I am clearly an UBER fan. I have used it all over the planet and have never ever had a “bad” UBER ride. I have, one time, had an UBERx car that was not spotlessly clean (the floor mats were nasty and looked like they had oil stains and the rest of the car was just so-so clean). So, at the end of the ride, I rated the driver a 4 star due to this fact.
Do UBER ratings matter? You bet they do. If an UBER driver gets too many low marks he is out, and out fast, of the program. It really matters to UBER drivers that you give them 5 stars each and every ride. UBER only wants drivers that are “perfect” if you will and it shows. Notice what they say on the page about ratings:
“Have partner drivers been deactivated for consistently poor ratings? You bet. Have riders been given a temporary cooling off period or barred from using the app for inappropriate or unsafe behavior? Yes. The system works to make sure the most respectful riders and drivers are using Uber.” – UBER.com
Also, when you request a ride you can see an UBER drivers score pop up when you make the request and if you don’t like the look of the score you can quickly cancel the ride and request another driver.
But what about you and me? Did you even know that you too have an UBER score as a rider? Does it matter what your score is? Great questions, but first let’s see just how you go about finding what your score is. First things first I am assuming you have UBER already. If you don’t you can sign up HERE. Then, open up the UBER app and follow these steps to request a copy of your own rider UBER rating:
And that’s it. Hopefully in a few hours you will get an e-mail to the e-mail registered in the app just what score you have (as you can see from the opening screen shot of my rating as a rider). Now the fun stuff and some frustrations with the ratings program.
As mentioned I have dozens and dozens of UBER rides. Even when a driver does not take me the most “direct” route I do not give them a negative rating as I can always and simply request that UBER review the route and if outside the normal route I will get a credit back.
Now the speculation stuff and some of the things that do worry me about the UBER rating system. Much of this I have gleaned from talking to those who are drivers or those who were drivers in the past.
As UBER says, ratings are a two way street, that is, just like you can cancel a driver if you don’t like the “look” of their rating the same may just happen to you as a rider. Drop too low and my guess is UBER may just kick you out (speculation on my part). Either way I would not like either of these to happen to me as I really like and use the program.
Ratings retaliation. Do drivers ever give you a bad rating because you gave them one? UBER says a rider or a driver can not see individual ratings but I wounder if that is really true. There have been times an UBER driver has been too “chatty” for my taste as I wanted to work or read mails on my phone or whatever, but they wanted to talk talk talk. There are worse things in life and if the car is clean and they get me where I want to go that is not enough reason to give a negative rating for talking too much. I have also at times mentioned I need to work if that is OK and some drivers really don’t like this (does this lead to a negative rating, I wonder).
Then there are people who never give 5 stars for anything. I think there are these kinds of people. They tend to just pick one lower than “perfect” always when they give feedback. No idea of why the psychology of this is but I know it happens. The problem with this and UBER is a 4 just is not good enough and you might as well have given the driver an even lower score (that is, the results of too many 4’s is just not good).
So to sum up, how you rate a driver matters as well as how you are rated as a rider. Is it a perfect system? No, as I think there is room for abuse on both sides of the ratings page. I think drivers will “ding” a rider for things they should not and the other way around.
I did reach out to UBER for more information on just why I did not have a “perfect” 5 star rating and was simply referred back to the linked blog post about ratings (less than helpful). You tell me. Do you always give 5 stars to each UBER driver? Do you know what your UBER rider rating is? – René
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hi Rene,
Sitting in the Concorde Lounge at LHR and just got your post. Thank you very much for that as I was unaware I could get my rating. I did in fact request my rider rating and it came back as a 5. Phew! One of the reasons I believe I got that was I tip every single time and my trips are not more than 15 miles. My chat on my last trip informed me that they are not tipped as a part of their compensation from our payments and was then glad I always tip. I am always where I say I am going to be and I contact the driver to let them know where I will be, what color luggage, if any I have or what I might be wearing. I thank them as I get in the car for picking me up and thank them afterwards. I engage each and every one of them about their experience as an Uber driver and how is that working out for their family etc. We usually find things in common and have a nice chat throughout my ride.
I understand that may be different from a lot of people who want to work, don’t want to talk, are drunk, or belligerent, or demanding and that may lead to anything less than a 5. It is all personal. I had one driver ask me why he thought he has less than a 5 rating and I explained to him my criteria, but others’ may be different. I find always being friendly, tipping, even a dollar, and reading their demeanor helps tremendously.
Interesting post Rene! I did not know we riders were rated as well. I checked and I’m a 4.8 which makes me wonder why I was rated below 5 by any driver. I do make a point to be courteous, appreciative and friendly to my Uber drivers (and to all folks in the service industry). I don’t tip my Uber drivers as that is one of the selling points of Uber – the cashfree transaction and the marketing that tips aren’t expected. Scott’s post indicated he does tip routinely; I would like to see a poll of how many riders tip or not – maybe that why I have a 4.8 and not a 5…?? Guess Uber riders need to “Strive for Five” also!
That is interesting that people have and can view their rating as an Uber passenger. I don’t use Uber as the app is somewhat confusing to me and as far as I know that is the only way to use the service. Plus when traveling I prefer public transportation if at all possible although taxi drivers and Uber drivers can be sources of all sorts of information.
If I did use Uber I would not give 5s for every ride. I usually give 5s for delta reps and FAs but not always. IMO the purpose of soliciting feedback is to improve services or products. Giving everyone (or nearly everyone) a 5 largely defeats that purpose and does not distinguish the truly outstanding from the average. In spite of Uber’s expectations not everyone deserves an A or a 5 all the time IMO. Why have a five-point scale if all they are looking for is satisfactory/unsatisfactory?
I wonder how delta rates its customers. Do you rate ccomments or commentors? If so, how would I find my score if I was bold enough to look?
I agree with John: Giving a 5 star every time makes having a 5-point scale useless (or should I say pointless?).
In the early days of Uber, many drivers were not only polite, quick and safe, but they offered things like bottles of water, snacks, mints, etc. which truly made them feel like a luxury service instead of just a cab. Some drivers still do that and for them, I award them 5 stars. I’ll also award 5 if the driver is especially personable, provides tips/advice for the city or makes the ride more than just a taxi ride. But if it’s just a standard ride, 4 stars is the max I’ll give.
Thanks for a very amusing tip!
I received a reply from Uber saying “At this time, it is awesome five stars”. Is that really 5.0? If so, I’m perplexed! Out of about 100 rides, I have tipped once. Having said that, most of my drives are in Europe.
For those that don’t know, UBER is suspending service in Broward county, FL on July 31, 2015. That’s the greater Ft. Lauderdale area, but does not include Miami and W Palm Beach. This just stinkss! Luckily, many/most UBER drivers also drive for LYFT, so we’re just switching over. I’ve contacted UBER to see how we can protest this, but if anyone reading has any ideas, or influence with UBER, I’m all ears!
That’s a great tip! Thanks for sharing with us.
After more than a 100 rides with Uber since last year (I usually make at least once a week trip), I’m glad to know I’m a perfect 5 score.
I’ve never tipped any drivers (and I simply can’t understand this absurd US culture), and I mostly used Uber at Brazil (my country of Residence), but also used it at US and Russia.
I’m usually friendly and interested to know more about the drivers. And I’ve been honest on my ratings, usually giving 5 stars, but not afraid of rating 4 when something is not in conformity with the standard (specially when taking Uber Black). Only twice I rated a driver 3* (and both times were to the same driver), because he not only didn’t provide the expected level of service on Uber Black, but also seemed to be uninterested and not friendly. Felt like I was driving an usual cab.
I think Uber rating system for passengers a bit flawed. It should be more a dichotomy, because as a client I’m usually either good or not. For drivers, the system also isn’t too good, because a driver with a rating lower than 4.7 have some important less money per week, and many people think that rating a driver 4* is good enough because they’re above average.