It's the same for restaurants in low-volume areas. That under-4-star death knell is a killer for sales.

On the other hand, I love perusing those 3-star restaurants as I find so many hidden gems covered in the tears of LLC owners and bored hostesses.

If I were a lesser man, I totally am, I would write a book concerning that social theory called the Star Divide.

I want to value 5-star ratings like this: 1 star = -3, 2 star = -1, 3 star = 0, 4 star = +1, 5 star = +3. Works the same for restaurant tipping: $0.02 = you should be fired and this place should be closed, 0% = you suck and I won't ever come back, 10% = you blew it this time, 15% = median performance, 20% = you did better than most, 20% and yes we will also order booze and/or desserts = you're at least 98th percentile.

I dislike systems that end up being like this: 1 star = -8, 2 star = -4, 3 star = -2, 4 star = -1, 5 star = 0.

I need to be able to express when things are good as well as when things are bad. When everyone and everything has a 4.5-star average rating, there's no way to tell when anything stands out as being better than similar things. You can only see when things are significantly worse.

What else matters when choosing a car hire?