The Uber Greenlight Hub in Saugus. (Shari Small/WBZ NewsRadio)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Ride-hailing app Uber says they're going to start warning—and then banning—passengers who misbehave.
As a Boston-area Uber driver with nearly 10,000 rides under his belt, Rene has some passenger horror stories.
"There are passengers that will literally leave gum on the seat," he told WBZ NewsRadio's Shari Small. "I've actually gotten punched by a rider. You do deal with a lot of characters."
Just as riders rate drivers, drivers also rate passengers. Uber says it will now first warn passengers with below-average ratings, and if they don't start behaving, they'll be banned from using the app.
"That's a fair approach, because as a driver, if we fall behind a 4.5 rating, we get deactivated," Rene said.
He's very happy with the move.
"Passengers should be responsible for the way they act in a car," Rene said. "There's a lot of passengers, they think that just because they order the ride, that they own the car, and that's not true. We follow the guidelines that Uber sets up for us, and they should as well."
WBZ NewsRadio's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports