continuing to follow and appreciate the comments but still need answers please
How do you know that it is now a blind review system? Do you get some kind of email or notification that there is a change and what it is? Please advise how it works.
Again how do you come to find this stuff out?
How can you see the reviews given by a HO?
How can you tell a HO doesn’t give reviews?
How common is it for a HO to pick you up at the airport? And really, we shouldn’t mention when they go the extra mile because then they will have to do it every time? That is a catch 22.
Sitter and host have 14 days to review after a sit. As soon as one side writes their review, the other is supposed to get an auto email notifying them. That’s usual, but tech hiccups can happen.
If one side writes a review, it gets published at the end of the 14-day window. If both sides write reviews, they get published once the second one is written.
To see reviews written about you, you can go to your dashboard and hit the dropdown menu on the upper right and then look for “past sits.”
You can use the app or website to look at each host’s profile and see whether they left reviews for sitters.
There’s no telling how often hosts pick up sitters at the airport. No one tracks that. If you’re worried about the host not wanting you to mention that they picked you up, it’s as easy as asking them. A lot of sitting well involves communicating well with your hosts (or sitters). People often post here and ask about things when actually they should just ask the host. That’s because each host is different and strangers (or sitters) can’t mind-read them. Some hosts might love having everything they did above and beyond mentioned, because it can help them better land good sitters going forward.
@Maggie8K I too look at how the HO reviewed their previous sitters to get an idea of whether or not they are overly nitpicky. I saw one HO review in which they gave the sitter 3 stars without any specific details of what went wrong during the sit. He mentioned the sitter ate of all his favorite ice cream bars and how he was really looking forward to having those ice creams bars when he returned from holiday. It was really off putting how he placed so much emphasis on the ice creams bars and less on the care the sitter provided to his pets.
@TracyRo I learn everything here on the forum. I haven’t found the newsletters very helpful, but as yet I haven’t met a single sitter or HO that even knows about the forum so I’m not sure how much it matters whether you read posts here or not. I think it’s more useful to read the T&C’s and pay attention to the email alerts you get regarding each sit.
Most HOs won’t see it that way. On one sit, I might be able to pick up from the airport, on the next I might not because of my travel schedule vs. that of the sitter. Unless the HO is offering it in their listing, most sitters won’t expect it.
Going the extra mile, by either side, is always good to include in a review. It shows at minimum that the person is willing to if they can.
When you finish a sit both sides get a prompt on their profile to review. But you only see it if you happen to go and look at your profile. The host is less likely to check their profile if they have no upcoming trips. You (both) may/may not get an email from THS soon after the sit finishes prompting you to review. The message should inform you that you have only 14 days to submit your review before they are published. Once both sides write a review they are immediately published. If one side does not write one you have to wait 14 days. Incase the host does not check their profile or recieve an email prompt to review it is in your interests to send them a ‘review request’ as soon as the sit finishes so they don’t miss the 14 day deadline! If you go on ‘past sits’ you will see an option to ‘request a review’
You say you already know the reviews are blind so it doesn’t matter now how you found out! The blind review system has been in place since Dec '23.
Forum members were alerted to it in advance. The forum is, in general, the best place to get advance info. And also to ask questions about anything.
If you are investigating a sit and read previous sitters reviews you can click on each sitter profile and search for the sit in question and if there was a review given. If you find nothing for those dates it means the host did not leave a review. This is rare but does happen. Due to the old ‘open’ review system it is more common to see a sitter has not given a review as there will be a blank space below their name on the dates they sat. However if the host gave no review then that sit is completely absent on the sitter profile.
Re-airport pick up- that is entirely individual! If its convenient for the host to pick you up they might offer. However do not expect it! They are not obliged to help with your travel costs or arrangements, though they might make helpful suggestions how to get to them. In over 100 sits we have only ever been picked up once from an airport. That was a situation where we also dropped the hosts off the next day and picked them up at the end and had use of their car for the 3 weeks of the sit.
Usually, when sitting in UK or continental Europe we are travelling in our own car so its not really an important consideration for us. Just once we felt the hosts could have been more helpful. We’d flown in for a 3 week Singapore sit and we travelled from the airport by taxi after a long flight When we got there- mid afternoon- the host was relaxing in the garden and his car was in the driveway. He could easily have picked us up but had not offered. When we left at the end he could have dropped us back to the airport but again did not offer. He did help us book a taxi but instead of using his Uber app to get us a good deal he booked a regular taxi that cost 50% more - at our cost… Every host is different- some are much more generous, helpful and appreciative than others.
The pickups are random. Seven of my 17 sits have involved unsolicited offers by my hosts to meet me at the airport, train station or elsewhere — the latter included driving an hour+ to pick me up, if I wanted, since I was coming from days spent sightseeing elsewhere in the U.K.
For my most recent sit, my hosts directed me to an airport shuttle to their community and voluntarily offered to pay the round trip, $80 USD, plus pick me up at the shuttle stop and drop me off. On arrival, they treated me to a nice dinner out before we headed to their home. When we got there, they’d already pinned $100 USD in a folder full of sightseeing info for me. They also left me a car, golf cart and bicycle to use.
Since so many things are based on personal standards and preferences (what is good communication? How clean is «clean»? and so forth) it is my opinion that the 5 stars means «met the requirements set» or «reasonable». If not, then the stars would be as much an expression of the standards of the person who does the evaluation, maybe more than the actual sit.
My sits have been quite different, but I would still wholeheartedly say that they were five stars, even if one was for instance «spotlessly clean» and the other «cozy» with pet hairs in the couch.
The first dinged me a star on clean even though I refrained from cooking (!) because I feared the kitchen would be a risk-element and I went above and beyond because it was superclean. They didn’t comment why in the review and hasn’t answered my (very humble ) message of please let me know why so I can learn. I move on (and don’t go back) but the text in the review is so important.
I do investigate more before a sit. Read the profile thoroughly, read their reviews - and also tap the reviews given by previous sitters to see what the HO has said about the sitters. Because I think how you speak about others say more about the person who said it than the person they are talking about. On TH and in life.
@Garfield Its frustrating to be dinged a star with no explanation. We had a star dinged for self sufficiency- with no explanation. The same host left my husband completely out of the review even though she’d me him at both ends!! She refused to explain or change anything. Very disappointing. Re- the star- we therefore assumed she felt we’d asked too many questions after arrival and ‘bothered’ her. If that was indeed her reason it was extremely unfair as she’d failed to provide the promised comprehensive welcome guide for a complex sit- so it seemed we were expected to rely on memory from our pre-sit visit 1 month before!! (with 3 other sits in between!) So we had to ask a few essential questions to ensure a smooth sit.
And re my hubby we assume she must have some sort of personal issue with him but this was never confirmed. We did consider responding to her review but, since the written part (about me) was very positive and the overall rating was 5*, we decided not draw unnecessary attention to this.
Sometimes you just have to rise above and ignore any signs of pettiness. YOU know you are good and did your best and that’s all that matters. Some people are just too nitpicky.
As @Lokstar has said, it’s really annoying to be dinged a star with no explanation. It has been suggested and I agree that a field for writing a description should pop up when less than 5 stars are given. But
“hasn’t answered my (very humble ) message of please let me know why so I can learn.”
This is really sad. Someone you have developed some kind of relationship with, whose pets and house you’ve been taking care of and doesn’t bother to answer a message…
I really don’t get it. I have just read an overall 4 star review with 4 stars in communication and this wording “Communication with V. was easy, too. She was available all the time”.
Is anyone on the forum able to read what’s not there?
The above and beyond portion can be written in the review if it was something that the HO or sitter appreciated. In some cases an HO thinks they are going above and beyond by allowing the sitter to use their TP/paper products/dish soap and the sitter thinks that is standard. So above and beyond can be very subjective and worthy of being noted in the actual written portion.
I know that when a profile is being looked at though and the average review is skewed because of some 4 stars here and there, it doesn’t look great for the sitter. The HO doesn’t need to worry about this because they don’t get reviewed on a total score on a profile they get reviewed individually and it shows up that way on the listing. It’s just an imbalance in the way that reviews are seen for sitters vs. HO’s and I would love it changed but unfortunately it has made the 5 star review to be the norm instead of an individual grading system.
As an HO the number of stars is not my main criteria, especially when most people get 5 stars, sitters and HO. I’m much more interested in why the reviews got the number of stars they did. People see things differently and what may have been a problem for someone may not be a problem for me unless it is something major. I’m the same way with all reviews on any site; I like information and a number of stars doesn’t give much in the way of information. Whether on THS or any other site I find that people tend to give more information when they don’t give 5 stars, as if 5 stars says it all.
Thanks everyone for your contributions. I think, according to your comments, that the style is gradually changing but very slowly. I’m not sure we’ve reached a “solution”, so I’ll leave the thread open in case people want to continue sharing their experiences and thoughts. I am really curious and hoping for more honest reviews. Although I understand that the way we express our honesty in words can vary quite a bit, even more so when we are in an international community with cultural differences in communication.
I was reading an older thread where the sitter was frustrated with a 5 star review, which mentioned that she had gone above and beyond and was exceptionally kind and organized. Reading that, I felt bad for not mentioning specific kind details by the owners but at first I didn’t because I didn’t want to raise prospective sitters’ expectations. After that, when they have been extra generous, I ask and, on one occasion, the owner said she preferred it not being mentioned and suggested the “above and beyond” general wording. One can never know!
) message of please let me know why so I can learn. I move on (and don’t go back) but the text in the review is so important.