Should I give this perfectly good Uber driver a 1 star rating?

[mom2rtk]

He didn't say the condition of the car but if the driver got him where he was going in a timely manner, I don't see any reason not to rate him 4 or 5 stars. There is no way of knowing if that was the driver that lowered his rating. My son takes Uber just about every day, we live in a college town so most of the drivers are college students. His trips aren't more than $5 or $6 (smallish town) and he says he never tips. I think he is a platinum member (whatever that means) because he uses them so much. He told me one day his driver was his next door neighbor, he got the message they were on the way, walked out his door, saw the neighbor walking our hers, get in her car and pull into his driveway. He also said she was high as a kite but he didn't give her a bad rating, seeing as how she was his neighbor and all and she did get him where he was going.

I hope you explained to him why it was a really bad idea to get in the car with someone he thought was high!

 

[Rockette]

I never even thought about checking my rating until I saw this thread. I'm 4.82 but have no idea what it's based on.

I'm at a loss at mine too. Mine is at 4.88.

The original business model of Uber was to not tip, so I've never done it.

I've only rated one Uber driver poorly. He couldn't keep a constant speed on the highway and would constantly accelerate and then brake to slow down. On a 15 minute ride home this was not fun.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah, but technically, the independent drivers are the equivalent of taxi drivers working for themselves. It's not true ride sharing.

Nah..not really and yeah it's ride-sharing.

Dictionary(.com)'s defintion:

Right, I agree that's not what they are. They want the benefits of being a taxi with none of the regulation. Although I'd argue that the advertising doesn't match people's perception. Like I said. It's not true ride sharing. People are paying for a service. People are essentially paying for a cheaper version of a taxi. Not a shared service. Not public transit. A taxi service. Name is just semantics.

It's actually not semantics at all. It's a legal loophole that they want to take advantage of. Trust me cities and states haven't had legal battles for several years now for no reason when it comes to Uber and Lyft and whatnot including my metro area. The whole reason they wanted to go toe to toe with city and state governments was because they felt like they shouldn't have to abide by rules set forth for taxis since they weren't taxis. Things like minimum insurances, background checks, fees paid to the state or city that taxi companies are required to do, fingerprint requirements for drivers, etc.

And consider the rating being talked about. Do you know of taxi companies that have an app where the drivers can rate their actual passengers and passengers can rate their actual drivers and where that rating has an arbitrary meaning for someone's profile?

 

[Pacolovestacos]

I never even thought about checking my rating until I saw this thread. I'm 4.82 but have no idea what it's based on.

What it's based on is if the drivers like you or not. That's really it, there is no rubric grading system here. The score is used by either drivers to determine whether they want to "deal" with you or not. I know the drivers get penalized if they reject a rider but I'm not sure what the penalty is.

 

[Westcoastwild]

Nah..not really and yeah it's ride-sharing.

Dictionary(.com)'s defintion:
View attachment 236438



It's actually not semantics at all. It's a legal loophole that they want to take advantage of. Trust me cities and states haven't had legal battles for several years now for no reason when it comes to Uber and Lyft and whatnot including my metro area. The whole reason they wanted to go toe to toe with city and state governments was because they felt like they shouldn't have to abide by rules set forth for taxis since they weren't taxis. Things like minimum insurances, background checks, fees paid to the state or city that taxi companies are required to do, fingerprint requirements for drivers, etc.

And consider the rating being talked about. Do you know of taxi companies that have an app where the drivers can rate their actual passengers and passengers can rate their actual drivers and where that rating has an arbitrary meaning for someone's profile?

You can book a cab by app now. And some cabs are privately owned. So those two things don't make it a ride share. I'm not understanding your point about the rating system. Limos, Shuttles, and transit can't rate their users either but that doesn't make them part of the sharing economy.

I'm not arguing that they see themselves as a taxi service. I'm not even arguing that they don't call themselves ride share. I'm arguing that they are in direct competition with taxis and both customers and communities see them as unregulated taxis. And I'm saying they aren't a true rideshare. The sharing economy is something that exists but it isn't airbnb and uber. Those services have co-opted the name and twisted the meaning. It's like saying rental cars are part of the sharing economy. They aren't. If you rent your holiday cottage out you are a landlord. If you rent your car out, you are a one man car rental agency. If you rent a room out, and offer your guests breakfast, you're operating what is probably an illegal B and B. You're not "sharing" your car or home. You're being paid for a service by a stranger. None of this is new. I used to pay friends of friends for rides in college. It was a financial transaction.

Airbnb and uber market themselves as a "lifestyle" or "experience". No. You're paying people for a service. Similarly, Disney markets itself as a priceless magical family getaway. No. It's a consumer commodity that you purchase.

 

[Pacolovestacos]

https://rideshareapps.com/ride-sharing-companies/

 

[Westcoastwild]

https://rideshareapps.com/ride-sharing-companies/

That linked article specifically uses the word "taxi" in describing uber. And then a lot of it is just gimmicky hype. I mean the thing about becoming friendly acquaintances? Right...

It's basically taxi service repackaged to look cool. People don't use it for the cool factor. They use it because it's cheap. It's cheap because it is unregulated.

I grew up in a town that had a two man taxi service. Two brothers, with what I am assuming was their personal car. Literally the only difference between them and uber is that they operated as a commercial enterprise and paid airport fees and taxes. Private car, local owner, charged for rides. If they had decided to become uber, then the only thing that would change is that they wouldn't be paying business taxes. If you look like a duck and sound like a duck...

 

[Pacolovestacos]

"The three dominant players in the ridesharing game are Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar; considered to be the best ride sharing companies in the transportation industry."

That's a direct quote from the article. I mean if you want to continue to say that Uber isn't a ridesharing company, that's your right. I don't know what else to say about it.

 

[loves to dive]

I hope you explained to him why it was a really bad idea to get in the car with someone he thought was high!

He's 36 years old and knows why it's not a good idea, he was using Uber that morning to go get his car where he left it the night before because he had been drinking and knew not to drive. I don't think it impaired her driving and most likely most people wouldn't have even known, she could have just had a bad night and had blood shot eyes and was talkative.

 

[justussix]

Never used Uber. I was under the impression that tipping wasn't allowed. Guess I was wrong there.

The rating thing reminds of an episode of "Black Mirror". Everyone rated everyone on every interaction. Bump into an acquaintance on the elevator? Your phone picks up who they are, and you can immediately rate the interaction. Your average rating is available for all to see, and impacts your ability to do things. What events you're invited to, where you can live, what things cost (we want only 4 star plus people living here - so the price is lower if you're over 4 stars).

Pretty dark view on where social media could go.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You can book a cab by app now. And some cabs are privately owned. So those two things don't make it a ride share. I'm not understanding your point about the rating system. Limos, Shuttles, and transit can't rate their users either but that doesn't make them part of the sharing economy.

I'm not arguing that they see themselves as a taxi service. I'm not even arguing that they don't call themselves ride share. I'm arguing that they are in direct competition with taxis and both customers and communities see them as unregulated taxis. And I'm saying they aren't a true rideshare. The sharing economy is something that exists but it isn't airbnb and uber. Those services have co-opted the name and twisted the meaning. It's like saying rental cars are part of the sharing economy. They aren't. If you rent your holiday cottage out you are a landlord. If you rent your car out, you are a one man car rental agency. If you rent a room out, and offer your guests breakfast, you're operating what is probably an illegal B and B. You're not "sharing" your car or home. You're being paid for a service by a stranger. None of this is new. I used to pay friends of friends for rides in college. It was a financial transaction.

Airbnb and uber market themselves as a "lifestyle" or "experience". No. You're paying people for a service. Similarly, Disney markets itself as a priceless magical family getaway. No. It's a consumer commodity that you purchase.

I think the issue here is you have your own definition of ride-share and taxis.

 

[prprincess]

Unless something out of the ordinary happens, I always rate my drivers 5-stars. And I don't usually tip. As for my ratings, I honestly have never looked at them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That linked article specifically uses the word "taxi" in describing uber. And then a lot of it is just gimmicky hype. I mean the thing about becoming friendly acquaintances? Right...

It's basically taxi service repackaged to look cool. People don't use it for the cool factor. They use it because it's cheap. It's cheap because it is unregulated.

I grew up in a town that had a two man taxi service. Two brothers, with what I am assuming was their personal car. Literally the only difference between them and uber is that they operated as a commercial enterprise and paid airport fees and taxes. Private car, local owner, charged for rides. If they had decided to become uber, then the only thing that would change is that they wouldn't be paying business taxes. If you look like a duck and sound like a duck...

I think you misunderstood when you saw the word 'taxi' in the article. The only sentence that has 'taxi' in it is the following: "With Uber, you can even get a private car, taxi or rideshare from your cell phone." I'm guessing you saw the word 'taxi' and jumped to that they were calling themselves a taxi company. That's not the case.

Uber has a service called uberTAXI that is available in certain markets. They are actually hailing you an actual licensed taxicab from a taxi company. According to uber's website- "With that service the fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file. It's calculated using standard taxi meter rates, a booking fee, and gratuity for your driver." https://www.uber.com/ride/ubertaxi/ Notice how when you use uberTAXI it does actually charge a tip because they are actually using a licensed taxicab.....but when using their regular uber services you are not required to tip and can't do any tipping through the app. It's pretty darn clear that uber understands they are not a taxi (and don't want to be). I'm assuming the cities where uberTAXI is available they have worked with the government and taxicab companies with respects to fees and whatnot. It's not a legal nightmare on that end because with that service uber isn't using their own drivers they are using the licensed taxicab drivers who already have to abide by the rules and laws set forth from their state or cities. Here's another webpage that describes the uberTAXI more than Uber's does http://www.ridesharingdriver.com/ubertaxi-use-the-uber-app-to-hail-a-taxi-in-these-cities/

 

[jrmasm]

Never used Uber. I was under the impression that tipping wasn't allowed. Guess I was wrong there.

The rating thing reminds of an episode of "Black Mirror". Everyone rated everyone on every interaction. Bump into an acquaintance on the elevator? Your phone picks up who they are, and you can immediately rate the interaction. Your average rating is available for all to see, and impacts your ability to do things. What events you're invited to, where you can live, what things cost (we want only 4 star plus people living here - so the price is lower if you're over 4 stars).

Pretty dark view on where social media could go.

That's exactly what I thought too!

 

[clori]

how do you check your rating?

 

[Mickeypooh99]

Never used Uber. I was under the impression that tipping wasn't allowed. Guess I was wrong there.

The rating thing reminds of an episode of "Black Mirror". Everyone rated everyone on every interaction. Bump into an acquaintance on the elevator? Your phone picks up who they are, and you can immediately rate the interaction. Your average rating is available for all to see, and impacts your ability to do things. What events you're invited to, where you can live, what things cost (we want only 4 star plus people living here - so the price is lower if you're over 4 stars).

Pretty dark view on where social media could go.

I've only watched one episode of "Black Mirror." It was that one! That was exactly what I thought of when I started to read this thread. Ratings have gone crazy lately. I can see why that episode was made.