@Lassie I also have come across conflicting reviews from sitters. For an example, in one example the sitter gave the HO an overall glowing review and rating of 4 stars. The sitter stated how great the pets were and how great the hosts were, but gave 4 stars for hospitality and pet behavior. They did not give details as to why the 4 stars were given.
With the old feedback system for HOs, many sitters complained about not being able to leave honest feedback for fear of retaliation.
Now that the system has changed to the blind review system, still many sitters are not being honest in their reviews.
Not giving honest reviews defeats the purpose of having the blind review system in place.
@sharondc yes but the review system isn’t in place for every tiny detail to be held up in public to be shamed about.
For the overall peace of a successful exchange between two strangers often from different cultures and countries it’s best to just keep things general.
Nitpicking and over analysis of small issues will do nobody any favours.
I went through mutual bad revies and replies once, and it was awful. Felt like being physically hurt.
So I understand if people want to avoid that. However, if there was something serious that other sitters need to be warned about, I would mention it. Nicely phrased if possible.
Yes, this is the way to go … if possible. Who’d imagine that THS would not only give us a platform to exchange house and pet-sitting favors, but also a platform for training in “creative” writing?
@BonnyinBrighton the sitters will know about it as soon as they get asked to review their first sit since the changes.
Even though I originally welcomed the star ratings for hosts I now find myself conflicted! In the past if I didn’t find the cleaning up to scratch I avoided all mention of it in the review- (others could read between the lines) but now - when specifically asked to rate cleanliness- on a recent-less clean home- I had to drop a star on cleaning as giving 5* would have been a lie. I felt uncomfortable, as the host was so sweet!, but it had to be done! I didn’t specifically mention in the review that the bathroom needed cleaning before use but I did mention that the old (very sweet)dog had accidents in the house every night (which was only told us on arrival -as an occasional event…) so I kind of included that as part of the dropped star on cleanliness. I should also have dropped a star for pet behaviour but didn’t have the heart- for the above mentioned reasons.
My point is many sitters were complaining that they could not be honest in their reviews. With the blind review system, now they can. If many do not know about it, and fear retaliation, that is another story. For the ones that do know about it, and choose not to be honest in their reviews, they are doing future sitters a disservice.
It’s not about nit picking. It is about being truthful to give future sitters a heads up of what to expect. If a dog has destructive behavior, I would like to know about it. If a dog has separation anxiety and cannot be left home alone at all and the sitter has to be confined to the house, I would like to know about it. Wouldn’t you?
Perhaps new sitters then don’t realise at which point in time in a string of HO reviews the rules changed… and read the long list of 5* reviews as exactly that when they’re not……
@BonnyinBrighton I’m not sure what you mean? In the (recent) old days sitters did not have the opportunity to rate HOs in categories. Now they are prompted to rate each category before the review is accepted. There can be no confusion there!
The only difference now is that sitters are forced to rate a category e.g cleanliness whereas before (if not happy) they might have avoided all mention of that subject in their review.
If I have misunderstood your comment please do clarify!
Oh it’s just that on the fb group lots of people were asking about the blind review system and claimed to not know how it worked- I’m simply speculating as to why this is? I was tbh quite surprised as I thought it was known how a blind system works…. I think one HO asked if she could now edit her review now she knew this?
A couple of my recent sits the ‘HO’s’ were completely unaware about the revised review system. They said that THS never communicated the changes to them.
It’s great to get feedback about the new(ish!) review system. I am just jumping on here to let you know that there was a general email drop about the new review system. Emails were sent before the launch giving notice of the new system and after. There was a blog post, forum announcement and newsletter send.
We know sometimes people were mentioning they were not receiving emails, were unsubscribed/falling into different folders etc, so we recently changed to a new email provider where we can see much more information about each members emails, what individual ones they received, if they were opened, if the emails have bounces or are unsubscribed etc.
If you think that you are not getting the emails you should be please reach out to Membership Services as they will be able to help and troubleshoot much better with the new system.
If you can think of more ways to get new feature announcements out we always welcome any suggestions as we understand how frustrating it must be to not know that there is a new feature. It could be a great new topic!
Two years ago I gave sitters a 3 Star review and they retaliated in the same way with an essay of lies and a 1 Star review. After consulting with THS Admin, they told us that the sitters said they would remove their review if we in turn removed ours. I felt it was important to leave my review so other Home Owners knew our experience. Their review has significantly affected our profile and we can seldom get any applicants to our ads. Sitters have told me it’s because of our exchange of words. Unfortunately, my response was quite long to indicate our frustration with their review. I’m sorry about my response to them but it was truthful. I had many sleepless nights as well and I am still anguished after two years of remorse. So be concise…hopefully, that works for you.
We have only been able to get two sitters in two years of trying
In the (recent) old days sitters did not have the opportunity to rate HOs in categories. Now they are prompted to rate each category before the review is accepted. There can be no confusion there!