Uber passenger rating

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First year I was using uber I was unaware of the concept of passenger rating. But once I became aware, I started to improve my behavior in uber, and my rating improved. I didn't try too super hard; the areas I improved on was that

a) I used to make uber wait; not any more. I guess part of it is due to the fact that there is a location detector in my new phone that tells uber exactly where I am. But in the past either I didn't have a location detector or I didn't know that it was there, so I would put the address I want them to pick me up at, which would oftentimes be a dorm, but that dorm is very long, so they might come to a different part of the dorm and it would take several phone calls to find where I am. To make it worse I used to call uber from my dorm room and then get out as I wait for them to come. But now that I know about location detector, I don't do any of it. First of all, I would get out of my room and get to the exact corner of the street I would wait an uber at and, once there, I would trust location detector to give them correct address.

b) I have a thick Russian accent. When people in general don't understand my Russian accent I take it personally, since I feel like they either look down at me due to Asperger and "pretend" not to understand me or else they look down at me for having that accent as such. When that happens, oftentimes I purposely "dont" speak slowly and, instead, repeat the exact thing I said in exact voice, and if I notice they continue not to understnad me despite repeating over and over, I get pissed at them and scream. I "used to" do it with uber, BEFORE I knew about the passenger rating. But now that I know it, I do it differently: now if an uber driver doesn't understand what I am saying I would speak slowly and it normally takes only one time repeating.

c) In the past, when the uber driver try to do small talk with me, I would take it as an opportunity to vent about other uber drivers, how people mistreat me in general, etc. (thats what I would do if anyone else tries to have small talk with me, by the way). I don't do it any more now that I am aware about the rating

d) With people in general, I forget to say hello, good bye, thank you, please, etc. I used to forget to say those things with uber as well. But now that I learned about the rating, I started to say "hello" when I walked in, and when I leave I say either thank you or good bye, sometimes both. I don't think I say please though.

e) I was told that when I speak, my voice is really fast and loud. So now that I am aware of rating, when the uber driver says "hello" and I say "how are you" I purposely say it more slowly than I would in any other situation.

I guess, beyond those things, I don't think I put too much effort into this. I basically just sit there, respond if the driver wants to have a small talk, stay quiet if the driver is quiet (basically I let the driver lead the conversation if they want to talk) and wait till I get to my destination.
One thing I STILL don't do is I don't tip. Because to me tipping feels like cheating. If I get a good score because I tip, how would I ever find out what I would have gotten if I didn't tip, or in how many rides tipping was part of the equation? You see, with my current rating, I don't have any problem getting a ride, so the only purpose of improving my rating is to assess how much my social skills improve -- and thats why tipping would kinda ruin that purpose.

But in any case, when I first learned about my uper rating, it was 4.62. Then after I learned about it, I started cussing out the drivers due to this and it slid even further down to 6.58. Actually, right before it changed from 4.62 to 4.58 I was given a ride by a female driver in her 20-s in the middle of the night (and I am a male). So I was wondering whether she was simply afraid of me since it was night so she gave me low rating, or whether it was because I asked her why did she dropped out of school. But from what I saw later, I noticed that the uber rating can be delayed. For example, once I lost the phone and it took me one or two weeks to get a new phone, and during that time period my rating went up even though I couldn't take any rides without a phone. So who knows, its possible that in this case it went down due to my cussing out uber drivers prior to her, and its just coincidence in time that it happened to go down immediately after I left her car. In any case, I wasn't yelling at the girl, not at all. So it must have been either (i) Previous drivers before her or (ii) my question about her dropping out of school or (iii) some other aspects of how I talked to her that I am unaware of.

In any case, after I calmed down and started to put that positive effort, it slowly went up to 4.79. But a couple of weeks ago I got a text message from my mom that made me upset, but I got it at a completely wrong time: I just came from the grocery store waiting for my uber. So I decided I won't call her until I get out of the uber since I don't want to lose raiting by making the uber wait for me. So, up until the very end of the ride I was quiet and everything was fine (well in the beginning the driver asked me how I was, I said fine, etc. like I normally would). But then as I kept obsessing about my mom's text I got more and more agitated, so right before I got out of the uber I screamed "arghhhhh" completely out of the blue. The driver asked me what was wrong and "I had a fight with my mom I am really sorry" -- and yes I DID say "I am sorry", since I was really worried about the rating. So he reluctantly said "ok", but then when I got off uber I dropped a bunch of groceries on the street and it took a while to pick them up (no it wasn't anger, rather it was just me being messy -- but I guess uber driver might have interpretted it as anger simply because I screamed at him like few seconds before this happened).

Now, like I said, my rating was 4.79 right before this incident -- which was two weeks ago. Then, within a week after that, it went UP from 4.79 to 4.80. Then something else happened. I requested an uber to get to the CVS, but I didn't bother looking up the address of CVS, since I thought if I simply type CVS it would know where it is. But the driver took me to a completely different location. I noticed he was driving in the wrong direction, but I didn't say anything since I was concerned about my rating. So I figured I would just take another uber back. But you see, my phone had very little charge in it, so I didn't have time to look up the correct address of the CVS, so I again asked him to just take me to CVS. So when the next driver came, and asked me how are you, I said "don't you f-cken think the previous driver was a ret*d since he took me to CVS and there is no CVS" (normally I stop myself from using cuss words with uber drivers since I worry about rating, but this time I couldn't help) he then said "I am sorry" so I thought he was apologizing for the previous driver and he was going to take me to the right location. But then after he said "I am sorry" he checked the address and said that he doesn't know where to take me either since it directs him to the same address where I was standing. So then I said "let me look it up" but then my phone lost the charge completely so then I said "can I charge my phone" and he said "I am sorry", I THOUGHT he was sorry I was going through that difficulty, but then it turned out he was politely refusing to let me charge my phone. And he similarly refused to let me look up my destination on his phone, so he just anceled the ride.

After that incident I took few more uber rides and my rating stayed at 4.80

Finally, few days ago, something else has happened: I was in an area that isn't very populated and often times no cars were available. Now, when I first requested an uber from that area, they DID call an uber from somewhere far -- so he was going to come in 20 minutes or so -- but then he canceled. After his cancelation, I kept calling ubers over and over and it kept saying "no cars available", so I ended up not taking uber that day at all and had to spend my night in the top of a hill somewhere. Then tried to charge me for all those requests of the rides and then the bank blocked my credit card since they found suspicious I been repeatedly charged, and I requested uber a couple more times since I didn't know my card was blocked. Next day I called bank and said yes I recongize those transactions -- yet I don't think I should have been charged since no cars were available -- so they un-blocked my card. They said that my being charge was still "in progress" and they anticipated that it would go off of my statement in a couple of days -- which it did.

After this happened, my rating went up from 4.80 to 4.81.

Yesterday, I didn't take any rides at all. Now, yesterday I started off at 4.81 (I checked) but then yesterday night -- despite my not taking any rides -- it went DOWN from 4.81 to 4.78, and then today in the morning I found out it went further down from 4.78 to 4.77. But remember how I said the rating system is delayed, as evident from the time when I couldn't use uber for two weeks since I lost my phone, yet my rating kept going up? So, this being the case, do you think that, yesterday night, I went from 4.81 to 4.78 due to screaming "arghhhh" two weeks ago and then this morning I went from 4.78 to 4.77 due to giving the driver a wrong location a week ago?

Or could it be a different possibility? Could it be that the above two drivers simply didn't rate me, and I lost my points due to calling uber drivers with no cars available? I mean, on the one hand, the fact that the latter is more recent suggests it might be relevant. But, on the other hand, I don't see WHO will give me low rating if no cars were available? I guess that one car that first accepted my ride and then cancelled might have. But is it possible for an uber driver to give rating to a passenger they cancelled on? And, besides, why would they be so pissed as to give me a low rating? I mean I wasn't arguing with them or anything, they simply cancelled without either of us saying a word. Or could it be that, before cancelling, they asked me some questions as to where to pick me up, and I simply didn't see those questions, so they cancelled (and gave me low rating) and then after that I can no longer dig those questions out, since once the ride is cancelled I cna't see the chat log either?

Anyway, what do you think? DId I lose the points for the incicents 1 and 2 weeks ago, or did I lose points for what happened like few days ago?

And what about yourselves? What uber rating do you have?

Not rated, and never will be. Uber has turned into a taxi drivers' hell, instead of people sharing a ride to where they are going and actually reducing congestion and waste.

I don't have an uber rating because I don't use the uber app. Also I'm not really sure how Uber ratings work, but 4.8/5 seems like a pretty good rating.

I will say on the accent front. Some immigrants have strong accents. Some strong accents are difficult to understand. If I don't understand what someone has said, I will politely ask them to repeat it. Getting offended by my asking to repeat saying a phrase will not help me understand what you meant to say in the first place, and will discourage me from trying to understand what you are saying in the future.

I've only used Uber a couple of times.

I don't do enough to earn a "rating." I just sit in the car, and get out when I reach my destination.

I would be surprised, actually, if anybody here had a "rating."

I know I had at least one really bad rider rating. My uber pool driver's phone died and he tried to dump me on a curb in a neighborhood even farther away from my destination than my original starting point, so I refused to get out of his car and made him drive me back home (I can be very pushy). He got pretty annoyed. Still, it looks like I've had enough good rides since that it has balanced out.

I don't really use uber any more though. In my area Lyft is cheaper and has fewer associations with big corporations whose policies I don't support. They also have better airport options I've noticed.

Last edited by Fern on 02 Jul 2019, 11:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

I have a high Uber rating. I just wrote about it on another thread yesterday.

Why do you think we wouldn't have ratings, kortie?

It’s a revelation that passenger ratings even exist.

Unless a passenger is unruly in some way, the primary reason a passenger's score would drop is if they cancel rides. The drivers do keep 'scores' on us as a way of protecting drivers from volatile people or those who will arrange a ride and then cancel, after they've gone out of their way to meet them.

Thanks. That makes sense.

You learn something new every day

I mean that sincerely.

When I drove taxi, it cost $2 (= $5 now?) to refuse a trip, or the customer had to change companies, with few choices. I was fairly easy to fool as a driver, and lost several fares. Then one Christmas Eve, I gave myself my strangest Christmas present. A fare from downtown had no coat on, and then changed his destination by 2 blocks. Then he "had to go inside to get his money." I got out for once, followed him around a stranger's house, and drove him back downtown. If he'd told me how he'd lost his coat on Christmas Eve, I'd probably have driven him home gladly.

Companies like Uber are a cancer on society.

All Limited Liability Companies are now a cancer on society. They were originally created so that people who built improvements like bridges would be safe from lawsuits if someone overloaded it and fell. Now, they are the legal way to steal in bulk. I was appalled at the opportunities for cheating I gained by registering a company.

Uber is very convenient.

It has established footholds in places where transportation, otherwise, sucks.

Places like Kenya in east Africa.

In some places, Uber has actually been a revelation.

Thanks, Korts.

Re: Uber as a cancer on society, or the stereotype of people who use Uber:

I have been driving for 30 years and I have a car. I used Uber almost exclusively for four years after my stroke because I wasn't permitted to drive. I had a walker, a broken foot (for several months at one point), and my dog to accommodate on every trip. I tried the accessible / wheelchair transit which I must say was more of a cancer on society than Uber, because of their incompetence including erratic drivers, cancelled rides, red tape (rides between different counties or areas needed different companies -- meaning I had to get off and wait two hours for new rides crossing any jurisdictional boundary -- as well as having different expiry dates on my eligibility for each jurisdictional company, meaning I was constantly appealing and reapplying for the various companies) .... not to mention the fact that a ten minute ride would often take all day.

There was a 1-2 hour window for any pick up (from home, or transfers between jurisdictions), meaning I had to be available waiting for up to two hours prior to any ride. Then with the other passengers the bus would drive miles out of my way to drop each passenger in turn. This is dissimilar to a regular bus because each stop involved lowering the ramp to help passengers out with their wheelchairs. It was a very slow process for each person to get on or off the accessible bus. Then wheelchairs would need to be strapped in / unstrapped manually for each person. You get the idea. If I had an appointment at 4 pm, even nearby to my home, I would need to be ready first thing in the morning for my two hour window, then spend most of the day driving people around before my stop. Again if I went to a new city / county, I'd have another two hour wait on the side of the road or waiting in a coffee shop. As I mentioned there were rude and intolerant drivers, drivers who hit speed bumps and ran red lights ... you'd be surprised how frustrating and ill-equipped these services were for people in need.

Option 2 was public transit. With my walker and dog, my poor executive function and my PTSD / agoraphobia / mutism, this was overwhelming. I got lost and had shutdowns where the driver didn't know how to help me. I had meltdowns and got very frustrated trying to understand the routes on my own. I didn't know how to ask for help. It was the worst possible choice for me.

Option 3 was taxis which are very expensive.

Option 4 ... Uber. The drivers were nicer than taxi drivers and their cars are spanking clean. There is a tracking system so my friends and family would be able to see where I was (for safety), and the star system keeps everyone accountable. Sure it was expensive, but not as expensive as taxis and not even as expensive as driving my own car with gas, insurance and parking costs.

I vote Uber in a heartbeat because without them, I would have been entirely housebound.

Thank goodness I am driving again now.

Now....that is an excellent explanation!

There's more to life than what merely "meets the eye."

Exactly! Anyone who thinks I used Uber as some type of status symbol should have tried my predicament with the walker, the stroke, the agoraphobia, a dog, and daily appointments in various cites for stroke rehabilitation. Fun times? Not.