Yes, I’d definitely believe this is definitely the reason for the very similar reviews and the gap in reviews everywhere. If there is any doubt both parties are completely satisfied, it seems that you either give a top review/feedback anyway or you don’t give any at all. Or worse, someone gives a negative review and someone gives a bad one back as revenge, which means the very few negative ones aren’t trustworthy either. And it doesn’t make the site look any better in my opinion.
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Yup… that’s her well used strategy by the sounds of things
Question. Do the reviews always appear in the order of sits I have done?
Example.
I do a sit in May 2023. No review gets left initially. Then I do 3 more sits in June, July, and August. The owners leave reviews.
If the May person writes a review in September, will it still appear with the May date, meaning will it show up as the 4th review from the top?
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Hi @andrealovesanimals just to confirm yes the reviews appear in the order you have completed them, so your most recent dated review is the first showing and then they date back to your oldest review. To clarify your “May” review would still show in the correct order as your “May” review so your most recent reviews will still show first.
Out of interest, and a completely separate question from yours, can I ask what sort of content you would like to see next on the Forum?
@Samox24
Thanks for confirming. I have recently had a very bad experience with home owners, but if I write honest feedback, I’m sure they’ll say something terrible about me in a review. So far they have not given me one and I have since done another great sit with a five star review. So I might wait until I have a few more good reviews and then write something for them. If/when they retaliate, at least their bad review won’t be immediately obvious but further down.
I’m a bit confused about your forum question. Don’t we users create the content? I’d personally like if the tone was more positive. A lot of posts seem to be complaints and I’m sure lots of mine are too. Perhaps someone could introduce more positive topics?
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Hi @andrealovesanimals you are very welcome.
I am sorry to hear you recently had a bad experience, although I would always advocate leaving honest feedback from your sit experience as soon as possible so that sitters who are looking to apply now can then make their own assessment after reading and taking in to consideration all of the reviews.
I have attached a thread you may also find helpful
Thank you for your reply regarding my question on content. Yes all users can create content but it is helpful for us to understand what sort of content members especially want to see. 
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@andrealovesanimals As a fellow sitter, wanting to maintain my good reputation, I agree with you about delaying your feedback till you have more positive reviews following on from that negative experience. Then any retaliation from the HO would have less impact- but you should, ofcourse, also respond on their review- which will appear directly on your page- should they retailate in an unfair way. This will protect you in the near future. Later down the line, when future hosts are no longer looking so far back in your reviews, it will no longer matter.
Whilst I also agree with the point @Samox24 makes that its important to share your feedback quickly I do not agree that it should be done at the expense of your own profile being damaged in a way that might jeopardise future sits for you. The compromise is- delaying your honest feedback until it feels ‘safe’ to share it for the benefit of future sitters. Unfortunately the current review system forces us all into a rather protective position. It is not ideal.
We too are in the position where we had a terrible experience last year on a sit where we had to get THS involved. Long story but end result was an agreement not to review each other at all- or rather WE requested no review because we knew it would be -unfairly- very negative and ours for them would be a killer!
However it has saddened me to see that there have been 3 more sitters after us- all long stay (4-6 weeks) like us- none of whom gave feedback and only 1 received a review which was negative. I am convinced they all had a bad experience like we did and the last ones- who got the bad review- seem to have left the site as their profile no longer opens so that review is no longer visible.
It is reassuring to know that- since the possibility to give feedback/reviews remains open forever- therefore I could still give true & honest feedback now and any retaliation from them would be deeply buried behind the 40+ sits we’ve done since then. Thanks @Samox24 for clarifying reviews are entered in date order whenever they are submitted. That was a concern for us.
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@Lokstar Thanks for your post, I feel really understood and supported by what you wrote. It’s not a black and white situation about writing feedback immediately to protect other sitters. I need to think about myself, my own mental health and my future sitting prospects too. The situation was very upsetting for me and I’d like to get some distance and recover before I potentially stir up that negativity again by engaging with them and their profile. That’s why I thought that giving a later review could be a good compromise.
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Have you ever sat an animal that tormented you so much you could not give a decent review?
I had one that chewed my computer cord while I was trying to work, walked on my keyboard every time I got up, dug in the plants and threw dirt at me, scratched me, hissed at me and was generally just a brat no matter what I tried. I would never sit this animal again and did not leave a review.
If you have a bad pet, have you left a bad review?
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@AngieIA We’ve had a few annoying chewers that have damaged our property but who were basically good dogs. But your experience sounds like a nightmare. Was there anything about this (sounds like a cat?) behaviour mentioned in the listing? Did you get a review yet? If not I would suggest requesting one and then you would be free to write an honest feedback to warn future sitters. But get your review first so you don’t risk retaliation! We had one ‘angry old man’ cat we did not like being around- he’s the only cat I’ve not liked. This home also had a gorgeous dog- who was due to be staying elsewhere but at the last minute stayed with us- she was a delight and totally made up for the horrible cat!! Normally I would not liked such a last minute change if plan but in this case it made the sit much more enjoyable!
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@AngieIA All the animals I’ve met were lovely. Some might have been trickier than others, but they were all loving and loveable. If anything was unpleasant, im my case it was always related to the owners not the pets.
Our 10th sit with THS was challenging and we are debating not leaving a review versus positive sandwich review. The home was pretty dirty and the 3 dogs barked a lot and incessantly begged and jumped if we tried to cook/eat. On one hand, we should have guessed 3 dogs where HO said she is home almost all the time with the dogs was a red flag. HO had no previous reviews but we don’t know if this was first THS sit. Future sitters might be wiser as we will be far more selective. Of our 9 precious reviews, over half say that their home was cleaner when they returned than when we they left so it is possible that we are clean freaks. In reading forums, it seems common that sitters encounter sits where they clean on arrival to their standards. HO we’re really nice. If I try a positive sandwich, not sure how to walk the line between offending the HO and accurately reflecting the situation.
@RMDenton Its very helpful for future sitters if you write an honest, balanced, review but I would strongly suggest you wait for your review first before giving any feedback. To avoid any possibility of a retaliatory review- it would be a pity to risk that after all your effort…
And yes standards of cleanliness vary widely- we are in your camp! If we arrive to a super clean home that feels great- so lovely and welcoming- but these days we just go in expecting to have to clean a little bit (or a lot!) & if we don’t need to- yay! But If the hosts are nice and everything else is good then we just take it our stride. A couple of hours blitzing a place to bring it up to our cleanliness standards is well worth the effort and makes all the difference to our enjoyment of the sit.
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@RMDenton Like @Lokstar says wait for your review first. I strongly encourage you to write an honest review for the benefit of other sitters but also for providing the HO with constructive feedback. There’s always a learning opportunity everytime we do something that doesn’t go perfectly, for sitters and HO alike. Personally, I hate the sxxt sandwich feedback (replace it for xx & you get the drift), it’s fake, everyone knows it for what it is! What about trying your feedback with “It was a surprise to learn … [insert negative stuff]. We really enjoyed … [insert positive stuff].” Be factual. Don’t say anything emotive.
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Great to see you back on the forum @Crookie!
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You can check this on the mobile app.
I’d definitely do the positive sandwich or else no review. You could say something like “the dogs were very lively”, or you could just state their behaviours but follow up with something positive.
Perhaps THS needs a policy where misrepresentation/endangerment leads to disciplinary action and a HO and sitter who violates basic pet and home care tenets receives a certain number of strikes that put them up for review based on what happened. I saw a post on this thread where a sitter endangered a pet chicken… Your cat was afraid… two bad scenarios…
When we trust someone into our homes, we are also trusting them with little family members who cannot tell if something happens or is done to them, they deserve care, respect, and protection (same for sitters who sometimes come into situations where things have been largely misrepresented by the H.O)
There needs to be a system in place to preserve that integrity without fear of retribution both for sitters and H.O’s.
I hope your cat starts getting the pep in their step back soon. Lots of love and catnip for your little one. As for the person with the Penny the chicken, I hope your girl goes back to feeling better soon and kicking dirt and roosting like it’s the best day ever.
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That is a real shame. The lack of ability for sitters to communicate with one another has become a huge red flag to me. There is zero protection against retaliation as well.
I tried the sandwich approach and kept my feedback non emotional and only hit the highlights of what would be most useful for future pet sitters. The home owner responded with an emotional and dishonest response. I still fear a retaliation review that THS refuses to protect against. My only hope is the home owners response to my feedback s a huge red flag to future pet sitters. The saddest part is I gave the homeowner an opportunity to discuss the issues so I could feel confident they would not happen for future pet sitters and leave a more positive feedback. I was accused of threatening them into providing a positive review. I have learned unless reviews state this was a top pet sit, I should tread with caution.
Post edited to meet posting guidelines
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