# Why isn't my rating higher?



## Kathoga (Oct 22, 2016)

My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.

First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going. 

My CRV is a 2015. Very clean and I keep water and lifesavers mints in the back. I'm a very good navigator and the only time I screw up is if Google Maps freezes at a critical moment. And Philadelphia has a lot of construction and police blocking off streets. And most streets in Philadelphia are ONE way meaning I have to make a loop to get back on track sometimes. I also don't drive crazy.

But I'm not very talkative. I say HELLO when passengers enter my vehicle and if they don't appear to be busy or in a bad mood, I may follow up with "How's your day/night going?". Depending on how I'm feeling, I may leave it at that or if I'm feeling more talkative, I may follow up on their response. But usually, I don't talk much but if I'm asked a question or they try to make conversation I follow along.

How do some Uber drives maintain 4.9 or higher? Do riders expect all drivers to be super friendly?


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## KINGOFTHENORTH (Jul 9, 2016)

Kathoga said:


> My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.
> 
> First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going.
> 
> ...


My ratting is a 4.75 and I have a tip sign, ask for tips and only offer water and mints maximum. Usually nothing though. Before i had a tip sign I had a 5.0. Some people are going to rate you bad if they think you dont like them.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Kathoga said:


> My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.
> 
> First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going.
> 
> ...


Try a new hair style.


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## agtg (Jun 8, 2016)

The rating system is inherently problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, most pax don't understand that the only good rating you can give a driver is 5 stars. They think that 5 stars is like a completely perfect, awesome experience, and that just a good general ride is a 4 star rating. This fact alone, will slowly drop the ratings of drivers over time. 

Secondarily, there is a portion of our society that is so demented and wrong in their head, they will take out their misery on anyone who they can. They rate lower for no reason other than they are miserable, and want to spread misery. These people are typically low-rated, themselves, and should be avoided. I don't pick up anyone under 4.7 for this reason. Avoidance is the only way to protect your rating from these types. It doesn't matter how well you do your job for them.


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## agtg (Jun 8, 2016)

tohunt4me said:


> Try a new hair style.


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## KINGOFTHENORTH (Jul 9, 2016)

agtg said:


> The rating system is inherently problematic for a number of reasons. Firstly, most pax don't understand that the only good rating you can give a driver is 5 stars. They think that 5 stars is like a completely perfect, awesome experience, and that just a good general ride is a 4 star rating. This fact alone, will slowly drop the ratings of drivers over time.
> 
> Secondarily, there is a portion of our society that is so demented and wrong in their head, they will take out their misery on anyone who they can. They rate lower for no reason other than they are miserable, and want to spread misery. These people are typically low-rated, themselves, and should be avoided. I don't pick up anyone under 4.7 for this reason. Avoidance is the only way to protect your rating from these types. It doesn't matter how well you do your job for them.


If you really wanted to always have atleast a 4.9 I am sure you could in almost evrey market. Espically if you open doors and do things other drivers do not do


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## Honey Badger (Oct 1, 2016)

A gift for gab makes your rating fab


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## agtg (Jun 8, 2016)

KINGOFTHENORTH said:


> If you really wanted to always have atleast a 4.9 I am sure you could in almost evrey market. Espically if you open doors and do things other drivers do not do


That's not so. At the heart of the question of ratings is a very simple thing: Giving what the Pax wants.

You say all pax want to have the door opened for them. That is not so. Most don't really care about that. But... Things that some pax do want, and will most certainly whack your rating for if you don't, are the following:

- refusing to operate at a loss so they can be carted around to pick up friends, stop at the grocery store, or go through a drive-through. All of which can potentially make the ride unpfrofitable. In some instances, the driver could actually pay out in order to drive someone like this. And make no mistake, these demanding people will be merciless to your rating if you so much as blink at their request.

- Refusing to break traffic laws such as speeding, running red lights, crossing double-lines in the road, refusing to transport minors unaccompanied, refusing to transport small children without the appropriate safety seat. Again, if you've started the trip before understanding the situation, these people will hammer your rating mercilessly.

The truth is, you can be an exceptional driver and still end up with a crap rating because the whole rating system is a joke. It's just a scheme to position drivers so they are demoralized and don't question anything they are dealing with.


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## KINGOFTHENORTH (Jul 9, 2016)

agtg said:


> That's not so. At the heart of the question of ratings is a very simple thing: Giving what the Pax wants.
> 
> You say all pax want to have the door opened for them. That is not so. Most don't really care about that. But... Things that some pax do want, and will most certainly whack your rating for if you don't, are the following:
> 
> ...


So in my old market It literally payed almost 2x as much per mile for X and almost 3 times as much for XL When ever someone would request a stop I always would becuase they would always tips atleast 5 dollars for the stop. In the market I am currently in when people requests stops they dont tip. Still alot of people who dont ask for stops tip from me asking them to tip me and my sign and jar.


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## agtg (Jun 8, 2016)

KINGOFTHENORTH said:


> So in my old market It literally payed almost 2x as much per mile for X and almost 3 times as much for XL When ever someone would request a stop I always would becuase they would always tips atleast 5 dollars for the stop. In the market I am currently in when people requests stops they dont tip. Still alot of people who dont ask for stops tip from me asking them to tip me and my sign and jar.


At double the base rate, on an off hour outside of the weekend, I would stop for most situations. If there is a surge potential, this may not be as profitable as it potentially could be. Negotiating an up front gratuity is a possibility then, though.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

Start tipping your riders for riding with you .


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## SumGuy (Jul 29, 2015)

Most riders approve of this hair style.


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## the rebel (Jun 12, 2016)

Other than trying not to talk to them which some will rate you down for, nobody really knows why people rate you bad for. Of course some will rate you lower for talking too much, and others will rate you better because you are the wrong race (I have heard and read more than once that certain races only rate the drivers of the same race 5 stars), sometimes people do not even know that a 4 star rating is bad especially in newer markets. Ultimately the only thing you can worry about is doing the job you signed up to do, and do it the best you can, quit worrying about things you really cannot control like your ratings.


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## DoUHaveAnyWater? (Sep 7, 2016)

Are you ugly? Studies have shown that attractive people tend to do better in all aspects of life, professionally, socially etc. They get promoted more often, earn more, get hotter wives etc. It's true in politics, too. All of the recent presidents have had a full head or near full head of hair. No baldies whatsoever. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter etc.

I'm pretty sure ratings are correlated with attractiveness too. No reason why they should be different. So if you are ugly and/or a baldie, you should take steps to improve in this area, and watch your ratings climb.


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## NedLumby (Aug 17, 2016)

There's no advantage whatsoever to having a 4.9 over a 4.8. I just wouldn't worry about it. There are tons of people who think a 4 is a good rating and reserve their 5 ratings for really personable drivers. I definitely noticed that on days I didn't feel talkative my rating went down and on days when I was bored enough for small talk it went up, but if you're a quiet person, just be quiet. There's no point in improving your rating.


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## unPat (Jul 20, 2016)

All the 4.9 are white folks .


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## robg77 (May 17, 2016)

I was at 6.0, then I added a tip sign. Now I slipped to 3.2... what gives? I offer water, mint, blow jobs, but my ratings have tanked???


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## SumGuy (Jul 29, 2015)

robg77 said:


> I was at 6.0, then I added a tip sign. Now I slipped to 3.2... what gives? I offer water, mint, blow jobs, but my ratings have tanked???


Are you using mouth wash between bj's?
If not, that might be the problem.


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## karma420 (Oct 23, 2016)

Kathoga said:


> My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.
> 
> First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going.
> 
> ...


Because people in Chicago think they're elitist and their shit doesn't stink. Just hope to get them kicked off the app and rate them a 1 star. Ruin their 4.8-5.0. Karma is a *****.


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## GalinMcMahon (Jun 30, 2016)

My rating is 4.93. What sets us apart from cabbies is that we are very friendly. We are very friendly, in part, because we have ratings. So not being very friendly causes low ratings.

Try playing music your paying customer wants to listen to instead of what you want to listen to. I will usually play something pretty vanilla on low volume. But if the rider wants to bump some Tupac, I am ready to oblige.


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

NedLumby said:


> There's no advantage whatsoever to having a 4.9 over a 4.8


Exactly! Its pretty pathetic to obsess about your rating unless you are in the deactivation zone.


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## Fishchris (Aug 31, 2016)

DoUHaveAnyWater? said:


> Are you ugly? Studies have shown that attractive people tend to do better in all aspects of life, professionally, socially etc. They get promoted more often, earn more, get hotter wives etc. It's true in politics, too. All of the recent presidents have had a full head or near full head of hair. No baldies whatsoever. Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter etc.
> 
> I'm pretty sure ratings are correlated with attractiveness too. No reason why they should be different. So if you are ugly and/or a baldie, you should take steps to improve in this area, and watch your ratings climb.


 LOL Not disagreeing with this....

But that said, I must be an even more fantastic than my 4.9 rating would suggest, because I'm certainly nothing to look at + I'm bald, and tatood 
So just from a personal standpoint, I'm absolutely sure that being a super outgoing, talkative, friendly, smiling guy helps me "especially" a ton, as I look somewhere between flat out hideous, and just downright mean, if I'm not smiling, which fortunately, is rare.

Oh, and not knowing the area whatsoever, my navigation is not great either.... But again, I guess because I'm just one of the coolest guys your ever likely to meet, it shows in my ratings 

And no, I'm not being facetious... I used to say on dating sites, if they could stand to look at me, it only gets better from there  lol


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## DoUHaveAnyWater? (Sep 7, 2016)

Fishchris said:


> LOL Not disagreeing with this....
> 
> But that said, I must be an even more fantastic than my 4.9 rating would suggest, because I'm certainly nothing to look at + I'm bald, and tatood
> So just from a personal standpoint, I'm absolutely sure that being a super outgoing, talkative, friendly, smiling guy helps me "especially" a ton, as I look somewhere between flat out hideous, and just downright mean, if I'm not smiling, which fortunately, is rare.
> ...


Yes, based on what you say it is likely that if you were not so ugly you would indeed be above 4.9.

I am neither attractive nor unattractive. Not Brad Pitt but not the Elephant Man, baby-scaring, hideously ugly either. Somewhere in between, which fully explains my "meh" 4.78 rating.


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## simpsonsverytall (Nov 6, 2015)

I honestly do not know much about you personally.

Ratings are a "pass/fail" grade. You "pass". So I advise that you keep doing what you are doing and never look up or think about ratings again.

When I first started, my ratings were slowly and consistently dropping. Then I went all-out and developed a routine and a 'pitch' that incorporated a 'rider commitment' (I am a geek). I soon became one of the so called 'Top Partners' in the low 4.9s. As a reward they sent me a meaningless email.

As Uber's customer service caused me a lot of problems, and as I learned that ratings are simply a Pass/Fail grade, I pitched the pitch.

My rating held steady in the mid 4.8's until, I learned how to make more money from surging events.
Then I learned that working surge prices will lower ratings. I think I was aprox. 4.8 when I quit last month.

That's my roller coaster ride with ratings. Now I'm an old wise man, who has survived the uber wars... and I tell you my brother, Ratings are just a pass/fail.

I quit uber and am learning to drive a truck now.
Here is my 'routine'. Take it or toss it, but don't allow ratings to affect your emotions.

*This was my routine:*

1. [pax in car + greeting] = look them in the eye , acknowledge them "_hey how's it going_(or similar local 'hello')"

2. [visibly swipe app = verify dropoff location] "_Marvin Gardens?, Alright let's go_" 

3. [offer symbolic gesture indicating Service] "_Let me know if you'd like me to adjust the air or the stereo_"

4. [social test] start driving say something obvious about the weather today "_beautiful Fall day today!_" (now pax will either agree and start a convo -which you maintain every once in while, - or - pax will remain quiet/withdrawn, which you respect)

5. [if ride is quiet and dragging, (5minutes or so later after step4) you have a 2nd symbolic gesture indicating service] "_If you're thirsty, should be a bottled water back there_"

6. [Almost done!] few blocks from destination = "_let me know when we get up here, exactly where you'd like to be dropped off_"

7. [finish] = _"Thanks for the trip, if you liked the safe ride, vote me 5 stars" _



Kathoga said:


> My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.
> 
> First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going.
> 
> ...


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## Tony73 (Oct 12, 2016)

I keep mine at 4.85~4.9 when it goes up I start slacking when it goes down I offer water. Some Paxs talk some don't so don't go too far of your way to please these worms.


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## rhodytarheel (Jun 3, 2016)

I am at 4.89 after about 200 rides. Honestly, my car isn't even all that clean all the time (not dirty or gross, just not perfect.) I don't offer mints or water or open doors. I don't try too hard...if they want to talk, we talk. If they seem quiet, I am quiet. I don't think riders expect too much...just get them there and be pleasant. I think a lot of it is just blind luck depending on the kind of people you pick up. I tend to drive one weeknight night a week and that's it...so normally dunk people, and I guess I've been lucky to have mostly happy drunks.


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## PTUber (Sep 16, 2015)

As mentioned here and numerous other posts don't worry about your rating. Keep doing what you are doing right around 4.8 is fine.


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## d0n (Oct 16, 2016)

Lol, why do people offer mints and water to people who do not tip when cabbies getting tipped and paid 3 times the amount didn't and survived for so long.

This is even excluding the fact most people have a car of the year, clean at all times and acknowledge the passenger is even alive by saying more than just Hello sometimes.

This goes to show you that people do not deserve anything you are giving them.


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## mrpjfresh (Aug 16, 2016)

The answer to your question is fairly simple: location. You are in Philly... the same town where football fans booed Santa Claus, the hitchhiking robot was decapitated, etc. The average driver rating, you say, is 4.80; in my market, it is currently at 4.91 (lol). My town is a vacation destination and thus, more riders are in a great mood and way less salty overall.

Look, I grew up in Jersey and have a fondness for the area. People in the NE and tristate area are just under a lot more stress in general over taxes, cost of living, traffic, overpopulation just for starters. Don't stress over something that is totally out of your control.


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## Andre Benjamin 6000 (Nov 11, 2016)

Can anyone explain to me why ratings are important? I'm a 4.93 but I could careless if I was a 4.71. As long as I'm not deactivated, I don't care about my rating. Should I care?


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

Andre Benjamin 6000 said:


> Can anyone explain to me why ratings are important? I'm a 4.93 but I could careless if I was a 4.71. As long as I'm not deactivated, I don't care about my rating. Should I care?


They arent


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

Kathoga said:


> My rating is around 4.77 to 4.79 on both Uber/Lyft and I'm trying to understand why I'm not 4.9 or higher. It says average rating is 4.8.
> 
> First, let me explain MY philosophy for this job. I'm doing this to get people from point A to point B safely in a clean vehicle. I didn't take this job to make friends or learn about my passengers lives. I play music at a low volume. It's music that I like and the genres can vary depending on how my day/night is going.
> 
> ...


Jeesuz, just quit fretting over the rating. OKAY? We are more than just numbers, they don't mean a thing. I saw a 3.6 rating on a rider, and out of curiosity, decided to pick the person up. Most drivers wouldn't touch a rider with that low of a rating, but I was curious about this person, wondering why his rating was so low. Well, it was a lady, and she was real nice, definitely not worthy of such a low rating, so who knows why it's low. And the same applies to you. My ratings have fluctuated from 4.6 - 4.8 something, and guess what, I do nothing differently. Worrying about the rating is a losing battle, just let it go and drive.
One thing i noticed, though, my rating is drifting upward after I purchased a newer roomy car (a camry).


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

KINGOFTHENORTH said:


> My ratting is a 4.75 and I have a tip sign, ask for tips and only offer water and mints maximum. Usually nothing though. Before i had a tip sign I had a 5.0. Some people are going to rate you bad if they think you dont like them.


Tip signs are tacky. You can argue to kingdom come, but older folks are not going to like this, it smacks of begging. It don't matter you are getting paid too low, that's an issue between you and Uber. Tip signs are TACKY.


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## freddieman (Oct 24, 2016)

robg77 said:


> I was at 6.0, then I added a tip sign. Now I slipped to 3.2... what gives? I offer water, mint, blow jobs, but my ratings have tanked???


too much teeth man!


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## freddieman (Oct 24, 2016)

Oscar Levant said:


> Tip signs are tacky. You can argue to kingdom come, but older folks are not going to like this, it smacks of begging. It don't matter you are getting paid too low, that's an issue between you and Uber. Tip signs are TACKY.


i agree with tip signs as being tacky. very low class. it puts the patrons in an uncomfortable position. especially in tight enclosed area such as a car.

at the same time, pax should know the value they are getting, be educated enough to calculate the drivers time and expenses involved, and should tip accordingly to the type of ride.


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## CrazyT (Jul 2, 2016)

I honestly think some if the ratings thing is Uber screwing with us. I only perk at it to make sure I'm not in deactivation threat territory. I was there once within the first couple months I was driving and it took a while to recover. Now it bounces between a 4.7_ and a 4.8_. I did notice this week that the closer I get to the 4.9 the more often I suddenly get a rider rate me lower than usual, dropping the rating. I was to the point where the rating was climbing by 0.01 about twice a week it bumped. Monday I lost 0.02 points in one day. Just one of those things. 

Watching the weekly reports I'll go from several weeks of average of 4.92 to 4.85 and suddenly have a week where is 4.5_ and it drops. I drive the same, in the same areas. I haven't changed a thing. It's not me, it's Uber trying to make me think it is.


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