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The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

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Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#71

Post by ChildOfChaos »

tlogan wrote: post #64
ChildOfChaos wrote: post #13

A rating for Uber is silly. It's just a ride to get you to A to B, having a five star rating system is what creates a situation where leaving a 5 star review i the 'only acceptable rating' I think maybe it should just be a few simple questions that are yes or no, based on did the driver follow procedures, get you to your location, provide a suitable vehicle etc. Maybe these questions are randomised so you only get as…

Isn't that the way it typically works? If you rate an Uber less than five stars, the app will prompt you for a reason. This feedback system is one of the ways Uber surpasses traditional taxis in service quality. If the car is exceptionally unclean (gross like hell) then a perfect rating isn't justified. However, it's generally advised to give a rating below five stars only for significant issues. If the driver gets y…

I think then this is an issue of UX/UI and the question should just be Were you satisfied with your journey yes or no? and then no, prompts further questions.

The confusion comes from it being different systems for different things, having a yes or no, would make it clear that is what it is. You rate a movie out of five, four out of five would be a pretty decent movie, but in your example it would mean that something majorish was wrong, considering completing the most basic task is 5 out of 5.

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#72

Post by branon »

Black Mirror episode "Nosedive" is relevant here.

Professionally, I feel I'm fighting against the corporate oligarchy when I rate all workers (telecom customer service reps, Microsoft support personnel) as five stars irrespective of how I actually felt about the service. I get paid the same at my job regardless, so it seems a waste to not be collaborative.

Recreationally, maybe it's an American thing. Our culture is one of generosity in spite of (not necessarily because of) the experience. I'll tip decent at a restaurant even if the food wasn't great or the service was slow. Granted, I might never go back, but if I'm there, I'm there to have a good experience and to be a good patron. Something would have to be VERY wrong for me to change course.

I don't use gig apps like Doordash or Uber often. I Uber'd once in an emergency and rating the driver was the last thing on my mind. He got 5 stars of course, but he always would have, unless I somehow never made it to my destination.

When interacting with large (or even small) businesses, gratuity items are one of the few things I as a customer have complete power over. For meals, I've already factored the tip into the cost so it's no sweat. For apps, the decision is even easier. One tap on the 5-star button and I can increase the level at which Uber values this non-employee? Easy.

Maybe it comes from the bad old days of raiding Internet polls and intentionally trying to disrupt corporate properties online, but I approach it from the mindset of "how much fun can I have with this?" and always using the highest rating seems the most amusing to me. Sometimes it's legitimate, other times it's more rueful, but it is always good-faith patronage in my opinion.

Somebody mentioned an Uber driver who crashed his car (hopefully not at-fault). I assume they didn't crash on purpose, so we know that guy was having a supremely shitty day. Yeah, I'd probably rate them 5 stars just for the hell of it. It had to have been the most memorable Uber ride ever. Maybe that's not worth much, but it's also not incentive to actively work against your fellow man on behalf of a corporation.

If corps want to farm out KPI work to the customer, I'll gladly oblige, but I'm going to mess with your stats for my trouble ;)

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#73

Post by Georgelemental »

brk wrote: post #59

For any rating system, I tend to reserve the top-tier ranking for something that exceeds normal or reasonable expectations. So the average Uber trip gets 4 stars when I rate it. 4 means it met my expectations, nothing went wrong, but also nothing was beyond expectations. 5 stars is basically perfection, and it is silly to expect perfection as the standard experience. It is also difficult to roll up the entire trip ex…

Your Uber rating habits are perhaps more "logical" than those of others, but they don't match the behavior of everyone else, so the actual effect of your rating is that you are punishing good drivers. An Uber driver will likely be banned from the platform if their rating drops below 4.6

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#74

Post by drowsspa »

qlm wrote: post #9
misnome wrote: post #6

Good to know that I should have left the driver who crashed their car mid-trip and then charged us for the full trip a five-star rating.

Your experience is obviously an insane outlier, not what the article is talking about, and more a matter for Uber support and/or the legal system.

Hacker News commentators (or the Internet in general) love to point out a 0.001% exception when it's obvious it's not the case being discussed.

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#76

Post by mitchdoogle »

Obviously the title is very wrong. The author says so themselves - if you fear for your safety, then a rating below 5 is completely reasonable. Which for me, has happened more than I am comfortable with. I haven't even taken Uber that often - maybe 30 times in the last 10 years - but at least 3 of those times I can recall actually feeling unsafe by the driver's speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, or near misses with other vehicles.

I do agree with the idea that it is a binary, though. Uber and other platforms should get rid of star rating systems altogether because it just breeds confusion. Some people (perhaps most) do indeed view it as a binary. But then there are people or situations where you find yourself wanting to rate a 3 or a 4 because the situation wasn't the worst experience of your life, but it was rather unpleasant for some reason.

Just ask people if they were satisfied or not, or if looking for something more, ask specific questions. Was the car clean? Did the driver follow the route they were given? Did the driver obey traffic laws? Was the radio too loud? Was the driver talking on the phone? These questions are easy to answer and give more information than a star rating.

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#77

Post by plorkyeran »

Finnucane wrote: post #51
JustBreath wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The parallels are eerie. > Sometimes, she gets worried about picking up passengers rated less than 4.8. Like a 4.79 is really low. I wonder, ‘Do I have to fear for my life with this person?’

I used to buy vintage cameras on ebay (not so much lately--no more room) and one of the things you quickly realize is that a 'seller rating' of less than say 95% means 'avoid'. The way the ratings are calculated mean that if they're getting enough dings to bring the score down even a few points, they're doing something wrong.

I remember in the early days of ebay before they had the official rating system it became accepted that you had to leave a review containing A+++++++++++ if the shipper did an acceptable job because a grade of merely A+ meant that you got the thing you bought but something wasn't great about the experience and anything worse than that meant the seller was a scammer.

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#78

Post by jdmichal »

misnome wrote: post #6

Good to know that I should have left the driver who crashed their car mid-trip and then charged us for the full trip a five-star rating.

If only the article had covered such a scenario...

And I quote:

> *****: This person deserves to have access to this platform and the ability to earn a living through it

> *, **, ***, ****: This person is a danger to me, themself, and others and should be removed from the service

Sure sounds like your exact experience falls under that second group!

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#79

Post by tiahura »

toomanyrichies wrote: post #66
tiahura wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flirting is normal and healthy. If you've been convinced otherwise, you've been misled.

Boundaries are normal and healthy. If you’ve been convinced otherwise, you’ve been misled. Unless she initiates the flirting, and does so enthusiastically, an Uber driver should assume that a female passenger is in the vehicle because she needs transportation, not a date.

I'm pretty sure the only reason my mom was in the hallway where she met my dad was to return to her apartment. Good thing my dad didn't follow your advice and started talking to her. If only people on dating sites and single bars dated, most of us would have never been born.

Attraction and flirting are natural and healthy expressions of human sexuality and not something to be ashamed of.

Re: The only acceptable rating to leave an Uber driver is 5 stars

#80

Post by jdmichal »

pclmulqdq wrote: post #17
qlm wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your experience is obviously an insane outlier, not what the article is talking about, and more a matter for Uber support and/or the legal system.

There are lots of uber experiences that are less than 5-star but do not rise to this level. I had a driver in LA who was both a terrible driver and terrified of freeways. With 3 near-misses and the bad route, it took 50 min to go somewhere that would otherwise take 15, making me late for a meeting (the LA area has some communities that are physically near each other, but separated by hills/mountains that are otherwis…

> *****: This person deserves to have access to this platform and the ability to earn a living through it

> *, **, ***, ****: This person is a danger to me, themself, and others and should be removed from the service

Sure sounds like your exact experience falls under that second group!

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