Good grief, we recently had a short sit and felt accommodation was not up to 5 star so gave a 4. Well it felt like an interrogation from the owner and she even contacted admin to ask if I could change the rating. As expected she then gave us a 4 star! Apologies for confusion we are sitters, now corrected typo.
Hopefully the new review system will be put in place soon, so this is avoided!
I agree, I don’t understand
Sorry, now corrected.
Sorry we are the sitters and have now corrected post, thanks
Until the new review system is in place @123kitty, many sitters wait until the HO has done their review before giving feedback to the owner. This would have prevented the retaliation by the HO.
@123kitty Did you leave a written review with the issues as well? I’m rather new to THS and had my first bad experience. The reasons were different than yours, but still negative and not sure how best to handle. All my reviews from HO’s and for have been 5 stars and positive so far.
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Sorry to hear that @lou28 - you can share a “vague” scenario on here to protect the involved parties and ask for advice from other members. You can email support@trustedhosuesitters.com or talk to the chat bot and ask for a human. You can wait for your review (which maybe has happened) and then write a fair, factual, non emotional response to it and move on. All are positive moves 
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I find that an odd way of expressing it. It sounds like an AirBnb rating.
On most of my sits I might have deducted a star for the accommodation aspect of it if it had been AirBnb I think. For example because of all the personal clutter that you find in a normal home. Or because of the wear on furniture etc.
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I’d only deduct stars for accommodation if there were huge issues, like a broken heater or no shower facilities, etc. I’m not doing this to stay in luxury accommodation. Comfortable is good enough. It doesn’t need to be spotless either!
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I agree, although I would also include a gross misrepresentation of the accommodations, either by misstatement or omission, as a fair basis for star reduction. I don’t think it would be fair to mark down an “average” vs. “stellar” accommodation as long as it were represented fairly accurately in photos and text.
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Yup, Bruce’s point makes logical sense to me.
Like many sitters, I weigh a variety of factors. Like I’m willing to sit in more modest homes when the locations are great and there are limited sits in that area. In areas with many sits, I’m more selective. I don’t have one standard for four or five stars. But I would definitely mark down if a HO misrepresented or withheld something significant that affected my sit.
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Thank you for having the GUTS to give less than 5 star rating!! Sorry that the Owner retaliated. We can all find something less than perfect if we try!
It is so important to warn future Sitters about negative aspects of Sits! Hopefully you explained why 4 stars in your review/feedback.
I have only given one 4 star rating, and it was about the DOG, not the home. Since my profile is attached, you can probably read it if you want. June 2023.
The reality of the rating system is that a 4 star for the “accomodation” may do more harm to the sitter than to the homeowner, especially if this wasn’t an issue of habbitability but more like the bed wasn’t that comfortable, or the towels weren’t soft and fluffy – in other words more like an Airbnb review. As a homeowner I do the best I can to clean up and make things comfortable for sitters. They’re sleeping on my bed which is super comfy. However, The headboard and footboard are uppolsterred. I thought it would be nice and comfy as we lean against the headboard often to sit up and read in bed. But we’ve got cats who have scratched the thing and we don’t plan on replacing it anytime soon. I’d hate to get points deducted because we aren’t up to snuff as a rental. If that’s the sitter’s standard they certainly have a right to rate as they’d like, but I do check both the sitter’s reviews AND the public feedback/reviews the sitter has given to home owners. Unless there was a good reason for reducing the star, as a homeowner I’d be a little less likely to invite the sitter. I also don’t think the homeowner has reason to worry. I think sitters who read the review probably won’t have an issue with it, but if the owner’s 4 star review seemed vengeful, that would be a red flag for sitters. If the sitter’s goal was to make life better for future sitters, IMO PRIVATE feedback to the homeowner would have been a better option.
Agree that rating based on “accommodations “
should be thought of quite differently than paid lodging. I would only deduct a star if the place were very dirty or radically misrepresented. These are peoples homes, not airbnbs
Reminds me a little of a 4 star feedback I saw by a sitter who’d applied to my sit. The reason she deducted the star from a previous sit was because she seemed to be allergic to something in the house and was sneezing. Didn’t note a bad odor or anything like that. Just maybe allergic to something and deducted a star. I didn’t invite that sitter.
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@PVGemini Your review certainly did sound fair to us. You were very clear that the pet (sad doggie, we sure do feel for the poor pup) was the issue and thankfully you shared that for future sitters to consider. You balanced the review with raves about the house, HOs, and town where the sit was. Good job.
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@Cuttlefish Thanks for asking. There were actually a number of issues, including ignoring some THS policies. The biggest was the HO’s lack of respect for guests time, both prior and during. I’d prefer to keep it super vague. But it was unnecessary and felt like it was all about a power dynamic.
I only learned yesterday how to see if other guests have not left feedback for HO’s: half of the past guests have not left the HO’s a review. And half the guests who have left them reviews (not a lot) have not had 100% positive feedback in return; but I can now see some very subtle comments from pasts guests about the time/work miscommunication. I’m not sure I want to keep the charade going with these HO’s. If someone had left more direct feedback I would have passed. They don’t seem to understand their communication, organization, and self-sufficiency - that they get to rate guests on - is lacking and disrespectful.
I’m pretty flexible; I’ve overlooked issues with HO’s in the past, because it wasn’t intentional and the HO’s were so lovely, appreciative and truly treated me like a guest looking after their beloved animals. This situation feels like they are using THS with the mindset of obtaining free labor.
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Wow! Sounds horrible! I hope that you will leave a Review/Feedback that accomplishes two things:
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Helps the Owner to improve themselves.
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Warns future Sitters of the issues with the Sit.
Some Sitters might still want to stay in this home. There are so many factors to consider, but at least you will have shed light on truths that are otherwise undiscoverable without having been there. And, perhaps the Owner will made adjustments in order to make the Sitter’s experience more pleasant.