Rating everything from your Uber driver to Airbnb host has become a nightmare

> Some people, initially excited by the convenience of the sharing economy, may have now experienced the anxieties and pitfalls of navigating the rating system, Belk said.

This is exactly why I hesitate to use Uber or any other apps that allows rating.

When I was in US, I had to depend on ride sharing for 3 months since USCIS was finding all sorts of reasons to delay visa extensions for Indians thereby preventing me from renewing my license. I rarely carry cash with me. On my first Uber ride, I saw the driver had a tip jar with some cash and a note saying 'tips are welcome'. I told him 'I will tip in app' which, as I later found out from /r/uber, was a grave sin. My rating was 4.9 before and came down to 4.82. I followed everything that I saw in internet: wait for driver at an easy to find spot, say hello and engage in small talk despite being really miserable because of visa issues, ensuring I don't smell (I bath twice a day, wear deo, always fresh clothes), close the door gently, no touching anything in car and so on. I absolutely hated it when my rating again dropped to 4.74 (most likely because I used Uber after grocery purchase, I had 6 bags and tipped in app). After that, I used mostly Lyft for almost 1.5 months because I won't at least see my rating. At some point, I started tipping in cash in Uber whenever I couldn't find a Lyft. By the end of 3rd month, my rating came back to 4.9.

I had couple of bad experiences with Uber-one guy dropped me and wife in the 4th lane of a 5 lane road while waiting in a signal, one lady left the rear windows open while driving at 70 mph, one had really loud music with a weird navigation voice, another yelled at me because I wasn't standing at the proper block in New York and didn't know how to tell him where I am (I was a tourist and thought gps would be accurate). I still rated all of them 5. But the Uber drivers seemed to be looking for any reason to rate me less. Normally, I wouldn't have cared, but if /r/uber is to be believed, drivers would reject rides from 4.7 and below especially at night.

I really hated the whole experience, and I try to avoid these kind of apps whenever possible. Same reason I don't use Swiggy (like Uber Eats) any more. The delivery guy rated me 3 out of 5 in front of me because he wasn't happy with my directions to find my home.