So, you’ve just taken a private-hire car and after the trip, the app prompts you to review the driver. One question I always had was, “Are Uber ratings anonymous?” Will the driver know how I rate them?
Brushing that thought aside, what would you do? Give it an average (three stars), an above-average (four stars) or just tap on the five-star rating, since there’s no incident with the driver?
Here’s something you need to know before you tap on any of the stars: your review plays a big role.
And average isn’t three stars. It’s five stars.
Drivers Earn Through Incentives
Firstly, you’ll have to understand how the drivers earn: other than the fares, they earn from special incentives as well, which they just call “incentives”. These incentives change regularly; for example, if you clock 40 trips from Friday to Monday (anytime), you can be entitled to an incentive of $260.
This is the reason why some drivers stick to one car-hailing app, as going for two might dilute the total number of trips in one app, leading to the loss of incentive.
And drivers do chiong for these incentives—this is the reason why certain drivers don’t mind short trips, as they can clock more trips and earn the incentives.
It doesn’t take a genius to know that the incentives have been getting less attractive, with many pioneer drivers seeing their earnings drop by more than 20%. Now you know why, despite more passengers and more surge pricing, PH drivers are making less.
Now, here’s the thing: in order to get the incentives, the minimum number of trips isn’t the only requirement: you also need a minimum rating. The last I know, you need a minimum average rating of four stars to qualify for the incentives.
So, imagine how a driver will feel if he has been working so hard for the incentives only to have it forfeited because all his passengers decided to give an “average” review.
That’s not the worst. Imagine the driver losing his job simply because you decide to give an “average” review.
A Driver’s Rating Matters
The thing is, if a driver’s rating is below a certain number, the app will be deactivated — in other words, he or she loses his job immediately.
According to YouTuber Roger Ng, the average rating to stay in the job in Singapore is 4.3. Just so you know, that’s the 2016 rating – we don’t know if it has decreased or increased, but you get the idea.
Before you reach this paragraph, you were probably thinking that it’s not easy to get a rating of four stars, weren’t you? Now, imagine that you’ve to keep an average of 4.3 stars just to keep your job.
Think back on how you rate your driver now. Do you honestly think average means average now?
Do yourself, and the hardworking drivers, a favour: give a five-star rating. It means nothing to you but everything to the driver.