When I see a five star system, my default rating is a 3, unless there's something that sways it in some other direction. Why would the default rating be the very top of the scale?! Then you can't reward excellence. The median trip certainly is not "excellent". YouTube recognized this awhile ago and went to the better "thumbs up/thumbs down" system.
Yeah, but you are forced to rate every Uber ride. If I'm being forced to rate something I'm indifferent about, I'll go with the indifferent option every time, namely, the middle of the scale. Most restaurants I'd never bother rating (they'd implicitly be getting ~3s); it's only the ones that I really loved or hated that I'd bother rating, and then likely with a 1 or a 5.
The only Uber rating I actually ever cared about was a terrible unsafe driver who got into a yelling match with another driver who I gave a 1 and then wrote a lengthy report about. Every other rating has been mostly indifferent, just a ride from one place to another.
