Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

oversharing.substack.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 119 posts

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

#81

Post by the_snooze »

pizza234 wrote: post #69
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…

The variables in the quality of driving are far from being a few, and include: - driving aggressively/dangerously/poorly - the above includes not being focused on driving (eg. talking on the phone) - reacting angrily to other drivers - driving illegally - allowing a ride without safety measures (eg. child seat), which is also a case of driving illegally - not replying to requests (messages) at all before actually sta…

They just need three options: Unacceptable, Acceptable, and Exceptional. Anything other than "Acceptable" requires a justification.

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

#82

Post by Jamie9912 »

vxNsr wrote: post #57
Jamie9912 wrote: post #39

I just checked my rating and i'm a 4.62. I have never had a problematic ride, i'm always waiting exactly where I summon the Uber to. Not once have I made an Uber wait for me. I sit in the back and don't say a word unless spoken to.. is that what i'm doing wrong?

You don’t tip. I have a similar rating for the same reason. Tipping is obnoxious, especially when it’s asked for at the start of the transaction.

Forgot to say. I live in Australia, we don't tip

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

#83

Post by wink »

mg wrote: post #8

I often think that marketplace rating should work like this: Every 3 rides, you get asked "Which one of the last 3 rides did you like the best?". Then the driver you select gets 1 star. So an average driver would get 0.3 stars per ride. For display purposes, this can be normalized to whatever scale is most comfortable for users. This should completely get rid of the problems with the popular "rate every seller right…

What if the only time I've ridden an Uber was in 2014? That's an actual example but even with 3 taxi/uber rides per year I probably would not remember.

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

#84

Post by WithinReason »

rjmunro wrote: post #15
mg wrote: post #8

I often think that marketplace rating should work like this: Every 3 rides, you get asked "Which one of the last 3 rides did you like the best?". Then the driver you select gets 1 star. So an average driver would get 0.3 stars per ride. For display purposes, this can be normalized to whatever scale is most comfortable for users. This should completely get rid of the problems with the popular "rate every seller right…

Or just "was this ride experience better or worse than your previous ride" for every ride apart from the first one you ever take. You could then use the Elo rating system to track driver scores.

Then you just say better, every time. It's the same problem as the 5 star system.

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

#85

Post by shubhamkrm »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #5

I don't use these services a lot, but I mostly just refuse to rate at all, don't want to participate. I don't know if there are any consequences to me of refusing to rate? I think all of the apps let you skip it if you insist.

I don’t know about Uber specifically, but in my country, some food and grocery delivery apps pay their delivery agents more if they get a five star rating.

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

#86

Post by 1253 »

tiahura wrote: post #79
toomanyrichies wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Are you really unable to see the difference between an Uber driver flirting with their passenger and someone flirting with someone else in a hallway?

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

#87

Post by dahfizz »

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…

The issue is there is a 1-5 rating system, but the system is actually binary. 5 stars means the ride was acceptable, everything else means the ride was unacceptable.

Which is a reasonable rating system, but presenting it as a 1-5 stars is confusing and dumb.

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

#88

Post by jerf »

alkonaut wrote: post #65

So the point of the author is that as a passenger, I should accept that the system is a weird binary system where 4 or less means "unsafe or should be fired"? Why can't 4 be "A to B without any issues" and 5 is "great conversation, spotlessly cleaned car, threw in an excellent restaurant recommendation when asked?" But really the whole idea of rating every ride on a single measurement is crap. Flagging someone as dan…

I don't believe the author is asking for "acceptance". I think they're just notifying you that that is how the system works now. You may act as you see fit.

I think there's a touch of satire to the whole thing in the tone that you're picking up on. This article wasn't a celebration of this fact by any means, merely an observation of it.

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

#89

Post by pointlessone »

Uber made it a problem for themselves. If they used any sort of linear scale it could've been useful. I've never seen a driver with rating lower than 4. TBH, I'm not sure if I ever saw one lower than 4.7. What's the point of this rating scale? It's compressed to the point of being meaningless. Likewise, there are no way to get a rating better than the default 5. So there's no incentive for drivers to be better than average.

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

#90

Post by Simulacra »

Jamie9912 wrote: post #39

I just checked my rating and i'm a 4.62. I have never had a problematic ride, i'm always waiting exactly where I summon the Uber to. Not once have I made an Uber wait for me. I sit in the back and don't say a word unless spoken to.. is that what i'm doing wrong?

Passengers get rated on a lot of things but I think your willingness to tip is foremost, and then from there it's a lot of biases, racial, gender, etc. I've been hit on by a lot of drivers and I've wondered if politely rejecting their advances has caused me to have a lower score. 4.8 on Uber, and a 5.0 on Lyft. Go figure.
Post reply on HN