Hi!
It seems to me that the evaluation system is poorly done for 2 reasons.
One, 14 days is very little time to leave one’s opinion.
For many people who live in a rush, sitting down to write a review requires time and concentration.
And between the rush of getting back home, getting back to work and organizing everything, to sit down and write about your sitter properly, 2 weeks is very little time!
Second, if you notice, everyone writes wonderful things about each other.
Luckily, most of the time that is the case!
But sometimes I feel like people can’t tell the whole truth, because if they did, they would be classified as “complicated” and no one would choose them anymore.
It is a sad reality, but that is how it is.
I have slept in beds with stinking sheets, I have been in houses with dirty bathrooms, and kitchens with cockroaches, and I have stayed in neighborhoods with strange and drug addicted people.
I’m sure that if I put this in the comments, no one would choose me anymore, and the other party would probably deny it.
Curiously, the two houses that did not leave me reviews, were where this occurred.
Perhaps they anticipated that if they wrote, I would also do so telling the truth.
It is an immense shame, since the idea is to help and take care of each other.
@Maria2
Personally i think 14 days is quite long enough, how busy are these people who can’t find 20 minutes in a 2 week window to write a paragraph or two?
14 days is plenty for most circumstances. There will be exceptions, no doubt, but no company or entity can make rules to cover all exceptions.
Two of the last reviews I wrote included deducted stars and details about why.
Both sits had many pros, but the few cons could be dealbreakers for some sitters. They should be able to make informed choices.
You have to write about dirty sheets & stinking or dangerous neighbourhoods @Maria2. It can be worded as “would have liked clean beds on arrival as is normal on most sits. & “it’s not safe at night for a solo female traveller. Or write a review that says PROS in one list and CONS after so it’s super factual. It’s the whole reason blind reviews should work. Two weeks is tonnes of time, as @CRU says, who doesn’t have 15 mins in a day? It’s also better when the memory and accuracy is fresh in your mind. We’ve had no dodgy or filthy sits in over 40 but we hope if we ever do they’ll be getting hard facts afterwards. #sittersunite
I agree with @Cuttlefish that you must write about the stinking sheets etc because, if you don’t, you are doing future sitters a disservice. I doubt that home owners would steer clear of you if you were honest and there is a way of getting a message across without being too blunt.
It takes 5 minutes so 2 weeks is plenty of time. No matter how busy someone is, I bet they’ve spent 5 minutes over the last 2 weeks watching TV or scrolling social media.
The old system didn’t allow for honest because there was room for retaliation against whoever went first. The new system gives more freedom and people should (and are) being more honest now. Complaining about not being safe and dirty bedding doesn’t make you difficult.
Honest and timely reviews are the way to go.
I am in favour of the blind review system and 14 day window.
I am sure you would appreciate honest reviews from previous sitters so that you could avoid filthy homes in future.
I think 14 days is ample time to write a review. I think most of the “everything is wonderful” reviews were from before the new blind review system. Sitters should write an honest review, for the sake of other sitters, but in a tactful way.
Our experience as sitters (now on our 20th sit ) is that we submit our review the day following the sit . We draft our review during the sit so it’s ready to submit .
We usually receive one from the hosts the same day . This was our experience before the 14 day window was introduced and has continued . That has become the norm now
Friends that we recently referred to THS did two one night sits this weekend (Friday night and Saturday night ) they had received both their reviews by Monday.
@Maria2 in addition to all the other posters comments about writing a factual review for the benefit of future sitters , here is something else to think about .
Is it fair to the genuine 5 star hosts who provide sitters with a very clean home, if you also rate a house that is filth dirty as five stars ?
I don’t think a host with an immaculate home would not choose you as their sitter because you had stated that a previous home had dirty sheets or cockroaches. If this puts off a host from choosing you then you have probably dodged a bullet with a sit where they know the cleanliness of their home is substandard .
As long as reviews are factual and balanced ( mentioning the good aspects too ) then that is no reason for any reasonable host not to choose you .
We have deducted stars for cleanliness where warranted and still be chosen for other sits we have also commented on hosts returning early and again still be chosen . Writing a factual review could protect you as well as other sitters .Hosts who read it know that you expect a standard of cleanliness .
As a side point , I also don’t think many hosts go trawling through to read the reviews that sitters left for other hosts - and many may not even know where to look for these reviews. It’s not obvious.
Any hosts on this forum can you tell us if you read the reviews that sitters wrote for previous sits ?
Yup, I take incremental notes while sitting, so things are fresh. Makes for speedier reviewing as well. Like I wrapped a sit last Friday and submitted my review Sunday. My hosts submitted later that day.
If you submit your review first, it can speed the other party submitting as well, because they get notice that you’ve written your review and they’re apt to be curious — and they can’t see it till they submit their own review (or the two weeks lapse after a sit).
As @Silversitters I write a draft (on my phone)while I sit, when the sit is over I publish it the following day (i.e. as soon as I’m able to publish it).
If I write a factual review about cockroaches I can’t imagine a host will avoid me as a sitter unless they too have roaches. In which case I’m not interested in the sit. If it is within «normal and reasonable» expectations to a sitter or host I think you needn’t worry to write what actually was the case. Write what you think a sitter need to know before a sit and that you would have wanted to know. You can also phrase it like that. « The pets were lovely and a lot to do in the area, however I would have liked to know before the sit that it was cockroaches in the kitchen».
Really minor things I think one is better off saying directly and not in the review, like «we found the home as we left it, however I think you forgot to take out the trash». If one need to mention it at all (I wouldn’t).
Hi @Maria2
Welcome to the Forum!
If you found time to write this thread, you could not find time to write a review? I also do what others have mentioned, as I begin writing my review (in draft) a few days before the sit ends. Afterwards, I would have my review completed in final form and submitted a couple of days after the sit has ended.
Not true. I have written less than 5 star reviews for homeowners and I have come across listings that have less than 5 star reviews.
A sad reality is when sitters are not truthful in their reviews—and that does not help future sitters.
If you don’t take the time to leave an accurate, factual, and honest review, how is that taking care of each other?
I would rather tell the uncomfortable truths to help others than withhold information that helps no one.
I have never considered that a review I leave may affect future HOs from choosing me. If that was the case, perhaps their sit is not right for me. I would rather leave a review that I feel reflects the circumstances of the sit, whether good or bad, and that I am comfortable with.
Ultimately, each review is only as honest as each sitter is willing to be. And some are, while others aren’t.
To me, there’s no chance I would let other sitters walk into such circumstances because I didn’t warn them. I don’t care if that costs me sits, which isn’t even likely among good hosts. And I’d rather never sit again than help cover for bad ones.
I do read (some of) the reviews that a homeowner left for previous sitters.
This week there was a listing from a homeowner.
She had 10 or 11 sitters. Some left a review, some didn’t. Half of them were before the “blind review system”, so half were after the new system.
When I looked at the reviews she had given to the sitters it was two kind of reviews:
-
No review given (so a no show at the sitters profile)
-
A review where she deducted stars and/ or something was wrong.
So she really didn’t gave anyone a review with everything five stars.
And/ or she always had some (minor/ unimportant) critism.
So that gave me the idea that she is very demanding/ picky. And that Inever will be good enough/ doing enough to make her happy.
I do think 14 days is ample time to leave a review in most cases. Even a more detailed one probably wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to write.
As for the rest of the points you raised, there are various reasons why someone may not leave a totally honest review, and this is something everyone will have to accept. There will never be a perfect review system, especially in regards to the type of exchange that is found on a housesitting platform.
The nature of the previous review system was definitely a hindrance to leaving more honest feedback, but as evidenced by the many posts on here asking for advice on how to word negative feedback, there are many other factors at play that make this difficult for people.
In many cases, there is fear of hurting someone’s feelings. Most people will probably struggle to say negative things about a person’s home, and their experience ,as easily as they would a restaurant, a hair salon or a hotel. Of course there are tactful ways to express these opinions and I do think a good deal of people will attempt to do this.
Another big issue is one you raised here: There is fear that leaving negative feedback will reflect poorly on the person writing it, and it will hinder their ability to get future sits. What if this host fears their profile will get stained with a bad review from a sitter who is unreasonable, judgmental, too picky or just maybe not a nice person in general?
I don’t think this would necessarily happen in most cases for many reasons, but that it crosses the minds of some sitters is understandable. And if someone is truly worried about that–justified or not-- you can’t blame them for not wanting to risk their ability to get future sits for some purely altruistic purpose of helping other sitters.
I also think people worry that writing negative feedback will lead to unpleasant conversations they would rather not deal with.
There is also the fear that the person’s response to their review will be retaliatory in some way, and even though they may have gotten a good review from the person, all of a sudden, they will say all these bad things about them that other people on the site will see.
All in all, there are just certain aspects of human nature that may make it difficult for some people to be fully honest.
But I truly believe that most experiences go well for both parties, and wildly inaccurate reviews omitting really egregious violations and behaviors are not the norm.
I have been sitting a decade and my experience has been very positive.
I believe most hosts are reasonable ,present a clean and welcoming environment, don’t hide major problems and let you know upfront all that is expected of you.
I believe most sitters take good care of the pets and leave the home in good condition.
I think there is a big difference between omitting certain information and outright lying, and I don’t think most engage in the latter when writing their feedback. So when I see positive mention of something, like the pet’s behavior, the state of the home or such, I take that as truth.
Someone may not disclose they were unhappy with how the sitter left the home, but they probably wouldn’t lie and say it was spotless.
Someone may not disclose some of the behavioral issues of the pet, but they probably wouldn’t lie and say they were so easy to take care of.
This is one of the main reasons I leave more detailed reviews noting the various positives of the sit. By specifically mentioning these sorts of things, I hope it helps sitters know the experience will be good, and they don’t have to worry about things they may worry about.
Like I said before, I think a lot of good reviews are genuine and they are not omitting major problems. Of course that may not always be the case. If there are people who are really concerned about such things, and are particularly distrustful of the reviews, they might feel better if they asked the hosts specific questions about whatever it is they want to know more about.
I do, especially if the sitter has received a negative review from that homeowner.
@1MA yes we do that too.
My question was when a sitter applies for a sit does the host look at the reviews that the sitter has left for previous hosts ?
@KC1102
I was going to type my thoughts but after reading your comments here, you have expressed everything I would have typed but better 