I had a great sit recently, and per usual, I reviewed the HO 2 days later and had to bug them to review me which happened 8 days later, finally. On the sit, I had a lockout. But I handled it super responsibly, with more than one kind gesture for their inconvenience (see below) in my usual professional way. On my last reminder telling them I just left them a glowing review and hoping they would have the time to review me, I was told they hadn’t gotten around to it yet, but would be doing so in the next couple of days. “an honest, positive review”. I had said if they were feeling ambivalent about the lockout that I thought people would care more about how I handled it than that it happened.
So, I finally got their review and they docked me one star for “self sufficiency” and did not reference the lockout or anything else. I really don’t like when they don’t explain why the docking. So, I reached out privately and they felt bad that they upset me with the review, but anyway they did. I went above and beyond for this sit. I brought a toy for the kitty and I cleaned up spotlessly. And, because I felt so bad about costing the HO one hour of time on her vacation to send written permission to the locksmith, I went and bought her (a healthy amount of) a gift certificate to a local restaurant she loved and left her a nice coffee table book that I brought with me to read. Still, I got docked. It stung. We had a text exchange about it after I read the review. The first set of keys she left me were old and sticky and hard to use. She said I should put them back under the pot in the back after telling me where the better keys were, and I gave her the thumbs up, but forgot to do it. Then I got locked out. So, this might have been her beef. I feel I need to explain in a response to her review, so here is what I have drafted. Please advise your thoughts:
“What ______ didn’t mention in her review was that I accidentally locked myself out on her back deck in my pajamas with my morning tea, my cell phone, and her adorable kitty. It was one of those silly mistakes where the bottom lock is turned (from the night before) and you don’t realize it and you go outside. It turned into a full hour out of the morning- getting a locksmith and having to get her written approval. However, I took full responsibility for all of it. I felt so badly about robbing her of an hour of her vacation that I left her a nice gift certificate for the dinner cafe near her house that she loved, as well as an art book. Between that snafu and my asking questions before the sit for things that were not in the Welcome Guide, plus a precautionary question about which trash cans were hers vs the neighbor with the shared driveway, she docked me a star for “self-sufficiency”. Afterward, she admitted that perhaps I’m just very thorough. Yes, I am, and please know that I will ask a lot of questions when something isn’t clear because I just want to do things right.”
As a HO, would you welcome reading this response, or should I do nothing? Their short but positive review of me said nothing of my “self-sufficiency”
I know you are asking feedback from home owners but as a fellow sitter I feel for you but you need to just move on.
One star docked (especially with no explanation) will have little impact on your good standing. Stuff happens and there is no need to beat yourself up.
You sound like an amazing sitter.
P.S. I wouldn’t respond to their review as it only draws attention to the anomaly.
I, too, would not respond but just move on. With no reason given for one star off self-sufficiency, hosts will not take much notice at all. It is still an overall 5* review.
If I put my Host cap on, I feel that response you have drafted will do you more harm than good.
As others have said, move on. She’s given you a “short but positive review”. No need for you to write about getting locked out at all because, as @temba says, “it will do you more harm than good”.
It’s a bit like writing angry therapeutic letters then shredding or burning them….. you’ve released your reply here so now you can shred it and there’s no need to send it ok
If you’re saying your overall rating was 5 and they gave you a 4 in one subcategory with no explanation, no homeowner will give it a minute thought. If you draw attention with that lengthy explanation that sounds like chaos they will start thinking about it in their head and may pass you by.
I docked a sitter a star for self-sufficiency last year. It wasn’t an exact fit, but the categories didn’t really fit the experience and that felt the most appropriate. The sitter contacted me after to ask whyyyyyyyyyyyyy??? and being very defensive about something that happened during the sit that honestly had nothing to do with the rating. It was still an overall 5-star review (the pet care was great), and TBH the tone of the message was a huge part of the rating. I was tired and jetlagged and didn’t want the conversation to drag on, as I was pretty sure it was going to turn into a debate, so I kind of deferred about it. Later, when I was thinking more clearly, I figured out what that rating meant to me and kind of wish I’d said it, but overall - it’s really not a big deal. Still a great review. Only positive things mentioned. Move on.
If I saw that rebuttal to the review on a sitter I was considering, I would pass on them. It’s long-winded and comes off as passive-aggressive.
@topic I agree with you that sometimes a little explanation CAN help because one might wonder ‘why???’, but as others say, it can also gets you a worse profile
What do you think of this reply;
Ironically, for someone who pays a lot of attention to detail, I still managed to lock myself out. Mistakes happen, and when they do, I believe what matters most is taking responsibility and resolving them well.
I also choose to ask questions whenever something isn’t completely clear, because I’d rather clarify than make assumptions when caring for someone’s home and pets. In my experience, most homeowners have appreciated this approach, as it reflects the care and attention I bring to every sit.
As a HO, actually I think it’s fair they docked you a star on self sufficient. Honestly getting yourself locked out is a mistake but it’s aggravating as a HO travelling having to deal with it.
You said you took responsibility - including paying for the locksmith? That probably saved you from getting a lower score.
But really at the end of the day it’s an honest mistake, it happened. No sense crying over spilled milk. Just breathe and move forward. As a HO, I also wouldn’t worry one but about confirming a sitter with a random 4 star in a category here and there. So, don’t stress about it, it will be fine.
@tortimom I disagree with Emily’s suggested draft. If you look back at a previous owner’s comments here you’ll see a situation where the reason for a drop of one star was unrelated to what the sitter thought. That may be the same in your case. I agree with many who say that a response is not called for and may do more harm than good.
A 5-star overall rating is as good as it gets. Being marked down by one star in a single category isn’t a bad review, it just means one aspect wasn’t quite perfect.
From what you’ve described, the host’s rating seems fair. The issue wasn’t that you locked yourself out; it was that when you did, you couldn’t use the spare keys that had been left for exactly that kind of situation because they hadn’t been put back where, and when, the host had asked you to leave them.
The host hasn’t mentioned any of this in their written review and still gave you an overall 5-star rating. If they’ve chosen not to highlight the incident, I don’t see any benefit in bringing it up yourself. In my opinion, bringing it up yourself is more likely to work against you than help you.
Don’t highlight anything in your response, just simply accept it, the fact is, from what you said, you weren’t perfect on the self-sufficiency side of it.
Just accept this review and move on. You’re trying to justify things, when things didn’t go so perfectly on this occasion. It’s only 1 sit, it’s only 1 star.
She obviously didn’t think it was that big an issue to just knock off 1 star, whereas if you highlight things then you’ve turned it into a much larger issue than it is in reality, and potentially make yourself look bad in the process… when her review didn’t do that at all.
As social media has taught us: the lack of response can be more powerful than a defensive one. As @Oztravels and @PVGemini said–just move on from it. As a HO, we’ll either take a 4-star with a grain of salt, or ask you about it, especially in a sea of 5-star reviews.
As you’re wondering what other hosts might think, I’m also thinking about other pet sitters.
Because we sometimes travel across different continents for a year at a time and take house and pet very ‘dandy’ seriously, I genuinely want to understand why a host gives a lower rating. Constructive feedback helps me make well informed decisions. (For people who are not aware of ‘reading between the lines’ it may mean that I won’t apply for certain sits. Reviewing is a two way street)
One suggestion: if you’re writing while feeling frustrated, AI can be useful for softening the wording without changing the message. (Although it makes me sometimes angry because it has the tendency to squeeze out any form of humor )
As no one explained why the rephrased sentence, ‘I took precious holiday time’, felt a bit over the top, I’ll give it a try. To me, it comes across as a form of self-victimisation that isn’t really necessary. Stating the facts is usually enough.
One of the strengths of this forum is the recurring advice to keep things as factual as possible. And sometimes, especially when the overall review is the normal 5 stars, it’s simply better to let it go and move on.
Although the locksmith situation can happen to anyone and I would bet a lot of money that this wouldn’t happen to you anymore!
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