The majority of customers are great. They appreciate or at least they look like they do appreciate your services. Some are OK. And there is a small percentage of passengers that are just horrible people and terrible snitches. I am going to focus on the worst kinds of rider since they may cause you a problem. You cannot stress yourself about them; they sit there for several minutes enjoying your hospitality and they will be gone. You hopefully won’t see those low-life scumbags ever again.
Uber Ratings – A Big-Time Joke
First of all, the entire system of Uber ratings is a joke. Who has time in their busy lives to rate somebody based on a few-minutes ride? Nobody who is serious. And how accurate are they? For example, when I finish a trip, and then, on the page with the rider rating, I just swipe this to finish the trip to get to the next trip as soon as possible. I don’t have time to wage if one customer was better than another. Total waste of time. So, if you had a few bad ratings? Who cares? Probably people with no life or friends, maybe even without a pet, someone who wants to feel important by giving you a certain number of stars, playing the know-it-all game. Maybe they feel like Generals of the U.S. army or something. Forget them. Live your life.
Remember – you are doing them a HUGE favor by driving them and for cheap. Their entire family and all their friends abandoned them on the street in the cold and the snow or the sun, and you have rescued them by giving them a ride for the price of Starbucks coffee. And they feel like they have a right to complain and give you bad ratings? I don’t think so. They are very bad people. They should appreciate your favor instead of making you feel bad.
Uber Stars
I have a majority of five stars rides, but I have a few one-star rides. As a driver, I have no access to the database of my one-star rides so I cannot tell why I had a bad rating. Did I fart really loud during the ride? (Not that I am farting during my rides, of course.) Did I make wrong turns or went on a red light or accelerated too fast or too slow? No idea. I know that I didn’t put my car upside down. I would remember that. The good thing is that you probably won’t see them again. Since they gave you a one-star rating, your Uber matching system will exclude you from the drivers who can give them a ride in the future.
Types of Passengers
The Little Match Girl Who Can’t Afford Even Free Matches
Some of the passengers (especially from low-income areas) will give you the worst rating possible so Uber will void their fee and give them a free ride next time. Since it is done automatically by their system, Uber doesn’t really care what went wrong during your trip, and if anything even went wrong at all. You got the bad rating they got a free ride. It’s that simple.
At least the only good thing is you won’t lose the money you made on this trip, unless you get deactivated; then, you will lose the possibility to earn money.
The Prince and Princess
Another category of passenger is those demanding an extremely high level of service. Maybe they are some kind of movie stars I don’t recognize. They want you to pull over exactly where they stand, to wait for the ride regardless if you can stop there legally, open a door for them, and of course, remove your hat while making a deep bow. If you get this category of passenger, you are in big trouble. They will ruin your day. Guaranteed. They want this kind of service because they pay you their six dollars and twelve cents? In their mind, if you make a trip for this kind of money, you do not deserve better treatment. They will never leave you a tip. If possible, cancel the trip before it starts, for your own good.
The Control Freaks
Another category is control freaks. Some people have a preferred route to their destination. They will let you know this upfront. And that is OK. They will do it politely upfront instead of controlling every turn displayed on your screen. On the other hand, there are riders who will watch your route and the turns you have displayed on your phone and question every turn (usually not politely) the computer shows based on the estimate as an optimal route to reach their destination. They will ruin your day. 100%.
The Boor
Passengers without manners. I haven’t come up with a system on how to deal with them yet. It is beyond my comprehension. I wasn’t raised like that. They will enter your car without a simple greeting. They will sit down and… nothing. And it is not that they are cannot speak or they are mute. To my polite question confirming their name, they will simply ignore me. Just drive where they have requested and be happy when they have left. They will leave you a low rating too and sometimes a weird comment like you didn’t converse with them. Am I a circus monkey to entertain them and make them smile? I am a little bit different from the monkey as Darwin noticed a long time ago.
Bus with Personal Driver
Other people treat an Uber as an alternative for a bus. They bitch about surge pricing like this is your fault. Don’t pay attention to them. It is not your problem if they cannot afford a car or even a bus ride. They can walk. They will benefit from that. It is healthier.
Drunks
Drunk passengers. If a passenger falls asleep during the ride, do not touch them. Try to wake them up by talking to them. If you have trouble, call 911. Police will take care of him/her. They will call an ambulance if the passenger is unconscious. Do not leave them outside if is freezing. They will probably find you guilty of his/her death. I know you are not his/her babysitter, but the legal system is crooked. Nothing you can do about this. 911 services are the best solution.
Teens
Teenagers. They will hop in in quantities more than a car is capable of accommodating, even if you factor in the roof and trunk. Do not risk a ticket. Not worth it. Even if they say it is a two-block ride. So, for a minimum ride, you should risk a ticket, insurance increase and all that stuff associated with this? No way, José.
Sexual Freaks
Sexual freaks. I had two teenage girls a little under the influence of alcohol. They were claiming that it would be my ultimate ride. They were kissing the entire trip to their destination, looking for some reaction from me. Don’t pay attention to them. Leave them at the destination and run. You don’t want any accusations from their part. Could be very costly to hire a lawyer (they all want their cut regardless if you are innocent) and go through the entire legal process to prove you did nothing. Inside dash camera would be a good help.
The Hood
Shady area pickups. If you are in a shady area, turn off your Uber application and move to a different location. It is not worth risking your life, your health or your property. Not everybody living in those areas deals drugs or kills people, but the risk is too high. Hospital bills are high too.
The Happy Pet
High maintenance customers will usually call you while you are waiting for them to make sure that you are where you are supposed to be and waiting for them with your tongue out like a dog, moving your tail left and right.
So How Do I react?
If you sense a customer from one of the categories I mentioned above, just cancel the ride. Let them walk. They shouldn’t be your problem. $2.65 minus expenses is not worth your peace of mind to deal with them and at the end receiving a bad rating. It will cost more to deal with those kinds of people than the few dollars you make on the ride.
Tips were discouraged by Uber at the beginning of their operation. So today do not expect tips at all. If you get a tip on Uber, consider it a miracle. Tips are very rare unless people are on a business trip, and their company is covering the expenses, so they do not care. Unfortunately, Uber killed the tipping culture of the service industry.
I learned that the best riders are from the southern states. Really nice customers. Very good manners and this funny accent from the movies! Often on vacation or some conference – zero stress and no rush whatsoever. And they do not complain about the fare cost. Sometimes they might leave you a tip.