I’m having a small dilemma about leaving a review for our current sit.
It is the owners first sit and we only saw the house on the day of arrival after they had left.
The communication has been really good and the pet easy to manage. However, the cleanliness of the house is quite poor; ear plugs & floss sticks next to bed, unclean rugs, hair in bath, dishwasher so clogged dishes are dirty (including ones in the cupboards), and it smells a lot of vape/tobacco (so much so now our own clothes smell of it).
As they don’t have any reviews yet my concern is that if we leave an honest review that could be hard for them finding sitters in the future. They seem like nice people and where keen to know we settled in okay. Perhaps they are just unaware how most HO’s leave their properties?
Not sure if we are better to not leave a review at all and just contact them directly and give some advise about how to improve? THS have advised that we should leave a review, but then the question is how honest/detailed we should be?
For me, there is another red flag in not doing a face-to-face handover for their first sit.
The level of cleanliness sounds gross (who wants to see used floss sticks?!) and if they aren’t on their best game for the first sit then that is a red flag in its own right. It is only fair to future sitters to mention it factually. It can be sandwiched between the positives. Next time I have to write such a review I plan to use ChatGPT to make it more tactful. Others may have a better view on how much detail to include; however I would favour detail since future sitters do need to be made aware of what the reality on the ground is.
It’s too bad THS doesn’t have a feature in the review form that Airbnb has. You can leave a private message for the owner if there is an issue they should be aware of but you don’t want to chide them publicly. In this case, I would dock them 2 stars for cleanliness and leave them a private note (handwritten if you won’t see them before you leave, text message afterwards if you will see them) pointing out what they need to improve for the next time. Be sure and be kind in your note. Don’t say in the review what was dirty, the 3 stars will tell sitters that there was a problem. Leaving two stars would make it seem like they are a hopeless case.
I suggest being honest without being mean. For instance, your review could say the sit is a good fit for those who prioritize X, Y and Z, but not necessarily for those who prioritize cleanliness.
Personally, I greatly appreciate honest reviews and consider writing them an obligation to other sitters, because we’d otherwise risk walking into bad sits.
The worst are sitters or hosts who complain about their sits / sitters / hosts on the forum or Facebook group, yet they don’t write honest reviews. They essentially enable bad experiences for other sitters and hosts.
Sorry, I’m laughing, but that’s really gross. I think you hit the nail on the head when you say they don’t realise how other HO’s leave their properties. I might give them private feedback that they need to improve their cleanliness for future sitters. But I will definitely note in a review that there is a mild odour of vape/tobacco, because that is a no-go for many sitters and it needs to be mentioned, if it’s not clearly stated in their listing.
Did you check the app for that? Maybe they had had previous sitters that had been similarly reluctant to write a review, but that is not visible in the web interface.
All hosts are sent a pretty extensive cleaning checklist when they are new so these guys either ignored it or didn’t think it was important. It may have ended up in spam but have had plenty of chats with HOs about how annoying and detailed it is so it is sent. You do need to mention the lack of cleanliness but it can be kind. “The sit for first time hosts Bob & Bob was for lovely, well-behaved pets and we received a warm welcome and clear comms throughout the sit. Their home is very well-lived in and full of personal effects. Please note that non-smokers will notice tobacco smells.” or similar. You could also ask THS MS to resend a cleaning spec sheet to them. If you discuss before the review you risk a bad one yourself, although sounds unlikely as you are experienced. #itsyourcallreally
I keep seeing people mention that they struggle to rate a category poorly when the homeowners are new to the platform or just really, really nice. I completely get that because I’ve been in that situation myself.
I once did a sit where the listing wasn’t entirely accurate, some amenities weren’t as described, and a few details I thought were nice to know for other sitters weren’t mentioned. I brought it up with the homeowner, and he was genuinely surprised. He wasn’t trying to mislead anyone, he just hadn’t realized these things mattered. I believed him, so I gave him five stars in the “Accuracy of the Listing” category because I didn’t feel it was fair to punish him for something he hadn’t been aware of. He said he would put it in his listing.
Later, I saw that when he put up his next listing, he had updated everything I had pointed out. That made me really happy I hadn’t messed up his rating over something he was completely willing to fix. If I had given a lower rating, he wouldn’t have had the chance to correct it before it impacted him. So I think especially this categorie doesn’t make so much sense.
I think it would make more sense if sitters could give feedback on the accuracy of the listing after the sit, and the homeowner would get a notification like, “You’ve received feedback - do you want to update your listing?” If they make the suggested changes, they automatically get five stars for accuracy. If they don’t, the sitter’s original rating stays. That way, homeowners have the chance to improve instead of being immediately penalized for something they didn’t even realize was an issue.
This would be way fairer for everyone. It would encourage better listings without sitters feeling bad about being honest, and it would stop punishing homeowners who are actually trying to do the right thing. It would make the whole thing much more constructive.
I am sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Reviewing someone’s home is a very different story than a restaurant or some other place of business, and I know it isn’t as easy to give negative feedback. Posts like yours are common and highlight the fact that the non-blind nature of the prior review system wasn’t the sole reason people felt they weren’t able to do so.
While I have stayed in some homes that weren’t quite up to my standard, this is in comparison to the fact that the vast majority of homes in which we stay are immaculately clean. So these places were not truly dirty by any stretch, So I never felt like it was something that needed to be addressed in the review. Given my lack of experience in this situation, I can’t say for certain what I would do.
At the very least, be sure to mention the smoke smell–I think that is really important for people to know and is the type of feedback that should feel easier to leave since it isn’t some subjective criticism about something, it is simply pure, objective fact.
@sitter83
An honest , factual and unemotional review states the facts that sitters need to know when deciding if this sit will be a good fit for them.
The residue smoke odours may cause a serious allergic reaction for another sitter so providing them with this information is essential for them to make an informed choice about whether to apply to sit . If someone who is severely allergic doesn’t have this information, applies and is confirmed for a sit - they may have to leave shortly after starting the sit which will cause a problem for both the sitter and host . So not leaving a review does no one ( host or sitter ) any favours . Your accurate review could prevent that from happening.
Include the positives - that shows that it’s a balanced review .
Use the categories to rate specific areas of concern .
Not leaving reviews for new hosts that give a factual impression of the sit will not do them or their sitters a favor, in my opinion. That would be the same as saying not only are new hosts a risk because they are new, there’s an additional risk because their reviews can’t be trusted.
If they get an honest and factual review, they get to answer and show they took it to heart in their response to the review. As per the tobacco it is really important to disclose as some will get really ill as Silversitters say - a problem for sitter ofc but also for host as they could lose the sitter on short notice.
If you write something in the line of
« Communication was excellent, and the pet was easy to care for. A sitter with a tobacco allergy or concerned about cleanliness would find some challenges. We believe these issues might be due to it being their first sit. They were nice people, and with a few improvements future sits will be even better», it would be covered, probably, and they would get to say thank you for your input, we will make sure to follow your advice, or similar.
You and the Owners each have 14 days after the Sit ends, to write your reviews. If you write yours first, the Owners will not be able to view yours until they either 1) submit their review for you or 2) 14 days after the Sit ends.
I would write your review and submit it, without mentioning any problems to the owners. Once you KNOW that the owners have had the opportunity to read your review, you can reach out with additional feedback, if you want, i.e. friendly email.
You and the owners can each enter one response to a review, and there is no time limit on this.
Not that I know of. @Jenny is there? If not then possibly on the host page on the website would be my guess. @Halifax23 do you know as you’re a seasoned host? #communitypull
