact I have no experience at all but I do have experience in human relations, lots of it... so that is my 2¢


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## rideshareprincess

Does anyone know if Uber will deactivate you based on cancellations? And if they do... how many cancellations?? 

Sometimes I just don't want to drive a 4.5 pax in the tenderloin!


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## Telomostro

I have plenty of cancellations because @ $.95/mile it's just not worth picking up people at 7-8 min distance putting your own miles on the odometer and consequent gasoline. I easily turn down 6-8 rides every day.


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## Chris Dee

ElectroFuzz said:


> Well it happened, a whole week of 36 fives
> 
> 5.0★
> Driver rating Nice work, your driver rating last week was *above average*.
> 
> Overall 4.77


Same here, had a 4.71 last week and then dropped to a 4.67, checked this morning and I'm at a 4.77


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## PT Go

Chris Dee said:


> Same here, had a 4.71 last week and then dropped to a 4.67, checked this morning and I'm at a 4.77


I think the system has flaws. After I finished last night, I was previously at a 4.93 for 7 days and 4.8 overall. It then showed 4.94 for 7 days and 4.81 at the end of the day. That could make sense if one of my riders had given me a 5. This morning, I was back at 4.93 for 7 days, but was still at 4.81. My one day rating indicated my riders yesterday did not leave a rating. I know that they would either had to rate me or not as their destinations would preclude to having to request another Uber after me. Nothing overall that I'm worried about, but just seems wonky.


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## jemini48

Nautilis said:


> Hi Chris! Welcome to the forum!!
> 
> On the dashboard, you can view your past ratings by the past 1 day, 7-days, 30-days, or 365-days. These are your average ratings received for trips during that time. The average rating on your driver app is the average for the past 500 trips. Your rating was "reset" after you drove your first 40 trips.
> 
> What you rate your passengers does not factor into your ratings.
> 
> 4.8 is not a low rating, in the Uber world, it is actually considered average! It's hard to explain why your rating would be where it is. You mentioned that you are driving a Honda Fit, it's a relatively small vehicle so that could be why some are rating you lower than a 5 sometimes. I've found Uber riders to be quite "finicky" and since there is no set criteria for the rating system, our average ratings could be all over the map for unknown reasons.
> 
> Keep doing what you are doing. You mention you are getting a lot of compliments (That's Great!). What are you using for navigation? Is your driving style smooth? (No hard braking or quick accelerating) Keeping your car clean? (I would find wrappers tucked everywhere in the back of my car when I used to offer gum and mints... now I don't offer them and my car is cleaner = better ratings)
> 
> There's an Uber CSR that is a member on this forum. He recently posted that Uber deactivates drivers whose average ratings fall somewhere in the range of 4.75 to 4.6.
> 
> My advice would be to spend your energy pleasing your riders instead of worrying about your ratings (easier said than done, I know!). Keep studying your city, learn shortcuts, use Waze, and try to match your rider's energy (some are quiet and are comfortable with silence, others want to chat away)
> 
> If you are looking to buy a new car primarily to drive for Uber, I'd suggest holding off on that decision (or consider buying a decent used car instead). As others have suggested here, it seems like there is a high turnover of drivers in ride sharing. Having car payments could create a situation where you are "forced" to do this job even if you no longer enjoy it.
> 
> EDIT: Original post cut off


thats ridiculous to say that a 4.8 is average, and you can be deactivated with a 4.74 whoever the CSR Uber person was is wrong. i would worry if i was a 4.5 - 4.6 for say 500 trips.


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