RIDEGURU
I recently received a go to the pin request for a pick-up. I went where Uber sent me! I sat outside a driveway where I went to waiting time. The phone rang , I picked up, and the client asked me where I was. I informed him that I was waiting on a dead end street in a cul-de-sac for him. He told me that he was at the Sunoco about 50 yards away - (through a backyard)! I told him, “I’m on my way!” When I got there ( about 3 minutes later), I told the client and his boyfriend/girlfriend that if he had put in an address, there wouldn’t have been a problem . The client was very mad! I got them to their destination Lickity - Split! The boyfriend/girlfriend told me everything was alright after I apologized for the misunderstanding. The client was still pissed off and I let it go , wishing them a GoodNight! The client’s boyfriend/girlfriend told me “Thanks!” Thatbeingsaid, when the client gave me a one-star rating for the trip, I feel that because the client was completely wrong that my only one-star review should be expunged! What do you think? Thank You!
You Know A Rider Is Gonna Give You A One-Star Review Because Of Something He or She Did - What Do You Do?
Posted 5 years ago
Posted In
Ask a Driver
Do you have questions for your Uber anad Lyft drivers? What about tips and suggestions? Whether you are a driver or a rider, share your comments here and get responses from real rideshare drivers.
Posted By
Louis Lingebach (Goodideasll)
221
Driver
Ride Apprentice from Plattsburgh NY
Plattsburgh NY Uber Driver
I Love Meeting People!
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Comments
Regardless of who was to blame, Uber doesn't change driver ratings anymore. They even refused to change my rating when I proved that a passenger discriminated against me in violation of the ADA, but the only canned response I received was that ratings are an average, bla, bla, bla...
If the passenger calls me before pickup and is in a bad mood, I eat a cancellation and let someone else pick them up. If I don't see the attitude until after they're in the car, I point out the pickup location on my tablet so that they know that I'm not the one to blame. If they give me grief, I throw their asses out of my car, give em' a 1* rating and message support with details.
Thank You RedANT!😊 I try my best and I don’t think it is fair when unhappy people try to piss me off!😊Thanks Again!😊
When that happens, I always explain to the customer that the GPS is only as good as THEIR PHONE. It has NOTHING to do with Uber's system. While some of that might hint of BS... i've found they generally accept my explanation and then i encourage them to be sure to "check" and see what address the GPS selected as their location, and then make corrections if it's off. HOWEVER, in your case, I think the dude was looking for a reason to one star you in hopes of a freebie... we'll never know his real motivation.
This customer was not willing to listen to anything, in fact, I am sure his girlfriend was very helpful avoiding what could have happened . Thanks for all of your kind , helpful advice Wes!🙂
Stand strong. You did the right thing. You gotta have pride in what you do.
The good news about the world? Most people are very good and these jerks are few and far between. We all get our one-star ratings sometimes, but we will squash them with all other 5-star ratings!
Thank You LCarpenter! I appreciate your words of wisdom! It does irk me to no end that a completely unverifiable incident can ‘ruin’ one’s good record!
I had a situation tonight with the "say my name thing" . I didnt give passenger an attitude. I just explained I would give her my name once she gave me hers. When she got in the car with her husband (who told her to be quiet). She demanded I explain "my rules". Of course I explained they were not my rules, its in Ubers TOS, its for my safety, the passengers safety, and they should be checking plate, color, make, model, and my pic is in the app. Husband kept trying to talk to her all the while agreeing with me. I did apologize even though I wasnt rude but I hate getting 1 star. My rating on Uber is a 4.95 and a 5 0 in Lyft. Although my ratings can take the hit I dont like it. I didnt like apologizing either as nothing was my fault. Sometimes we just need to be overly nice or apologize to keep the peace. Sometimes nothing you do works and they still complain. So if I get anything lower than 5 stars I know who is to blame. Did I mention they were both tras…
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I had a situation tonight with the "say my name thing" . I didnt give passenger an attitude. I just explained I would give her my name once she gave me hers. When she got in the car with her husband (who told her to be quiet). She demanded I explain "my rules". Of course I explained they were not my rules, its in Ubers TOS, its for my safety, the passengers safety, and they should be checking plate, color, make, model, and my pic is in the app. Husband kept trying to talk to her all the while agreeing with me. I did apologize even though I wasnt rude but I hate getting 1 star. My rating on Uber is a 4.95 and a 5 0 in Lyft. Although my ratings can take the hit I dont like it. I didnt like apologizing either as nothing was my fault. Sometimes we just need to be overly nice or apologize to keep the peace. Sometimes nothing you do works and they still complain. So if I get anything lower than 5 stars I know who is to blame. Did I mention they were both trashed? Drunk riders should be banned from rating us. Lol You did what you could just move on thankfully not all riders are obnoxious. Try not to let it bother you. I got so mad one night after rider gave false report I ended my night. Those types of riders are not worth the aggravation. It sucks that one rider can ruin your day.
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Thanks for the help Mom!😊’Try not to let it bother you.’ That’s the problem , I (and I am sure you and most of us), try to make everybody’s ride and everybody’s day GREAT but, when people are mean for a stupid reason or no good reason at all, it sticks in my brain and I must work seriously hard to get my nice-customer mojo back working! PS As Brendon says in the next post - maybe that’s why I need a big beer(bourbon) after my shift! Have A Great Day!😊
I've always said a rider can set the mood for a shift. When people complain or rate us low its hard not to take it personally. Especially when you try hard like you said when there are truly crappy drivers out there and these people couldve got stuck with them. I just got a 4 star probably from my drunks last night as i got tipped from rest of my trips. Just idiots csnt please everybody no matter how you try. Hope you next shift it a better one with nice riders and big tips. Stay safe🙂
So true->'can't please everybody no matter how you try.'
Thanks! I think your four children are very lucky to have such a nice Mom!😊
Awe so sweet. Thank you. I am the lucky one though best 4 kids I could ask for:) Although 3 are adults. 😊
What's the "same my name thing"? I assume it's when the driver or passenger asks for the name to identify the other person, but I didn't quite follow.
Are you saying that your passenger asked you your name first, but you had to ask them first? Does it matter who says the name first?
The only thing that protects the driver is knowing the person they picked up is the right person. If a driver pulls up and rider says "say my name" the driver says "Mike" rider says "yes thats me". We then take that person. The real Mike sees on his app that he was charged for an Uber that never showed. He then complains. Uber sends message "you picked up wrong rider" we took your fare. You just made $0 wasted time, gas, and missed other trips.
I say their name first they say yes thats me. As I pull away with a serial killer in my car (not really my rider he holds a gun to my head and throws my phone out the window. Takes me to a desserted area and chops me into little pieces and feeds me to the sharks. Uber sends cops to the account holders house he knows nothing because it wasnt him in my Uber. But my dumbass went with the rider saying "say my name" I didnt follow procedure. So now I am fish food and killer is free to do i…
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The only thing that protects the driver is knowing the person they picked up is the right person. If a driver pulls up and rider says "say my name" the driver says "Mike" rider says "yes thats me". We then take that person. The real Mike sees on his app that he was charged for an Uber that never showed. He then complains. Uber sends message "you picked up wrong rider" we took your fare. You just made $0 wasted time, gas, and missed other trips.
I say their name first they say yes thats me. As I pull away with a serial killer in my car (not really my rider he holds a gun to my head and throws my phone out the window. Takes me to a desserted area and chops me into little pieces and feeds me to the sharks. Uber sends cops to the account holders house he knows nothing because it wasnt him in my Uber. But my dumbass went with the rider saying "say my name" I didnt follow procedure. So now I am fish food and killer is free to do it again. Yes far fetched to a point. No sharks in my area. Drivers only have a riders name to somewhat protect us. Riders have our name, pic, license plate, color, make, model of our car. They can also see when we pull up. It also protects rider from someone highjacking their Uber it happens. Now its bad enough we only have their name but Lyft especially lets riders use fake names D!#@Sw@//0wer, cindarella, badass, killer, etc... We all know Lyft and Uber dont care if we are chopped up and served to the sharks but our families do.
If rider checked that everything matches whats in their app then say "hi I am Queen Bee" we can say say yes Queen Bee i am your driver Monica. We are all happy, we can get Queen Bee home safe and sound and we can go do this all over again with the next rider named Douchebag.
Dont mean to poke fun or make light of what happened to that young woman but want to get home safe to our families also. We cant carry weapons. Riders can carry whatever they want who will stop them, who will know, and even after they chop us in little pieces and the sharks digest the pieces. Uber or Lyft will not deactivate them. Uber and Lyft want their business. Not trying to be a smartass but as ridiculous as this post sounds its true. So riders please look at your app. We actually have profiles, notes, and badges you can look at also. You can tell our personalities and if we are jerks or nice by looking at notes and badges. Please dont make us "say your name first". Just makes for a miserable ride, less than 5 stars for both, and some drivers may cancel and leave you there. Thanks for asking this questions it may help other riders.
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Very well said Mom, Thank You for educating me (and I am sure, others) so eloquently! I have learned a lot from you and I am quite Thankful! A big thumbs-up 👍!
Hey GoodIdeas, btw my name is Monica:) I have a video I would like to share with you. Going to try and put link here but my tech schills are little to none:)
http://www.youtube.com/c/RideshareDriverDustin
Was able to copy and paste the channel on YouTube but dont know how to put link up for the specific video.
Name of Video - Uber Rider Tries To SCAM Me For A Free Ride.
He does some really good videos. He isnt annoying, not always negative, and actually drives. I think you will appreciate and laugh at this video (parody)
Hope you enjoy.
The family had good intentions to try to help others .Unfortunately not thinking about the driver. No one ever does. Of course they are devistated and are only trying to help others. Very understandable. This is where Uber and Lyft should step in to make it clear on procedure. Let people know the driver cant give name first. It is in driver and rider TOS but who reads that:) I know I didnt, big mistake. I made every rookie mistake out there. You live and learn. Thankfully I learned:) I had an issue the other night on Lyft with them adding a rider while I still had a rider. Was totally unaware until that rider called me. I explained i was not driving anymore after I dropped off current rider as I had been on road for awhile. I cancelled now Lyft is trying not to pay me for the rider that I did take. It was a 53 min ride not sure of miles at the moment. Probably a 32.00 trip. I have all the screenshots of the trip and took screenshots at dropoff. I am fine with them not paying me for th…
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The family had good intentions to try to help others .Unfortunately not thinking about the driver. No one ever does. Of course they are devistated and are only trying to help others. Very understandable. This is where Uber and Lyft should step in to make it clear on procedure. Let people know the driver cant give name first. It is in driver and rider TOS but who reads that:) I know I didnt, big mistake. I made every rookie mistake out there. You live and learn. Thankfully I learned:) I had an issue the other night on Lyft with them adding a rider while I still had a rider. Was totally unaware until that rider called me. I explained i was not driving anymore after I dropped off current rider as I had been on road for awhile. I cancelled now Lyft is trying not to pay me for the rider that I did take. It was a 53 min ride not sure of miles at the moment. Probably a 32.00 trip. I have all the screenshots of the trip and took screenshots at dropoff. I am fine with them not paying me for the 2 min .5 miles at end of trip (thats when I supposedly cancelled). The rest they better pay me for. Going to call if that dont work Ill go to hub. I am fairly new on Lyft. So I am not turning app off after I accept ride so they cant add on. Will turn back on after dropoff. When they add rides like that we see no name, no pic, no rider rating. I want no part of picking anyone up until I at the very least see name and rating (pics not always there). They say we can choose to decline but yet they add and we have to cancel. Happy that my post help. Sorry about the length of post but I always have a lot to say. 🙂 Be more than happy to help you if you need it. I met another rideshare driver who dont live far from me here on ride guru. He has given me the confidence to drive where I never of thought I would go. Given me great tips on where to drive. We work together testing new spots and doing research on when and where to drive. During the week we text and he listens to me complain. Lol Prior to meeting him I didnt know anyone in my area that drives. My family gets tired of my stories:). Sometimes just need to vent or I may want his opinion on a ride. On day he drives I dont feel so alone out there. Lol Sometimes we end up at same spot so we talk til we get a ride. Its a lonely job. Nice to have a "partner"(sort of) that knows what its like to be an Uber driver. 🙂. Its not so lonely and boring at times. Happy to help anyway I can.
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You’re very kind Mom for everything you do and write! Your driving mate seems to be a Godsend! I have only been driving a short while and I have been learning most of what I know through my passengers! I am in a small town where most of our earns are $3.66 trips. It seems to be a rough way to make money. If it weren’t for the enjoyment I get out of talking to my customers I wouldn’t have made it this far! There is no support and what official Uber support I tried to get did not work out! They lied and/or did not care about our little piece of nowhere in the world! (PS. Our hub is in Buffalo - about 5 hours away, I think!) I have been leery to approach other Uber drivers thinking that they may not like me crowding their territory - but you have been Winderful for all of your help and I Thank You Very Much!😊
While I agree with other posters that some customers are jerks and you should do what's right, this is a customer service business like retail or restaurant. Sometimes you just suppress your pride and feelings, take the "customers' always right" approach, and defuse the situation for the sake of the business.
I've worked in a restaurant business for 20+ years and manage 50+ employees. I have faced enough nasty customers. I do not go out of my way to prove them wrong (as much as I'd like to), I swallow my pride, listen, and "resolve" the situation. That includes apologizing to mean (and often wrong) customers and giving away free food. These people will not learn their lessons from me and it isn't my responsibility to teach them a lesson. I want to protect my staff and the reputation of my restaurant, and I take that as a part of my job as a leader. (Also, those Yelp reviews hold a lot of weight.) For my few minutes o…
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While I agree with other posters that some customers are jerks and you should do what's right, this is a customer service business like retail or restaurant. Sometimes you just suppress your pride and feelings, take the "customers' always right" approach, and defuse the situation for the sake of the business.
I've worked in a restaurant business for 20+ years and manage 50+ employees. I have faced enough nasty customers. I do not go out of my way to prove them wrong (as much as I'd like to), I swallow my pride, listen, and "resolve" the situation. That includes apologizing to mean (and often wrong) customers and giving away free food. These people will not learn their lessons from me and it isn't my responsibility to teach them a lesson. I want to protect my staff and the reputation of my restaurant, and I take that as a part of my job as a leader. (Also, those Yelp reviews hold a lot of weight.) For my few minutes of embarrassment, I get to save the establishment and my team's reputation. Hey, I will take it.
This isn't why customer industry isn't for every one. as to how much of this applies to Uber driving? I don't know! You be the judge. I will say one thing though... There are drivers whom I met who definitely should not be in the customer serving business. Just sayin'.
Lastly? When I get off my shift, I am no pushover on the streets!
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Hi RebTrice, Thank You for your kind words but what do you do when you have swallowed your pride, apologized and tried your best to do the right thing and the rider still gives you one star? I know the answer, we try to forget it, ‘try’ being the operative word. Thanks again RT!
Maybe a Moderator can help me out by changing the ‘He or she dia’ to ‘He or she did’ in the thread title! Thank You!😊
Are you on FB Goodideasll?
Not on Facebook - am lucky to figure out how to answer my phone!😊PS You May call me Lou - I never liked Louis!😬
Thank you. Have some info but rather not go back and forth in forum. I just created this enail. If you do email Ill give you my real email address:) Can you email? If so email me [email protected].
Done!
Ippei to the rescue!
Thank You Ippei - You Are AWESOME!😊
This is a real good question and a very real scenario.
I'd say you cancel it. You can avoid a one-star rating if you cancel before a pickup. This isn't your fault. You are just playing under the rules set by Uber. I wouldn't blame you at all.
I would contact Uber support and I am sure that they will disregard the one star rating
As hard as it is I agree with the "the customer is always right approach". It is so hard to bite your tongue and admit fault when that is not the case but I have only had grumpy customers change their attitude when I have killed them with kindness
Ugh, that is so frustrating. I completely agree that Uber needs to look into some of the 1 start ratings and hear from the driver's side. Some riders are just cranky people who never rate well.
Another question, for you and others Chelly - How are we supposed to ‘wow’ or impress our riders when they’re 100% engrossed in their electronic devices?
What a great question.
I don't have a great answer. LOL. I have more than 2000 rides, and I still don't know.
Those are the rides I try to not think about and reason I need a big pint of beer at the end of a shift.
Thanks for the kind response Brendon - you made me smile with the big pint of beer at the end of shift line!😊Very True!😊
They need to start giving gift cards you can use at auto shops to assist in vehicle maintenance.