7 ms·

I'm only a little surprised that nobody has suggested this, but: If the driver does something shady, just get out of the car. Immediately. Don't even give them

I'm only a little surprised that nobody has suggested this, but: If the driver does something shady, just get out of the car. Immediately. Don't even give them the opportunity to apologize for it. I've had drivers call ahead to ask where I'm going. I just hang up on them, cancel the ride, then order another ride. While I'm in the car with a new driver, I report the incident using the in-app system and, on many occasions, they even grant me a credit! Similarly, I've had on at least two occasions where the drivers did obviously stupid, unsafe things within the first 30 seconds of a ride. I ask them to pull over, and I just quietly get out of the car, report the incident, walk away, and order another driver.

diminoten 10y ago
The problem here is your cancel reflects poorly on you in Uber's rating system. But otherwise you're absolutely right. I have taken rides from two people who've called, asking for my destination, and I refuse to tell them. It hasn't caused me any problems in those two instances.
- dnautics 10y ago
  If you have a really shady experience. You report it directly to Uber. Let them know that you think the driver may have adversely rated you, and I feel like customer service will roll it back if it's that important to you. but to be honest, an single experience will get averaged out in the wash.
- brandonbloom 10y ago
  > your cancel reflects poorly on you in Uber's rating system This is simply not true. I just checked: My rating is 4.73. I've probably taken a few hundred rides with Uber. I assume they adjust ratings for bad experiences, especially if you're a regular rider. By the way: It's not that hard to get consistent 5 stars as a passenger. Be respectful of the driver and follow these steps: 1) Say something like "Hi, are you looking for Brandon? That's me. Good evening. How's it going?" 2) Suffer less than 20 seconds of smalltalk 3) Go about playing with your phone or talking with your co-passengers quietly. 4) Say "This is my stop right there by the red car on the right. Thanks a lot, you have a good night!" - If you're an extrovert, you'd do this anyway (assuming you're not an asshole) and if you're an introvert, it's a good opportunity to exercise your smalltalk with low stakes.
  - diminoten 10y ago
    > This is simply not true How could you possibly know this?
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
  - Steeeve 10y ago
    4.7 is low. 4.6 is where drivers get fired. At 4.5 a lot of drivers won't pick you up.
    - homakov 10y ago
      If my rider rating goes down I will just create a new account. Never cared about it.
    - brandonbloom 10y ago
      At least according to this, 4.7 is quite typical for passengers: http://valleywag.gawker.com/we-asked-you-for-your-uber-score-heres-what-we-learned-1684124433 http://valleywag.gawker.com/we-asked-you-for-your-uber-score...
      - Steeeve 10y ago
        I recently read several discussions from uber drivers about passenger ratings. Many drivers will rate passengers 4 or below if they don't tip. And many drivers skip passengers 4.5 or below, some start skipping passengers at 4.6. I posted some quotes from the discussion below. I don't think it's about averages, it's about perception. Drivers know that they get fired at 4.6, and they know that most passengers and drivers give 5 star ratings regardless.
    - r00fus 10y ago
      That's a broken rating system. Why would 4.7 (a 94% score) be middling percentile? And I thought school grade and work title inflation was bad...
roel_v 10y ago
Never used Uber, what's the problem with someone knowing where you're going? Doesn't the app tell the driver before they pick you up? (Well I guess not, or they wouldn't call you...)
- wiwofone 10y ago
  The destination shows up when the ride starts (i.e. you get in the car). Calling beforehand is a an indication that the driver might want to cancel the ride if the destination is "inconvenient" (e.g. from city center to a remote suburb).
  - eli 10y ago
    Or to a "bad neighborhood"
    - pc86 10y ago
      I don't know why you're using quote, there are legitimately dangerous neighborhoods that someone may not want to drive to at 2:30 AM. Granted, if that's the case, then they shouldn't be Ubering at 2:30 AM, but it's still a legitimate concern.
      - eli 10y ago
        At least in my experience, "bad neighborhood" more often than not simply means "black people live there."
        pc86 10y ago
        At least in my experience, there are plenty of nice neighborhoods of mixed ethnicity and absolute shit neighborhoods regardless of ethnicity.
  - turtles 10y ago
    This is a big problem with taxi drivers is australia. At 2am you'll be lucky to get a taxi home, because they change over at 3, so they don't like to go 10 minutes in the opposite direction. I'm glad there is the Uber alternative!
litso 10y ago
I've had this problem numerous times at LAX: driver will call then cancel when i tell them i'm not going downtown ($50) and instead to the west side ($15). I waited on the curb for an hour while 7 drivers canceled on me one after another. Uber will often give you a credit when you report this but they don't seem to be actually fixing the problem.

diminoten 10y ago

The problem here is your cancel reflects poorly on you in Uber's rating system. But otherwise you're absolutely right. I have taken rides from two people who've called, asking for my destination, and I refuse to tell them. It hasn't caused me any problems in those two instances.

dnautics 10y ago
If you have a really shady experience. You report it directly to Uber. Let them know that you think the driver may have adversely rated you, and I feel like customer service will roll it back if it's that important to you. but to be honest, an single experience will get averaged out in the wash.
brandonbloom 10y ago
> your cancel reflects poorly on you in Uber's rating system This is simply not true. I just checked: My rating is 4.73. I've probably taken a few hundred rides with Uber. I assume they adjust ratings for bad experiences, especially if you're a regular rider. By the way: It's not that hard to get consistent 5 stars as a passenger. Be respectful of the driver and follow these steps: 1) Say something like "Hi, are you looking for Brandon? That's me. Good evening. How's it going?" 2) Suffer less than 20 seconds of smalltalk 3) Go about playing with your phone or talking with your co-passengers quietly. 4) Say "This is my stop right there by the red car on the right. Thanks a lot, you have a good night!" - If you're an extrovert, you'd do this anyway (assuming you're not an asshole) and if you're an introvert, it's a good opportunity to exercise your smalltalk with low stakes.
- diminoten 10y ago
  > This is simply not true How could you possibly know this?
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- Steeeve 10y ago
  4.7 is low. 4.6 is where drivers get fired. At 4.5 a lot of drivers won't pick you up.
  - homakov 10y ago
    If my rider rating goes down I will just create a new account. Never cared about it.
  - brandonbloom 10y ago
    At least according to this, 4.7 is quite typical for passengers: http://valleywag.gawker.com/we-asked-you-for-your-uber-score-heres-what-we-learned-1684124433 http://valleywag.gawker.com/we-asked-you-for-your-uber-score...
    - Steeeve 10y ago
      I recently read several discussions from uber drivers about passenger ratings. Many drivers will rate passengers 4 or below if they don't tip. And many drivers skip passengers 4.5 or below, some start skipping passengers at 4.6. I posted some quotes from the discussion below. I don't think it's about averages, it's about perception. Drivers know that they get fired at 4.6, and they know that most passengers and drivers give 5 star ratings regardless.
  - r00fus 10y ago
    That's a broken rating system. Why would 4.7 (a 94% score) be middling percentile? And I thought school grade and work title inflation was bad...

roel_v 10y ago

Never used Uber, what's the problem with someone knowing where you're going? Doesn't the app tell the driver before they pick you up? (Well I guess not, or they wouldn't call you...)

wiwofone 10y ago
The destination shows up when the ride starts (i.e. you get in the car). Calling beforehand is a an indication that the driver might want to cancel the ride if the destination is "inconvenient" (e.g. from city center to a remote suburb).
- eli 10y ago
  Or to a "bad neighborhood"
  - pc86 10y ago
    I don't know why you're using quote, there are legitimately dangerous neighborhoods that someone may not want to drive to at 2:30 AM. Granted, if that's the case, then they shouldn't be Ubering at 2:30 AM, but it's still a legitimate concern.
    - eli 10y ago
      At least in my experience, "bad neighborhood" more often than not simply means "black people live there."
      - pc86 10y ago
        At least in my experience, there are plenty of nice neighborhoods of mixed ethnicity and absolute shit neighborhoods regardless of ethnicity.
- turtles 10y ago
  This is a big problem with taxi drivers is australia. At 2am you'll be lucky to get a taxi home, because they change over at 3, so they don't like to go 10 minutes in the opposite direction. I'm glad there is the Uber alternative!

litso 10y ago

I've had this problem numerous times at LAX: driver will call then cancel when i tell them i'm not going downtown ($50) and instead to the west side ($15). I waited on the curb for an hour while 7 drivers canceled on me one after another. Uber will often give you a credit when you report this but they don't seem to be actually fixing the problem.