Anyone else think it would be good to be able to contact a pet sitter that has done a sit you’re considering? This would enable us to get honest feedback of how it really went, what were the positives and negatives? I’ve done several pet sits which have been nothing like the sitters’ reviews. In fact I rarely see any negative reviews by sitters because as a sitter I understand it’s difficult once you’ve built up a rapport with the owner to then leave a bad review
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This has been discussed many times here. If you sarch using the magnifying glass on the top right, you will find other threads on this topic. I think it is a great idea, though it would be better if sitters left honest reviews in the first place. I realize that it is awkward to leave a negative review if the rapport with HOs was mostly good, but I prefer to be kind to my fellow sitters than be kind to one HO that I will never see again.
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I think we need to write factual and honest reviews. I do, and I don’t think it will be nothing but an asset to everyone - one can write a transparent impression of a sit (or sitter) without being «negative».
I’m sure it could be a tempting thought to be able to contact other members - but that would also mean that we would ourselves be contacted by many members wanting input. Personally I give my input once - in my review - and prefer it that way. I’m afraid that such a possibility would have a negative impact on the reviews as more members might be less transparent in their reviews and leave it to DMs. I think that would be a great disservice to the community.
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Yep, I posted this topic a couple of years ago or so. I suggested it would be easy enough and sitters could “opt out” of being contacted.
So many reviews are vague or cryptic - no one wants to hurt anyones feelings. Sometimes we like the hosts and don’t want to insult them by truly stating the facts about cleanliness, for example. And because the word “clean” or “neat” is so subjective sone of us sitters find it difficult to put it in writing when my definition may be SO different from another sitters definition and different from the host.
Being able to connect sitter to sitter would allow us to be more descriptive.
People have a hard time leaving truly honest reviews.
I would love to be able to contact sitters and would be OK being contacted but it will never happen. (especially when a sitter leaves NO review)
I’ve had this same thought. I imagine the time it would take to answer every inquiry of every potential sitter for each of the sits I’ve done, and shudder. I barely check email as it is, if I can help it; I could imagine being stuck there regularly just to repeat what I’d already written in a review, or answering questions that are easily asked of homeowners during a pre-booking call.
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I very much want to contact a previous homeowner, because the review they left was very confusing to me. They gave mostly 5’s, with two 4’s. YET…the last sentence in their review was that the sitters had left without any notice/communication 24 hours before the agreed-upon end date, leaving the dogs alone in the house!!! (The ho knows this because several neighbors told them.) To me, that would justify 1’s - not 4’s. I know the review system has major grade inflation - it seems that too many homeowners aren’t willing to give a negative review, even if well-deserved. I would REALLY like to talk to this homeowner, but instead I’ll just decline the application since I’d be a nervous wreck worrying about my dogs being left alone.
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Just decline and move on.
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I’m with @Maggie8K here.
IMO, the text of the review would always outweigh the star ratings. My feeling is that it’s never acceptable to leave pets on their own / leave early without notifying the homeowner, unless it’s in an ambulance.
I suppose if you’re thinking the HO is being coy & there were mitigating circumstances, you might wish for clarification…in which case, interview the Sitter and ask them about it. But personally, even if I was desperate I just wouldn’t be willing to take the chance my pets would be left alone.
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Can we leave our emails in a review for future users to contact us if they wish so?
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In one of my reviews, the other party was saying that I was lying, but I had pictures to prove what I was saying. This platform doesn’t let you the opportunity to back up your review with pictures so the next person applicant can decide if the cleanliness is on their standards, nor to answer to an answer that claims the reviewer is lying."
If one writes in a review, “I’m @x on the forum if anyone wants details”, would THS censor that?
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The problem with the review system, which many feel is the cornerstone of the THS platform, is that they’re entirely subjective, not necessarily factual, and are often either overly negative as retaliation following some sort of conflict, or to protect against what is believed to be a pending negative review from their counterpart. They can also be falsely positive, because hosts and sitters may not want to “hurt” another member by docking a few stars, or fear that the response to the review may undermine their review, and it is likely to become a “he said/she said” scenario which may reflect poorly on both parties, but especially in the case where one has a less established history.
It’s not much different than the major review sites which are full of fake positive reviews as well as overly negative reviews which are often due to the emotionally biased and incorrect perceptions of the reviewer. This can be seen on countless recent negative reviews of THS on Trustpilot, where so many are stating completely incorrect “facts” such as a recent change in the Terms to hold sitters responsible for vet bills, and the new booking fees costing hundreds of pounds more per year.
Review systems are inherently subjective. I believe most people understand that they reflect a posters’ opinions & perceptions. I think this is why so many people advise that the tone of a review (or the tone of the response to a poor review) is as important as what’s actually described.
That said, is there anything you think would work better than a review system, that you’d replace it with? Or some way you’d modify the review system that you feel would make it more accurate or functional?
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Not really. The issue is with the members who often have self serving reasons for not being forthcoming and there’s nothing that can be done to change human nature.
Probably best to take them all with a grain of salt, then.
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Exactly. Figure that the more reviews that a member has, the better and read the entire review to check for subtle comments that may point to problems. A member with a positive history is still a better bet than a member with none.
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It is bad for the company. What we pay for is access to other members. So if you could just contact other sitters, that would be more usability for the same price. Not gonna happen.
But it is a valid idea, I wish it was implemented.
At the same time I think there would be better options. Such as hosts not being able to see the reviews sitters have left to other hosts (so they cant penalize honest sitters). Or moving from the 5 star system to two star system: nothing to complain/something to complain. This way if there was something not ideal, you can alert other sitters about it buy giving the lover rating, and then write it open in your text.
Maybe just get rid of stars entirely and just have written reviews.
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I would still have a low emotion symbol (thumps up/down is really bad, as people react to it strongly, so it will be a huuuge step to give someone a thumps down), so that when I read the reviews I could quickly find the ones that complain about something.
Right now the normal is a review with “the pets were aaaaamazing and the house was iMMaculate (but the host keeps corpses in their attic… no problem for us but maybe someone else won’t like the regular police visits…) and we would LOOOVE to come again. "
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Brilliant example of a clever reviewer subtly encouraging potential sitters to read between the lines… 