Mohamed A. El-Erian , Columnist

What a Middling Uber Rating Might Say About You

It's an opportunity to gather useful information for improving personal and professional interactions.

November 21, 2017 at 7:00 AM UTC

Mohamed A. El-Erian is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A former chief executive officer of Pimco, he is president of Queens’ College, Cambridge; chief economic adviser at Allianz SE; and chair of Gramercy Fund Management. He is author of “The Only Game in Town.”

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A few days ago, I got a phone call from a puzzled friend who had just received an email from Uber detailing her interactions with the ride-sharing service, which she had joined in 2014. One number stood out: 4.5 out of a possible 5. How, my friend wondered, could this rating bestowed by Uber drivers be so relatively low (the vast majority of the people I know are in the 4.7-4.9 range, according to a rough survey I conducted), especially given the generous tips she regularly gives?

It was not an easy puzzle to solve nor, as it turned out, an easy discussion to have.