I’ve never used Uber for a number of reasons that would probably spark an OMNI conversation.

But I was considering it, and reading up on this bizarre concept where you and driver rate each other. I read here: Leaked charts show how Uber's driver rating system works - Business Insider

Think of it as grade inflation. 3 is the new 5. Because the rating is so important to the driver, if he/she gets you where you need to go, gets you there safely and is friendly give him/her a 5.

Moving this to the Ride Services forum for further discussion. /JY1024, TravelBuzz co-moderator

Mostly I give out 5s. Some 4s if they aren't proactive with traffic but mostly I use tipping to acknowledge their efforts. I've had drivers, while they're not professional livery drivers, take real pride in their Uber service. Mostly I just want someone who is polite, doesn't really want to chat and is proactive to get me to my destination in a safe yet timely manner.

I haven't been able to crack 4.9 as my own rating. I seem to hover somewhere around 4.84 and 4.87 and had a dip from travel in some foreign locations where I guess I didn't hold to the local custom.

From Uber's perspective, 5 is the norm. If you rate the driver lower than 5 then there must have been a "problem" of some sort.

Also, from the passenger perspective, if your rating dips below 4.x (whatever x is), you may have trouble obtaining rides as drivers will refuse to accept your request (because you are a potential "problem" customer.)

Thanks all. Is this expectation that 5=satisfactory and anything beneath that=bad made clear on Uber?

It (clearly!) wouldn’t occur to me! In the absence of anything to the contrary I would have assumed something like:

5=excellent
4=very good
3=satisfactory
2=poor
1=very poor

And, as I said earlier, the vast majority of taxi journeys will only ever be satisfactory in that you get precisely what you pay for, nothing more or less.

I can’t believe I’m the only one to think this, but either way it highlights the risk of using something so variable.

It's like those customer service surveys you receive after leaving a hotel. Anything below an 8 out of 10 is grounds for punishment for that property. Does it make sense? Not to us, but statistically, they've done the number crunching and whenever someone is unhappy with their experience, that's what tends to happen.

That's the way I would have intuitively thought.
But that's not how it works. Essentially a 5 = "I had no issues". If you had an issue then you down rate to indicate the severity of the issue.

As a relatively new update, (I think for both drivers and passengers), if you rate below a 5, they now ask for a generic reason. So at least at that point, you get a clue that the rating "system" is a bit different than you'd think.

Yup, I think the app's pretty clear that not giving a 5 means that something was at least somewhat wrong...

I almost see this as the effect of net promoter scores; where middle is eliminated from the equation because you are neither a detractor or promoter, you just exist with them. Uber wants promoters, and they see anything below a 5 as either middle or a detractor.

Yes, Uber expects 5 to be the norm. Most regular passengers understand that by now and rate all drivers 5 if they get them there.

Since I stopped driving, Uber has made some changes that I'm not that familiar with. For one thing, Uberpool ratings were inherently lower, because a passenger could have an issue with a co-passenger or the route, and downrate the ride for reasons beyond the driver's control, so I think they ask the reason for the rating and don't count it if it's a non-driver issue.

Admittedly I have a driver perspective, but I say feel pity on the driver and give them a 5 rating almost regardless. A recent study showed that Uber drivers net $3.37 an hour after expenses. I don't doubt that for a second.

I don't like Uber. So the idea of merging uber and grab in the Philippines is great!

I would like to see drivers given a daily aggregate tip number, so they can't tell who tipped what. I'm really discouraged with this revenge revisionist rating by some drivers.

If it's a preset price, I'm not impressed by a driver who thinks they know the best route between A and B. They can impress me by using nav updated in realtime, anytime.