I had a sitter who was great with my pet. Without saying too much, this sitter would be best if hired as a handover and not so much as a crossover. Does something like this need be mentioned in review?
Well, you’ll need to say more as I am unsure what you are asking
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Conversation ALWAYS very heavy, and at times uncomfortable.
@RMRL reviews should primarily be on pet and home care not a person’s personality. You do rate them on organisation, reliability and self-sufficiency though. Presumably you had a video chat prior to confirming them and no red flag popped up when conversing with them. I do feel for you though but hope their care of your pets and home was fine.
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Yes, my pet was well cared for and home was tidy. This person asked to arrive early due to a gap in sits.
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What’s a crossover?
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For example, a crossover is where a sitter may spend the night at HO house before they leave, kind of like overlapping a stay. A handover is where the HO may give the sitter directions on their way out of the house, or HO leaves before the sitter arrives.
It sounds like she wanted a friend and you wanted a sitter. Just think about how you can redirect the conversation if this happens again. I wouldn’t dock her for that. Your pet and house was taken care of with no complaints in that area and that is all that counts when it comes down to it.
What would you be telling other pet parents. I was uncomfortable with her being deep with me. Maybe another pet parent wouldn’t have minded. Maybe you could be helpful to her and send a note thanking her for the good care and telling her you were a bit uncomfortable with the conversation from someone you just met. Maybe she will remember that and not do it on the next sit.
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Perhaps you can give them five stars and just mention that, together with the good care they took of your pets and home. If other owners feel uncomfortable with that, they can act accordingly.
I really don’t think you should rate them down for that but I can understand how you feel. I recently had a 5 hour share drive and there was no way the driver would understand that neither of the passengers were interested in him feeding us with his extreme political views. We tried to be quiet or talk about trivial topics but no topic was safe. We didn’t want to make him nervous either, he was driving. It was a looong journey.
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OK, you mean you didn’t hit it off and would’ve preferred to not overlap with them (much).
To me, that’s highly subjective, a matter of personal preference, maybe culture. I wouldn’t rate on that, because it’s not fair. Plus, other sitters might see such a mention and avoid your sits in the future, thinking maybe you’d rate or review them randomly, too.
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I have no plans for taking away any stars. I just wasn’t sure if it was worth a mention. This person has a lot of good reviews, a few with no mentions, and a few negatives which are spot on. This person stayed with me for a few days and many of the discussions were of political nature. Hard to get away in my own home.
Add this sentence above to your review . It says enough for others to decide if they would be comfortable with that … it’s factual and unemotional.
You could clarify that the few days that they stayed with you was at their request .
xx requested to stay with me xx days before the sit started, I agreed . During that time many of the discussions initiated by xx were of a political nature.
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I agree it’s worth noting. It’s true that the way we value interactions is very subjective but there are also some commonly shared codes of communication and social interaction and I think most people would consider such behaviour a bit invasive. It’s not just being talkative, it’s imposing political conversations (which are commonly considered uncomfortable) on someone that has gracefully accepted your request to host them for a few days
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Maybe something like “Bob asked to stay for a few days pre sit which I accommodated no problem. Be prepared for intense political conversations in your shared time together.” Might be slightly strong but the gist is there. No judgement just facts for future hosts to bear in mind. #thatmusthavebeentough
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I think it’s worth a mention in factual terms so HOs are aware. Your last two sentences say enough if you add that they initiated the pre-sit stay not you.
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I think that suggestion of wording seem factual and fair, and others can do with it as they please.
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TBH, I’m not sure how you would word that in the review so as not to prevent her from getting sits in the future! I’ve stayed with HO’s before and after sits and those I do stay with always comment on how easygoing I am and how great our time and conversation together was, and I do the same for them. Going the other direction might be tricky, I would mention it privately to the sitter, first complimenting her on how great a caretaker she was and then perhaps mention how keeping the stay with a HO light and casual would be the way to go. I’d never lay my history and personal life on a complete stranger like that but a lot of people do it with me and though I listen and listen I definitely don’t have interest in doing that 70% of the time!
What @Silversitters and @Cuttlefish suggested seemed fair and useful, factual.
Personally, I loathe discussing politics and wouldn’t bring them up in a sitting situation, but if a host wrote a review that mentioned a sitter discussing politics in a negative way, I’d wonder what led to that — like did they just dislike the sitter’s political views and ding them for that? That would make me wonder whether the host might be iffy to deal with, reviewing on elements beyond what’s reasonably covered in a sit.
Generally, if someone discusses what I have no interest in, I’d just ask them to switch topics. If they continued, suddenly they’d find that I’d wandered off and be doing something else. 
Even say if I were trapped in a car with them, suddenly I’d be dozing off or excuse myself and put my earbuds on.
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A few of the past reviews already touch on some of their discussions.
Well, so why mention it again? Obviously you were well prepared?