I took a Lyft ride a while ago as a pax. The guy pulled up in an early 2000s Detroit crapmobile, maybe an Impala or a Malibu. The thing creaked and banged and bounced over the potholes and had clearly seen better days. But the kid driving put in the effort; he was personable and really trying, and succeeding, to do a good job. So what his car was a piece of shit. I quickly got to the exact destination I had entered with no issues at all. I got a bargain ride at a cut-rate price. It would have been a total doosh move to rate this guy down just because his car wasn’t a pristine shiny late model vehicle. So he got 5* + tip from me.
All I had was a $10. I’ve worked the service industry, I feel for anyone who works where tips can make, or break your day (even if Uber says tipping isn’t required). I would have tipped less if I had smaller bills. The kid (young, college aged) was nice enough, sharp, good conversationalist, and drove smoothly, despite the car.
Look, I don’t expect an immaculate car, I don’t even care if it’s old, but I do expect a reasonably clean car, without odors. While that may seem like a lot, it’s really in line with the majority of UberX cars in my area (I’m no longer on the West coast), as most of the ones I’ve ridden have been clean, and mostly late-model. Here, UberX cars are generally in better condition than the cabs available.
It is my understanding the rating system is for the overall experience of the ride, which includes the driver (whom you liked) and the vehicle (which you didn’t). But it sounded like that you just don’t like Detroit type vehicles. That you got over your preconceived notion of American made cars and gave the driver a good rating and a tip.
I’ve worked in the service industry also. But if his vehicle was in as bad of shape as you described and that you gave him a two star, any tip was too much, imo. Your two star rating because of his car is basically stating his car is not up to standards and should not be driving. Much less driving for tips…
My reasoning for tipping the driver was the same as tipping a server who does a good job, but brings a sub-par meal. The server is doing a good job, and shouldn’t be punished for a back-of-house issue. In this case, the driver was doing his best with what he had.
You have no right to rate so low for the price you are paying, taxi cars are just as bad and charge what 2-3 times the price? Next time get a lux car if you don’t want to see bad cars in Uberx or cancel and request again until you get a better looking car.
Tips do usually trickle down to the front end of the kitchen, so your tips goes through the whole experience of the meal. If the server brings out a meal that is in disarray, sure the server didn’t make the meal but did serve it that way.
The server is at the end of the responsibility line. As to the student with the beat up car. I understand that he is trying his best but his best (his vehicle) is not up to standards. Time for a different way of making money.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a very generous tipper. Last night, I ordered Stella Artois three different times, $3.25 a piece, gave the bartender five bucks for the beer and the tip. A buck seventy-five for popping a cap, times three. Won $175 on video poker, gave her $15 for cashing in a ticket.
Well the question is, do you want him to lose his job over it? Why not just tell him in person that he was a great driver but he needs to clean his car? If you want him fired, give him a 1. If you don’t, give him a 5. Really, anything below a 5 means you want him fired.
I pay more attention to the 5 star comments because someone actually wrote them. The flags, like “navigation”…what does that mean? But if someone wrote “nice driver, but missed my exit due to changing radio station”. I’d know to change that behavior.
While I understand that it’s not the best analogy, I felt the tip was warranted based up the kid’s service. He was trying his best despite the car he owned. He was personable, sharp, and drove as well as he could with his car.
The quality of a cab depends on the business model of the cab company. Uber has nothing on us (which is driver owned) when it comes to a clean, well maintained cab. Other cab companies in the area are driving some real garbage.
I don’t think you did the kid wrong. Best part is because you tipped him, he’ll never know it was you that rated him down! He’ll think it’s the cheap punk that never spoke…
Yes 2 stars was very harsh, Passengers dont realize that if a driver only gets 4s from most of the Passengers he will be deactivated for low ratings. Passengers also dont realize that UberX driver is making pennies a mile to give you a cheap ride, UberX is one third the price of a taxi.
Well, I Hope he makes some money before deactivation. A rider opening a topic on such a matter is probably very considerate. Now if even those nice pax rate you low… man… what about all the a–hole pax the driver has. Must be pouring with reported issues and 1’s.
Still not the servers fault,