# Making sense of rating system



## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

So I have started recently but my ratings are down to 4.2 already. The only issues I am aware of are slow trips due to rush hour and wrong pickup points where the app shows pickup on different side of the road than the rider.
Both of these issues are not in my control but I got a few 1 and 4 stars. It has already resulted in loss of income as this past week I have been driving around for upto an hour before I get a ping. This weeks income so far is less than car's rent.
I am driving part time so I can only drive in evening rush hour during week days. I always ask riders if they want to follow their route or if they are happy with me following the GPS. I also tell them as soon as the trip starts that its a rush hour and traffic is slow everywhere but if they know a shortcut I am happy to follow that. Most riders show their understanding and give 5 stars but it only takes one to bring it down below Ubers requirement. The feedback section of app shows a report about understanding of road rules and follow shortest possible routes.
I don't think I have a problem with road rules as I am a very experienced driver (I have 15+ years of driving experience and never had a speeding ticket or any fine and never had an accident). I am also good at people dealing as I have a lot of experience with that and I am always polite with riders even if they are rude.
So what does it take to keep up the rating in this stupid rating system that leads to loss of income without even telling what went wrong?


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## Classified (Feb 8, 2018)

Your rating is quite bad, low ratings mean less trips,
It will fluctuate quite a lot until you get 500 rated trips, 
I would suggest taking an Uber yourself and see what your driver does differently to you, 

First never drive around Looking for work, it’s costing you money, pull over somewhere and wait. If your doing the evening, then be near cbd offices, or by airport take someone home, 

Don’t ask riders which way they want to go, don’t mention rush hour, they obviously know, riders are not stupid, well most aren’t, drive professionally, both hands on wheel, be polite and courteous to other road users 

Greet rider on arrival. Hi how are you, how’s your day been, you should be able to judge if they want to talk, or not, be professional, get rider to their destination, once drop off, say have a good night, don’t mention ratings. 

Any questions ask away. Or browse this forum, many good tips, I’m quite experienced


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## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

Thanks for your advice.



Classified said:


> Your rating is quite bad, low ratings mean less trips,
> It will fluctuate quite a lot until you get 500 rated trips,
> I would suggest taking an Uber yourself and see what your driver does differently to you,


I have taken Uber many times before for years.



Classified said:


> First never drive around Looking for work, it's costing you money, pull over somewhere and wait. If your doing the evening, then be near cbd offices, or by airport take someone home,


I do evenings but don't go to CBD anymore. 100% of pickups there have been illegal for me and I believe my low ratings have all been from riders picked up from there. If a trip takes me to CBD then I go offline after drop and get out of there ASAP.
Ever since I stopped picking up from CBD I only got one 4 star and my rating is steadily climbing.



Classified said:


> Don't ask riders which way they want to go, don't mention rush hour, they obviously know, riders are not stupid, well most aren't, drive professionally, both hands on wheel, be polite and courteous to other road users


Not asking riders whether they want their own route or follow GPS is contrary to Uber's advice that I got in warning email but I agree with you as I have been doing the same this past week and found it to be easier.



Classified said:


> Greet rider on arrival. Hi how are you, how's your day been, you should be able to judge if they want to talk, or not, be professional, get rider to their destination, once drop off, say have a good night, don't mention ratings.


I started off like that but seeing my rating drop down and how hard it is to climb up has made me behave like a rating beggar with some of the riders where I suspected they will rate me low. I have learned that most people don't rate if not asked so for improving my rating it is important for me to ask.

Looking at your stats you can't possible relate to all this fuss about rating system on this forum


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## Classified (Feb 8, 2018)

I’m only giving you honest feedback on what I do to keep my ratings up, I’ve been doing this a Long time, the lowest I’ve had was 4.74 thought my suggestions might help you improve, 

Every time you ask a rider to rate 5 stars. They will do the opposite, and give less, based on what riders have told me and what I’ve read on here, no rating is better than a rating that will decrease your rating.

Only 35 percent of riders rate the driver, the ones who rate are one who always rate, are extremely happy or really unhappy, regulars do not rate, 
Then certain ratings do not count like bad traffic, surge pricing, so it brings it down to only 25percent of riders rate, 

Certain things can make a rider rate less, talking too much, not talking enough, car not smelling nice, playing the wrong music, or no music, not being confident you know where your going, or being confident, bad driving skill, failing to indicate, driving too slow or too fast, 

I never do what Uber says, they expect you to ask for riders name on entry, ask preferred route, if they have enough leg room, if temp is ok, would they like a mint or water. Is music ok, there is jsut too many things to ask a rider, I do none of it, 

I confirm destination address, sometimes riders input wrong address, and I drive, I sometimes may ask which way they prefer, if the alternative way will be Longer, but quicker,
I change my music depending on riders age, oldies get classic music, students get the latest music, I change my driving style for certain riders, some expect you to always use two hands on wheel, others don’t mind,
If riders sit in back I move front seats forward to give them extra room, 
If they have luggage I’ll get out and help open the boot and load, 

Also don’t pick up low rated riders, they will aways rate low, I avoid bars in town,


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## Slazenger (May 17, 2018)

I think Classified has well articulated all the do's and don'ts. 
I'd like to re-iterate the begging for ratings. I also think it will work the opposite way to what you intend. No rating is better than any low rating. And people are likely to be irked by your rating request and rate you lower, even a 4 star.

Also ignore Uber's advice of asking for routes etc., to each and every pax. I only do that when there is an avoidable toll or two or more equivalent routes to see what they prefer.

I was at 4.71 within my first 150 rated trips. I then worked my way up to 4.93 now. To date I've never asked any pax to leave a rating for me.


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## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

Slazenger said:


> I think Classified has well articulated all the do's and don'ts.
> I'd like to re-iterate the begging for ratings. I also think it will work the opposite way to what you intend. No rating is better than any low rating. And people are likely to be irked by your rating request and rate you lower, even a 4 star.
> 
> Also ignore Uber's advice of asking for routes etc., to each and every pax. I only do that when there is an avoidable toll or two or more equivalent routes to see what they prefer.
> ...


I didn't ask riders to rate this weekend. The result is my rating has stayed stagnant just above the deactivation line. 
Before this I didn't request them to give 5* I only requested them to rate if they didn't mind.


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## Yawnie (Sep 17, 2018)

when i started i had a bad run and got down to about 4.5

eventually i just didnt care anymore and didnt even bother checking, after a while it went back up


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## Slazenger (May 17, 2018)

nozm212 said:


> I didn't ask riders to rate this weekend. The result is my rating has stayed stagnant just above the deactivation line.
> Before this I didn't request them to give 5* I only requested them to rate if they didn't mind.


I understand your predicament. I guess do what you think is working out for you.

Maybe drive more in suburbs with less entitled pax, e.g. western Sydney so you could rack up some 5*? But then may not be much trips


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## RoboRider (Aug 26, 2018)

Classified said:


> I'm only giving you honest feedback on what I do to keep my ratings up, I've been doing this a Long time, the lowest I've had was 4.74 thought my suggestions might help you improve,
> 
> Every time you ask a rider to rate 5 stars. They will do the opposite, and give less, based on what riders have told me and what I've read on here, no rating is better than a rating that will decrease your rating.
> 
> ...


Classified .. a good set of guidelines to follow. Not sure where your rating stats come from though. I installed the Uber Ap on my tablet and to my surprise it installed the old version so I can see my full ratings history. My lifetime trips are 1439 and lifetime rated is 928 with 882 5* so it is a lot more than 35%. I guess it depends on whether your driving prompts a desire to rate (good or bad) or maybe there are some differences with countries/cities/demographics of customers.


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## SydneyAnt (Nov 21, 2018)

I've not been driving for too long (3 weeks) and have managed to keep a 4.94 rating. I always greet the passenger(s) when they come in, confirm that they are okay with me following GPS and that they can show me a better way anytime they want. I also notice that keeping my car clean results in better ratings.


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## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

SydneyAnt said:


> I've not been driving for too long (3 weeks) and have managed to keep a 4.94 rating. I always greet the passenger(s) when they come in, confirm that they are okay with me following GPS and that they can show me a better way anytime they want. I also notice that keeping my car clean results in better ratings.


Good luck to you if you think this will keep you from getting 1*


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## Slazenger (May 17, 2018)

Lol


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## Kick poor Ant in guts (Jul 10, 2018)

Your rating is quite low. I've driven around Melbourne for 30 years and had a minor nose to tail in Murrrumbeena Rd changing a tape in 1993. Since then zero accidents. (Touch wood) There are some pretty bad drivers out there - I see them through my windscreen doing crazy stuff. Such as:
1. Late decision maneuvers causing chaos. I saw a 4 car pile up on Kings Way all caused by this idiot Uber driver swerving into another lane.
2. Going really slow. So many Uber drivers seem glued to the right lane of the freeway doing 20ks under the limit. Just do the speed limit. Annoys the hell out of pads.
3. Not driving smooth. When accelerating or braking really try and be smooth. I've had some terrible Ubers treating the accelerator and brake like a switch. Same with steering - be smooth.
4. Get one percenters right. Hook turns are a classic for sorting good drivers fron the not so good. The two main errors hook turner's make is they don't go far enough into intersection then they miss their cue to go, once the light goes amber leaving poor people behind them stuck in the intersection. Other one percenters are indicating properly, accelerating on freeway on ramps to the freeway speed, not 30ks under. I leave my headlights in all the time. Reason being makes you more visible.
5. Be courteous to other drivers. Nothing makes you look like a bigger tool than blocking a keep clear zone in busy traffic, preventing side road traffic from entering or crossing. So many mostly international driver's I've ridden with seem to be oblivious to these keep clear zones. Pretty rude I reckon.
6. Parking like an 8 yo kid. Sure theres places like Chapel and Smith St that challenge us all when picking up/dropping off but I see Ubers doing some utterly idiotic stuff like blocking trams, parking in stupid places like Queens Rd or right near corners. If the pick up spot it in a dumb spot, park somewhere ok closeby and call the rider (or cancel based in safety issue).
7. Nav feedback - often I'll just run past the nav route feedback from Uber to see what they think. I always ask them if they're ok with taking the toll route if it's part of the Uber route. Often tolls are pointless when traffic is light. Riders seem to appreciate the choice. 

Dumb driving is everywhere these days in Melbourne. The quality of driving had steadily fallen over the last 15 years and there are dumb drivers just around the next corner waiting to cut you off, not give way or worse. Try to take on board what I've said as positive encouragment.


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## Subaru_X (Apr 27, 2015)

Sorry to hear you have had such a brutal start in ratings. Some good points above, let me add and/or reinforce the following:


Don't pick up pax with low ratings
Drive smoothly, safely and efficiently
Definitely confirm their name, be nice and courteous to them
Keep your car spotlessly clean and fresh
Maintain your own hygiene - nobody likes to get into a car that smells of your sweat/cigarettes/farts/food/bad breath.
Be cool. That's nebulous I know.


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## Doggies (Apr 29, 2018)

nozm212 said:


> So I have started recently but my ratings are down to 4.2 already. The only issues I am aware of are slow trips due to rush hour and wrong pickup points where the app shows pickup on different side of the road than the rider.
> Both of these issues are not in my control but I got a few 1 and 4 stars. It has already resulted in loss of income as this past week I have been driving around for upto an hour before I get a ping. This weeks income so far is less than car's rent.
> I am driving part time so I can only drive in evening rush hour during week days. I always ask riders if they want to follow their route or if they are happy with me following the GPS. I also tell them as soon as the trip starts that its a rush hour and traffic is slow everywhere but if they know a shortcut I am happy to follow that. Most riders show their understanding and give 5 stars but it only takes one to bring it down below Ubers requirement. The feedback section of app shows a report about understanding of road rules and follow shortest possible routes.
> I don't think I have a problem with road rules as I am a very experienced driver (I have 15+ years of driving experience and never had a speeding ticket or any fine and never had an accident). I am also good at people dealing as I have a lot of experience with that and I am always polite with riders even if they are rude.
> So what does it take to keep up the rating in this stupid rating system that leads to loss of income without even telling what went wrong?


You'll learn soon enough. My rating after 2 years is 4.87. Never given a mint, never given a water, never sped, never turned around, never loaded a bag, never let them touch my radio. It's my car, my rules.


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## Adam86 (Aug 28, 2017)

SydneyAnt said:


> I've not been driving for too long (3 weeks) and have managed to keep a 4.94 rating. I always greet the passenger(s) when they come in, confirm that they are okay with me following GPS and that they can show me a better way anytime they want. I also notice that keeping my car clean results in better ratings.


Better ratings but the same pay as other drivers who put in minimum effort. Don't go above and beyond, just be polite and you'll be fine. My rating is 4.94 after nearly 4000 trips and I'm fine with that. Got as high as 4.98 but wasn't doing anything different.


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## Max Arnold (Mar 24, 2017)

On the ratings, I just read in the app that they say the Pax does not see the rating the driver gave them until they actually rate that driver.
How can that work if 55% of the riders don't rate drivers.
Does that mean if you don't rate a driver you stay on 5.00?

Has anyone tested this at all?


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## RideshareDownUnder (Dec 1, 2018)

This help explain the rating system really well


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## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

RideshareDownUnder said:


> This help explain the rating system really well


Excellent explanation but I don't understand why that guy keeps saying don't stress about the numbers but then he says just one 1* will bring it all down


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## RideshareDownUnder (Dec 1, 2018)

nozm212 said:


> Excellent explanation but I don't understand why that guy keeps saying don't stress about the numbers but then he says just one 1* will bring it all down


It's at a different point that the 1star us added that hurts the rating


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## U8er (Sep 11, 2017)

Asking for a good rating can be a cause to deactivation if the pax reports you. Don't talk about it at all!!!

If you get a report along with non-5*, think about the reason.

By the way, don't get too much stress from the rating. I once got a 4.03* driver and he seems to have fared well now that he is 4.13* now. Lol


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## Gary Singh (Mar 6, 2018)

Australians are Racists. Full Stop.

Accept it and move on.

Drivers aren't stupid or that clueless (except maybe for new drivers or arrivals to the country). So no need to waste your time discussing "making sense of Uber's rating system". Only stupid Uber drivers would give a racist 5 stars.

Ola and Didi never deactivate their drivers (whom by the way can't rate riders) solely based on their ratings. Why ? Because Australians are racists


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## nozm212 (Jul 22, 2018)

Gary Singh said:


> Australians are Racists. Full Stop.
> 
> Accept it and move on.
> 
> ...


The dumbest comment i have read on this forum. I hope you are not an Uber driver.


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## Rushmanyyz (Dec 1, 2017)

Kick poor Ant in guts said:


> Your rating is quite low. I've driven around Melbourne for 30 years and had a minor nose to tail in Murrrumbeena Rd changing a tape in 1993. Since then zero accidents. (Touch wood) There are some pretty bad drivers out there - I see them through my windscreen doing crazy stuff. Such as:
> 1. Late decision maneuvers causing chaos. I saw a 4 car pile up on Kings Way all caused by this idiot Uber driver swerving into another lane.
> 2. Going really slow. So many Uber drivers seem glued to the right lane of the freeway doing 20ks under the limit. Just do the speed limit. Annoys the hell out of pads.
> 3. Not driving smooth. When accelerating or braking really try and be smooth. I've had some terrible Ubers treating the accelerator and brake like a switch. Same with steering - be smooth.
> ...


Your explanation of the hook turn is terribly incorrect. You MUST wait till the oncoming light goes green. If you turn on tbe amber light on your side, you will run the light at best and crash into someone charging through on an amber light at worst.



Max Arnold said:


> On the ratings, I just read in the app that they say the Pax does not see the rating the driver gave them until they actually rate that driver.
> How can that work if 55% of the riders don't rate drivers.
> Does that mean if you don't rate a driver you stay on 5.00?
> 
> Has anyone tested this at all?


They have like 10 days to rate. After that time, it'd just update.


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