Hello,
I’ve seen many 4 star reviews with very positive comments on the text and I find it hard to understand what possibly went wrong. In some of them sitters even write that they would do it again.
What would be your feeling and/or would you apply for that sitting?
I checked in case a similar topic had already previously posted, but I’ve seen so far just posts from sitters concerned for a 4 star review left by some HOs.
It is always good to share opinions with other sitters.
Thank you.
It would be difficult to simply give you a yes or no answer for this.
I would cross-check with both the sitter’s and HO’s other reviews (actually I do this regardless but I would especially be looking for some clue to the star deduction).
If still interested, I would proceed with an application and ask about the matter during a video chat.
If they give 4 stars but say nothing negative, perhaps they are just the type of people who never give 5 stars for anything.
I would check which categories had lost stars if an overall 4* had been given for the sit. I would also read other reviews given and received for that sit. Even how the listing is written eg its tone, can give you an idea about the sit.
If you like the listing, you can always send an expression of interest and go from there.
Unfortunately there are too many nuances to the review system to answer yes or no to this. A four star overall would give us pause but we would dive into the reviews to see where the discrepancy was. If it was just a star knocked off for pet behaviour for instance we would ask about that at the video call, if it got that far.
Exactly the point I’ve raised previously. If you’re the one host among many who tarnishes a sitters unblemished 5 star record, future potential sitters will compare your review to the others and question the hosts credibility and what it will take to satisfy them.
The problem is exacerbated when the sitter replies to the review in a defensive way to minimize the damage to their reputation, and gives a totally different perspective, attempting to blame the host.
When it’s over and done, there’s collateral damage to both sitter and host and it’s up to future members to decide if they want to risk it.
The burden of proof is on the host given the evidence to the contrary which is the sitter’s perfect record.
This will often prompt a knowledgeable and informed host to join the masses who without criticism and leave 5 star reviewers for a subpar sitter, thus locking in the misleading review patten more securely with each and every subsequent 5 star review.
The problem of leaving only positive reviews to avoid backlash was so rampant and widespread among the THS membership that a new policy was made so that reviews are “double blind” in the hopes that selfish members putting their own needs ahead of the community would be forthcoming in their reviews as they would not be at such high risk, however the underlying issue still remains.
It’s unfair for hosts who must deal with the fallout of a 2 star sitter despite screening for quality applicants, and it’s not fair to the real quality 5 star sitters who are not differentiated from those who do not properly care for the hosts most valuable possessions.
In what I describe as a “cruel, ironic, twist of fate”, when I post about how I left a positive review for a 2 star sitter, I get a fair amount of backlash and criticism from other hosts who say “you’re thinking of yourself, not the community as a whole!”.. And yet these hosts come from the same THS membership base that left so many false positive reviews for bad sitters because they didn’t want their credibility ruined, and the problem was so bad there was a THS policy change to try and minimize it.
I am very aware of the previous reviewing system @idocsteve as, unlike you, I have been a member of THS since 2015. Your claim of everyone leaving 5* reviews for fear of a backlash being rampant hence the change to blind reviews has no proof. Yes, of course, there were some just as there still are today but with thousands of sits taking place, the majority work very well which we rarely hear about because it’s mainly complaints that get heard on the forum.
For years, sitters pushed for equality in the review system and finally, not only were blind reviews brought in but category ratings also. Previously, sitters could only give an overall star rating whereas owners have always reviewed sitters with the 5 categories.
By now, forum members have a very clear picture of the issues you encountered with your couple of sitters and what you intend to do moving forward because of the threads you have started and also in other threads too. It might be thoughtful of you to allow other members who are seeking advice to receive that without you raising your issues again and again.
@Mokina, great answers already provided.
We try to establish the specific nature of the star-reduction - as @temba mentioned then this can often be identified by reviewing the reviews by category. If the low rating relates to say cleaning or pet behaviour or communication then it helps us to re-assess relevant information in the listing and to ask specific questions during video call. For us, it’s not a dealbreaker but increases specific related due diligence. Sometimes we’ve found - like @andrealovesanimals - that the reduced rating was due to “people who never give 5 stars for anything”. Sometimes we’ve found that there was a just cause and incorporate that into our decision process.
You have a good solid approach, but interpreting reviews is similar to what happens as depicted by the crime shows or civil court cases that we like to watch on TV. You’ve got the defendants family and friends who don’t believe they “did it’’ and will never believe they “did it”, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, and you’ve got paid experts for the prosecution and defense who interpret the evidence in completely different ways to favor whichever side is paying them. You’ve got witness testimony from various parties who provide contradictory information, and you’ve got the plaintiff and defendants themselves, who often outright lie under oath to achieve their goals.
You’re working off of a paragraph of words written by people who are obviously biased in their own favor with no real evidence to support what is claimed to have happened. How do you know there was a “just cause” for a negative review and which side of the “he said/she said” story is closer to the truth?
@idocsteve, we find that aggregate reviews tend to be representative.
A single review may be skewed, for various reason. But patterns over multiple reviews tend to be genuine - for example if someone has left, or received, poor ratings in regards several past housesits. The blind review system is not perfect, but it’s a great deal better than the prior non-blind review system. It’s the best we’ve got and functionally comparable to other platforms.
We do not wholly rely on past ratings or reviews but they do form the basis for targeted questions, that in turn tend to yield incremental insight that help us to find opportunities that offer a win-win-win outcome.
Should you have suggestions for a better process than the current blind review then please raise it in the product feedback section.
If stars have been docked, we look in the review for more details. If the issues mentioned give us pause for concern - and if more than one sitter had mentioned the same things - we’d consider whether or not to apply for the sit. Much depends on what is written and how both HO and sitter have responded.
@idocsteve You clearly have lost faith in the THS review system due to your experience with 2 sitters, and no matter how many times experienced sitters tell that, rather than being put off, we’d be interested in any fair and balanced reviews which docked stars (so long as issues are detailed in the body of the review), your opinion is clearly not for turning.
We’ve happily completed 50 sits, and have left less than 5 star reviews for HOs just twice. Both concerned issues of cleanliness, and were balanced to include all the positive aspects of the sits. Based on these figures, your next 48 sits might just be perfect!
@Mokina Ideally of course, we all seek 100% factual reviews detailing the positives as well as the shortcomings of the sit but we just don’t always get that.
I remember a while ago it was posted here that an elderly couple suffered terribly on a sit due to the hosts not letting them turn up the heating, they were in complete misery with less than hospitable hosts. It was later posted on another forum that someone had found the glowing 5 star review that the sitters had left with no indication of any issues whatsoever. I think this happens often enough unfortunately.
Regarding a nicely wrote 4 star review with only positive comments, I like others have mentioned, check which categories were marked down if any, cross reference reviews and also pay close attention to what wasn’t said. For example the review focuses a lot on the pet, rather than mentioning the host or the home. I think there will always be some people of course who will find it difficult to detail the underline issues but at least in this case we have some indication if they mark it down.
P.S I hope you marked down your recent demanding host! Best wishes.
Perhaps some sort of warning or disclaimer on the reviews page to the effect of “reviews are subjective and may not accurately describe the recipient due to various factors outside the control of THS including fear of retaliation, appearing unreasonable or difficult to satisfy, and therefore should be viewed with caution when evaluating potential applicants and listings”.
We’ve sat for quite a few HO’s with the odd lower score, because we can tell by the words of both the sitter and HO reviews for one another that the sitter did something wrong and they were just covering their own backs by down-marking the HO. I’m not saying that’s always the case, but it would make sense for your post.
Theres a glitch where stars get docked and sometimes the person writing the review isn’t aware -
If noticed , the person who wrote the review can contact THS and get it amended .
I have seen a sitter that had many 5 star reviews but for one sit received only 1 star overall - the categories were all rated 5 star and the review started with xx ( sitters name ) deserves 10 stars …. So clearly a glitch / system error . This sitter has had many sits subsequently so hosts were able to discern that the 1 star rating was an error and it didn’t adversely affect them getting more sits .
If you have been docked a star and have no explanation as to why , you could ask the sitter for feedback . Then you will know if it’s a system error or if there is something that can be improved on .
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/star-review-system-glitch
Yet another post that punctuates my point that if a host leaves a deserved poor review for a sitter they’ll put themselves in a position where a future potential sitter is forced to either a) decline applying for the sit or b) analyze numerous reviews and determine if the one isolated negative review makes sense in the face of all the positive reviews and c) conclusively determine based on a paragraph or so worth of words which is the “guilty” party.
Not all sitters are going to go through all that trouble, nor risk the same experience as the one in the negative review, or they may go to the trouble yet arrive at a different conclusion (bad host), which may leave an innocent good host in a situation where, having done nothing wrong, may have difficulty obtaining a quality sitter, or any sitter at all.
It goes two ways though, the same could apply to excellent sitters, it’s not just good hosts it affects. That’s why we read a number of reviews, rather than just one.
I think there’s a lot of sitters like us that do that, that read several reviews, and I would hope owners would do the same with sitters, we’ve got 40+ reviews with 100% 5star reviews so far, but at some point the time will come when a host marks us down, rightly or wrongly, I know that from this forum, and I would hope future owners look at our overall performance for a clear image of the type of sitters we are.
In reality many hosts will be drawn to that one negative review like moths to a flame and while some will do a thorough evaluation and analyze each phrase, the tone, the context, and balance the reply against the review, while also considering the prior reviews and scrutinizing those for possible flags, and ultimately decide in favor of the sitter, others will move on to a sitter with an unblemished record, especially if they’ve got a desirable sit and numerous applicants. Other hosts may not have other options and they’ll be more accepting.
Yes this happened to me. I bent over backwards for a sitter (I could have cancelled as the situation was my Dad had a cancer recurrence, was terminal in 2-3 months). We cancelled our trip and we’re going to drive 4 days across country instead and stay for a few weeks
Instead of cancelling on sitter we gave her the option of keeping it, but it would be a blind handover from a trusted person to care for our 2 easy cats. Sitter opted to continue the sit, so we did.
With my Dad terminal, we still cleaned everything, left wine and a gift card in her guest room, and approved an overnight guest for her.
After all that, she left me 4 stars overall, 5 stars on everything else but 4 stars on cleaning. No explanation in her review which noted everything was great.
I texted her and asked why the star deduction. She said there was dog hair on the sofa which she cleaned and that was it.
We left at 7 am with a 12 hour drive to our first rest stop. Of course we had no time and scrape the bit of hair my dog left (she went with us, hence the drive). We have a scraper, lint roller and hand vac. It was maybe 10 minutes. I noted that in my response.
I do wish THS required an explanation of leaving less then 5 stars. Doesn’t have to be an odyssey but please leave some explanation!!!