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Comment by sushid | Hacker News Reader

Yes, very much so. Have you seen the drivers' ratings? They usually hover around 4.8-5.0. If you're rated below 4.7 for both Lyft and Uber, I believe you're either on 'probation' or removed from their service.

You accidentally rating someone 3 for an average service can actually cost them their job. I'm hoping their algorithm uses some sort of a weighted average to offset the ratings of individuals such as yourself who consistently rate very low.

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Well I didn't accidentally rate them a 3 - I picked a median score for standard service. I don't remember being told to do anything else when I signed up. If you rate 5 by default where do you go for truly special service?

Shouldn't it be the service's responsibility to determine what you are rating as a median score and then recalibrate your scores to their drivers?

i.e. If I always rate 3, but sometimes rate 1; then that might be similar to someone always rating 5 but sometimes rating 1-3.

> i.e. If I always rate 3, but sometimes rate 1; then that might be similar to someone always rating 5 but sometimes rating 1-3.

Ah, but then a user might throw an Internet Fit(tm) and cause a public outcry about ratings being manipulated by Uber etc. etc.

There's no way to easily verify how companies are actually calculatign the displayed ratings, and I doubt the average user would care or be savvy enough to find out. I assume it's a given most services see the input ratings as a personal indicator modulated by how reliable/benevolant/... each user is. Reddit votes, for example, are fairly nonlinear and visibility priority is even more complicated.

What does "truly special service" even mean for an Uber ride? Breaking traffic laws for you? Being especially friendly? Owning a very expensive car?

There are a lot of ways in which a ride can be unsatisfactory (smelly, creepy, crappy car, poor driving, loud music, etc.) but not that many in which it can be exceptional. Unless they show up in a Tesla Roadster or something.

Being especially friendly, accommodating and efficient in their driving, yes.

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