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posted by martyb on Wednesday February 04 2015, @11:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-nice-to-be-nice dept.

David Streitfeld reports at the New York Times that people routinely use the Internet to review services from plumbers to hairdressers but now the tables are turned as companies like Uber are rating their customers, and shunning those who do not make the grade.

"An Uber trip should be a good experience for drivers too," says an Uber blog post. "Drivers shouldn’t have to deal with aggressive, violent, or disrespectful riders. If a rider exhibits disrespectful, threatening, or unsafe behavior, they, too, may no longer be able to use the service." It does not seem to take much to annoy some Uber drivers. On one online forum, an anonymous driver said he gave poor reviews to “people who are generally negative and would tend to bring down my mood (or anyone around them).” Another was cavalier about the process: “1 star for passengers does not do them any harm. Sensible drivers won’t pick them up, but so what?”

In response, some consumers are becoming more polite and prompt. "The knowledge that they may be rated is also encouraging people to submit more upbeat reviews themselves, even if the experience was less than stellar," writes Streitfeld. "When services choose whom to serve, no one wants to be labeled difficult." The result may be a Barney world says Michael Fertik referring to the purple dinosaur who sings, “With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you/ Won’t you say you love me too.”

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Wednesday February 04 2015, @12:58PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 04 2015, @12:58PM (#141111) Journal
    Rating for customers, wow! Who would have thought?
    I just can't imagine how come, for instance, ebay haven't yet implemented a buyer rating/feedback!
    Oh, wait...
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by hubie on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:07PM

    by hubie (1068) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:07PM (#141145) Journal

    And it will probably turn out as useful as eBay ratings. A colleague of mine bought a piece of "new" electronics. When he got it he said it operated fine, but it had some cosmetic issues and the interior smelled like smoke from a fire, not electrical, but like the device was in a building that had burned. Since the device still met his operational expectations, he ended up leaving a neutral rating because he felt the product description did not represent the product well. The seller ends up emailing him back, basically yelling at him for not giving him a gold star and threatening to give him bad buyer ratings if he didn't change is rating (my friend basically told him why he left the neutral rating and told him where he could shove his threats).

    I rarely use eBay, so I don't know if this "kiss my ass or I will rate you bad" attitude is still around, and though I do take ratings into consideration, I do also take them with a grain of salt (like I do on Amazon or anywhere else).

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by M. Baranczak on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:25PM

      by M. Baranczak (1673) on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:25PM (#141150)

      Happened to me too. I bought something, and it took them a month to ship it, so I left a negative rating. In response, the seller called me a liar and gave me a negative, too. According to this [ebay.com], Ebay dealt with the problem by disallowing negative ratings for buyers. Which kinda defeats the purpose of rating buyers; a better solution would be to hide the ratings until both parties are rated, or until it's too late to leave a rating.

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:25PM

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday February 04 2015, @03:25PM (#141151) Journal

      And it will probably turn out as useful as eBay ratings.

      Not probably, it's certain. You see, Uber's business model rely on sheer number of drivers: the more drivers it has in its books, the better (too low a number and the rest of the drivers will evaporate quickly). Which brings the situation closer to oversupply. As such, the consumer has an advantage: s/he has the money - so fucking rude/stinky or not, someone will be willing to offer him a ride.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford