Good move. Did they reply to your sit withdrawal?
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Yes! But bizarrely, the HO wrote that he would: ā ā¦ get that sorted as soon as possibleā ( ie correct the situation in which there were no reviews and no feedback).
How he intends to persuade his past sitters dating back several months to give feedback now, is beyond me!
Iām convinced that he has never before realised the importance of feedback/reviews.
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@Crookie @LTD I think @Kittylitter is referring to TrustedHousesitters, but thinks it might be called MyTrustedHousesitter, so referring to THS as MTH?
@Crookie I too, have never heard of MTH! How odd to call it (perhaps, who knows?!), MyTrustedHousesitters.
@Kittylitter ???
yes sorry my mistake! I meant TH 
Iām new to THS and just had my first sit in the French Alps which was absolutely lovely and have another in San Miguel de Allende in a couple of weeks. I love this site and think THS provides a win-win service that is pretty user friendly. All the homeowners Iāve spoken to have had great luck, as have I. Andā¦to thoroughly beat a dead horse, the rating system is virtually useless. If everyone is awesome, no one is awesome. Andā¦newsflashā¦people know that. Since Iām new, I had 0 reviews, not even character references, for my first sit and accepted my second sit prior to my first HO putting up a review, so for both sits, we chose one another based solely on our profiles, video interviews, and intuition.
It would be super helpful to have a more effective rating system as I think that in exchange for the fees we both pay, HOs and sitters deserve an honest perspective of what others have experienced. Airbnbās review system is obviously much better, and as a result, I pay very close attention to those before booking. But for whatever reason, after reading back through a year and a half of both HO and sitters requesting this functionality, and receiving canned responses, and learning that the discussion has actually been in play for more than 4 years, Iāve concluded it is not a priority for THS and is not likely to happen. Soā¦if I want to play ball, the only thing I can control is my personal approach.
Based on my very limited experience, I presume that no review or a very brief one, regardless of the number of stars means it wasnāt a great experience for the sitter. Iāve made my profile as thorough as possible and let my personality, love for animals, respect for othersā living space, and understanding of the need to decompress after a long trip without having to clean up someone elseās mess, shine through.
On the other hand, a video interview with HO, a video tour or clear photos and description of the home, my living space, the area surrounding the home and pets are absolute musts along with any special needs for the pets. I clearly lay out what they can expect to come home to, and in turn, ask what I can expect when I arrive.
Despite the best laid plans, if I do this long enough I am certain to come across a situation I find untenable. I would never leave a HO without care for their pets at the last moment without at least giving them some options like having a housecleaner come in, at their expense, and do whatever is necessary for me to feel comfortable before or the day I begin my sit. However, if we cannot come to an agreement, depending on the severity of the conditions I will either refuse to sit or I will clean to my standards for my time there, and leave a respectful but honest review for other sitters.
Ultimately, THS is a really fun way to experience and care for all kinds of quirky, funny, and always lovable pets, see new places without the cost of accommodation, learn about different cultures, and meet new people. Itās a hobby that enriches my lifeā¦ nothing more, nothing less. Itās not worth compromising my personal values over. My long term goal is to find some great sits, in some great locations, with some great HO who have experienced my work personally, so donāt much care about retaliatory negative reviews, and be invited back.
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On the cleanliness ask, I think HOs should be very specific on what they want cleaned.
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I personally wouldnāt ask the question and if they relay to me that they expect anything more than āleave it the way you found itā itās a hard no. Iām a trusted house sitter, not a maid. If thereās something SMALL that personally drives me batty, Iāll clean it along with the usual stuff like laundering the bedding I use, washing the dishes I dirtied, getting my hair out of the shower drain, cleaning the cat box or any spills, accidents or gunk the pets or I leave, etc. Iāll gladly arrange a maid to come before their return, but Iām not about a free baseboard scrubbing, window cleaning, or digging under beds for dust bunnies and pet dander theyāve been putting off for 5 years.
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Hi Lokstar,
Thank you for your response! Did you DM this to me or is this on the forum? Sorry, I think I may have posted to a forum once before in my lifeā¦about my Roomba 
and I donāt see it on the forum. Regardlessā¦I think you are 100% correct, sometimes one slips through the net and I appreciate all advice from those that have a lot more experience with this than I do. I think this is good guidance.
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Hi @Iwander Iām glad you saw my earlier response. I actually deleted it a couple of hours later before it got āmoderatedā by the staff! Sometimes I get carried away with my comments and Iāve had a few comments removed & got a ticking off! But having now read your latest comment I want to say its good that you have clear boundaries so as not to be taken advantage of by a host (it does happen- fortunately rarely!) and Iāll repeat my advice- Always ask for your review first before giving any feedback!!! However honest you may wish to be donāt do anything to jeopardise your 5* review! ā¦until THS changes their review system to make it safe to be honest!
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@Lokstar Apologies for interrupting but I just wanted to say that I too have had posts moderated and removed (in my opinion, unjustifiably). As sitters it seems we are censored for expressing negative experiences and opinions, in order to maintain a āsunshine and rainbowsā environment on these forums. For me, it has been under the guise of a āprivacy concernā when, in reality, there is nothing that could identify a host from what I have written. It is concerning to say the least and, as a sitter, I donāt feel adequately supported.
@Iwander I admire your attitude towards housesitting - one would think youāve been at this for years! I tend to go overboard in the cleaning department and have, in the past, left gifts for the home owners which werenāt acknowledged. Boundaries are so important and reading your post regarding not digging for dust bunnies was beyond refreshing, thank you!
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Yes please remember we must keep everything totally positive.
No problems if you have good news stories and cute photos.
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Itās good to have you back @Twitcher!
Itās great that you communicated that.
Excepting that if the HO hasnāt yet posted your review, they may post a negative review as retaliation. And negative reviews for you as a sitter mean you wonāt get offered sits as often. Which is why blind reviews are the only way to have transparency. Then sitters and HO can leave a response to any criticism as they see fit.
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I canāt quite see how blind reviews would work. Most home owners only use sitters 2 or 3 times a year (I know there are exceptions to this). So even if the review was blind wouldnāt it be fairly obvious to the home owner who had posted the review or am I missing something?
@LizBCN āBlindā reviews doesnāt mean that the reviewer is anonymous. It means that neither review is visible to the other side until they have also posted a review.
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Ah right, that makes sense now! Thanks for clarifying.
Thatās right. As I posted earlier, blind reviews, like those on AirBnB, are NOT anonymous because your profile is always associated with it. All āblindā means in this case is that the host and guest do not see each others review until after they are written.
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As a HO I wonāt expect anything else, Iād be more than happy with that.