Uber Passengers Are Confused Why So Many Of Their Drivers Hated Them
Confused about your one-star ratings? You're not alone.
A new feature on Uber has left passengers scratching their heads over why they have so many one-star ratings.
The setting shows a numerical breakdown of how many times a rider has been rated on a scale of one-to-five, which was previously hidden until a software update last week. However, it seems the unspoken rule to rate your driver five stars unless the ride has truly gone tits up doesn’t always apply the other way round.
While obvious reasons — like being an asshole or nuisance — spring to mind, people who have never projectile vomited in the backseat, insulted their driver’s entire existence, or fiddled with the hand break mid-drive, are struggling to reconcile why their score is so low.
I want to speak to the 6 Uber drivers who gave me one star. I’m not angry I just want to talk. pic.twitter.com/T0h7GdZBVP
— harry x (@harryjonesxx) February 16, 2022
People Pleasers
From lovers who ghost, to teachers who pick on students for no reason — it’s the human condition to take offence at inexplicable personal affronts. While the new feature feels like a Black Mirror episode come alive, the ad hoc justifications for one-star rider ratings aren’t adding up.
“I swear I’m really polite,” 4.6 rated Cheyenne told Junkee. “I never slam doors, I’m always waiting and ready, and I engage in conversation if the driver wants to.”
“I only have two one-stars. I think one of them was because I fell asleep,” said 4.85 rated Ryan, who, if he had to hazard a guess about the second time, would pin it on his loudmouth friends. “I am of course still pissed about all my low scores,” he said of his two-to-four-star comparative ratings.
“I honestly think my 10 one-star reviews were just from the girls going from pre’s to a venue,” said 4.78 rated Jessie, speaking on behalf of all the riders who’ve copped the flack of being tasked with ordering the Uber on a night out.
Uber let’s you see the details of your ratings and I want to know what I did bad enough for one person to give me 2 stars but good enough to not get a 1 star.
— jeremy (Taylor’s Version) (@jeremywball) February 17, 2022
In a Twitter thread, Melbourne comedian Kirsty Webeck made the observation shared by many that she had “never done anything shithouse in an Uber” before, and yet, had racked up 12 one-stars.
The replies unveiled an old theory that some drivers penalise riders for taking short trips, which they can’t see until they accept the ride and pick their passenger up, to signpost to other riders not to waste their time.
Ratings have frustrating ramifications for riders as well — a battered score can mean the difference between being picked up or not, which at the bare minimum is a headache when in a rush, but can also impede a needed service for vulnerable members of the community who use Uber to get around.
Ruling On Discrimination
Without access to written comment reviews, there is no real way to explain why an Uber driver gives a rider a poor star rating. However, minority groups hypothesise that anything from getting into a car with a same-sex partner, to being a certain race might also play a role for some — but definitely not all — drivers.
“As a drag performer, I sometimes notice a sense of hostility or awkwardness from drivers that I don’t really observe when I’m not in drag,” said Sydney artist and 4.75 rated Amyl to Junkee. “There have been a couple of situations where drivers have cancelled upon arrival before I’ve even been able to get into the Uber too, so it often does feel like drivers aren’t sure how to deal with gender non-conformity, which likely contributes to my 15 one-star ratings.”
Personal bias in Uber rides has been raised before — in 2018, the Sydney Morning Herald posted an opinion piece questioning whether sexism affected Uber scores, nearly four years before riders even saw the individual star breakdown.
“There are societal expectations on women to be ‘nice’ so it seems possible women are more at risk of being given a lower rating for not making conversation or being chatty compared to men,” they published. “What’s even more disturbing is that women could be given a lower rating for not responding to drivers coming onto them.”
The Driver Perspective
It’s a tough ride for Uber drivers — who still aren’t considered employees, experience shift fatigue, and cop a lot of abuse and unfair treatment from passengers.
Jasper, who drove on-and-off for Uber for 18 months, told Junkee that its compulsory to rate every Uber passenger on the spot before accepting the next trip, while only optional for riders to rate their drivers.
“To be honest that might even be a flaw in the design in the app — that you’re not really encouraged to spend a lot of time thinking about that. It pops up, it’s bing-ing, and you’re driving, so I don’t know what you’re going to do but swipe right to pick up a fare,” he said. “It’s in your interest to move on as quickly as possible and give people five stars.”
“If I was made to feel uncomfortable, I wouldn’t want other people to feel that way…”
Overall, the large majority of people he picked up were polite, friendly, and nice. He’s only ever rated a passenger one-star once, and two-to-four stars a handful of times when people made problematics comments on the trip. “It’s quite a small place — a car — when there’s someone drunk and unpredictable,” he said of the former experience, describing an interaction with an intoxicated white guy that left him feeling uncomfortable.
“I never gave one-star for the fuck of it though. It wasn’t like I was subconsciously giving low stars only to women, for example. I never did that. But potentially other people may as drivers.”
Jasper stopped driving last year, but said he can’t recall ever being told by Uber what the guidance was for giving one-star ratings to passengers. While the criteria was abstract, he said when escalated to a complaint, the app offers space to share a reason such as changing the address last-minute, being disrespectful, not being in the right pickup spot.
“To be honest that’s why we have a rating system — to punish bad behaviour. Maybe it is petty but it’s warranted. We have a rating system for exactly that behaviour. Because if I was made to feel uncomfortable, and I wouldn’t want other people to feel that way.”
Community Guidelines
A spokesperson for Uber told Junkee that the new privacy centre ratings are meant to encourage riders to be mindful of their on-trip behaviour, and encourage common courtesy for all parties.
“Uber’s two-way rating system fosters mutual respect and consideration between riders and driver-partners. Just as riders expect driver-partners to treat them with respect, driver-partners hope to feel the same acknowledgement from riders.
“Uber has a zero tolerance approach to discrimination and behaviour of that kind can result in losing access to the platform. If anyone experiences discriminatory behaviour, we encourage them to report it so we can look into the report and take action.”
Given the two-way rating system is a reflection of the last 500 trips, it’ll be a long time before you average your rating back up. For the most part, it’s not the end of the world if a rider score drops from 5 down to 4.74, but it does raise questions as to how and why people unknowingly got there.
there's nothing my mental health needs less than seeing how many one star uber ratings i have
— hoops (@itsmatthooper) February 17, 2022
Millie Roberts is Junkee’s social justice reporter. Follow her on Twitter.