Ratings are a critical part of the whole Uber experience, since riders and drivers get to review each other so they theoretically want to be on their best behavior. Neither party wants bad ratings, and Uber is rolling out a feature that should help you understand why a driver may give you a rating that’s less than the desired five stars.
The new feature will show you what you’re doing wrong as a rider. Getting four stars or less after a ride will now come with additional explanations that thankfully don’t require actual real-life confrontations with the driver.
The next time a driver selects a four-star rating or lower, he or she will get a “what went wrong” prompt which will encourage the driver to offer an explanation. Reasons like “wait time,” “patience,” “number of riders,” “attitude,” “wanted new route,” or “other,” will be available to the driver, The Verge notes.
However, riders won’t receive instant feedback after a driver selects one of these options — well, aside from the average rating change they might notice. But if an Uber user gets the same “tag” twice within 30 days, a notification will pop up in the Uber app to tell him or her what is affecting the rating.
The new feature is apparently meant to improve UberPool, which is where drivers and riders may get into more frequent disagreements over the Uber experience. Riders become annoyed by the extra pickups, while drivers see no incentives in pay.
The Verge explains that Uber is taking additional measures to improve UberPool trips for both driver and riders. Drivers will be offered an additional flat fare for each extra passenger they pick up, and rides should get faster thanks to routing improvements (20% fewer turns) and “dynamic drop-offs” (stops at the closest corner rather than a specific address).
