But sitters rely on an honest review - if no-one mentions any of the issues that you’ve encountered and other sitters then also experience them, it’s not a good sit. Wouldn’t you have preferred to know about them so you could make an informed decision? I know that I would. Careful wording will help you not appear to be a difficult or demanding sitter - what you have faced is unreasonable of the HO to have not disclosed it.
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Why would it be difficult or demanding just to describe the sit? I think it is a great service not only to the sitter, but to the host. Only if a sitter knows these things will it be a good match. If I don’t disclose it, the host will risk a bad match or even a sitter that will leave the sit. Leaving a review is not «difficult». It is a gift to the host.
« The cat has medical needs and a strong personality».
«The room is cozy with no window»
«The neighbor seems to be 420-friendly»
«The care schedule for the cat is structured, with feedings and attention needed every few hours».
«The cat is vocal during the day».
« The apartment is located near an airport and the take-off runway».
Then one can just wrap it up and put a bow on it - like the constant meower:
«This chatty feline will get the spotlight it clearly craves! Whether it’s a heartfelt monologue about the empty food bowl, a passionate aria about the injustice of closed doors, or just a general commentary on life, you’ll be treated to a feline soundtrack! The home is so cozy and the location has so much to offer. Thanks for having me!»
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“These inconveniences are often not mentioned in reviews “. So you’re going to do exactly the same thing.
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@Solela you complain about not being informed of “inconveniences” but you are doing the same thing as previous sitters by not saying anything in your sit review. If you want things to change, you also need to change otherwise you will get what you have always got.
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Exactly!
I agree. But you seem to think only HOs. What about sitters not leaving reviews? Are they communicating well?
So you can get more sits?, including the ones with those inconveniences?
Those HOs will probably apply the same reasoning, they’re not fully transparent because they want to get sitters.
IMHO, it’s all about good matches. The more transparent everyone is, the better chances of finding a good match. As @Crookie says, we all have to do our share of transparency.
If a HO sees you as demanding because you mention in your review that you were attacked by a cat, it’s probably because they find it natural for sitters to be comfortable being attacked. By the way, this is in THS T&Cs:
5.2.4. ensure that no pets to be left under the care of a Sitter have ever caused a person or animal any physical harm (no matter how minor the injury)
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I discuss the incident with the HOs and encourage them to be transparent with their future petsitters.
Most of them are no longer active.
I would like THS to communicate clearly and personally in an email on this topic when a new HO is applying “During an interview it is important to mention the disadvantages that your home or your pet may present in order to find the right match”
I think this is not done to avoid hurting new HOs and losing new HOs susbcriptions.
This would prevent unpleasant comments on a review and a bad stay. You won’t be able to convince all petsitters to leave bad comments except for cases that are truly unacceptable.
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All members, whether sitters and hosts, have an obligation to leave honest reviews in any platform like THS — it’s a mutual benefit system. But human nature includes some people looking after their own interests at the cost of the ecosystem and fellow members. Expecting THS to “fix” that is unrealistic.
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You do realize that providing honest and transparent reviews not only serves to inform or safeguard other travelers, but can also protect you from matching with future hosts who might replicate the patterns you seek to avoid.
You’re not evaluating based on discussions after the stay - what the host may or may not do in the future - but on the present; What objectively transpired during your stay
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The problem with this method is that we as sitters basically become “QC Testers”, having to go through bad situations to then report and review them for others. Depending on the severity of the issues, the length of the sit and the sitter’s own context (they could be miles from home or in a place where there aren’t too many alternatives, for example), this can actually be very stressful and upsetting in a way that costs time, energy and health. And it’s a sitter’s right to protect those things for themselves.
The QC responsibility should not come on us–there should at least be an initial onboarding and inspection done by TH to make sure a HO understands all T&Cs, includes all info and requirements in the listing, etc. Sitters are having to do a lot of additional work in interviewing, inspecting and even writing up these elements in their profiles and extra documents…even on HO listings that technically have “good reviews”.
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Ok so HO’s should no longer be allowed to ask for utility money? And certainly not without proving the need via bills? What about the rent some British sits are asking for??? Is that exchange of money ok?
If a UK sit is asking for a rent contribution (& not utilities) they should be reported to MS as that’s against Ts & Cs. #notcricket
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I would never apply to a sit that asked for utility money (though that is allowed; ).
I would report any sit asking for rent, though I have never come across one. That is not what this platform is for. There are other platforms for that.
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Sidenote, there seems to be a trend of “poor treatment of sitters” centered around the UK, both physically in the country and with UK HOs abroad. I don’t know why this is and I’m not trying to come for the UK…but it seems the housesitting culture springing from there is very classist and entitled for some reason? Anyone else noticed this? Or have insight into why?
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@Hiya my experience has been that British citizens living abroad have been fantastic hosts and extremely generous in taking me out for meals, buying groceries for me, and collecting me from train/bus stations etc
They have been equally hospitable when in the UK although In haven’t been taken out for dinner so often, probably due to the horrendous cost.
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Except for one sit, that has not been my experience. UK home owners have been very hospitable.
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All of my U.K. hosts have been gracious.
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Every single one of my UK hosts have been down to earth, generous and kind which is why I and so many others keep returning year after year. Definitely not classist OR entitled. I have read, however, of some sitters being so. But what one reads and what the actual facts are can be taken with a grain of salt most of the time.
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Funny you should mention this about UK HO’s being classist….i had exactly that experience with my second sit which was in Marlow… awful, yet with many 5 star reviews… WTF… dogs not trained, including potty training, etc etc. I’m still furious at the lack of transparency from sitters‘ reviews and am really glad we ended the sit early. However, my next sit in London was lovely… the HO was a youg Italian man and maybe that’s partly why I felt so accepted and valued by him in comparison… who knows. Generalizations are dodgy at best, but the lady in Marlow was disrespectful and elitist despite being less educated and having less success in her career than I did… just by her assuming I was there to serve her! Ugh!
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I think THS needs to step up and, if it’s known that HOs have clearly deceived sitters or greatly embellished the attractiveness of their listing, THS owes it to us sitters to terminate their contracts. It’s not doing the pets any favor to have a resentful sitter who has been misled. I am a professional pet sitter with my own business and would hope THS would let these deceitful HOs know they really need to hire a professional pet sitter instead of relying on THS. I have done many strenuous sits professionally, including households with several elderly dogs who are incontinent and/or need to be carried outdoors to do their business, hobby farms with chores that take a few hours a day, a house with 25 cats and 20 litter boxes that took so long to scoop I brought my kids along to help, and lots of complicated medication regimens. But for those kinds of involved jobs I charge a higher fee, and I negotiate with the pet parent what we agree is fair compensation. When I see THS listings for very labor-intensive sits, I pass them by because when I want a vacation and change of scenery I am not looking to get that worn out! However, everyone’s different, and I am often astonished at how many applicants some of the more openly demanding sits get. As far as houses not being as clean as the photos portray, that’s where sitter reviews are so crucial.
One last point: the OP’s viewpoint is this mutual exchange tips toward HOs being at an advantage. However, occasionally there are unscrupulous sitters who take advantage of people’s hospitality and don’t come through with their agreed-upon responsibilities. It’s a great leap of faith on all our parts, and I’m so glad it usually works out to everyone’s benefit!
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This all goes both ways though. There are some bad sitters too that HOs find themselves with. They don’t declare in advance that ‘ yeah, I’ll smoke in your house’, ‘I’ll leave your dog at home for 10 hours a day while I sightsee’ or ‘Ill have my boyfriend come round to stay’ either…
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