This summer/fall has had it’s ups and downs. But the cleanliness thing is really bothering me. Think I need to ask some more questions during interview.
Currently in a home
Bathroom was sort of cleaned - mirror full of spittle, sink wiped but left schmutz everywhere.
Kitchen there wasn’t even an attempt to wipe down or clean any surface. NO room in the fridge and clearly stuff that needs to go.
Now that host has left I can turn the heat off. It was sweltering.
The neighbors letting their dog out at midnight where they continuously bark for 20 minutes. Host is aware and offered another bedroom - but knows it’s an issue.
There were a number of really great sitter reviews. But equal number of blanks. I should have known better AND asked why during the interview. Now I know why.
This not being able to leave honest reviews continues to be an issue. I would not recommend this sit. Can I say that in an review - no.
I am staying as it is only a week and THS insurance will not apply if I leave - and I would never leave a host without animal care. But it’s gonna be a tough week.
I have seen cleanliness in general decline over the years as new hosts join the platform and former travelers get back in the game. Also aging hosts and homes that are not taking care of their properties as well as they should for whatever reason. I am not a germophobe or neatnick but the rooms that count kitchens and bathrooms should be CLEAN. I guess that’s my standard when I hosted people, guests, friends.
I am rethinking my travel strategy…or how to mitigate against this. It’s been hit or miss this round and as I posted before a 3 weeks sit I did leave because it was baaad. Lost money on that one big time and learned an expensive lesson on the uselessness of THS insurance if you are the sitter in a bad situation. NOTHING they will do to help.
That is hard. We have come to some homes and they have been less than stellar on the cleanliness aspect. We ended up cleaning the home as we went just to make ourselves feel more comfortable. With that said, if they ONLY thing wrong with a sit is cleanliness…probably still give a 5 star but definitely rank cleanliness less 5.
Sorry you are in that situation and we know it does suck. Future note: if we see a sit that has a significant amount of no reviews…we will just pass on it. We know that something was bad enough to not write a review…then we probably won’t be happy either.
Why can’t you leave an honest review? They’re blind now. As long as your review is factual and unemotional and doesn’t come across as you being overly picky, other HOs won’t be put off by it.
They don’t get to see your review until after they leave theirs or until two weeks has passed (and at that point they can no longer review you if they haven’t already done so). I think it’s been a least a year now for this functionality.
Yes but other hosts see the review and sitters are seen as problematic or picky
no matter how you word it. I found out the empty review was the secret handshake
Perhaps a HO who comes to that conclusion is not one you would want to sit for? A fair and factual review would not put off a reasonable HO.
In your first example above, you knock off a star or two for cleanliness with a simple explanatory statement like, “The bathroom and kitchen were not clean.” Leave five stars for the other categories where you were presumably happy. That’s not going to put off a reasonable HO.
Just find hosts who are picky about cleanliness and there is a match!
Lots of profiles these days seem to say “our house is clean and we want you to keep it that way” or some such thing. If it’s not on the profile, you can say in the initial chat how important it is to you.
Exactly…I thought my pickiness was high enough…clearly not. I have started asking about cleaning before and after to see what they say. Not ASKING for it to be done…see what their plans are.
@WheresBabZ Has this been your experience? Or something that you worry might happen ?
Out of 25 sits so far , we have had only one sit where there was an issue with cleanliness/ we deducted a star accordingly . Subsequently we have been accepted for more than 10 confirmed sits since that one . Our honest review has not been something that prevented other hosts from choosing us . We hope it warned future sitters .
It can take a little effort to find the right words if one is really unhappy, but it is perfectly doable to put in the thruth both good and bad without being negative. For instance with cleanliness, one can word it in different ways, direct or indirect.
I asked AI/ CoPilot for suggestions:
Sure! Here are some examples of how you can mention an unclean kitchen in a review:
Directly:
“The kitchen was not clean when we arrived, with dirty dishes left in the sink and crumbs on the counters.”
“We were disappointed to find that the kitchen was not properly cleaned, as there were stains on the appliances and a sticky floor.”
“The cleanliness of the kitchen was below our expectations, with visible grease on the stovetop and unwashed utensils.”
Indirectly:
“While the overall stay was pleasant, the kitchen could have used a bit more attention to detail in terms of cleanliness.”
“We enjoyed our time, but the kitchen area seemed to have been overlooked during the cleaning process.”
“The accommodation was nice, though the kitchen wasn’t as spotless as we had hoped.”
I have also worded it wrapped up with a bow on it, like:
«We settled in nicely, gave the kitchen a scrub, put the leash on Bertie and went to explore the neighborhood in the sunshine». Sure any sitter would notice the scrub…
There must be something I am missing here because what I understool from this paragraph is that you are complaining about reviews not being honest but you also say you can’t leave an honest review. Can you please clarify a bit? What is your suggestion? I am sorry. I am not a native speaker of English
There is a difference of opinion as to whether sitters leaving a bad review are looked on badly by other hosts looking for a sitter. So many of us don’t leave any review - blanks - as a sign that something went wrong.
Personally, it wouldn’t bother me that someone left an honest review as such. The review might disclose information that would sway me in one direction or the other. If one say why one dock a star for instance, it might be something that doesn’t bother me.
But lots of blanks might put me off not only the party where there would seem something was «off» - but also the party that did not leave a review. For three reasons;
They lack in communication
They are more invested in personal gain than the THS community
The obvious; they don’t leave reviews.
So for me, the option of not leaving a review isn’t a win.
Leaving a blank? That’s annoying. I was left a blank on my first sit a HO. I inquired after I left my review,; the sitters said they just got busy and forgot. Maybe so. But I have no idea if we did something…maybe we did, maybe we did not, but would have appreciated the feedback- even in person. They denied anything of issue. I don’t think we did anything too nutty as they came back to sit again, as the timing worked for them and left a review saying they would do come again!
I honestly find the “passive aggressive not leaving reviews” annoying at best, deceptive at worst. I get that people don’t like “losing a star”… and worry about retaliation feedback or comments but own your feedback!!!
I pay more attention to bigger picture. I worked hard to make my home comfortable and welcoming - so if someone isn’t happy because there not a full length mirror in the guest room… but I’ve let you use my car? I guess I don’t really care.
It sounds like you don’t leave honest reviews anyway, so why would you expect them, given your reasoning? If you’re not accurate, you’re contributing to the problem and should just expect to take your lumps.
To me, a bunch of blank reviews is a red flag. Asking about such is pointless, because hosts won’t admit if they’re pigs or jerks.
And personally I’ll review honestly. If that leads hosts to avoid me, that’s fine. I’d rather not sit than help cover up bad sits and end up shortchanging other sitters.
I totally agree with you, we’ve just been in a similar situation, I’m just glad it was only for 5 days. I am quite vigilant when looking at the photo’s and everything looked ok, the reviews were glowing, but I’ve never seen so much clutter, the host made no effort at all for us coming, on the ad it said the 4 cats were outdoor cats but she liked them indoors at night, in fact 2 cats were completely indoor cats and had to be kept seperated from the other 2 as they would fight! Nothing at all said about this situation before we arrived. The cooker and air fryer were filthy, we ate salads while we were there.
But yet i still can’t bring myself to write a bad review, the host was nice and I was glad she didn’t offer to cook anything for us and bought us fish and chips, i know I’ll never see her again but still find it easier to not do a review.
Sure any sitter would notice the scrub…