Hello! I received a review from a pet/house owner that I thought was unfair and surprising, after doing what I thought was a fantastic sit (and my previous reviews can confirm that this one is out of place). The problem is that my review of the pet owner was really kind, but because of the no-tamper review policy, I can’t alert future sitters of theirs to the fact that they have some… oddities, as I found out post-sit. I’m planning on leaving a response to their review, since that’s the only thing I can do at this point, but I’m wondering if they will then have the ability to respond to my response? I’m worried that they would then come back with more absurd accusations, and if that’s the case, I’d rather just not. Kinda don’t want to hear from this person ever again. Ugh.
It’s been reassuring reading other people’s stories of unfortunate situations with pet owners. Good to know I’m not alone! So thanks for that.
No, they cannot post anything after your response to their review of you. However, they can do a response to your review of them. There is no time limitation on the response to the review for either party.
I’m just adding my two cents that whatever you do as a response, do it without rage and drama. Drama is a turnoff to anyone looking for a sitter or a host. Be calm. Be truthful. Avoid attacks, name calling, suggestions about their humanity, etc.
A sitter can easily survive a meh review or two. It’s much harder to come from making a fool of yourself in an attempt to defend your own honor.
Respond to their review in a measured, factual, non emotional way after you’ve digested their comments @BrianBrian. That’s the end of the thread. As part of my day job I manage Trip Advisor reviews for clients. 1000 for just one restaurant owner for example. 99% are fab, 1% are hideous. When new customers visit us for dinner, they always comment that it’s our replies they are really interested in, not the 1% of #youcantpleaseallthepeopleallthetime.
I have a similar situation. HOs left me a completely complimentary but very short review. I left a comprehensive and truthful review (lots of good points and a couple of major points that I felt other sitters should know). Unfortunately they gave me 2*!! I was shocked of course (I’m an experienced sitter with nothing but 5* reviews).
After thinking it over, I responded with a short “I don’t understand because you said everything was great, why 2*?” They then reached out privately to tell me that they had left all 5* but the app messed it up and they’d been working with THS to fix it. Sure enough, the next morning it was corrected. But now I look silly because it’s the newest review and what potential HOs will see first. Should I stop worrying about it? I assume my dozens of 5* sits will speak for themselves.
In your place, I’d contact a human at THS membership services and see whether they’d be willing to remove your response, given their technical issue led to what’s now a nonsensical reply.
@DianaO I think it was just a glitch, it happens from time to time. Contact support@trustedhousesitters.com and show them a screenshot of the host’s response (left all 5 stars) and then Support can amend it. They did it for us when the same thing happened, as it was clear the owners were happy with our sitting.
I may be stuck. I appealed to THS and just received this, in part: “We operate a 100% tamper-proof policy to ensure all reviews and responses are genuine and reliable. This means you cannot remove or amend the content.” It’s not the end of the world but I had hoped they would understand.
Thanks, all, for your comments.
@DianaO
That’s the standard reply sent from someone who hasn’t grasped the situation.
I would call the phone line so that you can speak to a human and explain that due to a THS system glitch/ error the owners left you 2 star review which was intended to be 5 stars - THS have accepted this was an error and corrected it at the hosts request but haven’t allowed you to amend your reply . You would like your reply to be deleted as it no longer makes sense …
The 24/7 phone line number is on your dashboard .
