I don’t have Uber installed on my phone. I mostly walk or take the bus/subway. This is just my observations as a pedestrian.
I almost always give 5 stars, but with the notable exception being distracted or aggressive drivers.
Sorry for ranting, I wish more people would give realistic ratings to things instead of starting with 100% perfect and decrementing for misses. It should start in the middle, 50% and go up or down based on experience. This would give a much better set of ratings that mean something.
If we didn't have this rating problem, 4.5 threshold would probably be much closer to the 50%.
Similar problem many professors face in schools with grade inflation. You are not holding any system accountable by using your own sensible scale instead of the one that matters, you're just punishing the student.
Its the same problem with the game industry has with reviews. If I were to market a game as "so and so" gave it 7/10 no one would care but if I say 9/10, 9.9/10 or better yet 10/10 than we have a marketing headline.
I wish more people would understand this.
problems now: we don't have enough flexibility to give 4 stars for a good but not perfect ride
No, it's a statement that the quality is what the customer would rate as a 4 on a 5 point scale. If Uber'a expectations of ratings are unreasonable based on the way it's customer base assigns ratings, then it is Uber, not customers, who should adjust.
If you think of the service as a means of conveniently getting to a given destination and not as a performance in artfully begging for a good rating, then 100% should not be too unlikely.
Once you start giving extra points for nonessential extras, a driver who is polite and always on time will get a lower average rating than one who is 20% unreliable but hands out warm towels and free cake.
The Uber driver who just moved to the city and doesn't know his way around without Google maps is going to have a difficult time in major metropolitans.
In fact it would be interesting to see how ride times compare between driven and driver-less Ubers. I suspect that initial results will show that driverless cars are slower and that this might make some people prefer human drivers.