Questions and Answers

Hey Folks!

So – Recently I have had a few bizarre Uber rides. The driver wanted to eat during the ride, the driver wanted to talk on the phone during the ride, or something to that effect that involved a little concentration on another aspect other than driving.

I don’t live in a very busy neighborhood and the fact that I am asking this question proves that I reached home safely. My question is how do you rate the driver in this case. I think to myself, well in my own professional life, I do make mistakes and I surely want to be forgiven if someone catches it. In that case just lets give them a 5. But at the same time, this type of behavior can cause serious issues for someone else if not me. Can you travel gurus shed light on this?

Thanks!

In my opinion that is a personal question and the comfort threshold varies by person.

I live in a very busy area and there is always a lot of traffic involved almost all the time. I use Uber on a weekly basis to/from the airport.

I usually try to engage in a conversation with the driver to a moderate extent. If they do not respond that is totally fine with me. Same applies the other way around as well. If I am tired to talk, I politely tell them I want to relax.

If the driver is snacking that is fine for me. But if he is very busy eating that’s when it turns awkward. Also I had drivers eating a burger in hand, slurping soda throughout. That is outright unprofessional in my opinion.

If the driver is not good at speaking English that is OK for me. But if they are rude then I hate it.

Same applies to phone talking as well. If they are taking a call or two for quick conversation that’s ok, if they are on the phone forever and if there is a lot of traffic I am concerned.

I’ve had great to OK to avg to really bad rides. I usually give 5 star anything except for really bad rides.

Whenever I want to rate low, I usually don’t rate immediately after the ride. I take few hours to rate. If I hate my ride even after few hours, I have no qualms in knocking off few stars.

Again it is very personal and those are my boundaries. You may encounter lot of different situations though!