There have been times when HOs come to the forum asking for help / advice / feedback on their listings. And like a helpful community, forum members give suggestions to assist them. And many of the HOs (not all) end up complaining and being snarky with the very people who are trying to help them. And then they complain that still no sitters have applied to their sits. Well, whose fault is that?
Of course, suggestions are just that — suggestions. The HOs have the freedom to leave their listings “as is” and ignore the suggestions they have been given. However, that does not give them license to be snarky with the people who are trying to help them.
If HOs are not willing to make changes or put in the time and effort to their listings from the suggestions they are given, it makes me wonder–why come to the forum asking for help?
And for the love of Pete, if you have a last minute sit and need urgent help, STICK AROUND. Don’t just post and leave for days. We’re trying hard to make your listing the best it can be to get someone to care for you pets quickly and then you just don’t come back.
Agreed. Sometimes, they appear to be venting or be looking for empathy, not out to change anything. In those cases, they’ll probably get few — if any — applicants.
THS isn’t a fit for everyone, and unfortunately some people don’t take time to understand what they’re actually signing up for.
Good point! For the most part on here, I find the comments/conversations, etc. with other members really welcoming and supportive. Very different from some groups I belong to on FB and THS is very good at intervening and removing any objectionable posts. I’m quite shocked by some of the bad experiences homeowners and sitters have had with THS as fortunately we’ve had nothing but great experiences and hope that other members experience the same.
A lot of it is just human behaviour. No one likes to be told they’re wrong. Some people want stroking, to be told it’s all okay, that they will find a sitter (especially if they’re already stressed). Most people react badly to criticism in all parts of life (me included). On a positive note, some HOs are so open to change it makes us smile. It’s like a lightbulb moment. #takesallsorts#snarkyisagreatwordtho
I always wonder, not only with HOs asking for feedback on their listing, but all sorts of posts.
As @CreatureCuddler says, I don’t get it when people open a thread and then just disappear.
It’s true that nobody likes to be told they are wrong, as @Cuttlefish mentions but it does help when people specify they just want to vent. Some say they want a virtual hug…
But if I say I need advice, I should be able to take some criticism.
It’s the same for me as HOs who post their listing and then are all ‘oh, i’m really busy for the next couple weeks so won’t have a chance to respond until after that’. lol. ok. Good luck with that.
Just a thought… do you think it would be helpful if the Forum had a category for owners to ask members to review their profile so they could receive feedback on them?
That way, we could bring in some category specific guidelines e.g. be respectful when giving and replying to critiques, please come back and follow up after you’ve received advice, don’t use the category as a space to only vent.
The idea popped into my head when I was reading the replies on this discussion and it’d be great to know what you think. Can’t promise anything but if there was interest from our members then I could see what we could do.
That sounds like a great idea @Jenny because we seem to have new threads frequently asking the same thing re feedback on their listing. It would help to include the instructions on how to link their listing to their forum profile or could that be done automatically or by moderators?
Thanks @Newpetlover and @temba I could also add the “things to avoid for a successful listing” post that @Nagy26 made!
Our Last Minute Sits section has a template that pops up when a new post is started, so it might be possible to do a similar template for this too. Of course, the Forum team could also add the listing link where needed - we often do that with Last Minute Sits before they’re approved (most LMS are by new members with a low trust level hence the approval!).
I would also be happy to put together more of a step-by-step guide with key info for HO’s to consider including in each of the listing sections, if you think that could be helpful? I think a lot of HO’s don’t realise that some of the information on their profile can’t be seen by sitters (such as the tick-boxes for how long the pet can be left), and that their title is cut off after about the first 6 words, among a bunch of other things that aren’t mentioned in my 5 mistakes post. Do you think HO’s would appreciate something like that?
I could also add the “things to avoid for a successful listing” post that 
