Uber driver says these 3 behaviors will get passengers a 1-star rating

Nothing annoys Uber driver Levi Spires much than a rider who makes him wait.

Riders don't person to make speech aliases extremity to gain 5 stars from Spires, who said he gives astir passengers the apical rating. If a rider keeps him waiting without an mentation aliases apology, that's different.

"That's a 1-star automatic each time," said Spires, who has completed much than 16,000 trips successful complete six years driving mostly astir Syracuse, New York. He's besides built a pursuing astir his acquisition down the wheel, producing a podcast, videos, and societal media contented astir net and rider behavior.

That 1-star standing whitethorn person consequences beyond Spires' car. Research suggests that your rider standing tin impact whether Uber drivers will judge your adjacent ride.

One study of 16 Uber drivers successful the Netherlands successful 2019 recovered that immoderate avoided low-rated passengers, viewing a mediocre standing arsenic a informing that the rider whitethorn misbehave. How debased is excessively low?

Spires said he filters retired riders rated beneath 4.9.

For further context, successful Australia, the mean Uber rider standing was 4.82 successful 2025, pinch awesome metro areas averaging betwixt 4.78 and 4.88 retired of 5.

Keeping Spires waiting isn't the only measurement to consequence a debased rating. The different behaviors that fuss Spires travel down to really passengers dainty his car — and how they dainty him.

If he arrives and you're not ready, the timepiece is already moving against him

Spires said Uber doesn't salary him for the first 2 minutes of waiting, past usually pays him $0.26 per infinitesimal aft that. (This complaint varies by location, market, and section regulations.)

That intends 5 minutes of paid waiting would gain him $1.30, and the hold costs him time he could walk earning money from different ride.

"My wide emotion is that passengers person nary thought that making america wait, moreover a fewer seconds, tin beryllium costly," Spires said. "If you make maine hold a infinitesimal aliases two, you're talking for illustration a 10%, 20% pay cut," Spires said.

Research has likewise recovered that waiting for rides tin return up a important information of ride-hailing drivers' moving time. A Cornell study of Uber and Lyft drivers successful Seattle recovered that, erstwhile logged connected and actively seeking rides, the emblematic driver spent astir 28% of their clip waiting for a thrust request.

The hold tin beryllium particularly frustrating erstwhile a rider has had clip to prepare, Spires said. He whitethorn walk 5 to 7 minutes driving to a pickup, while Uber sends the rider notifications that he's connected his way. By the clip he pulls up, he expects them to beryllium ready.

"You want to cognize why you got a bad rating? 90% of the time, it's because you're not opinionated retired location waiting for maine erstwhile I propulsion up," Spires said.

A rider leaves. Their smell mightiness not.

Spires besides takes pridefulness successful keeping his Tesla clean. He said he goes done the car lavation erstwhile aliases doubly a day.

Strong odors tin undo that activity quickly.

"Weed is really bad," Spires said. "People that fume weed, it infests your car."

After immoderate passengers get out, Spires said, he has to swipe down the seat, spot belt, and doorway handle. Strong pet odors tin linger, too.

Spires said smells tin transportation complete to the adjacent thrust if he doesn't person clip to cleanable betwixt rides, which tin time off the adjacent rider wondering wherever it came from.

Odors tin wounded his bottommost line. Spires said keeping the car cleanable tin bring a amended extremity from passengers..

Uber's argumentation says riders tin beryllium required to salary drivers up to $225 successful cleaning fees for qualifying messes, but unpleasant smells aliases odors unsocial aren't eligible for a cleaning fee.

He doesn't request a conversation. He does want a hello.

The 3rd behaviour has small to do pinch money aliases Spires' car.

Some passengers get successful while they're connected business calls, don't opportunity hello, and behave "as if you're a robot," he said.

Spires isn't asking them to walk the thrust chatting.

"Once we opportunity hullo and confirm, make oculus contact, you tin do immoderate you want," he said.

For Spires, a bully relationship doesn't person to impact a large tip. He recalled precocious picking up a female successful her 60s from a market store, wherever she worked the register, and driving her a mates of miles home. She tipped him $1. The travel costs astir $5, he said, making her $1 extremity each the much impressive.

"That's the champion extremity you get," Spires said.

Those kinds of interactions are portion of why Spires said he still enjoys driving. He sees an Uber arsenic a uncommon abstraction wherever strangers who mightiness different ne'er meet tin connect, whether done a profoundly individual speech aliases a little exchange.

He said passengers person talked pinch him astir death, breakups, politics, love, and more. Others hardly speak. "But moreover the quiet rides person meaning and value," he said.

Sometimes it's 2 a.m., jazz is playing, and the personification successful the backmost spot simply wants to get location safely, Spires said.