[Rebelgecko]

This happened to me. I had a 5 star rating until I started using Uber for work travel to/from a busy airport that I live close to. A driver could easily spend 20+ minutes getting to me before they could spend the 15 minutes driving me to my destination for $10. This tanked my rating down to around 4 stars for a while. I was relatively new to Uber so it was easy to check my rating after a ride and do the math to see when I was getting a 1 star review averaged into my rating.

I started tipping the drivers cash which helped, but then I realized it was easier to just use a taxi at the airport. It would only cost a few dollars more, and I wouldn't have to wait for the driver to get through 20 minutes of airport traffic to pick me up. I also didn't have to worry about my rating if I pissed off the driver (especially for short airport fares the drivers seem to like telling me that their credit card machine was broken. Argue with them a bit and the machine magically starts working).

[garganzol]

I heard of some Uber drivers who gave lower rating if a customer was paying by credit card. Seems to be local thing though.

[adamson]

How is that an effective repercussion without them also telling you that they're giving you a lower rating for that reason? Do they expect you to somehow intuit over time based on meticulously checking your score after each ride and doing the math?

[garganzol]

A lower score acted as a signal to other drivers signifying the fact that a specific customer tended to pay by credit card.

I found out by talking with some other drivers who revealed such a scheme. It was discussed on local passenger forums as well.