We’ve just had our first 4* in one category (organisation). Very frustrating as the HO privately told us it was because of a minor concern - a change in arrival day. They praised us for being such good housesitters.
Our arrival day was mutually rescheduled as our suggested time didn’t suit the HO and so we suggested arriving the following day. The HO appreciated this and thanked us. This rescheduled arrival didn’t affect the HO’s trip, as the original arrival day was 2 days early.
Marking us down for this seems harsh as were trying our best to accommodate the HO by instead paying for alternative accommodation and they seemed happy at the time.
I’m interested if others think this is a little unfair. Reading the review and feedback guidelines, it states that reviews must always “relate only to the house and pet sit” so I’m curious if this counts as part of the house/pet sit.
Hi ChocolatePenguin.
How interesting. I recently completed a sit where I received 5 stars overall but a 4 for organization. This would be hilarious to anyone who know me because I am compulsive about organization. I sent a message to the HO to query the score but got no reply although it was read. I am quite certain that it was related to my arrival time. I had predicted arriving by 1130 and HO had stated a desire to be on the road at noon. My streetcar was already on a detour for construction, then got detoured more because of a traffic accident (plus the driver made a pit stop for a restroom break but when you have to go …). I texted the home owner re the delay. I got there at 1145, they left on time but I could sense something ‘off’. I embedded my review of the HO within my response to their review (hence I got the last word). I was polite, thanked them for the awesome review, complimented the home and pet, and warned future sitters to be aware of the public transit situation.
I think this is a good example of why the star ratings should not be used. These categories are very subjective; the HO may be factoring in issues that have nothing to do with the core service the sitter is providing.
Many people just automatically choose 5 provided everything went pretty well and no major problems, and it doesn’t point to any particularly exceptional service. One could argue that this is an acceptable standard to give a perfect rating and that perspective has merit I think.
But overall, I think written feedback is sufficient and much more useful.
Based on what you said, it sounds like you originally agreed to a different date and then asked to change it? If that is the case, and they are a bit of the nit picky type, they might view this as not being organized.
If it didn’t affect their trip at all, I don’t see this as something that should affect your rating, but everyone sees things differently. Again, a good example of why the star rating may not be a useful tool.
Hi @MaggieUU that’s interesting and seems unfair towards you - you can’t control public transport and traffic! Happy for you that you got the last word and your post will hopefully help future sitters.
The HO commented in a previous sitter review that they were on time so I guess punctuality was pretty important. During the video chat prior to confirming the HO did seem to emphasize taking a cab from the train station but that would have been at least $60 so maybe it bothered them that I didnt do that
I think this is your second post about this, isn’t it?
Personally I’d just try and ignore it. It won’t be seen amongst your other reviews unless home owners go into each one individually and compare, which is unlikely. It would, however, rattle me too!
The HO said we could arrive a day or two early so we asked if we could arrive on Thursday night but no time was specified or discussed. A couple of days later we suggested a time, but the HO said that time was too late. It wasn’t possible for us to arrive earlier and we explained this and suggested we’d stay somewhere else and arrive the next day instead. The HO seemed happy with this and we thought we were being accommodating by making sure the HO wouldn’t have to wait up for us!
We were just trying to be flexible with the HO’s schedule.
Hi, yes. The moderators thought my first post had too much detail and asked me to repost it as a new topic - that’s why you would have seen it twice.
I know in the grand scheme of things it shouldn’t matter too much, but when it’s your first 4* category rating and it feels unfair it does sting a bit. Good to know it would rattle you too!
What I’ve come to realize is that morning handoffs can be incredibly stressful for both pet sitters, who are trying to make it to the location on time, and pet owners, who are rushing to catch their flights. On several occasions, some pet owners haven’t considered how early I need to wake up when they request a 7 am arrival time.
In a recent sitting arrangement, the owner initially suggested that I arrive the night before, but as the date approached, they changed their plans and asked me to arrive on the same day, just half an hour before their scheduled departure. This change meant I had to wake up at 4:30 am, start driving by 5 am, and unfortunately encountered heavy traffic around 8 am. I barely made it to the pet sitting location before the homeowner left for their trip.
While I anticipate that my rating for this particular sitting might be less than 5 stars, I want to emphasize that I made every effort to arrive on time, considering the last-minute alteration to our initial arrangement of arriving the night before.
If the HO said you could arrive one or two days early, and you ended up coming one day early instead of two, that is strange they would see a problem with that. You arrived within the planned window.
I bet most HO’s won’t even notice this since it is in the category and not the general rating.
We were once rated 4 stars for “self-sufficient” and still laugh about it! We asked for advice since the dog was pooping in the house every day! Seriously people!
Just move on….don’t waste your brain time on such dribble.
Yeah it is strange! We thought it was part of an ongoing discussion with the HO as we hadn’t discussed a time yet. Even if we tried to arrive earlier on the first day there could still be traffic issues and we didn’t want there to be any chance we’d annoy the HO by potentially arriving late, hence why we decided to get an Airbnb instead. Also, this discussion was a few days before the sit so it’s not as if it was a same-day last minute decision!
This is the first sit we’ve done where we didn’t apply - the HO reached out to us to sit for them
Thanks, yes, it isn’t very visible so hopefully not a big deal
@123ForumUser I think that was pretty inconsiderate of the HO especially as they had such an early start. I would not have agreed to that arrangement. We had it happen once that the HO invited us to arrive the night before and later changed their mind and asked if we could arrive on the day. In the end this was fine as the previous hosts had also invited us to stay over. It was a 2 hour drive but we were only expected at midday so the timings worked well.
On other occasions when the hosts have left early we have occasionally popped in the day before or, if passing, for a pre-sit handover and maybe picked up keys or been shown key collection point. Then we arrive after the hosts have left-at a more convenient hour! Sometimes we need to make such arrangements anyway when coordinating back to back sits. So far its always worked out and no one needs be horribly inconvenienced. Its always good to be flexible but you can also negotiate and suggest alternatives. This should be a comfortable and fair exchange.
Absolutely. I (home-owner) would be very stressed by the sitter only arriving 30 mins before I needed to leave. For a proper hand-over with a new-to-me sitter, Id like an hour or two at least.
I can promise faithfully that I absolutely do consider a sitter’s travel time, if only because I hate early starts myself But as a home-owner we dont necessarily know where the sitter is coming from. If I were to say, “Is 7am ok for you?” and the sitter agreed, I would take their word for it. (Disclaimer: Id be much more likely to say I need to leave very early in which case would they prefer to arrive the evening before.)
Many HOs don’t give it a thought as to how long it will take you. Although they know how far away we live, they will ask upon arrival “Have you travelled far” when it has been a 5 hour journey - that is far in the UK.
I would imagine that we will all need to expect less that 5* when the new review system is launched
We once had a flight cancelled the day before a sit in Turkey @Itchyfeet (we were living on the Med & the sit was in Istanbul). We got up at 0230 and drove 9 hours to the family in Bursa, dropped the van. Had an hour snooze, took a 2 hour ferry to the city, walked 45 minutes & dropped our bags at a hotel and then another 45 minutes in the rain uphill to the HOs. Arriving with them at 6pm ish. On opening the door the only response was not “wow, you made it!” just, “can you put masks on”? They & the sit were both delightful in the end, but man our patience was tested
If there was a mutually rescheduled arrival and they marked you down for that alone, I suggest that you write that neutrally in your review so other sitters can avoid those HOs.
But as a home-owner we dont necessarily know where the sitter is coming from. If I were to say, “Is 7am ok for you?” and the sitter agreed, I would take their word for it. (Disclaimer: Id be much more likely to say I need to leave very early in which case would they prefer to arrive the evening before.)
