Like your Uber driver? He might not like you

If you've ever had a hard time getting an Uber ride, there might be a literal fault in your stars.

It turns out that Uber drivers are giving their own star ratings to passengers, and not everyone is coming up smelling like a royal pine car freshener. With every ride, drivers give their passengers a score based on a five-star scale, and riders who dip too low in the ratings can either have a tough time finding a ride or get kicked off the service, according to Business Insider.

The revelation illustrates the flip side of the new sharing economy, where information can flow not only to the benefit of customers but to help advise corporations on which consumers are bad bets or problematic. In the case of Uber drivers, customers who earn low scores frequently make a series of missteps that include showing up late to a pickup, failing to tip and being rude.

"What we want is for people to respect the driver, and for drivers to respect the customer," Uber driver Derrick Jennings told CBS Los Angeles. "We go above and beyond."

Uber didn't immediately return a request for comment. Uber customers can check their ratings from drivers by emailing Uber customer support, Business Insider noted.

The fact that passengers are also scrutinized comes at a time when Uber is increasingly under fire for a range of safety issues, including assault allegations against several drivers and criticism about its use of its "God view" tracking ability, which executives used to track the whereabouts of journalists.

Given its troubles, the passenger rating system could open it up to more disapproval, especially as some customers may feel they are being scrutinized -- and perhaps even discriminated against -- by drivers.

Aside from the sense of being judged, there is a very real downside to earning a low score: drivers can choose not to pick up customers with poor ratings.

One customer, TV news producer Emily Torran, told CBS Los Angeles that she ended up on the service's blacklist, earning only three out of five stars from her drivers. Her theory was that her choice to work on her phone rather than chatting with the drivers earned her low scores. "I feel really judged for being blacklisted for not being really friendly," she said.

Other ways to earn low customer ratings include a cornucopia of sins, ranging from eating in a driver's car to demanding things from the driver such as gum and water.