Why My Rating Is Going Down

As the pandemic fades for the fourth time -- dear God in heaven, let it be the last -- and anti-maskers become more and more militant, the plain and simple fact is that driver ratings are at risk. Probably not just mine. Here's why.

1) I can reject a non-compliant passenger. But I'm probably not going to.

It costs me money and folks, I rideshare for money.

So if I take a passenger who isn't wearing a mask, and then note it in the post-ride comment... well, the passenger is going to know. And likely take vengeance.

I've had passengers lie and tell the platform that I wasn't wearing a mask -- and yes, that's never happened, not once. I'm extremely obsessive about this sort of thing. But, well, tit for tat seems to be a thing for a lot of folks.

2) Prices are all over the place.

And, well, that doesn't lead to happy passengers. (How could it? And yes, some people seem to think the driver can summon surge pricing. As if.)

3) Pick up times are all over the place.

The pandemic, you might have heard, really took a big number of ride share drivers off the road. Which means that there are times when it seems like I'm the only provider for dozens of miles at certain hours of the night... and if the passenger has been waiting for a really long time, a disturbing amount of them will decide the driver must be to blame someone. (Yeah, this doesn't make sense.)

Fun fact: if the passenger gives me three stars, or vice versa, we won't be paired together again. So maybe don't be so quick with that decision, especially if you aren't finding a lot of coverage as is...

4) Drivers aren't happy. 

Maybe I'm just projecting, but my hourly take has been more inconsistent than at any time in the past five years of doing this hustle. Part of that is that the tipping classes -- riders where we used to touch luggage but don't any more, people wining and dining, airport rides -- were disproportionately cut by the pandemic. Add that to the longer drive times and angrier passengers, and you can see why it's just not a good time.

5) Passengers aren't happy.

Again, maybe I'm projecting -- but my current ratings have 2-3X more unhappy people (OK, 2-3X a very small number) who don't give me the five stars... but also won't give a reason why. Leading us back to point #4...