I have been driving Uber for over 3 years. My ratings are usually between 497 and 499. Below you will see tips for riders and drivers. Please note that I will add to these lists as I think of new tips.
Tips for Riders
Never approach an Uber vehicle until you are sure its stopped. Watch the eyes of the driver to see where he/she is looking.
Always approach the vehicle from an area where the driver can see you before you get in. He/she will want to confirm who you are before you get in.
There are three major reasons that I can think of why riders get cancelled. The first is drivers should not be allowed to work both the Lyft and the Uber platform together. If an Uber driver accepts a 5.00 ride that is 15 minutes away than that driver should honor that commitment. However, what happens is that driver gets another ride from Lyft that is only 5 minutes away and is worth 20.00. That driver will accept the Lyft ride and cancel the Uber ride. Now the first rider waited for nothing and has to start all over again. Its not fair to the first rider. Of course this happens vise versa too. Both Uber and Lyft drivers do this. The second reason for cancelations is riders don’t watch their phone for messages from the drivers. If a driver cannot reach a rider for whatever reason that driver will cancel the trip and move on. Especially if its busy. The third reason is because trips are accepted by accident. A driver is navigation an app or whatever on his/her phone when the ride comes through. The trip is accepted by accident. If the driver doesn’t like the ride he/she will cancel it. This can be stopped by Uber and Lyft not allowing a trip to be accepted the first second of the notification. However, neither has done that yet.
Tips for Drivers
You don’t have to let a rider in your car if they have drinks unless they are in unspillable containers. The rule is, if it can be dropped without spilling its ok. You should not allow to go cups, uncovered cups or glassware of any kind. Spilled drinks will not only put you out of business for the day. They will also stain your seats permanently in most cases.
You don’t have to give rides to riders wearing swimsuits. There is no legal or safe way to find out if their swimsuits are wet. Riders will lie to you because they don’t realize they will be charged for getting your seats wet. Anyone getting in your car with wet swimsuits don’t care about you or your next rider. You must assume that their swimsuits are wet and cancel the ride. Uber will charge for the cleaning of your seat(s) if they get wet. However, Uber will not charge for your loss of income that day because you have to wait for your seats to dry after cleaning them. You will also be doing the right thing for the next rider. If you get to your next ride after someone gets your seats wet you will not make the next rider very happy. Its not fair to them that their clothing should get wet. If they see the wet seats before they sit in your car they will most likely cancel the ride anyway. Now you have made them have to wait for a new ride which is also not fair to them. It could cost them their reservation, their flight or more money because the next ride they get will be a surge price that wasn’t a surge price the first time.
I send out a copy and paste text paragraph telling my prospective riders what my policies are. I tell them to text “cancel” if they have an issue with my policies. I then cancel the trip for them at no charge to them. If they agree to my policies then I tell them to text “ok”.