What can happen after an Uber Ride - Guide and FAQs

Some features are available to passengers after a ride, and they include rating, tipping, getting a receipt, which leads us to add an explanation on dynamic pricing.

Driver Rating

This is perhaps one of the most critical features in the app since it directly affects drivers. It is essential to understand ratings correctly, so we will now provide an in-depth analysis of ratings and why you must always rate a driver five stars unless the trip was diabolical.

  1. Ratings are a double-edged sword, passengers rate drivers, and drivers rate passengers.
  2. Ratings are anonymous; no one knows who rated what.
  3. Ratings under five stars demand a mandatory explanation, and it is important to be succinct.

Rideshare driving is, in fact, a private driving service, where a person with a car, going to work, or as a full-time driver, offers their car to transport passengers to and from their destinations. With a part-time driver, this means on the way to work, after work and sometimes on weekends. With a full-time driver it means the same as a taxi service with one difference, the car is the private property of the driver, and he is not a taxi service.

Uber drivers must meet specific requirements before driving for Uber, and these conditions demand that the driver offers a safe, polite and efficient service. The cars are all met by requirements set by Uber and will include extras specifically added to ensure a more pleasant ride. Drivers vary as all people do, and the cars also differ in what they offer during the trip.

When rating a ride, it is essential to consider all the following points:

  1. Punctuality; was the driver on time to the pickup point.
  2. Cleanliness; is the clean car outside and inside
  3. Comfort; is the care comfortable
  4. Extras; did the vehicle come with extra options, such as entertainment, blankets, pillows, booster seats, umbrellas, vomit bags, etc.
  5. Efficiency; was the driver efficient in the ride, navigating correctly and arriving at the destination point on time
  6. Problem Solving; if the ride hit a snag that was not the driver's fault, such as bad weather conditions impeding the trip, road works or accidents not on the GPS or known to the driver, traffic re-direction, etc.
  7. Patience and Sociable; was the driver courteous and sociable, taking into account all your needs but none that would affect his driving.
  8. Pool Driving: this gets a special notice, if you take a pool ride, you must consider the fact that the driver is not responsible for the other passengers or their behavior. Don't blame the driver for any pool ride problems unless he was impatient or driving unsafely.

As you can see, the rating must be balanced, when considering your expectations and the reality of ride-sharing.

Now a word on the actual rating system. Uber employs an unusual rating system, anything below five stars is terrible, anything below 4.6 stars is terrible and possibly a death sentence for a driver. Drivers will be de-activated for low ratings.

Driver ratings update once every 500 rides; recently it was changed to 100 as a pilot to see if this would help in managing fluctuations. However, this is not the real issue. Most passengers don't realize that a 4-star rating is worse than bad, it was awful. So, when you get into a car, if the drive was average and above, please rate the driver five stars. If the ride was below average, price it accordingly, but try not to go below four stars.

If you rate below 5-stars you will be required to leave feedback, now this is imperative for your benefit and future comfort. Drivers cannot improve if they don't know what to improve. So you must pinpoint what was not good. You don't need to type in a whole story, it's enough you write something like "Car was not clean" or "car smelt of old socks" or "the driver was constantly angry at the traffic." By giving a proper and concise description, you are helping the driver to improve. The next time you take a ride, you hope the driver is the best you can find.

Final word: when being matched with a driver, check out his rating, it will give you an indication of their level, however, also take into consideration that sometimes the rating doesn't reflect the driver's true nature since many passengers have not yet fully understood the rating feature. Also, remember, you have a rating too, drivers see yours and can decide to take the ride or not based on how you have been rated before.

Dynamic Pricing

Uber uses a dynamic pricing system to calculate the fares. Here is the pricing breakdown:

Base Fare: this is the flat fee that Uber charges for each ride, it varies according to the car category UberX, Uber Black, SUV, etc.

Cost per Minute: This is what Uber charges for every minute from the moment the ride begins. It takes into account traffic and other circumstances that can cause a ride to take longer than expected.

Cost per Mile: This is what Uber charges for every mile drive. Drivers usually take the fastest route, but when traffic or other instructions are foreseen, they will choose a different route. Uber charges for the shortest distance in a pre-quote fare.

Booking Fee: This is an extra fee that Uber charges to cover its operational costs. It is not included in Uber Black and SUV fares.

Surge Price: This is an additional multiplier that is added when there is a lot of strain in the system, basically a supply and demand function. So if you are in a surge area, your overall fee can multiply by up to x3.

Tipping: This is purely optional, while there is an Uber tipping platform, the passenger can give the driver cash at their discretion.

The Fare is calculated like this:

  • Base Fare + ((Cost per minute x time of the ride) + (cost per mile x ride distance) x surge boost multiplier) + booking fee = Passengers Ride Fare

Minimum Fare

There is a minimum fare rate that is set to assure a certain level of income for the Uber driver. This varies per city and is based on the above calculation being no lower than the minimum fee. If the total is lower than the minimum price, then you will be charged the minimum price.

The fare you see in your ride estimation is based on the above calculation and takes into account all the current variables to deliver a price as close to the real rates.

Dynamic pricing is employed since it helps speed up the matching process and pickup times. Dynamic pricing includes the "supply and demand" ratio at the moment of the request; this is what is called surge pricing. The higher the demand and the lower the number of drivers available will raise the price and in some cases can triple it.

If your fare is high due to this factor, you will see it in the pre-quote or upfront fare pricing you get when making a request. Upfront fares show you a fare before you take the trip, you can accept this fare, and it will be what you will be charged irrelevant of the actual ride outcome, or you can defer to the price of the ride based on the real journey.

In some cities there are no upfront fares, so you will only pay what the actual ride costs. After the ride, you get a receipt in the app.

Tipping

This is another crucial issue with drivers, especially drivers that are rated highly by the passenger after the ride and also with problematic passengers, such as drink ones.

Passengers can tip a driver either in cash or by the app. The tipping screen comes after the rating screen. You will be directed to a tipping feature which allows you to choose between three options:

  1. No tip
  2. Tip a preset amount, usually provided in two circles
  3. Set your tip, you choose what to pay.

Trip receipts

After all, rides are over; Uber sends a receipt to your email. If you don't receive receipts, you can access them either by checking your spam folder or by accessing them in the app.

  1. Choose "Your Trips" in the Uber app menu
  2. Pick the trip you want to check out
  3. In the trip, you will see the route, pickup, and destination
  4. If you tap "receipt," you will get the breakdown of the trips fare.

If you didn't receive the receipt in your e-mail, check the email that is registered to the account, if its OK, then go to Uber.com and choose "My Trips" from the site menu and press the "resend" button to have the receipt sent to your email account.

Recurring Charges

Uber does not charge automatically, only per ride.