Uber realizes their rating system keeps the drivers (and some riders, too) on their toes and at the edge of their (driver) seat. A rating system they likely never put too much thought into 6 years ago, and has now become one of their ugliest weapons to use against their drivers ... and they love doing just that.

Agreed. On the edge of coming out of their seats.

:D

This pax is a jacka**. Hmmm, single-:-: them, or...
"Don't mind me. Just adjusting the AC..."
{pow}
Problem solved.

Thank you

Unfortunately it's a way of life in America. I'm curious how it engenders fraud and discrimination. It's funny that people will tip the pizza guy for delivering them a pizza $5 but refuse to tip a driver who safely delivers the people to a pizza joint.

Indeed a in a previous post above, a pax admitted to rating a driver 1* for the sign.

Uber has evolved significantly since it first started. The original Uber, now known as UberBlack didn't require tipping because the drivers were paid a fair wage. Since then, Uber has added several more products like uberX (the most common used product), uberPool, uberAssist, uberEats, etc. In addition, Uber has continuously lowered the fares making it nearly impossible to make a living. Uber also used to advertise tipping was included which it was and never has been.

Tipping does little to shrink the difference between a cab and uber. Uber provides pax with cleaner cars, amenities I've never seen in a cab such as water, phone chargers, mints, and even some offer wifi. Uber drivers also always use GPS unless the Pax has a preferred route. Cabbies rarely use GPS and take their own route. And the main difference is you get all that for 1/3 of the price of a cab.

How do you describe unsatisfactory experience? Was the fare cheaper than a cab? Did the driver arrive on time? Was the car clean? How many taxis are clean? Did you arrive safely? If you can't say yes to the above, ok lower your rating.

Uber will not remove a rating from either a driver or passenger under any circumstance. It appears you failed to read my post above.

I don't understand why you believe the setup is unethical. I see the riders real name when I pick you up. I also take a screenshot of all my pickups and drop offs to document my rides because Uber has a bad habit of adjusting fares without notifying the driver. They even change the pickup and drop off location. So these screenshots are required to document your trip.

Most people these days are aware of Square. Even my 70 yr old mother because her hairdresser uses it to take credit card payments. If a pax decides to tip a driver using a Square reader or NFC reader, it is completely anonymous. It's no different than swiping your card at the gas station or grocery store. Even if you enter your email or cell phone # to relieve a receipt, we do not obtain any of the information. Finally we have no access or collection of your payment data.

I used my mother as a test example before using Square for tipping. Unfortunately I don't know how to upload a screenshot of my transaction data to prove that I have no info stored in the app about the customer. Only the date and time type of credit card and the last 4 digits. I have the option to refund the amount but all that is processed through Square merchant. They keep information tightly sealed.

However, if I had square set up differently such as an online business and chose to capture customer name and information I could do that but I wouldn't have access to their card. I can manually input the card information but again, the card data is not stored in the app. So it is secured.

Thank you for your response and I hope I clarified some of your misunderstandings.

Thank you. I've been known to be a bit outspoken from time to time. This posting was linked to a uber forum I am part of. I read through the entire 13 pages at the time to see what was being said from a passenger POV. I then decided to create an account so I was able to respond and clarify a few things for passengers. What I shared is from the driver POV, not Uber. If Uber had it their way, they would do without drivers. Actually, that is their ultimate plan. To replace uber drivers with driverless cars.

on behalf of uber drivers, we appreciate the 5*. As a driver myself, i mostly give out 5* until the class action suit settled and uber changed the policy allowing us to advertise we accept tips. If a pax tip, I always give them a 5*. A simple tip eliminates any transgressions from a pax. Such as dropping the pin in the wrong location and wasting 5-10 minutes of my time to find you. Not being ready when I arrive. Eating and drinking in my car. I even forgave a group of really drunk men from Chicago for being extremely disrespectful to me by offering to tip me by "making my toes curl" with the explicit sexual acts they wanted to do to me when I dropped them off. The guy who owned the account was extremely embarrassed by his friends actions and tipped me $25 and apologized profusely for their indecent sexual proposals. He got 5*. Only once have I rated a passenger 1* and that was after I was called the c word that rhymes with runt. Then he punched the backseat of my car. Then he punched his buddy in the front seat and grabbed my arm. Considering they were drunk out of their minds and visiting, I wanted more than nothing to stop the trip and kick them out and have them figure out where they are and how to get to their hotel (it was also cold wet and snowing). But one of the most dangerous things a driver can do is kick out a drunk passenger. As a female driver, and violence already occurred in my car, I didn't want to escalate things. I finished the ride and reported them.

I have an outstanding rating of 4.9 so I'm not concerned. I offer excellent service. If I choose to driver on the uberX platform rather than uberSelect, then they have the opportunity to ride in a luxury car. I am very personal and offer some nice amenities.


You don't think we pick and chose our fares? Top drivers like ourselves will not pick up passengers with a low rating. Passengers with low ratings will never be kicked off the platform like drivers can be, but they run the risk of long wait time for a ride, or a newbie, or a driver with a low rating.

I'm telling you all how it is from a drivers prospective. Uber has mislead the public for years in their marketing both to passengers and in their recruitment schemes. They have threatened to dig up dirt on reporters who write the truth about the company which isn't pretty. They have enlisted drivers to request and cancel trips from Lyft drivers so they can't take uber fares. And my favorite, uber drivers pay the tax on the money they make. We are taxed on the entire fare, including the booking fee (once referred as the safety fee) and their commissions. Indeed, uber pays virtually no tax whatsoever. They have quite the elaborate business setup. Check out the article from Fortune that tries to untangle their web http://http://fortune.com/2015/10/22.../?iid=sr-link1


Thanks for noticing my brilliance. You are not the first and won't be the last.

So, if I'm reading "until the class action suit settled" correctly, you now don't "mostly give out 5*" anymore.

You seem to be missing the point that's so obvious: if you stop giving out 5* because riders don't tip and Uber doesn't give riders a method to tip electronically à la Lyft model, then pax will stop automatically giving out 5* ratings. Your 4.9* will drop. It's simple math.

This isn't about being cheap, as your colleagues on the other board seem to imply. This is about using a service offered by a company that states "[t]ips are not ... expected or required."

If a 4* rider rating becomes the "norm" unless a rider tips then a 4* driver rating will become my norm unless a driver goes above and beyond. I suspect a long string of 4* ratings will hurt a driver far more than a rider.

You seem to have a real problem with Uber. My suggestion: don't take it out on your riders. You want a tip? Fine, put up a sign asking for a tip and deal with the consequences like an adult. If more people tip upon seeing the sign, you win. If more people offer lower driver ratings because they suspect they'll be hit with a lower rider rating for not being willing or able to tip, you lose.

For the record: I will happily tip every ride if and only if Uber offers a tipping mechanism through the app. That's exactly what I do with Lyft.

The :rolleyes: emoticon I used generally implies sarcasm on these boards.

Uber has been scaring and manipulating drivers into telling passengers that tips are not acceptable, and by telling passengers that tips are included, uber effectively turned 90% of passengers into entitled cheapskates who expect 5 star service for 1 star rates. Tips reward good service. What uber has done is essentially rob millions of drivers of millions of dollars by changing the culture surrounding an industry that traditionally was a defined by a tipping culture.

Ubers rating system is incredible unfair. Forget the mistaken 1 star ratings, forget the occasional picky person who doesn't think the car is up to their standards, or that their driver's ... kissing abilities are sub par, forget even that we're supposed to be focused on service while driving 15 minutes in traffic for a $2 fare.

Have you noticed the Uber app rating on the playstore? How many restaurants do you see with 4.6 ratings? How many businesses on Glassdoor have a rating above a 4? As a driver, anything other than a 5 star is a slow death. So effectively, uber gives 4 votes to "unhappy" "picky" riders, and 1 vote for ones that like the service? How does that make any sense at all?

Drivers all have their own system of rating paxs but the consensus among drivers for a pax to be rated 5* is pretty simple:

1. Don't just drop the pin, take the time to enter the exact address or business name

2. Enter your destination, address or business name

3. Be ready to go when I arrive, a driver is not earning income (Uber) if the wheels aren't rolling

4. Be polite to the driver and respectful of the drivers car, it is afterall their personal vehicle

5. Take your trash and empty bottles with you, see number 4

6. Tip your driver, contrary to what Uber states in their marketing, the tip is not included

7. If you live in a gated community and know the GPS routes drivers to an inaccessible gate, text the driver detailed directions, don't wait until they've arrived or are almost there to tell them they can't follow GPS routes.

If you tip your Lyft drivers why won't you tip your uber drivers?

Typically I drive only uberSelect and Lyft. Rarely uberX. I would drive exclusively for Lyft if there was a larger market it for it. Thank goodness they are growing.

I know exactly what the rolled eyes meant. I just responded accordingly. And will state again if you don't like it take Lyft or a cab.

Although Uber allows driver's to solicit tips, its policy is that they are neither expected or required. I have tipped on Lyft and Uber in the US. My wife and I both sent requests to Uber asking them to allow tipping in the app for all services.

I don't care if a driver has a sign indicating that tips are appreciated. Where I perceive a serious problem is driver's making customers aware that their ratings will suffer if they don't tip which might make it more difficult for them to get a ride from an experienced safe driver. Although it's not the same as asking store owners to pay protection money, a ratings for tip policy still could be considered a form of extortion.

I doubt many Uber drivers would find it acceptable if they couldn't get an appointment to get their cars inspected because they hadn't tipped a mechanic or gas station attendant and that information had been shared amongst all inspection stations.

If a hotel employee that normally doesn't receive tips does something special for me, I tip generously. On the other hand, I will never pay a bribe to someone at the front desk for a suite upgrade.

I already explained why: because there's no tipping mechanism in the Uber app.

The mere fact that a tipping mechanism exists in the Lyft app is an endorsement that the practice is encouraged. Contrast that with the statement I previously provided from Uber, and you should clearly see the difference.

I don't care that you think Uber is misleading the whole world.

I don't care that you think I'm cheap.

I don't care that you've detailed a hypocritically lopsided driver rating process in each of your few posts on this board.

I will not start carrying and spending local currency for the sole purpose of tipping Uber drivers.

I will start rating drivers a maximum of less than 5* if I get even the slightest suspicion that my own rating is being affected by me following Uber's guidelines that "[t]ips are not ... expected or required."

And I will suggest that if you don't like Uber focus on Lyft.

Feel free to discuss this with your friends on the other forum; I'm sure it's representative of far more riders than you've convinced yourself.

+1. Agree completely.

IMO, it's a lot harder to be a 5* driver than a 5* rider.

I'll give you a tip...uber drivers must rate the pax immediately after the trip. The pax has a couple days to rate their driver. So check your rating after the ride to see what the driver rated you. You won't see exact rating but if you knew your rating beforehand it's pretty easy to do the math.
In the Uber app, go to:
1 Help
2 Account
3 I'd like to know my rating.

Then you can decide how to rate your driver. Remember though ratings are not solely based on tipping but the other factors stated above.

But you might want to read this thread. Why passenger ratings matters

Why do you say that?

I agree with you. A driver shouldn't tell you during a ride you rating may suffer. I also don't believe in signs. I don't have one in my car.

The entire purpose of me posting here is to give passengers a drivers perspective.

My definition of a 5* rider is one who is waiting for the driver at the place he indicated on the app, is polite and quiet, doesn't bring his own food or drinks or any bad odors into the car, and doesn't slam doors.

My definition of a 5* driver is one who doesn't get lost on the way to the pickup, is polite, has a car that is clean and odorless, doesn't play loud music without asking, and takes the most efficient route to the destination. I tend to give almost every driver a 5 even if I don't believe they are anywhere close to perfect.

Unlike the car service that I normally use to go to the NYC airports, some Uber drivers aren't familiar with the best routes and rely on the GPS exclusively. Although GPS prevents glaringly bad routes, an experienced driver may be able to take an alternate route when there is an accident or heavy traffic.

Although Uber is much cheaper in some cities, the relative cost vs. taxis depends on location and traffic. Taxis plus tips and Uber without tips or surge pricing in normal traffic are roughly the same price in NYC. Although I prefer Uber, I don't see the argument that Uber is underpriced there. After taking two Uber NYC area airport trips from the suburbs, I decided that the overall mix of cost, quality and convenience of a car service was superior to any of the Uber offerings.