I’ve been a pet sitter for about 8 years now, joined THS a few months ago and have done three sits through this. My first sit I got 5/5 on everything, my third sit hasn’t rated me yet but I’m pretty sure it’ll be good but I just got my second sit review. Overall I got a 4/5 and they made a nice comment on bonding with the cat and being good with cats but the individual ratings on other things were 3s and 4s with a solid 5/5 on the pet care itself. My question is for any HOs; would that review affect your choice in choosing me? Would go to the effort to click on that review and see what I said towards them or would you see that and assume I’m bad?
I’m glad they acknowledged that I’m good with pets at least but I’m confused on the other low ratings. They have had several sitters and rated them all 5/5 on everything. I use all of my own bedding, dishes, towels, etc. I took all of my trash and recycling out, Clorox wiped counters before I left, thoroughly vacuumed. The only thing I missed was a glass recycling bin full of THEIR recycling because they didn’t tell me there were two cans and it was hidden inside so I only brought out the main can. But they had a lot of faults on their end so I’m confused why I was rated poorly (before I even left a review for them) and now I’m worried it’ll affect future sits.
Can we still leave comments on reviews? That may be a way to clarify an issue. I would be careful about it. I wouldn’t want to start a back and forth because that makes everyone involved look bad
I’d message them, say I hope you don’t mind me asking but I noticed you rated me 4/5, please could they help you for any future sits to know how you could improve as you are striving for 5/5 each time.
Also, you mentioned alot of things there, but you didn’t mention communication, did they mark you ok for that?
What actual aspect did they down-score you on? And then put that and your reasonings in your reply to their review.
I would read what you said about them, and check what your other reviews said. I wouldn’t assume you were “bad”, but it’s a shame that this happened to you so early.
I would ask the HO why they were dissatisfied with some aspects of the sits. No need to be confrontational - you can just say you acknowledge you are new and want to learn from the experience. I did this with my second sit, where I was marked 4/5 on the clean & tidy category. I had cleaned the house thoroughly, but the downgrade was because I hadn’t returned some items to the exact position they were on my arrival. Petty, in my opinion, and not something that would bother me as a HO. All my other sits are 5/5 in that category with some HOs saying that I left the home cleaner than they did.
The best way to deal with a bad/mediocre review is to bury it in good reviews. If possible, do lots more sits soon and take extra care with the areas where this HO marked you less than 5 stars.
I left an honest review on their page so hopefully HOs see that and acknowledge that they rated me great on pet care at least. I do worry that leaving an honest review on a HO might scare off HOs as well. Hopefully my third sit leaves another perfect score to help bury that one.
@Looney I would ask them, in a non-confrontational way, why they rated you lower in some categories- ask for specifics.
I also wondered- Did you write your feedback to them before you got that review? You mentioned it was ‘honest’ so perhaps they didn’t like something you said and reacted on it?
I would suggest that, in future, unless you are 100% certain all went 5* well, always ask for your review first.
What you can also do now is reply to their review of you. This will appear directly below their review of you and all future hosts will see it too.
Don’t give up sitting! People are fickle! I’m sure every sitter and every host has a story or two to tell! Once you’ve done more successful sits that lessthanperfect review will disappear down the list and carry less and less weight.
Good luck!
Edit- I just saw this thread is from 2 months ago so I’m a bit late with my comment! But perhaps its still helpful to someone anyway!
I’ve can empathize that I’ve had the same experiences with owners rating 5:5 for pet care however all the other ratings were 4/5 or 3/5 in other areas.
My last sit in a very high end property outside London gave me lower rating in cleaning. I was devastated as I asked their neighbour, a lovely woman I had befriend to inspect the house to make sure it was up to snuff. She thought it was a job well done! I did ask her whether I should remove sheets and towels in my room. She told me not to worry as they will have a maid service.
If this is a common issue surely THS can get involved to encourage HO to communicate with the Sitter to get clarification.