From funky costumes to unexpected fluffy companions, rideshare drivers are full of surprises. However, so are the passengers, and as Reddit user smkAce0921 learned, they’re not always pleasant.
In a post on the platform’s ‘Malicious Compliance’ forum, he explained that a couple of years ago, when he was Ubering, people started increasingly employing a scheme that was meant to get them out of paying a significant portion of the journey cost.
Not to be outdone, the Redditor began fighting back at the dirty practice.
Bad-mannered passengers can be a nightmare for rideshare drivers
Image credits: Airam Dato-on (not the actual photo)
So after this guy had one too many, he decided to take matters into his own hands
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Zura Modebadze (not the actual photo)
Image source: smkAce0921
Rideshare drivers must prioritize their safety and well-being
Image credits: Ketut Subiyanto (not the actual photo)
You’d think that the in-app rating systems would prevent such incidents. But arguments have been made that they’re ineffective.
In June 2023, the Wall Street Journal announced that the average Uber passenger in the U.S. was a 4.9 out of 5.
Apps introduced ratings to reward high performers and help users with making choices but instead, marks have become almost meaningless.
Confusion over what constitutes 5-star behavior combined with the guilt of potentially hurting someone has people defaulting to perfect scores — rating padding is particularly rampant for services involving personal interactions.
Just like the children in the fictional Lake Wobegon, everyone is “above average.”
Uber riders in New York had the lowest average across the country—4.8.
But news from the Big Apple often makes you question the validity of this figure.
For example, in February 2020, a trio of passengers in Queens allegedly left an Uber driver in a coma when they sucker-punched him for asking them to stop drinking alcohol in his car. A year later, another Queens driver was reportedly left in critical condition after a group of strangers bashed him in the head with a bottle.
Although smkAce0921’s experience wasn’t as extreme, it underscores the importance of standing up for oneself.
As the story went viral, its author joined the discussion in the comments and provided more information on the whole ordeal
His post has received plenty of different reactions
